politely decline

[Spud]

I had a potential customer ring yesterday lunch time asking me to come over immediatly and give him a price for a job 15m2 kitchen floor and 3m2 bathroom floor and maybe bathroom walls ? being busy at the time I asked him to text me his address, (barnes) very nice area in London,and I would come over on wednesday to price it up,he then becomes pushy asking for an estimate on the phone so I gave him a rough guideline price which he tried to negoitiate down but told him that until I surveyed the job and he specified the material this was just a rough price ,got the text with all the details and got back to work,had a missed call from this gentleman this morning then received a shirty text message asking me to call him,I rang him and asks him what he wants and he tells me he has rang 4 times and left voicemail and sent texts to which I replied that I have had 1 missed call to which I am now replying ,he then starts raising his voice and starts insisted he has multipled called me this morning before he could say any more I politely told him to find another tiler to do his job" why?" he asked to which I replied " I just dont think we are going to get along "and hung up on this rude prat,
Have you ever politely turned down work and why?

 

[kilty55]

lol i love it

i have turned down work for anumber of plumbers and builders so far reason being shoddy prep etc you know the story

i had a builder who we did a floor for a while back now and once we handed the keys back he text me and said forget the cheque your not getting paid as i have no cash
lol in the end we got our money and he had the cheek to say right lads are you ready to start that slate job we discussed a while back

the mind boggles

 

[Rob Z]

Hi Gary, Yes, after 20+ years in this business, I have dealt with some real turds, and have done exactly as you did. Usually, it knocks these folks off their stride. They're used to bullying people, and getting compliance with their demands because trademen and contractors are hard-up for money and have to do whatever it takes, which includes swallowing their pride.

 

[doug boardley]

yep Gary, and for pretty much the same reasons. I'm pretty notorious for not answering my phone when I'm at work tbh. By the time I've put my trowel down, hunted about in my pockets for my phone, the person has usually rung off. If they are rude and pushy on the phone when I do contact them I tell them that I'm too busy to take any more work on at present.

 

[SandyFloor]

I visited a retired couple to price some work in their house just as the recession hit. After discussion and measuring up the man asked me how work was and I explained although I was busy enough the demand for home improvement had dropped dramatically. He said to me in a pompous voice "so it's a buyer's market and I'll expect your price to reflect that." I then said I still had several weeks work on (untrue) and left.

 

[davy_G]

I had a builder, project manager type, you know the ones who dont actually get their hands dirty and know it all, who i did a fair bit of work for. He was a terribly bad payer and i only got money out of him by telling him i wouldnt do the next impending job till i was paid in full for the last one. Edventually, he paid me for a big job just before i was supposed to do a small splashback for him. Im afraid i stopped returning the calls and didnt do the splashback, I texted him a number of a very poor tiler and said he will sort you out. This was 18 months ago and just last week I got a call from him to go and sort out a job I hadnt finished....turns out his memory isnt so good either as it wasnt me done the job, I did tell him i could sort it for payment up front......funny that call didnt last too long either.

 

[Daz]

I was asked to "assess" a tiling job last weekend. I went to take a look and with the exception of no silicone in the internals and one or two very minor lips, the only other fault that I could find was three grout joints that were overly washed out. It was clear that the customer had beef with the tiler and was just looking for a discount so I declined to write a report saying that I could only state minor cosmetic issues and that I could not put a price on the making good.

IMO, this is a client that would never be happy and I didn't want to get involved (or offered the opportunity) in putting things right.

 

[kilty55]

I was asked to "assess" a tiling job last weekend. I went to take a look and with the exception of no silicone in the internals and one or two very minor lips, the only other fault that I could find was three grout joints that were overly washed out. It was clear that the customer had beef with the tiler and was just looking for a discount so I declined to write a report saying that I could only state minor cosmetic issues and that I could not put a price on the making good

IMO, this is a client that would never be happy and I didn't want to get involved (or offered the opportunity) in putting things right.[/QUOTE

this is a true reflection on your character daz many guys in the current climate would gladly go along with what that customer wanted

 

[Rich]

Strange, I had a very similar experience this week, I prices a shower room walls and floor about 6 weeks ago, high price as there was a lot of prep that needed doing. The customer phoned me back and said that he was sorry but he has found a plumber that will do the entire job for him plumbing/plastering/tiling and painting. Fair enough, nice of him to let me know so I wished him the best of luck with his project.

Thu last week I get a call from him saying that the room is ready to tile tomorrow and he wants me in there to start it on the Mon! Bahahaha!!!! Im booked up for months! Whentold him this and that I would call him back with a date that I can go in, he started to get pushy "come Richard, you can move things around, there isnt much work out there you know" I told him that my customers have been booked in for months and that I wasn't willing to let them down over his job. He couldn't believe it, put him right in his place that did. "Oh well if you wouldn't mind letting me know when you could fit us in that would be great, we will just have to wait for you"... Yes you will :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Rich]

Just for the record, I will bend over back wards for polite customers, in fact Im going to be working this sat (my BIRTHDAY!!) because my customer didnt order enough tiles and I dont want her waiting for weeks before I can go back to finish her shower room. I just cant stand it when people are rude :incazzato:

 

[Stewart]

Don't know about politely declining, but I've had to have words with an insurance company that are calling a few times a day to fix a slate floor for them. They paid me to do a site visit to recommend what the floor needs and quote to do the work. It got slightly damaged due to a glass ceiling collapsing and just needs stripped and re- sealed. Gave them a quote as they had paid for it, but the customer is gunning for a new slate floor, no matter what! Even though the floor will be back (if not better) to original. Because of the customer and the hassle that's going to follow once the floor is done, I've declined the work, much to the annoyance of the insurance company, but it's just going to drag on and on and they really ŵant someone else in the chain to take the flack.

 

[The Legend; Phil Hobson RIP]

A few years ago I went to look at a geometric entrance at an architects office, I had been highly recommended by a local tile shop.

The job was an original Victorian floor, there had been a lot of damage done to it over the years ( pipes chased in, vinyl glued down, slc etc).

I told him I would work out a price and get back to him in a couple of weeks, as I was going on a cruise the following day.

On my return from Holiday I started with very bad stomach ache, I must have picked up a bug. I spent 7 days in bed ( for me, this is unheard of) I must have been bad.

I did ring the architect explaining I was ill, my 2nd day back from holiday and told him as soon as I was able I would get the quote off.

A week later he rang me with a real attitude, saying "come come I have staff who try to pull the wool over my eyes" I was furious, I asked him if he was calling me a liar, he replied, "if the cap fits" I said "I will stop you there, I don't like your attitude. I will not be pricing your job and suggest you ring another tiler.

His response was "are you taking your ball in?" my reply was "as it is my ball, yes"

I would rather stay at home than work for these jumped up arrogant, pompous, self important idiots.

Rant over.:mad2:rrr:

 

[Rich]

A few years ago I went to look at a geometric entrance at an architects office, I had been highly recommended by a local tile shop.

The job was an original Victorian floor, there had been a lot of damage done to it over the years ( pipes chased in, vinyl glued down, slc etc).

I told him I would work out a price and get back to him in a couple of weeks, as I was going on a cruise the following day.

On my return from Holiday I started with very bad stomach ache, I must have picked up a bug. I spent 7 days in bed ( for me, this is unheard of) I must have been bad.

I did ring the architect explaining I was ill, my 2nd day back from holiday and told him as soon as I was able I would get the quote off.

A week later he rang me with a real attitude, saying "come come I have staff who try to pull the wool over my eyes" I was furious, I asked him if he was calling me a liar, he replied, "if the cap fits" I said "I will stop you there, I don't like your attitude. I will not be pricing your job and suggest you ring another tiler.

His response was "are you taking your ball in?" my reply was "as it is my ball, yes"

I would rather stay at home than work for these jumped up arrogant, pompous, self important idiots.

Rant over.:mad2:rrr:

No, dont end it there Phil. Seems like you were just getting started :lol:

 

[Ian]

I politely declined to be a Homebase fitter! Does that count? Bet the chap on the phone regrets asking 'could I ask why?' Ok lets start with the tiles............................

 

[user123]

A few years ago I went to look at a geometric entrance at an architects office, I had been highly recommended by a local tile shop.

The job was an original Victorian floor, there had been a lot of damage done to it over the years ( pipes chased in, vinyl glued down, slc etc).

I told him I would work out a price and get back to him in a couple of weeks, as I was going on a cruise the following day.

On my return from Holiday I started with very bad stomach ache, I must have picked up a bug. I spent 7 days in bed ( for me, this is unheard of) I must have been bad.

I did ring the architect explaining I was ill, my 2nd day back from holiday and told him as soon as I was able I would get the quote off.

A week later he rang me with a real attitude, saying "come come I have staff who try to pull the wool over my eyes" I was furious, I asked him if he was calling me a liar, he replied, "if the cap fits" I said "I will stop you there, I don't like your attitude. I will not be pricing your job and suggest you ring another tiler.

His response was "are you taking your ball in?" my reply was "as it is my ball, yes"

I would rather stay at home than work for these jumped up arrogant, pompous, self important idiots.

Rant over.:mad2:rrr:

Wowww... :lol:

 

[Daz]

I politely declined to be a Homebase fitter! Does that count? Bet the chap on the phone regrets asking 'could I ask why?' Ok lets start with the tiles............................

Lol Bri, I think we've all done that.

 

[Ian]

Lol Bri, I think we've all done that.

I thought I was head hunted for the position Daz!!!! Clearly not :lol:

 

[Daz]

Did you get to the £500 punchline :lol:, you pay them £500 for the privilege of working with crap tiles??

 

[Ian]

did you get to the £500 punchline :lol:, you pay them £500 for the privilege of working with crap tiles??

WHAT!!! :yikes: The conversation didn't get that far, I wish I'd waited. I'm speechless.