The customer that was taken advantage of

I still remember my very first job.  It was in Galveston, Texas.  The customer was a retired educator in his 80s.  He had water damage in the ceiling in his living room.  I provided him with an estimate on a Friday evening.  The following Monday, he informed me that while he liked me, he chose someone less expensive.  Later that week he called me and asked me if I was still willing to complete the work.  He told me that the contractor that he had hired took a deposit and worked until lunch and then left for lunch and never came back.

Talk about horrible, just freaking horrible.  I took the job and we fixed his ceiling.  I forgot to install the new AC air return vent.  It was a Wednesday.  I told him I would return on Friday with it and install it on Friday.  Given his previous experience he wasn’t exactly thrilled.  I showed up Friday and installed it.  He gave me a 50-dollar tip that I tried to refuse.  He insisted that I take it.  He was impressed with the fact that I came back and did what I said I was going to do.  I still have that 50-dollar bill.

You are going to come across things that will make your blood boil.  When you meet with an 80-year-old woman and find out that she was ripped off by a contractor to the tune of 200k, you will instantly think what kind of sick people do we have in this world.  Yet, they exist.  It happens so much that it is just sickening.  This woman’s house was paid off.  The storm did significant damage.  She had had to re-mortgage her home to get the money to repair.  Once the contractor found out how much money she was getting, he took her to the cleaners and skipped town.  I tell you, people like this need to be thrown under the jail, not in it. 

This happens a lot and it gives the contractor a bad name.  It’s no wonder that most people don’t trust contractors. Be the bigger person.  Don’t be the person who takes the customers the money and doesn’t provide a service.