Author Topic: Painting for a true a$$hole  (Read 19941 times)

Offline 98mustangguy

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Painting for a true a$$hole
« on: September 04, 2007, 07:33:28 PM »
OK here goes. Last year we went to price out this job for a couple in an uppity suburb. Gutters had not been cleaned in years so overflowing all over staining and killing the finish terribly. Front porch bricks had fallen off the top and cinders underneath were disintegrating. was raining out so I didnt spend a ton of time pricing it out. so the job was to repaint exterior of 3200 sq ft house and fix front steps best I could. Quoted out at $4800 material and labor. Guy called back and stated he could only afford $4000. Should not of but I said ok Ill do it for that. Next guy would not give down payment instead he insisted on meeting me at store to get materials  mistake #2 I saidalright whatever. Show up to get materials and he wants his house painted gold with red and green trim, haha I said no I wont paint those colors( his wife had already tried to talk him out of it). He settled on satin white with Sky blue trim and white/blue doors. After powerwashing I spent extra time and cleaned out the gutters so it would not happen again free of charge mistake#3. When we went to start priming I noticed rot around front window( damn have to replace trim) mistake #4 when we removed the trim we stumbled upon the biggest hornets nest this side of the mississippi. after wasting another few hours trying to kill hornets and replace trim which was not in contract and I did not get paid for, we finally got to start. paint and primer went fairly quickly with out any major problems. on the last day I tell him we will be done in a couple hours around 4pm he says ok ill go get the money. we finished and packed up at 7 still not home. waited till 9 still not home 10 his wife comes out and say he had to go out of town on business >:(. calls me next day and says he will meet me at 4pm to pay me i arrive at 3:30 and wait till 6:30 never shows. calls me 2 days later and says will meet me at 4. he shows at 5:30. says wow done already it only took 6 days. We walked around house with wife and she was happy. He comes back and say why didnt you reglaze all the windows. Well because when i gave price you stated not to touch windows you were getting replaced. Well guess he must not of been able to afford cause now he was bitching at me. says well im not paying. Ok I start to call the Sheriffs department just to file a report and all of a sudden its well how much do i owe you?? What type of question is that you know the price then bought the material so you owe me the difference of $2800 or so I think it was. He starts in on why dont I get discount it only took a week  thats too much for a week of worj ect ect ect. well i tell him it is none of his business he agreed to a price, got a $800 discount right upfront, got his gutters cleaned/ hornets killed/trim replaced all free of charge and just made out real good on this deal so he could pay the amount ho owed and yes i had him signed contract stating price and scope of job , or I would call the cops and file a lawsuit against him. He dissappears in house for about 10 minutes comes back out with a wad of $10 and $20 dollars bills walks up to about 10 ft from me and does this real quick sidearm pitch with my money right at my head- runs to his car and yells be lucky i should have shoved that up your a$$. now im pissed and of course its a super windy day so my money is blowing all over the place. ran real quick chasing after it tryin to get it all before it blew away. Luckily I though first cause I almost said the hell with the money and laid him out flat. Someone tell me how put post pictures in my thread and i will Put some up for you guys. Lesson learned never drop price-never do extra for nothing-get a signed contract-and never work for anyone again if you get a weird feeling right up front

Offline Lynjowoman

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2007, 07:44:01 PM »
NEVER GO DOWN ON THE PRICE!! Usually if you do they think you are desperate for work there fore will s### you evertime.

Lynjo
"Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult."
Charlotte Whitton

Offline 98mustangguy

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2007, 07:50:58 PM »
yeah was a hard lesson to learn thankfully I did learn from this

Offline Bauer

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2007, 08:17:09 PM »
he needs to wake up to a pile of poo on his porch, once a week for the next year  ;D

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #4 on: September 06, 2007, 10:44:38 AM »
Unbelievable thats terrible mustang sorry this happened.

BUT you handled it like a man, laying him out would have landed you in jail though you would have had bail money cash in hand LOL

He deserves what he's got coming just let nature takes it course on that piece of garbage, and IT WILL.......

Offline woosterbrushman

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2007, 08:50:41 AM »
Reminds me of a case I saw on People's Court years ago.

The guy has no proof he paid you ANYTHING.    Thowing cash
at you and letting it blow all over for you to collect is not
considered PAYMENT.  If 10 people were standing around and picked
it up why would that be your loss?

That action alone would show the judge how unreasonable  he was
and he did not fullfill his end of the contract.  Trying to get you  to
take less than what he signed the contract for would not be upheld
by the judge.  The judge would make him pay the full price of the contract
less any cash that you want to say you picked up.  Don't lie though and  say
you got next to  nothing.  Once you lie, any credibility you had is gone.
This is your case to win and his to lose.  The judge might even award punitive damages
to you. 

Your PROFESSIONAL DEMEANOR will mean everything in the courtroom.
The judge will  go through and ask the  defendant  point  by point was this done?
Also ask if this EXTRA work was done?  You stand a very good chance of collecting the
full amount owed.  Good Luck!!!

Offline 98mustangguy

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #6 on: September 07, 2007, 02:08:21 PM »
I actually did get the full amount took some hunting but it was all there. Just telling a case of what a$$holes some people can be. And I know some of you out there have better stories. Yeah I know i would of won had i taken him  to court as I have a contract and receipts and very detailed took like 20 pics every step of the way through the job. Always get contract and take many pics just in case this happens.

Offline UUjohn

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #7 on: September 07, 2007, 06:13:45 PM »
put Nair in his shampoo bottle...  that'll learn em  ....

geeeeez  ....  bastids  ...

Be Well
"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time" (Bertrand Russell)

Offline AM Painting

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #8 on: September 13, 2007, 08:56:48 PM »
Thats just wrong. Do honest work for a man ,like a man ,and to be treated like that......

When it is time to finalize a bid with a customer make sure to pay attention to their body language on the brass of the deal (up front payment , tier pay structure, final price etc...) That is when you truly know what your getting into.
I encourage you to maybe pick up a book on reading body language. That way you can pick up on smaller cues even before the critical time i mention above. I was lucky enough to take advantage of some free seminars provided by a company I did sales for when i was n highschool. Basically use techniques that police officers use to pin point liars. A valuable too.
If you ask a tough question or make an important statement.........that is the time when reading is the most critical. Hey man we're in this to make money don't get played. Never go down on your bid.
« Last Edit: September 13, 2007, 09:07:56 PM by AM Painting »
AM Painting

Offline yusuf

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #9 on: October 13, 2008, 05:42:23 PM »
what a git!

I cant handle people like that. I think he would have had an accident.

The other day I was in Asda car park (asda is a "shopping  mall" owned by wallmart i believe) delivering leaflets to car windscreen wipers. Yes i know its annoying sometimes when they are thin and its wet they make a mess on your screen, but it was hot and they were tasteful leaflets.  :P

So this guy comes up to me as im.. ehhem leafleting his car, and he picks it straight off and throws it on the floor  right in front of me. So not thinking I thanked him and followed up with a description of my thoughts on what he closely resembled.

In retrospect it wasnt clever cause he had my address and number if he wanted it. It wound me up something rotten that he wouldnt be polite and say no thanks or hand it back.

You did the right thing. sometimes its hard in the heat of a moment to suck it up.

Offline chrisn

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #10 on: October 14, 2008, 03:31:40 AM »
Show up to get materials and he wants his house painted gold with red and green trim, haha I said no I wont paint those colors


Why not? ???

Offline Jake

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #11 on: October 15, 2008, 12:49:41 PM »
LOL! Matt and I were talking about this just blast night on the way home from a long ass ceiling job. Anyway, I had a client (total be-otch) ask me before I even started the job, what I do in the event that a client doesn't pay.

Needless to say, on that job, I walked.

I have a few stories, but after doing this for so long and dealing with the entire gammut of customers, I can size em up pretty quickly these daze.

If I get a bad vibe, oh well.... NEXT!!!  ;D

Sometimes it's just not worth it.
The only thing that separates Paint from Pain... Is a t.

Offline Fred

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #12 on: October 15, 2008, 03:02:41 PM »
"I had a client (total be-otch) ask me before I even started the job, what I do in the event that a client doesn't pay."

Hey Jake when asked that question I always reply" Have you ever seen a painter take their paint back? it's not a pretty thing"
We don't pick the color, we just put them on......

Offline Jake

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #13 on: October 15, 2008, 03:41:20 PM »
Hey Jake when asked that question I always reply" Have you ever seen a painter take their paint back? it's not a pretty thing"

 ;D
The only thing that separates Paint from Pain... Is a t.

Offline Jake

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Re: Painting for a true a$$hole
« Reply #14 on: October 15, 2008, 04:27:32 PM »
To tell you the truth....

I've always fantasized about dropping some fish into a hard to find hole (upper corner) in the wall... Patchin er up... And smiling on my way out...

 ;D ;D ;D
The only thing that separates Paint from Pain... Is a t.

 

anything