Author Topic: When the Sharks Begin to Circle...  (Read 13767 times)

the PAINTSMITH

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When the Sharks Begin to Circle...
« on: September 28, 2006, 07:17:48 AM »
How many of us have stories about those opportunistic "bystanders and passersby" who approach during or after an exterior paint project to inform you that you or your crew "Got paint all over my _______!"...Every time this topic has come up in conversation with other painters there's a catalog of incidents and angles from those looking for a free lunch at the painter's expense;

A few years ago I worked with a crew to paint the garages for a large apartment complex. There were several long, multi-unit garage buildings, which we sprayed and backrolled. We were finished late in the afternoon, and as we cleaned up I noticed a large older model Lincoln pull into the complex and park next to the first garage we had done that morning...Thought nothing of it as a woman exited the car and went inside the apartments...

...Just before we were to drive out and back to the shop, the woman came running out of the building, all worked up and in form, and proceeded to rant about how we neglected to warn her or cover her car before we commenced to paint the garage (remember that car hadn't shown up until after the job was completed), and look at all the overspray...Sure enough, the car was spattered, especially on the side AWAY from the garage...As I inspected "our" indiscretion, I noted tha the paint on her car was under a good layer of dust, and a VERY different color than what we applied to the garages...I diplomatically pointed this out--WOW--Should have let the lawyers take care of it, as the tantrum this woman put on was the stuff that Emmy's are made of...I told her to call the shop the next day and the issue would be resolved, but she apparently was looking for my guilt and shame to generate an instantaneous wad of cash, because we never heard from her again...


Offline Lynjowoman

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Re: When the Sharks Begin to Circle...
« Reply #1 on: September 28, 2006, 01:56:02 PM »
Eric

Very good. We had a customer inspect his grass to see if we got any paint on it. We sprayed his interior shutters, set up on a giganic tarp in the back yard.
He didn't find any over spray on the grass, but if he had the evidence would have been gone before he got it in court.. ;D

lynjo

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Offline GreenMtnPainter

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Re: When the Sharks Begin to Circle...
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2007, 04:32:42 PM »
HA some people..  I'm new to this forum and havn't posted anything yet, but when I saw this thread, I just HAD to chime in:  We were on a job in fairly tight quarters with two houses side-by-side.  One of my guys was unrolling one of the airless hoses and accidentally dragged it over a primer can lid, then across the lawn.  It left a BARELY visible streak of white here and there.  WELL, the next door lady came running out, and pointed out to us that we had crossed onto her property line (Which apparently ran down the middle of the "shared" lawn) and that she absolutely didn't appreciate us getting paint on her grass! She then made us get down on our hands and knees and pull all the grass that paint had gotten on so that she wouldnt have to look it until the next mowing!  We all obliged and had a good laugh about it after she had gone in.  I guess some people have nothing better to do than complain.

Offline rcpainter

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Re: When the Sharks Begin to Circle...
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2007, 12:31:45 AM »
I once stopped a street bum fromm pouring our bleach all over her leg. We had been pressure washing a large store front and we were 200 ft or so away from pressure washer when I noticed this lady was trying to pour the pool chlorine we use all over her leg. :o apparantly the child-proof cap was good for something because we managed to chase her away before she got it open. ;D
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Offline phxmark123

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Re: When the Sharks Begin to Circle...
« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2007, 07:52:02 PM »
we were once going to paint the inside of a ladies house and started to bring our drops and equipment in. Well we also were bringing in some water in a 5 gallon bucket and all of a sudden the paint smell was to much for her. We hadn't even opened the paint cans yet. I guess some people just see an open paint cans and smell paint.
Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see. Just because its on the internet doesn't mean it's true

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Re: When the Sharks Begin to Circle...
« Reply #5 on: October 25, 2007, 04:46:58 PM »
Heh, I thought of this post last week when I was approached by a client's neighbor shortly after finishing a repaint of a fence along the street.  He was all worked up and was trying to force me to pay him cash to remove the overspray from his car - until I pointed out to him that my brush & roller were still sitting in the bucket of paint, heh.  Can't create overspray without a sprayer, after all...

After stating my case, I made a point to mention that fraud and extortion are both very much illegal, and I proceeded to follow him home and write down his address while standing at his front door.

I have never seen someone's angry expression turn to "the deer in the headlights" look so fast.  ;)

Offline paintcrafter

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Re: When the Sharks Begin to Circle...
« Reply #6 on: November 28, 2007, 01:19:46 AM »
Had a woman tell me that I got paint all over her new Mercedes. I was painting with orange (light poles) and the paint on her car was white. Clearly it was from road marking stripes as it was all over her tires, fenders and wheelwells. Her husband disagreed and sai that it must have been the primer that we used under the orange. That was actually red.

What a !!!!. It was way too hot out to be standing in the parking lot day after day going over and over this.

4th Generation Painter...what an idiot.

Offline tallpaul

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Re: When the Sharks Begin to Circle...
« Reply #7 on: December 15, 2007, 11:39:41 PM »
Painted a trailer home one time. The lady had a car parked under her carport about 15-20 feet from the house. After we got done my boss said that the lady was super mad about all the overspray on her lincoln and insisted that we did it. I told my boss that there was no way it could have been us b/c we rolled the entire thing. He was the kind of guy that would just let the lady run all over him anyway and he ended up waxing the car for her.

Offline Rick Anderson

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Re: When the Sharks Begin to Circle...
« Reply #8 on: March 05, 2008, 12:25:03 PM »
How many of us have stories about those opportunistic "bystanders and passersby" who approach during or after an exterior paint project to inform you that you or your crew "Got paint all over my _______!"...Every time this topic has come up in conversation with other painters there's a catalog of incidents and angles from those looking for a free lunch at the painter's expense;

A few years ago I worked with a crew to paint the garages for a large apartment complex. There were several long, multi-unit garage buildings, which we sprayed and backrolled. We were finished late in the afternoon, and as we cleaned up I noticed a large older model Lincoln pull into the complex and park next to the first garage we had done that morning...Thought nothing of it as a woman exited the car and went inside the apartments...

...Just before we were to drive out and back to the shop, the woman came running out of the building, all worked up and in form, and proceeded to rant about how we neglected to warn her or cover her car before we commenced to paint the garage (remember that car hadn't shown up until after the job was completed), and look at all the overspray...Sure enough, the car was spattered, especially on the side AWAY from the garage...As I inspected "our" indiscretion, I noted tha the paint on her car was under a good layer of dust, and a VERY different color than what we applied to the garages...I diplomatically pointed this out--WOW--Should have let the lawyers take care of it, as the tantrum this woman put on was the stuff that Emmy's are made of...I told her to call the shop the next day and the issue would be resolved, but she apparently was looking for my guilt and shame to generate an instantaneous wad of cash, because we never heard from her again...



Paintsmith

Good story.   My first spray job ever I covered a speckled blue Ferrari that belonged to a couple of coke heads in Toronto.  The yellow alkyd overspray was perfectly uniform and actually enhanced the already aesthetically pleasing features of the vehicle.  My partner at the time and I actually thought about upcharging them for the improvement but thought better of it.

Regards
Rick
« Last Edit: March 23, 2008, 08:45:23 PM by admin »

 

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