We have all had a really, truly nasty customer -- one who could not be pleased no matter what you did to apease them, or maybe just a jerk or poor payer who didn't appreciate your craftmanship?
And some of us may have done some things that are, well... a bit on the unconventional side of professionalism.
If you dare....
Share your stories with your fellow tradesmen. Come on...you must have a great story that you're just dying to tell!This is a true story.
We were restaining an exterior of the main house on a very nice estate owned by a wealthy couple with grown kids. When we started the job, one of my crew members asked the owner if he could use the bathroom. The man declined to give him permission.
"How about the bathroom in your pool house?" he asked.
The homeowner still declined.
"Go down the road to the general store," he said, "they have a bathroom you can use."
It turned out that the "store" was 5 miles away!
As the job progressed, my crew members complained almost daily about how they were being treated by the homeowner.
At the end of the job, as we were driving away, one of my workers admitted that NONE of them had ever made the 5-mile trip to the bathroom at the general store, Instead, they used their stain pails and applied the "special mix" to the entire house!!!
While I do not, and did not, condone this behavior, I couldn't help but laugh.
I have another tale, but I'll let others (who are brave enough) chime in with their stories.
Mac