Don't be "that" customer
I am a fabricator. I will share a few horror stories in the hope that someone may learn a bit about dealing with contractors that use natural materials ….
I worked with a woman to select her stone. It was beautiful, so much so that even the guys in the shop that see stone every day were commenting. Additionally, it went in like it was greased; everything fit perfect. As I occasionally do I made a follow-up call with the customer and told her I was just checking to make sure my guys were polite, cleaned up after themselves, and that she was happy. Response was "Well, I'm NOT happy.!" I told her I didn't hear that very often and what was the problem? "It doesn't look like I thought it would and you should've told me I wouldn't like the color I picked out." When I asked her how I could possibly know what color she'd like better than she could her answer was "Well, you would've known if you had asked more questions."
Another; I went to a job site to follow up on a complaint and there were well over a hundred post it notes plastered all over the place. The cabinet guy got so frustrated with her complaining about the normal variations in color in stained wood that he offered to paint them for her. Her complaint about the stone was that it was stone.
Finally, A customer wanted an Ogee edge but picked a stone that is so chippy an Ogee edge is impossible. She had a tantrum and shouted that our job was to give her what she wanted. I fired her as a customer.
Kommentare (8)
thinkdesignlive
vor 4 JahrenAnd as a fabricator, do you find your relationships / customers are any more or less happy / less prone to complain to you if they are working with a designer?
PROGranite City Services
Ursprünglicher Verfasservor 4 JahrenIn my experience, for the fabricator, having a designer involved is either a neutral influence or, occasionally, a negative one. This comment is based on experiences where the homeowner insisted on a material or detail selected by the designer which, in the opinion of the stone professional (me), was poorly suited to the application. A recent example was the selection of 2CM marble purchased on-line against the advice of the fabricator. The material, which the supplier in California assured the designer was excellent, was so bad we had to glue 2CM quartz to it as backers just so we could move it without it falling apart. The customer was very unhappy with thousands of dollars in additional charges and worse, thinks very badly of us despite our extraordinary efforts to make the crap stone she picked work out. We will never accept a job on out of state stone again.
Another example was a designer that spec'd a 6CM "laminate" edge when what the customer wanted was a mitered edge. We made a laminated edge and the customer was horrified to see the grain transition at the laminate seam and thought we did terrible work. Poor communication between the designer and her customer resulted in a homeowner that thought we did very poor quality (even tho our 6CM laminate has a nearly invisible seam because we backgauge the top piece). The designer thought we should remake it free because "well, you should've known I meant a mitre drop edge."thinkdesignlive
vor 4 JahrenMost issues revolve around poor communication. And sometimes the client (designer or owner) needs to hear the word 'no' and if they don't, you as the fabricator need to walk away. Glad to hear you 'fired' one of those.
Momofthree Ma
vor 4 JahrenI have to say, I agree that sometimes a designer can get in the way, and poor communication is the root of a lot of problems. And sometimes people are just jerks.
I love to pick my designer’s brain, but I also like to deal with all of the vendors myself. The designer can help me come up with a concept, but I am the one who has to live with the finished product, so I always want to make sure that the communication is clear. This is our third major renovation, and I’ve found everything just runs smoother when communication between all parties is as clear as possible.
PROJoseph Corlett, LLC
vor 4 Jahrenoldryder:
While your advice to Houzzers is good, they shouldn't be these customers, I'm afraid you're not taking enough responsibility here.
It is you and/or your salesperson's job to properly qualify customers. These nut jobs aren't that hard to detect. If you get to a job that's shoes-off-at-the-door (cultural exceptions please), all the switch plate cover screws are vertical (to let dust fall through apparently), the floors are cleaner than the dinner plates in your cupboard, and the garage has nothing out of place, you should start asking more probing questions.
I'd start with something like "So how has your remodeling job been going so far? Now shutup. Don't say a word until the potential speaks first. If you start hearing a litany of complaints, and particularly if you know the subs in question, simply quadruple your bid and smile as you leave. Try not to screech your tires on the way out, please.
PROMDLN
vor 4 JahrenDon't be "that" fabricator
that gives the customer a 3" square piece of the countertop, they paid $5K for, to try out different sealers.
artemis_ma
vor 4 JahrenZuletzt geändert: vor 4 Jahren"It doesn't look like I thought it would and you should've told me I wouldn't like the color I picked out." When I asked her how I could possibly know what color she'd like better than she could her answer was "Well, you would've known if you had asked more questions."
Dear me... One reason I didn't hire a color designer - Sherwin Williams offered to send one over - is that I can figure out colors I like and dislike on my ownsome, as long as I don't just glimpse them on a computer monitor! There's no way to have "proper" color questions! And that's not part of your job spec anyways.
Joseph, please... These nut jobs aren't that hard to detect. If you get to a job that's shoes-off-at-the-door (cultural exceptions please), all the switch plate cover screws are vertical (to let dust fall through apparently)...
… the latter may be the electrician. My electrician did exactly that, every SINGLE switch plate cover he installed he made sure the switch plate cover screws were exactly vertical before finishing up. That was NOT me! He defines OCD... which, if he did that on the visible trivial stuff, I'm absolutely fine with his being OCD on the stuff I can't see... considering electric!
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