drunk customer

[woko]

Hi all, need a little advise. I completed a job yesterday small domestic, two LED outside lights.
We agreed white lights but I turned up with black. I apologised and offered to changed them. After several text messages with his partner he decided if i offered him a discount then I would fit the black ones.
After this he kept chatting, in an out of the garage where I was working. I noticed his speech became slurred and he became irrational and was talking rubbish. I finished and he came to pay me. He tried to give me a lot less than I'd asked for he then gave me the rest reluctantly. Then he started trying to give me a hug. I wanted to get out of there ASAP.
Later that evening he sent me a garbled text message about a cable being untidy and his partner wanted white lights. I've offered to go back and sort the cable and told him I can't take the lights back because they've been fitted and he will have to pay for replacements as we agreed I'd fit black one at a reduced rate.
I'm not happy going back to be honest . I don't think I should have to put up with that behaviour, he was at home but I was at work. He made me feel extremely uneasy.
Any similar stories? Any advise? I've thought about contacting napit to get them on side.

 

[GLENNSPARK]

Hi all, need a little advise. I completed a job yesterday small domestic, two LED outside lights.
We agreed white lights but I turned up with black. I apologised and offered to changed them. After several text messages with his partner he decided if i offered him a discount then I would fit the black ones.
After this he kept chatting, in an out of the garage where I was working. I noticed his speech became slurred and he became irrational and was talking rubbish. I finished and he came to pay me. He tried to give me a lot less than I'd asked for he then gave me the rest reluctantly. Then he started trying to give me a hug. I wanted to get out of there ASAP.
Later that evening he sent me a garbled text message about a cable being untidy and his partner wanted white lights. I've offered to go back and sort the cable and told him I can't take the lights back because they've been fitted and he will have to pay for replacements as we agreed I'd fit black one at a reduced rate.
I'm not happy going back to be honest . I don't think I should have to put up with that behaviour, he was at home but I was at work. He made me feel extremely uneasy.
Any similar stories? Any advise? I've thought about contacting napit to get them on side.

i`m starting to think you were more pised than he was...

perhaps he thought you were a tree.....you certainly behaved like a plank of wood by getting the wrong fittings....then bleatin about it in here...

 

[Silly Sausage]

Welcome back Glenn, as you can see, same old same old! :smilielol5:

 

[john25]

lol Supplying Black lights instead of White & leaving untidy Cable .Where you both on the P155 ??

Just Kidding Fella

But to answer your Question ,The way I see it is while they agreed to have the Black fittings installed ,You are a Professional Spark & you were Hired to do a Job for that reason & Should not have made the Error of buying The Black Lights in the First place ,You say his speech became Slurred while he was talking to you in the Garage , but you don't say how long you where there for so im guessing that unless he is a Lightweight Drinker then Chances are both him & his missus had already had a few when they agreed to have the Black lights installed so that Decision was made under the Influence of Alcohol ,& Now that they have sobered up they have realized that you REALLY Have installed The Black lights instead of white ones and now they want what they Originally wanted Fitted instead.

As for the Untidy Cable ,Maybe you have left it untidy , or it might just be a ploy by the Customer to get you back round so he can try & persuade you to install the White lights at no extra Cost .But the Fact that you have agreed to go Back to sort the Cable out suggests you aren't really sure whether you have left it Nice & Tidy.

But at the end of the Day you have done what the Customer asked for & agreed & can walk away knowing that. but you are gonna lose any potential future work from him or anyone he knows looking for a Spark.

But just remember that it's Down to You not buying the right Lights the Customer Actually wanted in the First place is The reason that you now getting Blowback from that Job.

Like others have said Offer to buy the White lights & Fit them for No Cost & save the Black ones for another Job .

Just my 2 Cents of course.

 

[guest119]

Life is too short to spend time with as....e customers like this.
Job is done, you are paid, minus a bit for an AGREED variation.
Dont go back. If he phones, tell him not to call again.
He wont do your reputation any harm amongst people that know him (for the alky he is).

Boydy

 

[woko]

This thread has gone a bit over the top. I reckon shouldn't have posted it. I've spoke to the guy and he is sticking with the black fittings. The cable isn't untidy, just ploy to get me back. When he lodged his complaint he will have been drinking for another 3 hours and if you'd seen the text you would have understood.
Those who have called me a cowboy couldn't have been further from the truth. I'm a good spark with a good rep and customer base. My range is from small domestic jobs like this one to large solar panel systems on local farms and commercial buildings. Just had my latest MCS and CPS with 1 N/C, which was a paperwork exercise.
I think I forgot to mention that when I realised the fitting were wrong I offered to change them and he decided to stick with the black for a reduced fee.
Cheers all for comments good, bad or ridiculous!!

 

[telectrix]

This thread has gone a bit over the top. I reckon shouldn't have posted it. I've spoke to the guy and he is sticking with the black fittings. The cable isn't untidy, just ploy to get me back. When he lodged his complaint he will have been drinking for another 3 hours and if you'd seen the text you would have understood.
Those who have called me a cowboy couldn't have been further from the truth. I'm a good spark with a good rep and customer base. My range is from small domestic jobs like this one to large solar panel systems on local farms and commercial buildings. Just had my latest MCS and CPS with 1 N/C, which was a paperwork exercise.
I think I forgot to mention that when I realised the fitting were wrong I offered to change them and he decided to stick with the black for a reduced fee.
Cheers all for comments good, bad or ridiculous!!

that's what a forum is all about. you get good advice, bad advice, a bit of ribbing and banter, same as you would on site.

 

[Sparkysoldman]

don't dare single me out. your whole reply is utter crap man.
it sounds to me that you make mistakes of the same kind frequently.
put yourself in the customers shoes. you asked for white, then get black.
bit crap no? you expect to get what you ask for and when you don't, you expect for it to be put right at no furthet cost to yourself. its basic contractual law man.

The customer had 2 choices take the black or insist on the white he changed the contract when he agreed to black at discounted price
If you change to white free of charged thats a commercial decision as far as the contract is concerned you have forfilled it

 

[7029 dave]

People are people nawn't as quire as folk!!

 

[ferg]

If it was me I'd be swearing about it to myself and changing the fittings.
Reputation is everything, why risk it for a couple of fittings and a little time.

To me the right and wrong of it would be less important than maintaining my reputation.

 

[JD6400]

As some of the more senior members will know , we took a hit on a sub main to a new equestrian yard we did last year . We quoted the sub main but lost it to someone else that truly butchered it !
Even so we ended up replacing the sub main after it catastrophically failed due to how it had been installed ( not by us !!!! ) , for the sake of our own reputation ( long story ) and the person that had introduced us to the client !

All told it weighed us in at around a £30,000 total loss !:icon9:
So stand by your mistake and get a dairy for your next quote , so mistakes like getting the wrong colour do not happen in the first place .

Edit ; Sorry Woko , I had missed your last post .

 

[Rockingit]

This thread has gone a bit over the top. I reckon shouldn't have posted it. I've spoke to the guy and he is sticking with the black fittings. The cable isn't untidy, just ploy to get me back. When he lodged his complaint he will have been drinking for another 3 hours and if you'd seen the text you would have understood.
Those who have called me a cowboy couldn't have been further from the truth. I'm a good spark with a good rep and customer base. My range is from small domestic jobs like this one to large solar panel systems on local farms and commercial buildings. Just had my latest MCS and CPS with 1 N/C, which was a paperwork exercise.
I think I forgot to mention that when I realised the fitting were wrong I offered to change them and he decided to stick with the black for a reduced fee.
Cheers all for comments good, bad or ridiculous!!

And the lesson is: give all the facts, else people go guessing (even me - sorry).

 

[Englishman]

can someone remind me what it's like to get drunk? as i've got older i have to limit myself ( well, mrs. tel does) to 6 pints and a couple of large ones. can't remember last time i was falling over ( except for when the lads hid my zimmer frame in the ladies).

Can you remind me what alcohol tastes like? I've not even had a drink for 3 and a half months!

 

[Geordie Spark]

Ok, I'll go back and swap the lights. Just annoyed he was drunk and tried to hug me. I asked him not to and he grabbed me. Not impressed with that behaviour at all. He was also intimidating.
Cheers for comments.

Oh dear God!!

How old are you??

Stop being a shrinking violet, get a thicker skin, grow up and get on with it!!

Jesus!! .................... bloody kids today !! Thank God you weren't in the trenches during WW1.

 

[woko]

I was in the trenches during World War One. I took a bullet from a sniper and its left me with an absolute fear of drunken idiots trying to hug me.

 

[telectrix]

oh dear god!!

How old are you??

Stop being a shrinking violet, get a thicker skin, grow up and get on with it!!

Jesus!! .................... Bloody kids today !! Thank god you weren't in the trenches during ww1.

you could have been his mentor.