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how would you handle this customer

kick im in the balls SEMPER FI.

Basically its a hole in the wall. They dont want a contract and dont want to fix it correctly. Regardless of what the guy said it all comes down to a safety issue. Thanks for the input guys.

If that was a big place, with potentially a lot of work that had just been neglected or overlooked, I would have just ignored it, checked it out, gave em a quote to do it right and left.
If it was a run of the mill, hole in the wall, crappy outfit probably on about it's 18 contractor for one reason or another.....if it was one of them, and I seen way too many of them, I would have said, screw off ya jerk and just left. There is a reason the place is like that, think about it.

Well I do electrical too so i would have given them a price to change the disconnects. But I probably would have smarted off when he said that something I don't do ass so dont bend over and think your impressing me unless of course the girl was good looking than I probably would of been too distracted to of heard what he said. Basically, you did the safe right thing regardless of what he said. Working without a disconnect has resulted in injury or death as far as i am concerned no job is that important. When it comes to comments from the peanut gallery I am pretty thick skinned maybe he was trying to impress his co worker-- who the hell knows what goes on upstairs in the mind of an hourly paid hotel employee.

I can't believe it

You gents missed the most important question. Was the girl at the front desk goodlooking?

Originally posted by swat
The guy was probably in maint and has caused most of the problems and finally it is catching up.

This was my immediate reaction as well. He's ticked off, but also worried about what you'll find.

Originally posted by sctech
his remarks aside ,I wont work on units that have no disconnect , I quote on the disconnect & if approved diagnostics are made after that. Been to large places with multiple a/c's & no one could tell me which was down to which I respond would you like me to check every a/c & exsplain that diagnostic fee's are per unit not per svc. call you would be surprised how fast someone can be found that knows which a/c's are down. As for the rude comment we have a "b**ch " charge for that / misc. adjustment charge & secondary diagnostic charge which adds $100 to $150 to the bill. Kinda like cussing the cook before he makes your meal : not a good idea.

Good answer, I might add that I am not a licensed electrician and the units are unsafe and needing attention by a qualified electrician. When the disconnects are repaired/replaced I will return to finish the repairs...

If they want to be a p.i.a then I hit them with a p.i.a charge that is commesurate with the amount of pain in my ...

The guy was probably in maint and has caused most of the problems and finally it is catching up. I would document everything I had found and added possibly a smart ass charge and made sure that every repair was to be done or none of them. To much liability.

Sctech: Great answer there. Id only add get signed approval before going ahead with repairs

Payment would be COD, not some half-assed NET 30 crap...

Originally posted by sctech
his remarks aside ,I wont work on units that have no disconnect , I quote on the disconnect & if approved diagnostics are made after that. Been to large places with multiple a/c's & no one could tell me which was down to which I respond would you like me to check every a/c & exsplain that diagnostic fee's are per unit not per svc. call you would be surprised how fast someone can be found that knows which a/c's are down. As for the rude comment we have a "b**ch " charge for that / misc. adjustment charge & secondary diagnostic charge which adds $100 to $150 to the bill. Kinda like cussing the cook before he makes your meal : not a good idea.

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I call it a "stupidity" charge. Stupidity is legal but expensive.

his remarks aside ,I wont work on units that have no disconnect , I quote on the disconnect & if approved diagnostics are made after that. Been to large places with multiple a/c's & no one could tell me which was down to which I respond would you like me to check every a/c & exsplain that diagnostic fee's are per unit not per svc. call you would be surprised how fast someone can be found that knows which a/c's are down. As for the rude comment we have a "b**ch " charge for that / misc. adjustment charge & secondary diagnostic charge which adds $100 to $150 to the bill. Kinda like cussing the cook before he makes your meal : not a good idea.

Would have laughed in his face

Then gave him my competitors phone number.

How would you handle this customer?

By his neck

how would you handle this customer

after the half ass remark, i mightve kicked im in the balls and said that wasnt half ass was it

Should have told him you only fix half-assed units half-assed !

How would you all handle this:
Get a call from a customer who only calls when its broke and hot out that multiple units are out. I tell the owner I'll be there in about two hours, He says ok. I get to the building and see the girl at the front desk and a guy who I've never seen before. I explain to him who we are and ask if they know which units are down, they say no. The guy turns around and says" you guys know what you're doing" then says " are you going to fix it half- assed or what". Well I went up on the roof and found unit 1 no power on roof, unit 2 disconnect on roof off, unit 3 not getting control signal to turn on, unit 4 condenser fan blade broke and stopping fan motor. Units 1,2 & 4 all are 460 volts and the disconnect switches are broken. The only way to shut off power is a breaker panel that is behind the front desk that they use to turn the units on and off. I refused to work on the units because of they are unsafe and because of what the employee said. Do you guys feel I acted properly or should I just blew off what the guy said.