Last Minute Wally and His Lack Of Planning Is Now Our Problem

[iradney]

So I work for a company that does Stuph, right? It's Stuph that companies find useful.

So we have a client that I'm going to call Last Minute Wally (LMW). Because he always calls us to set things up at the last fucking minute.

Say for example, his company is doing something for their client. He will call us/email us about 24 hours before that Something is due to go live. And we have to run around setting it up, testing it and making all the necessary changes before it goes live. It's almost always a mad rush.

But now LMW has hit Bossman's last nerve. LMW requested a brand new something to go with the other somethings that we have available. But this brand new something (BNS) needs a few days to set up, test and action any changes requested.

Nope, LMW let us know on Friday afternoon that he needs the BNS to be ready by Monday.

So it's ready by Monday thanks to Bossman not having any time off on the weekend. But then LMW wants this changed. And that changed. Oh and change that too. And that as well.

Which basically resulted in Bossman having to change the BNS three or four times.

Yes, it was meant to be ready by Monday. And it was, but then you wanted changes. Now it's Thursday and it's not ready because he has to make all the changes you wanted, so you call me and whinge at me because it's not ready and the people in your office are not happy.

LMW hinted that he may go somewhere else (which would be difficult for him, our stuph is pretty niche), or request an SLA.

Bossman told me LMW can fuck off, because he's tired of having to do everything last minute for him.

Bossman would actually LOVE an SLA, because LMW would have to adhere to those terms as well. Which means no more calling at 8 pm/ the weekends/ public holidays wanting stuph done. He has to give us at least a week's notice for ANY new stuph so that it can be set up, tested and changed.

Here's an example of LMW's last minuteness:

Monday morning: calls me. He needs stuph set up that has to go out/ go live THAT SAME DAY. But he needs to send me information first so I can set up the stuph. He waits 6 hours and sends it to me near to close of business. I set it up (working after hours) and send him a test. He only lets me know late Tuesday morning that he wants this and this changed. I make the changes. Send him another test. He lets me know Wednesday morning that it's cool, it can go live now.

So despite him saying it HAS to go live Monday, it goes live on Wed because of him. And he's been working with us for 2+ years now, so he knows how we work. And we find it hard to believe that he only finds out about a project a day before it goes live. So he either knows about it for a while and forgets to let us know to set it up, or every single client expects 24 hour turnaround time.

Needless to say, Bossman is thisclose to telling LMW to fuck off.

[EricKei]

...so you call me and whinge at me because it's not ready and the people in your office are not happy.

I'm sure the other people in his office who are so upset (if they even exist) would LOVE to see an exact timeline showing just when he submitted his original project and the changes.

Also, please tell me he gets charged Rush fees out the wazoo for this...

[iradney]

Thing is, I'm a speed reader which means I get stuph done faster than the average person. But if he calls with stuph that ends up being done after hours, I log it as double. So e.g. if it takes me 45 minutes to do something, it would have taken an average person an hour. After hours, I log it as 2 hours. Then when invoicing time comes around, he gets charged that accordingly.

Bossman doesn't charge rush fees, but after this he just might. Especially if there's an SLA in place wherein it states if LMW wants something done in a rush, he gets charged X amount extra. Then he might learn.

[BlaqueKatt]

sounds like last minute wally probably has no real authority at his job so he figures he'll try to make YOU PEEPS dance for him because it makes him *feel* important and powerful. Here's hoping your boss turns the dance music to a classics station or off.

[Seshat]

What is an SLA? Six Letter Acronym (that is short some letters)?

[drunkenwildmage]

SLA: Service Level Agreement. Basically, defines the standards of services that a provider will give their customers, and in most cases, if the provider fails to meet those standards, then penalties can be applied.

[iradney]

sounds like last minute wally probably has no real authority at his job so he figures he'll try to make YOU PEEPS dance for him because it makes him *feel* important and powerful. Here's hoping your boss turns the dance music to a classics station or off.

Haha, I wish. He's co-owner of the company *facepalm*

[eltf177]

Boss should be charging LMW over-the-moon last-minute fees!

And if the fool waits until close of business to send you what you need I would just reply "too late, we'll work on it tomorrow." Then go home...

Seriously, this clown is causing stress and costing your firm money. Bossman needs to have a serious talk with LMW or dump him as a client...

[csquared]

I will be looking forward to the story of when Bossman tells him "No."

[iradney]

There's been a few epic firings of clients by Bossman.

One was a company that didn't understand that we charge for the work we do. We charge a flat fee which covers about 4 hours of work as well as some other stuph, but anything above that is charged for.

And this was explained to them via email three or four times. And in meetings. And over the phone. So they refused to pay. So Boss disabled the stuph. Then they paid. Repeat the next month. Even explained that we were charging them half price because they're not a big company. Nope, still not paying because they don't "understand".

So Boss fired them.

[wordgirl]

It's kind of amazing how much benefit there is in a good client firing.

Yes, you lose their money - but in many of these situations, they were not that profitable due to their sheer idiocy/inconsideration.

And morale goes up tremendously. Even if (actually, especially if) you're a sole proprietor. The last time I fired a freelance client I just sat in my chair and grinned stupidly at the wall for about three minutes - I felt so elated.

[notalwaysright]

And he's been working with us for 2+ years now, so he knows how we work.

Ah, but he does know how you work. He pays a bit more, (you said you cost more than others because you work faster), and his stuph gets done. Your company would have to retrain him and give real, firm deadlines if you want him to stop. I see "bad customer training" every single day at my work, once a customer gets away with something one time, it's now "normal."

[iradney]

So one of LMW's co-workers called me at just after lunch today. I couldn't take the call, as I had something that required all of my attention to work on.
I called them back half an hour later - voicemail. Left a message along with an email.
They called me at 17:40. On a Friday. Normally Mondays to Thursdays, I don't mind dealing with work up until 8 pm. But Fridays, after 5, I am off the clock. End of story.

And it's for a report formatting thing. Which they could have told us about yesterday, but they waited until today *sigh*.

Will call the client on Monday. Because sorry, I'm spending time with my family now. Bugger off.

[RealUnimportant]

The problem is you've been letting him pull this shit for 2 years. He doesn't care what you say because in the end, you've still done it more or less at his whim. Time to break out the remote clue by 4...

[bankworking]

The SLA sounds like a great idea. And since the client brought it up to begin with, it can even be rammed down his throat in a sweetly-polite "we're adding this because you had the wonderful idea to suggest it". Maybe it's normally used to hold the business accountable, but as noted, such works both ways. Clear time-lines and costs for changes or add-ons that were not mentioned in the beginning agreement...