How silly of me to think my time was worth anything!

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I do occasional handyman jobs for my friends and family (painting, simple repairs, bedroom/bathroom door installations, things like that). It usually works out because it saves them money and makes me a little in the process. Now I know it's usually a bad idea to do business with family and friends but I've got a specific system I use that has resulted in minimal problems or strained relationships.

Now on to the story...

So awhile back a friend of mine wanted me to do a painting job for him, a living room. I drop by, measure the room, ask a few questions and give him a number for how much I'll need to buy supplies. He gives me a check the next day.

I go over and do job the job about a week later. Now this wasn't a huge job, but it wasn't a small job either (about 10 hours worth of work). After it's finished I give my friend an invoice (I do this for everyone. Even if we're friends or family, I still want these records to cover my ass on this stuff) which showed the cost of the supplies (which he'd already paid), along with a charge of $60 for labor.

He goes NUTS. Apparently he felt that since we were friends I should just "hook him up" and not charge him for the time involved. This despite the fact I made clear to him that in doing this I WOULD be charging him an amount for labor.

And if you do the math, I'm charging a CRAZY low amount. The $60 fee amounts to $6/hour which is LESS than minimum wage and WELL below what any professional would charge for a similar job.

Well we continued fighting over this for awhile but finally, after nearly two months, he gave me my money but he was STILL grumbling about having to do so.

It's kind of sad that I did my best to make the terms of this PERFECTLY clear prior to any work being done and I still got into a mess with this guy.

[cashierbex]

Before I got my job, my family asked me to babysit. They paid me, and I got to raid their house for random goodies and the theater that my uncle built (thing is so badassed, lets just say watching unspeakable things while your little cousin was asleep was awesome). I never even asked for the money.

And damn, my roomies poor father does a lot for us and never wants to get paid for it. I try to take him and his wife out to eat once in a while or *gulp* babysit their grandson (who is my nephew now). But thats when I have the money to do so, otherwise roomie's hubby does it. But I give him rides to work.

[bainsidhe]

I consider painting an incredibly un-fun way to spend my time. And I'd certainly be pissed if someone decided after the fact that my time and effort wasn't worth anything.

[Mr Hero]

He expects you to "hook him up" since you're such good friends. Somehow I don't think friends go back on agreeing to pay the mutually agreed amount for the labor.

I'm curious. You mentioned a system you use to reduce strained and ruined relationships for this kind of thing. Is this something you're willing to share?

And damn, my roomies poor father does a lot for us and never wants to get paid for it. I try to take him and his wife out to eat once in a while or *gulp* babysit their grandson (who is my nephew now). But thats when I have the money to do so, otherwise roomie's hubby does it. But I give him rides to work.

Off topic, but this sounded like a mind puzzle where you have to figure out how everyone is related based on the clues provided. I'm guessing you married a sibling of your roommate?

[bankworking]

Some people are willing to screw over friends and family in ways they wouldn't think of with a stranger. Assuming they aren't a SC that would screw over anyone they can.

[cashierbex]

Off topic, but this sounded like a mind puzzle where you have to figure out how everyone is related based on the clues provided. I'm guessing you married a sibling of your roommate?

Oopsie,
Its more complicated than that.

Lets just say one of the roommates is my ex gf, her parents have treated me like family even before we started dating. Now I live with her and her hubby and soon to be their baby starting next year who I shall call niece or nephew also. The nephew I mentioned lives with his grandparents (ex's parents) and mom, but the grandparents have guardianship over him cause mom is a waste of space (hate to say it).

[MoonCat]

Unfortunately it sounds like you might want to start giving people written estimates and get them to sign them. And don't do any work for this guy again. You gave him a helluva bargain on the price and all he can do is gripe? Jeez.

[Merriweather]

He goes NUTS. Apparently he felt that since we were friends I should just "hook him up" and not charge him for the time involved. This despite the fact I made clear to him that in doing this I WOULD be charging him an amount for labor.

I would have told him fine, since we're such good friends that giving the other 10 hours of our time & hard work is no big deal, you'll expect him there bright & early the following weekend to superclean your house with HIS 10 hours of hard work.

[AccountingDrone]

I consider painting an incredibly un-fun way to spend my time. And I'd certainly be pissed if someone decided after the fact that my time and effort wasn't worth anything.

I always liked the actual painting part, I never liked the scraping and prepping. Well, spackling can be fun

[XCashier]

I would have told him fine, since we're such good friends that giving the other 10 hours of our time & hard work is no big deal, you'll expect him there bright & early the following weekend to superclean your house with HIS 10 hours of hard work.

I like this! And be sure to give him a toothbrush to clean with.

[Jester]

Your time is valuable. You could be getting paid what the job is worth to someone else, but you are giving the guy a deal, and if he is too much of a raging douchebag to appreciate that, well, fuck him....hope he enjoys paying top dollar next time he needs something painted.

I did some free work once. A buddy of mine wanted to start a dinner club, and he wanted me to be the "chef" for the first one. He agreed to pay for everything, and I did it for no pay, because it was a challenge that I looked forward to, knew I'd enjoy, and to this day still the most ambitious cooking project I've ever taken on. (Sit down four course dinner for 20 people, with only myself and my niece Dragon cooking.) I spent weeks on this, making sauces, shopping for this, that, and the other, designing the menu, talking to the wine expert he got so we could pair wine to the courses, etc. But again, I did all this with no recompense because I wanted to. He never offered me money, but if I had wanted to be paid for my time, I would have told him upfront, as the OP told the douchebag. If I had, and he had refused to pay me, well, I never would have taken on the project. The point is that, as in the OP, we agreed on terms before anything began, and we stuck to those terms throughout. When I needed more money for ingredients, for example, he ponied up without question, asking only for receipts, which I happily provided.

I don't pay my roommate for computer work, because he won't take any, it usually takes him a few moments to fix what it took me hours to fuck up, and I often buy him coke, vodka, or whatever....it all works out. And I order him shit online, as he has no credit card. (He gives me cash for these things.) And we're roommates, so the dynamic is a bit different. I go through all the bullshit of collecting and paying rent and bills, so that my roommates don't have to, and so he doesn't mind occasionally correcting whatever I have managed to fuck up on my computer. That being said, he recently burned 4 dvd's for me, and I told him I'd pay whatever the materials cost. Because I know that he didn't just find them under a rock.

Etc., etc. You get the point.

[Sonoma]

I spent 2 weekends in February helping my best friend paint her new condo, but she would buy my meals when we were working on it. And when I bought my place 3 years ago, she spent several days helping me move, and then cleaning out the old apartment. We went into it knowing it was volunteer work, but each of us needed comperable amounts of work, so the trade-off was great.

[Jester]

Exactly, Sonoma. My close friends know that if they want me to help them move, (1) I am very helpful, (2) I am pretty much the best ever at fitting a lot of stuff into a small space, if that's necessary for the move, and (3) my price is standard: beer and pizza. Feed me and hydrate me with barley water. Beyond that, I don't charge my FRIENDS shit for such things. If you ask me to help you move and you don't know that, chances are you aren't such a good friend, and the rate may....vary.

[RealUnimportant]

At $6/hr, sounds like you already tried to "hook him up" - ungrateful basket!

[SkullBash]

If any of my friends did a project like that for me, I'd INSIST that I compensate them, whether with plain cash or something equivalent (like a really nice dinner). And make sure refreshments are available if it's a 10hr plus job (read: cold beer).

Good people or not, some folks just look for the miles out of any inches you give them. After this experience, I echo the comment that the douchebag friend out to enjoy what REAL labor prices are like the next time he needs work done.