"I'm your customer, which means I'm actually your boss."

[bloo]

Reading one of the threads reminded me an estimate my husband went on when we had a construction company in NC. DH was being asked to bid on a re-roof for a condominium.

After doing his measurements, he started to compile the bid when the SC interrupted him with, "Make sure you don't add in labor and materials for felt paper."

DH: (goggle-eyed)

SC: "I think felt paper is bad for roofs and I'm not going to spend the money on it."

DH: (thinking 'you're the property manager, buttwipe, it's not coming out of your pocket') "I'm not taking felt paper out. We always install it because it's an integral part of the roof system. Also, the shingle installation specifications requires felt paper. Your material warranty will be voided if it's not installed. Also you'd only be saving $200. It's a $20,000 roof. Also I'm not doing it because I'm not putting my name on a sub-standard job."

SC: "Look. I'm the customer. That makes me your boss. So if I tell you to do the job without paper, then that means-"

DH: "Excuse me, but can you walk into Walmart and tell the nearest employee to move the aisles because you don't like where they're located?"

SC: "Well..."

DH: "That's right, you can't. Because you're not, in fact, the boss. I am the boss of my roofing company. You are not my boss and you sure as hell aren't going to be my customer." (turning around and walking back to his truck and leaving)

I'll have to pump DH for some more because that wasn't even the worst of sucky, stupid ones.

[Sapphire Silk]

Pennywise and pound foolish.

Roofing paper is actually tough stuff; is a very good vapor barrier, which is good because you don't want your shingles to crumble from the inside out from moisture and humidity. It extends the life of the roof.

I've used it as a vapor barrier when I put a laminate floor in my living/dining room. It works great and was far, far cheaper than the fancy products available. I paid about $45 for the whole room I think (it was a big room).

[notalwaysright]

When I did office work for a roofing company people seemed to think that (after a google search?) they were more informed that the owner who had been in the business for 35 years. In order to stay in business with a good reputation, a job needs to be done correctly. So customers didn't get the same treatment as in retail. The roofers were nice, but just didn't budge. Although I never personally got to tell them "no" I heard it, and it gave me the warm fuzzies.

And uh, yeah. Felt paper is super important, and $200 would be a bargain for a $20K roof.

[Argabarga]

How much you want to bet that 8 years from now, when his sub-standard el-cheapo roof starts falling apart, he tries to sue someone for shoddy workmanship?

And if he can't even make it through the estimate without going all SC, imagine the headache when the job would have started.... he'd be out there every second of every day, and every time someone's hammer slipped, he'd demand a discount for the "inconvenience". People like that aren't worth it.

[bloo]

Pennywise and pound-foolish, indeed.

Yeah, DH was just shooting off the top of his head about the felt paper costs (costs to himself). That is honestly the one and only time he's ever had a potential client demand to leave off an important part of the system.

I couldn't quite wrap my head around the idea that he'd actually be able to find someone to do the job. But if there was one thing DH seemed to be able to do, it was sniffing out SC's. Of course the idiot above quickly presented himself but I clearly remember one little nutball we actually signed a contract with who then informed DH that she was going to be up on the roof *with him and his crew* as they tore off and re-shingled the roof. He promptly sent her the deposit back and told her to find another roofer when she said it was contingent on him keeping the job.

I demurred with, "Well could you have humored her...?"

DH shot back with, "She's 75 years old! If she fell off the roof I wouldn't get the final check!"

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

How much you want to bet that 8 years from now, when his sub-standard el-cheapo roof starts falling apart, he tries to sue someone for shoddy workmanship?

Or, he could do like one idiot I know, and wait for a freak hailstorm or wind storm to tear up what's left of his roof, file a claim with his homeowners insurance, get shot down when the adjuster says no way that happened due to the storm, and BTW we're dropping you if you can't fix it yourself, be unable to get insurance for the house, and end up losing the house because the bank holding your mortgage demands you have homeowners insurance.

[Gilhelmi]

snip

DH shot back with, "She's 75 years old! If she fell off the roof I wouldn't get the final check!"

I know a couple of elderly people just like that. My father is one of them.

[Evannah]

A customer who thinks he's the boss, huh? Had those kinds of people who indirectly think they're the boss by trying to tell me how to do my job. Like, how to correctly process a card payment, how to count change, how many painkillers we're allowed to sell in one go, etc etc etc. This was back in Land of Quid (my new name for my former workplace lol!).

[Jetfire]

... but I clearly remember one little nutball we actually signed a contract with who then informed DH that she was going to be up on the roof *with him and his crew* as they tore off and re-shingled the roof.

Now, were it my roof, I might ask for a couple inspection tours at certain points of the job (after the roof is stripped so I can take a look at the sheeting as well), and maybe midway through the process and when it's done. But being up there, in the way while everyone is working? No way in hell.

If I'm not working, I'd probably be on a lawn chair a safe distance away, manning the water/lemonade station for the workers.

[Mytical]

If I'm not working, I'd probably be on a lawn chair a safe distance away, manning the water/lemonade station for the workers.

Same here. Sometimes climbing stairs (or going down them) becomes like trying to step over the grand canyon, so no way on earth would I get on a roof. So I will be bringing out the ice water, ice cold pop, etc and offering free to the workers. And you know, let them do the job they are paid to do.

[An Haddock]

Now, were it my roof, I might ask for a couple inspection tours at certain points of the job (after the roof is stripped so I can take a look at the sheeting as well), and maybe midway through the process and when it's done. But being up there, in the way while everyone is working? No way in hell.

If I'm not working, I'd probably be on a lawn chair a safe distance away, manning the water/lemonade station for the workers.

I'm sure there are SC's who would give you funny or dirty looks for giving a crap about the employees.

"They're hot and thirsty? They can bring their own refreshments!"

[bloo]

Same here. Sometimes climbing stairs (or going down them) becomes like trying to step over the grand canyon, so no way on earth would I get on a roof. So I will be bringing out the ice water, ice cold pop, etc and offering free to the workers. And you know, let them do the job they are paid to do.

It was really nice when a few fantastic customers would serve a refreshing drink to the guys. They were all smart enough to bring their own but it served as a message that the customer thought of them as more than just 'labor' or 'the help'.

[MadMike]

Now, were it my roof, I might ask for a couple inspection tours at certain points of the job (after the roof is stripped so I can take a look at the sheeting as well), and maybe midway through the process and when it's done.

Not me. I tried getting up on my roof once, when a few shingles had blown off, causing water damage to the ceiling on one of the bedrooms below. I looked up how to do it, it didn't look too difficult, so I bought the materials, borrowed a ladder from my neighbor, and climbed up. As soon as I got up there, I was frozen in fear. I'm not sure how I managed to make my way to the ladder, but my son was holding it for me, and he said I was making it shake the whole way down. A coworker of mine recommended someone who is apparently much braver than I am, and more importantly, he did it for only $75.

As far as the idiot customer being the OP's boss, I guess it's true in a sense. But the OP also had the option of quitting that particular boss, and did.

[AccountingDrone]

Now, were it my roof, I might ask for a couple inspection tours at certain points of the job (after the roof is stripped so I can take a look at the sheeting as well), and maybe midway through the process and when it's done. But being up there, in the way while everyone is working? No way in hell.

If I'm not working, I'd probably be on a lawn chair a safe distance away, manning the water/lemonade station for the workers.

When my parents house had a major fire, they moved into a trailer parked on the street in front and my mom acted as her own Clerk of Works [repeating a position she held on the school board when they had major construction done] and she baked cookies and had coffee for the guys working on the house and in the trailer belonging to the art restoration company.

I have to admit, I would probably do the same, though I would have my cook shack [a 20 foot x 40 foot screen house with electricity, a plumbed in sink and one of those huge kickass BBQs with rotissery] built first, to have somewhere to hang out with my laptop to clerk from.

[downforit2008]

Oh, the customer is MY boss, huh?

Then where the hell is my raise? I'm long overdue.