Can't always get what you want...(LONG)

[Interior Desecrator]

Is it just me, or is the recent economic climate bringing the EW's out of the woodwork? I've already had some minor experiences with this, but these two ladies take the cake.

My boss and I were on a job site yesterday to measure for a cabinet estimate. The project is an old house in one of the older high-end golf communities around here. The development is mostly summer/weekend homes. The owners had come up from Florida for a weekend visit to check the progress of the remodel, and in less than 24 hours had completely frazzled the contractor. Now, with an older home, you never know what you're going to find when you start ripping into walls. This one was especially difficult, in that it needed a great deal of engineering work to make it level and shore up some sagging walls. All of this work costs money, and the women are now over budget.

This by no means makes them EW's. No, what makes them EW's is how they choose to handle the situation. I actually overheard them brow-beating the contractor in the other room and had to swallow a couple of snorts. Apparently, they feel that since the economy is so bad, vendors should be bending over backwards for their business. I heard them talking about how “nobody is doing anything right now” and how everyone should be cutting their prices to get more jobs. Their tone made it sound like they were doing us all a favor by bestowing us with an opportunity to work. Meanwhile, we should all be caving into their ridiculous pricing demands, no matter how much money we would be losing. As in, they wanted to be charged less for certain materials than what the contractor actually paid. The contractor took us aside later, and told us how these ladies even wanted him to cut his workers' wages so he could lower his prices. (To his credit, this contractor actually values his workers and is doing all he can to help them out in these tough times.)

Now, I was choking back some rude noises for two reasons: 1) We actually don't need this job. Most of the professionals in the construction trade around here are doing OK. We're usually busier, but most people are staying afloat because it's a resort area. Much of our economy caters to wealthy vacationers and part-time residents, and they haven't been hit hard enough economically to stop building or renovating vacation homes. 2) Their logic is a bit backwards. If we're supposedly so desperate for work, there's no way we can afford to offer deep discounts which would cause us to lose money. When the jobs are rolling in, sure we can lose a little on a job or two, but not when business is bad. We've got bills to pay, too. I can't just go to the grocery store or the gas station and say, “Hey, the economy is bad, so you should charge me less.” Yeah, I'd get laughed out of the store, and then be posted about on this site!

Maybe they should go take an econ course. Yeah, times are tough, and I feel it, too. But don't assume this means you have the right to get something for next to nothing!

[MTNLaurelPoacher]

Tell those ladies they get what they pay for!

((and no that is not a picture of me))

[Angry_Hippie]

Thanks, you now have The Rolling Stones stuck in my head

[Imogene]

Quoth MTNLaurelPoacher

Tell those ladies they get what they pay for!

What is that he's pointing at?

[ShugoAC]

Quoth Juwl

What is that he's pointing at?

If you look at the bottom bracket you'll see that the person installing it failed to either A) Measure the space between brackets to assure that the two halves of the bracket are in the same spot (the correct way) or B) Leave the bracket as one piece and just screw the part on to the door with a power screw driver. (The easy way)

I work maintenance at a hotel and see stupid stuff like that all the time. The powers of a measuring tape and a level seem to elude the contractors who are renovating our place.

[Jester]

Quoth Interior Desecrator

Can't always get what you want...

"But if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you neeeeeddd......"




Sorry. Couldn't help it. Of course, the EW's in the story would take that song to mean that they should keep trying to get their ridiculous price demands until someone caves in to them.

Though I think it would be better if a tunnel caved in ON them....

[marty]

That same woman went into Gamestop in our town a year ago and was angry that we couldn't sell her five Wiis for her five vacation homes, and travel bags were way to expensive and should be given for free!

[Interior Desecrator]

Quoth Angry_Hippie

Thanks, you now have The Rolling Stones stuck in my head

You're welcome!

Jester - What they need is a good dose of reality (or a kick in the pants). Hopefully, I can provide that for them...the former that is, not the latter.

Marty - You let her get away to torment other poor souls who are just trying to make a living?? I thought you were on my side!

[AriRashkae]

Quoth marty

That same woman went into Gamestop in our town a year ago and was angry that we couldn't sell her five Wiis for her five vacation homes, and travel bags were way to expensive and should be given for free!

Can afford to buy 5 Wiis for 5 separate homes. (I hate you.)

Wants 1 or more travel bags. (Why? How many other homes do you have?)

Thinks the bags are too expensive? ( )

You know, there are many days I'd like to trade situations with some of the people I see posted about. Then I realize that they'd probably end up burning the family home down.

[draftermatt]

Quoth Interior Desecrator

2) Their logic is a bit backwards. If we're supposedly so desperate for work, there's no way we can afford to offer deep discounts which would cause us to lose money. When the jobs are rolling in, sure we can lose a little on a job or two, but not when business is bad. We've got bills to pay, too. I can't just go to the grocery store or the gas station and say, “Hey, the economy is bad, so you should charge me less.” Yeah, I'd get laughed out of the store, and then be posted about on this site!
!

Yes and no...

Since business is bad you want to cut your prices in order to attract more customers. If you typically operate with a 10% profit you want to cut it to 8% and see if that helps you get money.

You shouldn't have to lose money though, that part is stupid.

We actually recently basically gave a job away (i.e. we did it but made next to nothing) because we needed to do something or risk shutting down, and because we knew if we did a good job he'd give us the next one regardless of price.

(He did, and we're going to make a killing on it)