Need to Vent

I

indiana jones

Member
Customer we had in 2003 - had two locations. His former cleaners didn't bother to remove the original nuts and bolts from the hinge kits. You can picture the fans! Meanwhile I told him I wouldnt "sticker" a wood burning pizza oven with type 2 ducting as cleaned by us when we didn't. We had a falling out over it. So meanwhile he got several fly by nighters over the last 3years to clean the systems. Today, they have 4 locations - his last "cleaner" didn't quite do the job like we did, etc. How much will we charge today for the 4. I gave him a discount of $10 per location. So he already is getting the 4 jobs for $40 less than 2003 prices. He emails that he misunderstood what I said and will have to look elsewhere for cheaper. I reminded him in my email that our fuel, chemical, insurance, material and labor costs like his have gone up since 2003. That we clean the entire systems not just the hood and filters, carry liability insurance and workers comp unlike the other companies. And as a final kiss off wrote- we should be charging more that my original quote. What service do you pay less for today than you paid 3 years ago? I await his reply.
 
You did the right thing-I don't think you need a customer like that-He will turn on you for a thin dime. We all have had customers like that. In fact if he comes back I would turn him down-just for the way he was acting, just a big red flag.
 
That sucks Indy. I have had the same thing happen only to find that I really didn't want the customer in the first place. The worst part about yours is you lowered your price and it wasn't enough for him. I think you messed up by lowering your price for him, even if you did need the work.

It is very unfortunate when restaurant owners don't appreciate the fact that we have to leave our families alone at night to come in and clean up one of the nastiest parts of their restaurants. There arent many hood cleaners out there because the work sucks. Anybody that says it is easy is just trying to get a rise out of you. Sure anybody CAN do it, the point is nobody WANTS to do it and that is why you should charge a premium for your service, always.
 
Thanks for the imput guys. Matt I agree I shouldn't have lowered my price, but seeing $ signs with an expanding company I took the bait. You know the old corporate discount thingy! I don't however need the work especially not his type, I think I pretty much told him that. I am sure he is out there right now somewhere pissing-up-a-rope. No more mister nice guy from me.
 
Heard from Bozo the ex-customer today. Get this! While He was on vacation last week and had the painters over, his wife mentioned her husband ran 4 restaurants locally. So the painter said, please let me clean your hoods I can do it cheaper - so for $200 each location the painter will clean the hoods. I didn't ask any questions and wished him continued success. I did tell him to be sure they clean the ducts, and fans in addition to the hoods and the parts you can see. He finished with an assurance that if they don't work out he'll call in 6 months. Unlike David Blaine, I won't hold my breath!
 
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