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Hi guys. I have this lady who, well, to make the story short, has been trying to get something for free since the very first time she called. Now she's calling wanting some measurements I took, to take them to someone else, of course (She didn't even deny it). Well I'm not giving her Jack, and I've had it with her. How would you politely and professionally... give her the boot?
[ October 11, 2011, 02:36 PM: Message edited by: Felix Marcano ]
-------------------- Felix Marcano PuertoRicoSigns.Com Luquillo, PR
Work hard, party like a tourist! Posts: 2274 | From: Luquillo, Puerto Rico, USA | Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
I usually just play stupid and ask them to come in to the office and look things over, as if I don't even realize what they are doing. Most of the time they won't bother. Tell her to come in and you'll go over it all with her. But you might mention she will have to pay you for your time before she comes and then you'll give over all the pre-work you've done to date. Just treat it like a billable office visit and stay totally professional. This way she can't say you treated her badly and ran her off.
Works for me every time.
-------------------- Michael Gene Adkins The Fontry 1576 S Hwy 59 Watts OK 74964 Posts: 845 | From: Watts, OK USA | Registered: Jun 1999
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"Sometimes a customer and a supplier just aren't a good fit, so rather than invest more time in something that I feel is not going to be profitable to me in the long run, I think it would be best if you found a new sign maker. Unfortunately, it would damage my professional reputation and set a bad precident to simply hand over the prep work that I did to my competition, however if you wish to pay me my shop rate of $xxx for the time invested in taking the measurements, I'd be glad to give them to you."
I'd LIKE to think I'd say something like that...
-------------------- “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” -Winnie the Pooh & A.A. Milne
Kelly Thorson Kel-T-Grafix 801 Main St. Holdfast, SK S0G 2H0 ktg@sasktel.net Posts: 5496 | From: Penzance, Saskatchewan | Registered: May 2002
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Make sure she gets a written copy of your shop rates.....
Standard shop rate......$65 per hour. If you watch............$85 per hour. If you help.............$100 per hour. If you insist on wasting my time.....$250 per hour.
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Mr. Clanton is very funny!!! Picas would be hilarious!!!
Pica pole, anyone?
hahahahahahaha
-------------------- Michael Gene Adkins The Fontry 1576 S Hwy 59 Watts OK 74964 Posts: 845 | From: Watts, OK USA | Registered: Jun 1999
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I just wonder...if a person insists on wanting something for nothing, should they be refered to as a "customer"?
Personally, I don't think so.
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
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The right customer is never wrong and the wrong customer is never right.
-------------------- Preston McCall 112 Rim Road Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 text: 5056607370 Posts: 1552 | From: Santa Fe, New Mexico | Registered: Nov 1998
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-------------------- You ever notice how easily accessible people are when they are requiring your services but once they get invoice you can't reach them anymore
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A while back, I read here that someone always spec'd the wrong measurements on his drawings and made the dimensions smaller than they really were so that if another company used the dimensions, their sign would be too small and couldn't be trimmed to fit.
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5084 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Let me get this straight.....I took the initiative to make my own measurements with no pay for my services. but you want me to hand them over to save valuable time for my competitor so that he is better able to undercut my price? Ask her that. Will she get it or not? Will she care? Either way, I would politely tell her that it would be better for the competitor to make his own measurements.
[ October 12, 2011, 04:16 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7403 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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You kept the measurements in your head but suffer from Early-Onset Alzheimer's and have forgotten them...then ask for her name again and what she wants.
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That's why I always say "The Small design, the middle design, the large design". Hahahaha!! By the way, I haven't heard from her since I sent the email. Thanks Kelly!!! LOLOLOL!!!!
-------------------- Felix Marcano PuertoRicoSigns.Com Luquillo, PR
Work hard, party like a tourist! Posts: 2274 | From: Luquillo, Puerto Rico, USA | Registered: Nov 2000
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