Posted 2010-08-19 10:22 PM (#123822 - in reply to #123717) Subject: RE: Horse trailer polishing?
Location: Kentucky
Garthlocklin, if I were you I'd refund the money and walk, no, run away as fast as I could from this guy! But on the other hand you should be almost done......
Posted 2010-08-20 3:15 PM (#123860 - in reply to #123054) Subject: RE: Horse trailer polishing?
Member
Posts: 11
Location: Malvern, AR
Ha ha!!! I think i got it figured out. I know i am not the brightest crayon in the box but i always went to work to do a good job for a customer, and i have always gotten paid but the world has changed. The customer keeps finding issues with the trailer and wants this part done again and that part to look better and so forth. He isn't going to a horse show to show his horse..."He wants to sell his trailer!" So, he keeps complaining and i keep trying to make it right for him and he finds something else to complain about. So, hence, because this "attitude" people have developed towards me in the last year or so as a nice hard working self employed guy...(i also paint houses, or i used to anyway). Being self employed nowadays really means "go to work and lose money". I am truly blessed...come 8/25/10 i will start my new "JOB" at the Humane Society. It doesn't pay much but considering i haven't had a JOB since 1993??? I have worked my butt off to have what little i have today; i am OK with it. Another self employed person in America is going to throw in the towel, and once again be an hourly wage worker like he was many years ago. This customer has asked me if i want to detail a few other vehicles over there. NOPE!!! Because whether it is him or the next guy on the phone, the 1st question i get asked now is "How cheap will you work?" I don't blame the customer. Everyone is that way with me nowadays. Answering the calls on my "yellow pages" ad has been mostly entertaining for the past year or so. I have "given up" on giving estimates. My ad doesn't say "free estimates", although i used to give them. Now i just tell a potential customer "there is a $40 consultation fee...." And i just shut up and laugh to myself as i hear their exasperation and disbelief over the phone. "Wha wha What do ya mean?" What i mean is i am sick and tired of wasting my time and driving out to various jobs and having customers pick my brains for ideas and solutions and when i give them an estimate, no matter how low i go, they will just call someone else and ask them to go lower!" So, if this guy pays me? Great! And if he don't, so what. My favorite quote i use often during this recession is..."I ain't broke, i'm just outta money!" So, starting Wednesday, i got a JOB. I do consider myself very blessed; i am very fortunate compared to many people i know. I am not under the gun for money, even now, but i do hate to get screwed and jerked around. Oh well. He can hire them tattoo'd gangsta thugs down the road to detail the rest of his stuff!! They all wear blue hanker chiefs; go tell them how unhappy you are after they get done busting their asses on your vehicles. I'm over it.
Posted 2010-08-20 5:29 PM (#123862 - in reply to #123054) Subject: RE: Horse trailer polishing?
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 333
Well, I hope you are done soon. I probably would have quit the first time the guy said it wasn't good enough. If you try the other products, let us know how they worked. I am getting ready to wash my trailer and am considering the metal wax combos, but I need to call the company and get an idea of which one to get.
I am pretty fussy about my jobs, too, but to do what this guy wants is asking more than the trailer can probalby give him.
Good luck with your new job.. sometimes it's a lot easier just to show up and be told what to do!!!!!
Posted 2010-08-22 10:18 AM (#123908 - in reply to #123865) Subject: RE: Horse trailer polishing?
Expert
Posts: 2614
In your case I think that having some sort of up front paperwork to sign giving the details of the job involved and what you were expecting to be paid might have prevented you from killing yourself over this jerk's trailer before he got a free polish job.
Maybe later,you can give it another go.My choice would be automobiles,not horse trailers.Too much involved,too big of a job,and,people haven't taken the best care of them sometimes,before expecting miracles (such as a brand new looking trailer because they're wanting to sell it.)
Posted 2010-08-22 11:18 AM (#123911 - in reply to #123054) Subject: RE: Horse trailer polishing?
Member
Posts: 11
Location: Malvern, AR
Yes, Yes and Yes! I hate to admit i already dissolved the Handyman biz i had a few years ago and the Detailing biz and paid all my taxes and shut down. I have been working for cash for a few people; it just keeps getting worse and worse. I am "Done" with the trailer for another reason; i ripped or pulled some muscle in my left shoulder 2 days ago and i haven't been there in 2 days because i am having a tough time picking up a cup of coffee (i am a lefty). Working for "cash" and under no contract leaves the worker in jeopardy. Again, i don't blame the customer; i approached him about the job and i got it!! He won't be happy when i show up tomorrow morning. I will strongly recommend he take it to another detail shop in town to be finished before next week's show. Because the unit is outside (which works against me and i explained this to him) the aluminum i polished on the top part gets rain or dew on it and has run dirt drips down the sides again over the white part, which was already done 3 weeks ago. And his biggest complaint is the micro fine buff marks on the sides now, because i buffed hard on it to get the previous owner's acid wash staining out and he expects it to look like a mirror. And, i have never gotten to the part under the front, which he expects to be done....i washed it but do i really need to polish behind the tire and the propane tanks? The customer is just gonna spin his wheels with the truck and get mud all over it again!! So, yes, i agree, stick to cars and fiberglass campers. I'm out $175 or so in products and 3 weeks of my time, part time. It's not done, but I am. No need to pay me, thanks for the learning experience. Can't wait to start at the Humane Society; they need my help more than the humans in this world and me having a JOB is probably better for the next year or so vs. working for myself. I'll just take it easy for a while, thank God for hydrocodone which i usually take for my bad knee. Thanks again to all you folks for your support!
Horse trailer polishing?
