Tweet
I just got wind of this complaint this week but it actually came from a job last week. We're doing an office move, furniture and contents on Tuesday the 23rd. This is our last job before Christmas so I'm trying to get it done that night to give the guys some extra time off. I convey this message to the client and she's all for it. So we push extra hard, skip some breaks and get the job "done" by 8:00; all that's left is a walkthrough with the client.
Please note that I said that we were done; according to the plans there was nothing left to do. Oh, but she forgot about this... and this... and this... and that. Oh, she doesn't like how that office is set up, reconfigure it this way. Oh, one more thing, and one more thing, and one more..... After two and a half hours of this I'm well beyond my boiling point and my crew is even hotter than me. I've got no choice but to call it before somebody gets killed.
I tell the client to find any little thing that she doesn't like, make up a list and we'll take care of it in the morning. She's very unhappy about this as I had told her that we'd be done tonight. I remind her that we've been done for the past two and a half hours, it's just her constant changes that are holding us up. I convince her that it will be far quicker and efficient to just give us one list and have us go at it. She's happy and agreeable at this point and we leave amicably with the deal being that I'll be in at 6:00 to prep and start, and the crew will follow at 8:00. I remind her of the date, and that I'll have to get the guys out by 10 or 11, absolutely no later than noon because most of them were promised the day off. This is fine, "there's only going to be a couple more things that she's got to decide on."
So I get there in the morning and merrily look at this list of a "couple of things." I damn near put my fist through the wall when I see it. It took a twelve man crew eight hours to move 60 people's offices to the exact specifications she laid out. She's now made the decision that on top of the 5 or 10 that we moved last night, 21 more "don't work" in their assigned office, they've all got to be swapped around. I've got 4 guys, including myself, to do all this. I get right on the phone to get more guys in and I'm lucky enough to have 4 more agree to come in, on the promise of leaving well before noon.
Things actually worked out well from here. There were a lot but they were the simpler stations so were were able to throw them around quickly and actually "finished" by the 10:30 ish mark. I send two guys home right away because they still had to start their Christmas shopping. The client was not pleased to hear that I let them leave because she's found quite a few more things. I suppose my death stare must have been quite apparent here because she took a shocked step back before I take a deep breath and ask what else there is. Anyways, to cut to the chase, this carries on for the next three hours. I tell my guys that they can leave whenever they want to, and by noon, it's dwindled down to me and one other guy. This is fine because we're down moving things literally by inches. She's reluctantly satisfied with the furniture assignment, now she's playing amateur interior designer / amateur phychic mind reader trying to position each piece in the perfect alignment that the office user will want. This chair has to be perfectly straight, this chair should be at an angle.... no not that much.
Two hours and three circles of the floor later, she's still nit-picking. I finally reach my breaking point when she wants a cabinet moved for the umpteenth time because it's still an inch out of place. I tell her that's it, we're leaving... we're two hours over the absolute cut off time; every office is perfectly usable, if anybody is unhappy we'll come back after Christmas to fix it. She doesn't like this but I'm not giving her an option, I'm walking away from her. I wish her a Merry Christmas and tell her to call if we're needed. I see her stunned, puppy dog whacked on the nose, expression as the door closes behind me.
So I'm in the following Monday and the boss wants to know what happened; she complained that we left early Tuesday night, and I let all the guys leave and didn't finish the job on Wednesday. I give him the rundown and I suppose I have to count this as a Christmas miracle... he sides with me. He apologizes for what I went through and thanks me for the effort. But I can't escape unscathed. The client doesn't want me at that job site anymore. Now the big problem we've got is that everyone else in the company wants that same "punishment".
Please note that I said that we were done; according to the plans there was nothing left to do. Oh, but she forgot about this... and this... and this... and that. Oh, she doesn't like how that office is set up, reconfigure it this way. Oh, one more thing, and one more thing, and one more..... After two and a half hours of this I'm well beyond my boiling point and my crew is even hotter than me. I've got no choice but to call it before somebody gets killed.
I tell the client to find any little thing that she doesn't like, make up a list and we'll take care of it in the morning. She's very unhappy about this as I had told her that we'd be done tonight. I remind her that we've been done for the past two and a half hours, it's just her constant changes that are holding us up. I convince her that it will be far quicker and efficient to just give us one list and have us go at it. She's happy and agreeable at this point and we leave amicably with the deal being that I'll be in at 6:00 to prep and start, and the crew will follow at 8:00. I remind her of the date, and that I'll have to get the guys out by 10 or 11, absolutely no later than noon because most of them were promised the day off. This is fine, "there's only going to be a couple more things that she's got to decide on."
So I get there in the morning and merrily look at this list of a "couple of things." I damn near put my fist through the wall when I see it. It took a twelve man crew eight hours to move 60 people's offices to the exact specifications she laid out. She's now made the decision that on top of the 5 or 10 that we moved last night, 21 more "don't work" in their assigned office, they've all got to be swapped around. I've got 4 guys, including myself, to do all this. I get right on the phone to get more guys in and I'm lucky enough to have 4 more agree to come in, on the promise of leaving well before noon.
Things actually worked out well from here. There were a lot but they were the simpler stations so were were able to throw them around quickly and actually "finished" by the 10:30 ish mark. I send two guys home right away because they still had to start their Christmas shopping. The client was not pleased to hear that I let them leave because she's found quite a few more things. I suppose my death stare must have been quite apparent here because she took a shocked step back before I take a deep breath and ask what else there is. Anyways, to cut to the chase, this carries on for the next three hours. I tell my guys that they can leave whenever they want to, and by noon, it's dwindled down to me and one other guy. This is fine because we're down moving things literally by inches. She's reluctantly satisfied with the furniture assignment, now she's playing amateur interior designer / amateur phychic mind reader trying to position each piece in the perfect alignment that the office user will want. This chair has to be perfectly straight, this chair should be at an angle.... no not that much.
Two hours and three circles of the floor later, she's still nit-picking. I finally reach my breaking point when she wants a cabinet moved for the umpteenth time because it's still an inch out of place. I tell her that's it, we're leaving... we're two hours over the absolute cut off time; every office is perfectly usable, if anybody is unhappy we'll come back after Christmas to fix it. She doesn't like this but I'm not giving her an option, I'm walking away from her. I wish her a Merry Christmas and tell her to call if we're needed. I see her stunned, puppy dog whacked on the nose, expression as the door closes behind me.
So I'm in the following Monday and the boss wants to know what happened; she complained that we left early Tuesday night, and I let all the guys leave and didn't finish the job on Wednesday. I give him the rundown and I suppose I have to count this as a Christmas miracle... he sides with me. He apologizes for what I went through and thanks me for the effort. But I can't escape unscathed. The client doesn't want me at that job site anymore. Now the big problem we've got is that everyone else in the company wants that same "punishment".
Comment