Bob,
Maybe 5 times out of 10, when I see work like this, unless its left over from a previous owner/tenant with a new owner in charge; I'm not going to be talking to anyone who gives a damn about anything but "make it work, cheap!" & there obviously not going to pay for an experienced electrician to do what they want the right way. I sure no one has meant offense to you, as I'm sure your work ethic & skills are light years above what is seen here..
What I'd do in most circumstances is ask the person if they realize this & that are a shock/fire hazard.. Then I'll inform them that we should do something about the mess before any kind of "incident" occurs & then give them a price accordingly.. I've gotten better over time at people letting me at least safety off things that are of serious risk beyond just code violations.. Some of them go for the repair, & then all is better...
The other half of the time I come across this stuff is from/for people who just, amazingly, don't know any better.. People in general that Ive come across don't realize "why" electricity can cause a fire, or "how" it can kill a person beyond the obvious.. Getting into the physics of electricity just a bit seems to go quite a ways with some people & I'm guessing, intrigues, them into wondering what the right way is & why it's the right way, regardless of it just "working" another way. The people that worry me the most are the ones that DO know better & STILL do crap like this! [Linked Image]
There's been many times I've raised my prices higher than I normally would for something, & then said "I'm also going to take care of this over here just for safety's sake" for free or close to free.. This has worked a few times also..
If a serious enough situation exists & all fails after all the explaining & teaching so to speak, I'll tell the customer to save their money for their insurance deductible... they're gonna need it! [Linked Image]

-Randy