On the matter of getting paid....well that has always been problematic with service calls hasn't it? I remember doing a large scale renovation/addition around 1985 for a specialist doctor and his wife. The guy a good seven figure income and nothing was too good for his early vintage "Mc. Mansion".
Right from the start of this job it became apparent to me that there would be some dispute at the end. The plans I had bid were altered and revised daily to the point of absurdity. The local AHJ knowing me and being a good sport allowed this nonsense to continue until the revised feild drawings had departed so far from the engineered ones that he finally had to put his foot down.
At each step I felt I had protected myself by writing out laboriously worded change orders and getting either the doc or his wife to sign them. I had to have the GC tear open the soffit above the kitchen cabinets twice so that more circuits could be routed thru it. (The wife had me install a bank of switches in the kitchen so that she could control...the front drive lights, garage lights, outside entry lights, foyer lights, foyer stair lights, dimming dining lights, kitchen lights, back deck lights, back yard security lights, back yard garden lights, pool deck lights, pool lights, and the newly added "Night light" sconces on both the first and second floors.)
My original bid was a mere $1800 because I was doing the work myself and the scope was a few wiring additions to the existing house and tearing off the garage roof and adding a second floor to it with two beds and a bath.(remember this is in 1985 dollars)
Really I took it as a "filler" a job that would drag on for months and not require my presence that much, but that would maybe result in some word of mouth referrals and additional work. (so much for wishful thinking).
The AHJ decided that a service upgrade was required after about half the revisions so I duly paid for the engineering and resubmitted the drawings. (after getting a signed change order)
My "filler" job had turned into something that had consumed my every spare waking minute for five months and I was ecstatic when the final inspection passed without a hitch. Because of the size of the original contract I had not requested nor recieved any completion milestone payments and the entire cost of this project had come from my own pocket so far.
With my copy of the final in hand I entered the home and presented my bill to the owner along with copies of all the changes and thier estimated cost. The total bill was still a more than reasonable sum, just over $9000.00. My profit on this computed sum was negligible to say the least, again I was still hoping for some positive word of mouth and future high dollar jobs with the doc and his friends. (yes...sigh...I know that was stupid I have learned better since then.)
The doc goes through my bill item by item without one word and then cuts me a check for exactly $4500.00 stateing "thats what I think the job is worth, now you can leave my premises." It takes me about 30 seconds to actually catch on that he is absolutely serious. "But you agreed to the costs on the change orders!" I stammer half coherently. "You and I both know that you only used those changes to inflate the cost of this job well beyond it's real costs" he replies seriously. "But I did about five times the wireing in the original bid and had to pay an engineer....plus replace the service....I'm hardly making anything on this job...." finally stuttering into silence I look at him expecting him to acknowledge the logic of my argument. He laughs and then says "come on I know how this works, if your billing $9000.00 then your costs were probably less than three, you can't expect to get rich just because your doing a job for someone like me."
Now the slow fuse in my brain has finally sputtered into life and an explosion is imminent....there are just too many things here to say to decide on one.
1. Five months of time...usually with six to seven calls to be answered per week?.....
2. Going back to the engineer and getting revised drawings includeing a new service oneline and load calc?....
3. Over 200 hours of my time by my best guess both on and off the site?....
4. Dealing with his ditzy wife and her ever growing switch bank....
5. He "knows how this works" meaning that I am a lieing cheating coniveing scammer and not a proffessional trying my best to give best value for the money.
6. I'm going to "get rich" by billing him $9000.00 WTF?....
7. "Someone like me" Well that says it all doesn't it...he imagines himself as Bill Gates or Warren Buffet apparently...as if I care or had changed my billing in his case other than to lower it as explained earlier.
I look down and realize that my hands are trembling, I am seriously scared that I will do something here that might momentarily feel good but that I will regret for a long time to come. Nodding to him I turn and exit the house...I don't trust myself to say anything....it can and probably will be used against me in future court proceedings....I leave his insulting check in his hand....
I make it to my van without committing any acts of mayhem and breath deeply and count to ten several times. On a sudden urge I call a friend who has been at this much longer than I. I explain the situation and am literally crying with frustration as I finish...I don't have months to recover the sum in small claims my financial situation is quite perilous at the time. "You put in a outdoor service?" my friend asks. "Yes a new 200amp" I answer. "Take it down"...."what?"...."Take it down, put it in your van and drive away".
Suddenly the sun is shining again and I begin to feel better...I understand the difference between civil and criminal...hmmm...this might just work!
Ten minutes later I am on an extension ladder against the side of the customers house humming merrily to myself as I use my cable cutters to cut the second ungrounded leg to the house. I am in the process of pulling the meter when the doc appears from the garage side door. "What are you doing??!!" he shouts in my general direction. In return I give him a big smile and a nod while laying the meter on the ground out of the way. "You can't do this, I'm calling the cops! Again I smile and nod to him and then begin removeing the new metermain from the side of the house and the riser.....
The hub is disattached, all conductors loose, grounding electrode conductor pulled out, and the last PITA toggle coming loose from the wall when the police officer showsup. "What are you doing?" says the police officer who is all of about 24 and probably doesn't shave more than twice a week. "I'm repossesing my property" I grunt at him as The last toggle comes free and the meter main come loose from the wall. "Thats theft" says the uninformed officer "we can arrest you if you don't put that back". "Uhhh actually I don't think you can legally"I reply still standing stock still so as not to give any excuse for the drawing of weapons.
I am standing in the side yard, a metermain clucthed to my chest hopeing it can stop bullets just in case....when Mr. doc comes out of his side door again...."Thats the one officer" he shouts..."he shut off my electric and now he is trying to steal my meter so I can't get it back." The officer looks at me expectently waiting for whatever tale might be forthcoming but I have no desire to give him one....I have said enough.
The officer frowns noticibly and then walks away to talk on his radio in private. I lay the metermain on the ground and turn to the homeowner. "I can have this back and working in an hour or so...if you'll pay me" "Hah!..blackmail won't work on me, there are dozens of contractors, your going to jail and I'll have power back in a hour or two" he replies confidently. "Ok" I say passively and then wait for the officer.
Soon enough the officer returns and spends some time trying to explain to the hime owner that this is a civil matter and not a criminal one....I confess I missed most of this lecture because I was carrying my tools and the metermain to my van....
almost exactly one hour later while looking at another call and checking my messages there is a message to call the home owner in question. I do so and recieve the news that he will pay me in full if I will restore his service with a bit of salt.
I drive to his home, insist that he give me a check for the full amount plus $125.00 for re-installation of the metermain, and then refuse to do the said job until I have driven to his bank and the check has cleared. During the conversation I remember saying saying something along the lines of "your just the type of jerk that would hand me a check and then put a stop order on it and I'm not taking any chances." The look on his face instantly told me that he had planned on doing that exact thing.
40 minutes later with his cash burning a hole in my pocket I re-installed his metermain and re-connected the drop. The utility later fined me $300.00 for cutting thier seal without authorization,(guess who started that?), but I got it waived once the entire matter had been discussed with them.
ANYWAY.....the moral to this story is simple if counterintuitive...it has been my experience that simple people no matter how poor will always pay if you treat them fairly and honestly. Even if this is a hugh expense out of the blue(thier service burning up)they will try thier best to pay. Poor people often even try to tip you for the work you done especially if it involves the crawl space or attic.
Rich people got that way by being complete...err...well you know....
No matter how fair you try to be they will think you are one of them and try to tell you that you are robbing them. It will never ever in a thousand million years occur to them that they could tip you for good fast clean service.
I accepted a couple of tips as an apprentice and then realized that the only ones who did it were the ones who could least afford it....I learned the art of diplomatic refusal after that.
