On Jul 21, 11:39*am, Smitty Two wrote:
In article
,



*RicodJour wrote:

The MSN article was written by a hack and simply stated stuff that has
been said a million times before. *The comments, at least some of
them, were written by kooks. *The only real comment that made sense
was that there are people looking to get over on people in all walks
of life. *Again, this is no surprise.

If you have to fight to get paid they you are either not screening
your customers carefully enough or your written agreement - assuming
you use one - isn't up to snuff.

It IS the job of the contractor to explain clearly to the owner what
is to be done and how it is to be done. *Many contractors do not like
it, but it is a part of the business.

The simplest way to deal with the wallyas (while you're at it) is to
have a change order fee in your contract, a clause that says that no
change work can be started or other work delayed while waiting on a
change order to be signed, that no work is started until it is signed
and that all change order work is paid in full up front. *If the
homeowner balks at this part of your contract before signing, it has
done it's job and eliminated a potentially problem customer for you.
It is your job to explain why the clause is there and why it is
constructed that way.

There are a lot of cowboys in the home improvement business and they
don't make it easy to tell the good from the bad as they don't wear
white or black hats. *Contractor licensing laws came about in an
attempt to prevent hacks and scam artists from preying on the
unsuspecting. *Licensing laws don't eliminate hacks or scams - if you
can come up with a foolproof method of separating the good from the
bad everyone will definitely listen.

*The same as anything else in life, you have to start with a basis of
trust and have practices that plan for the worst. *You are in business
- at least as important as your work skills are your business skills.
If you have problems getting paid the business skills need work. *It
may be your contract, it may be learning how to eliminate the 1 in 10
problem customer that will do everything in their power not to pay you
- before you sign a contract.

R

I rarely manifest the graciousness to applaud well-reasoned posts, but
I'll make an exception. Your contentions are accurate and articulately
expressed.

Contractors as a lot are at least as incompetent and dishonest as
customers are unrealistic and difficult, so I'm a little tired of
hearing from the so-called professionals, about how much they loathe
their customer base.

If you loath customers, it probably comes out in your dealings with
people.
If you are pleasant, you get called back more often.

In dealing with others, I believe in:

1. Being honest
2. On time
3. Keeping customer informed, especially when you find a new problem
that affects the current
job.

Hope you have a great week,

Andy

Bad on your business too.

Andy