I love my job, BUT...

[AdamL]

we've had some customers like this.Actually I think most dealers have.... The customers we've encountered flip out at the $, only to return and appologize for being a jerk. Almost always they are pleased with the repairs performed, it's just the shock of the bill that seems to flip a switch. I make it a point to call a customer, even if they don't want an estimate,whenever a bill is close to 50% replacement value. This way if they say go ahead and fix it, I can sit back and say, I called you on this day and you athorized the needed repairs...

 

[deer slayer]

I agree with most, but if anything is over a $75.00 I call soon as I know for sure. Its a disposable world we live in know, Most don't want to spend that much. For people who are into it, its worth it. Sounds like this Joe blow doesn't know what he has obviously..but it happens. A better business practice in my mind would be to set a dollar amount and tell customers anything more we will be calling to confirm, I know this leads to down time. But good customer communication is key to a happy/return customer. When I was in the automotive field we did same and when they didn't answer or waited for a call back their car was on a lift that could be making money.. It was a pain, but part of the territory..

 

[discounthunter]

im sorry for not being clear enough. when he left it he said "make sure it runs good, fix what you have to.", i assume part of the responsibility because i thought that to be my green light, i fixed the saw right (im my mind) and hopefully to run for years to come. I dont expect you all to speak for anyone else, but if you had this saw, you wanted it fixed, would there be an issue with what i had done? or essentially, would you put this kind of money in that saw? if it was one of two you owned? and the other was a 310 poulan pro?

i think you did right by the saw,but not the actual owner. you did what you thought should be done to the saw.he said make sue it runs good fix what you HAVE to. you upgraded the ignition system,was there something wrong with the original? fuel system work? specifics here would be helpful as to there are a lot of work that could be done ,but what was actually needed? fuel line maybe filter? tune up ,ok thats a given was there a carb rebuild to or just a tune up? sharpened the chain. Why? does that make a saw run better?
these are just observations, i think i would have asked him before hand how far he wanted to go on the saw.

personally ,i would have jumped your hide too.

 

[JohnnyBoy1986]

i think you did right by the saw,but not the actual owner. you did what you thought should be done to the saw.he said make sue it runs good fix what you HAVE to. you upgraded the ignition system,was there something wrong with the original? fuel system work? specifics here would be helpful as to there are a lot of work that could be done ,but what was actually needed? fuel line maybe filter? tune up ,ok thats a given was there a carb rebuild to or just a tune up? sharpened the chain. Why? does that make a saw run better?
these are just observations, i think i would have asked him before hand how far he wanted to go on the saw.

personally ,i would have jumped your hide too.

i understand that and respect your oppinioon very much. my whole logic tho was in an 041 i set a max limit of around $150, i hit right in that area and so made my judgment that i did a good thing. i updated the ignition, yes the points were fried and the old coil was as well, the electronic module was 1/2 the cost of a new set of points! not to mention the aluminum mounting bracket for the coil and such was also broken! Fuel lines were dry rotted, cracked and the filter was definitely trashed All of this was needed work (in my eyes), when i do a tune up the saw should be ready to hit the wood pile! that to me usually means the chain needs to be sharp as well. Thats just me, im enjoying seeing everyones different take on this, please keep them coming. thanks again.

 

[teacherman]

Hmmmmmm......

This is almost too easy. Check out this thread, post # 100.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=86043&page=7

What do you think? I know we could pitch in and come up with the scratch to make this work for everyone.

By the way, your bill is quite reasonable, in my opinion.

 

[procarbine2k1]

I would have called the guy before hand, even though he told you to get it running right- just to let him know what he was in for. Not that you were required to, but I know how some of these boneheads can be.
Just from his thinking that this saw was worth 60 bucks, and a replacement was 250 bucks is evidence that this guy is out of his mind on current OPE.
Same guy would have griped that a sharpening cost him a whopping 5 bucks, because the last time that he had it sharpened, it may have only been one or two.
As hard as it is to do, take this dude with a grain of salt. I would have winced a bit at the 153, but known full well that the saw was worth it, and the repair was a MUCH cheaper option than a replacement.
CLEAN saw BTW, I thought that I had the nicest 041 in existence (which very well may be) but this one is a close runner up. 250-300 dollar saw all day long in my book.

 

[JohnnyBoy1986]

easily worth that much! I put one together about 2 months ago from parts saws in the shed, it looked good but not nearly as good as this one and we got $250 for it! This guy didnt really ruin my day or nothing, i was more shocked than anything else. As i said before i take part of the blame for the situation seeing as how when it got close to $100 that i did not call him, i trusted my judgment which may be ok for some (or even a majority) but not for all, and that was my slip up. All in all i hope he does appreciate the saw, i did, and i hope it runs like hell for many more years to come seeing as he thinks its not even gonna last another year. apparently he just doesn't appreciate a fine piece of equipment like we would

 

[THALL10326]

Well today a gentleman came in to the shop to pick up his 041 Stihl chainsaw. It was the same one i made a thread about not too long ago bragging on how good it looked an ran for the age of the saw!

This thread >> http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=124077

I updated the entire ignition system, did the fuel system work, tuned it up and sharpened the chain, with all the parts i put in the saw and labor included his bill came to a total of $153.15, when i read that off to him he nearly hit the floor. he couldnt believe it and threw a :censored:fit right at the counter exclaiming about this and that, the rant went sort of like this... "i can't believe you put that kind of money into that saw! its not worth more than $60!! I would have junked it had i known this :censored:! All i wanted was the saw to be tuned up and running good not to rebuild the damn thing! $153 is way out of line, i should have just junked it! had i known that i would have taken $250 down the stihl dealer and bought a new damn replacement for that thing!" That statement alone made me laugh inside, i love my job but its jack@$$'s like this that make me want to slap them across the face! Seriously, i thought it wasnt a bad deal. In all of your honest opinions, was it wrong to invest that kind of money in this saw?

That saw looks familier. Had one exactly like that here a few months ago. Here's how you do it Johnny. The first question you ask when you get a old saw like that in is "how much are you willing to put in it". When they say 40-50.00 the ball is in your court. You can say right away thats not going to happen or take it and get gone. Thats exactly what I tell em. That saw you have there may well be one I sent packing....

 

[indiansprings]

Now Tommy, we all know better, when they say 40 or 50 on a nice clean specimen you offer 10 dollars more and it goes to the shed! lol

 

[THALL10326]

Now Tommy, we all know better, when they say 40 or 50 on a nice clean specimen you offer 10 dollars more and it goes to the shed! lol

LOL, sometimes. I tell ya one thing though, I don't have any arguments like Johnny was describing. Around here I wanna know beforehand if I'm dealing with a hell raiser. If I sense they are we cut to the chase right away. I've had guys tell me I don't want to put much in that machine now. I'll say ok, what is much to you. When I hear 25.00 or some crazy figure I'll go see that door behind ya. Some saws and some people aren't worth the time and trouble, best to sendem packing and be done with it. I think Johhny there got one I sent packing. Looking at his story I grin knowing I did the right thing,LOL

 

[Modifiedmark]

Johnny, my 2cents is you messed up some. Not intentionally and I'm sure your intentions were noble but I'm guessing the gentleman is a older fella and you just have to know how some of them are.

Many years ago I worked in the same inviroment and delt with the same kind of people. You have to let them know up front what to expect, if you don't your going to have the same experiance's over and over.


You should have for sure called the man when you got deeper into it and let him make the decison if he wanted to spend that much on it.

I'm betting you could have been the owener of it by now and then you could spend whatever you want to on it yourself.

 

[THALL10326]

Johnny, my 2cents is you messed up some. Not intentionally and I'm sure your intentions were noble but I'm guessing the gentleman is a older fella and you just have to know how some of them are.

Many years ago I worked in the same inviroment and delt with the same kind of people. You have to let them know up front what to expect, if you don't your going to have the same experiance's over and over.


You should have for sure called the man when you got deeper into it and let him make the decison if he wanted to spend that much on it.

I'm betting you could have been the owener of it by now and then you could spend whatever you want to on it yourself.

Good post. Me, I don't go into a saw at all when I realize the ower doesn't want to pay me anyway. Always good to find out upfront who you are dealing with and go from there. Take this as an example, ya gotta know your customer, watch and enjoy.

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[RVALUE]

All this 'experience and good information' comes from the experience gained by not doing it right. And being there and doing that. Tons of great hindsight here.

I think you handled it perfectly based on available information. And to top that off, you had a realistic goal that you met, ($ 150). You can't size judge all customers, every time.

Good Post!



PS How come the good jobs and customers don't make it on the list?????

 

[Vibes]

How are you at workin on Olympyks. I got a great dinosaur that I'd gladdy give you a buck and a half to get running good.

 

[highpointtree]

On A Up-Date.
4 Stents where installed, And No Futher comments,
Pending future legal settlement.
Law Firm
Hit, Grab, and Run P.A,
#1 Square Legal Circle
Your Home Town
USA

I have it from a good source the defendent hired the prestigous law firm of,

Duwee, Dikem and Howe
Attorney's at Law

 

[reccutter]

Yeah, you really robbed him.For $150 he could've had a new WildThinghy.Lol. It just seems people are so obsessed with what kind of new garbage they can go buy at sears/walmart. I come across good older tractors/equip.,saws etc. all the time, left w/old gas, didn't start in spring, new craftsman in garage. Btw, looks to me like a fair price for the work you did.

 

[highpointtree]

think about it like this.

my friend Bill's grandmother bought a shed. Bill asked her how much she paid for it. she said $1,900. Bill said that sounds about right grandma. Then she said, thats what I paid for my house many years ago when I got married. she paused and asked Bill, what did you pay for your house ?. Bill answered $250,000. She then said, So when your my age, thats what a shed will cost you. Moral is, some of the older folks never caught up with todays prices.

take the extra time with the older folks and explain to them what they can expect.

 

[DSS]

I dont think your price was out of line. If one of us took an 041 in and got all that work done ,we'd think we got a great deal.Everyone doesn't appreciate an old saw like we do though.What can you buy for 150 to replace it if you didn't want to fix it?. Thats right,a wild thing. I'll buy him one and trade if that would make him happy....................:spam:

 

[RVALUE]

In a similar situation, my grandfather hauled a '53 D4 to the cat dealer, and told them to 'fix anything that's out of line'. A few days later, my uncle asked, "hey where's the D4? ........ Barely got out of the dealer for $ 4500.

They thought they hit the mother lode with that request. They said their work order included paint and decals.......

 

[THALL10326]

In a similar situation, my grandfather hauled a '53 D4 to the cat dealer, and told them to 'fix anything that's out of line'. A few days later, my uncle asked, "hey where's the D4? ........ Barely got out of the dealer for $ 4500.

They thought they hit the mother lode with that request. They said their work order included paint and decals.......

Wow. The most money I've ever seen a man put in a small handheld tool was 600.00. It wasn't a saw but a old old anchor driver. It had sheered the flywheel key. He took it to a shop and they tried to weld it back on the crankshaft. They got it running but it lasted 20 minutes out in the feild, the key sheer again and this time ruined the crankshaft and flywheel. He brought to me in pieces. I was like what the hell. He said fix it, I don't giva f-ck what it costs, I need that machine. I put a new crank in it, new bearings, new flywheel and a host of other things it needed.

Come to find out they were driving 5 foot anchor rods in the ground to hold up cell towers. Very rare old tool, you don't see many of them around. I think the gear box reduction on it is like 100-1 or so. Turns real slow but power to drive those long anchors like no other small machine. I believed he would had dump a grand in that machine to get it going...