Cheapacity?


I was in Saudi two years ago and stopped in at an appliance/TV/audio/video store. I saw some cheap-ass audio cables hanging on pegs and looked to see who made them. The brand was Jipas. As I stood there looking at them, I tried to pronounce the name with whatever a Saudi accent might be. I burst out laughing. Jipas comes out pretty close to "cheap-ass." It might be how they got named!

Well done!

After reading the original post, and If I was completely honest, we all have been there. My dad taught me in business that sometimes it is best to learn how to say no. I find myself taking on jobs that I would normally not when work is slim
And slow. I just try to explain to the customer, why not do this in stages the right way? Let's do the surround sound the right way? Then we can start on whole house audio, 1 zone at a time if needed. We are willing to help you have a system you deserve even if we do it in stages.

I remember installing a VC system for 6 zones right next to a house with Crestron. Never again. It almost ruined our company.

Had to fire one yesterday.

He whined all through his original install, beat me down on system, price, etc. while having a 300K plus Ferrari in the garage. He went with cable after I instructed him to use DTV, and since has had cable boxes failing, over thirty cable boxes in three years to keep 12 going......

He finally decided to punt cable, I introduced him to my DTV guy, for two weeks he berated my friend on the cost and having to spend ANY money, so after some thought and prayer, I fired him........

He has never given me a referral, bitched about his system(55K in a three million dollar house, the bare minimum), every time I showed up to take care of him it was the stinking cable boxes.....

Finally had enough after he dragged my DTV friend through the mud......


Sometimes it just ain't worth it.

my nickle
RR

|| Sometimes it just ain't worth it.



I agree, I just fired my GF on Tuesday! After what she put me through in Brasil, I said that's it...

That's too bad, but I suppose better now than ten years from now. For both client and girlfriend firing. Usually, when we fire a client, it's over. However, with a girlfriend, and especially after the dengue, I'm reminded of a song title:

Or in this case the MALADY that lingers?

LOL! Dengue Fever can last indefinately... 8>(

As for the GF (now ex), she's touring Venezualia for a couple months. Not sure where she is getting the money to do so...? Hmmmm At least I won't be bumping into her for a while... I unfriended her on FB and blocked her phone.
...By the way once you unfriend someone on FB, it's almost impossible to re-friend them!

3 out of the last 5 have been exactly this client, right down to the exotic cars and beating the DTV guy down. Used to be 1 out of 20 that were like this, the whole "new economy" thing seems to be bringing the bottom feeders out in droves.
Sadly, I am just project manager. Since my name isn't on the door, I do not get to make the firing of the client decisions. Funny thing my gut was right on all 3, I knew they were going to be problem children from the get go. But I was just dismissed as being my usual pessimistic self. I am pretty sure that all 3 wound up being zero profit or even a slight loss.

Trying to remember the adage. IIRC, it is 20% of your customers account for 80% of your problems. Coincidentally, they are usually the ones that account for about 5% of your total profit for the year.

It really is interesting working with all different sorts of people. The ultra-rich always seem to have a house manager who haggles virtually every bill (I suppose that may just be part of their job). Many want constant changes to lighting control and then don't like to see the bill that comes with every one of them. Some of them love to just haggle because they like to win, the money is no object to them, but winning is everything. There are also many frustrations at this level because they have massive, fully automated homes. Lights, shades, Crestron or AMX for all TVs, video distribution, etc. The problem is the more you spend, the more electronics you have to potentially break, so you have problems more frequently than smaller homes. People replace their PC and phone every few years, but these systems are expected to last a decade or more.

Then there are the sports guys. They may make $25m+ per year, but they don't want to spend a ton because they may be traded any time, and they want stuff free even more than the ultra-rich. I'll hear on the radio that one might get a $25K fine for something stupid, yet they have their 'handler' haggling me over a few grand.

Then you have the rich who don't have house managers and are careful with their $$$. I kind of like these people the best. I deal directly with them, they typically like to do things 'right' and their systems generally aren't complex enough that there are many service issues. So they like us and have no problem paying the $$ whenever they need something else.

Anything below that level you get into nickle and dime territory. I'll sometimes suggest to those people that they go to Best Buy.

I recently had an ultra-rich guy with a dead TV in his gym. The original TV was $4K. I quoted a comparable TV which is now $1500. (I'm working thru his house manager, never directly with him). He got a quote from his 'TV guy for his house on the other coast'. I said I can meet that price, but the TV has no discrete inputs or on/off, so it's not going to work the way he'd like. They finally got that it's not just the TV, it's about understanding the home and the requirements and researching for the proper equipment and then asked if I could meet a specific budget. Once I had a hard number, I was able to find a cheap TV and meet his budget. I don't think he'll be calling his other TV guy again.

We had a client down south who was very wealthy and loved to haggle. We would hand him a proposal and he would go on and on about the price, and we would stand our ground. Then the subject would change at some point and next thing you know he was writing us a check for the full amount. We were always fair with him, he just loved to haggle. We did a couple 6 figure jobs for him, including a big upgrade on his main house. It was to the point where you knew what was coming so it became an inside joke to us.

He was a great client in the end.