Been in this industry for ~17 years now, started as a satellite monkey, now a licensed home automation contractor/ business owner.

It seems like the march of technology and the expectations that people have of it is sucking all the enthusiasm for the industry out of me.

Back in the day, service requests were usually one of two things, customer error or equipment failure. Replace part, re-explain to client, not hear from them for a few more months/years.

Now, 99% of my service requests are network/feature related. IP devices losing connectivity, streaming issues and now, lots of IP control related intermittent failures. You know, the stuff that we don't have complete control over no matter how much we own the network.

Another issue, the lack of decorum that people have. The other night I got a phone call from a client, from a number that wasn't in my contacts list for him at 9:45pm. Who in their right mind thinks it is acceptable to call somebody at that hour for a minor issue?
The kicker..... I didn't even install his system, I did the programming and it had been up and 100% functional for several months.
I have had clients text me at 1am, I have also had them text me at 5am.

Had a guy call me on Christmas eve and get angry with me because his fireplaces were installed the day before and he was upset that he was going to have to use the OEM fireplace remote to turn them on/off over the holidays. Nobody bothered to schedule or let me know dude was going to install that day.
WTF people?

Barring something being on fire, there is no way I would contact someone who had worked on my home at that hour.

Am I alone in feeling this growing frustration with the industry (and clients) or am I just becoming a grumpy old(er) man?

For years I had a passion and enthusiasm for this industry, the last couple of years have gone a long way to beat that out of me. I swore I would never become "that contractor" that straight up doesn't give a crap, yet I feel I am becoming that guy.

You just recently came to the realization that people suck? lol.

We all feel your pain. The calls i get are my fault, though, coz i encourage customers to call anytime. I also tell them I will respond if I want or can and wont if i cant or dont want too.

Agreed, 99% of all issues are unrelated to our actual install and responsibility but mostly network or defects.

There is a reason for the statistic that shows the average number of career changes people go through in their lives. 17 years? Might be your time to live up to that statistic? I am creeping up on that same number. I have been thinking of ideas for the last 5 years of what to do next. Obviously I am still here. :)

You mirror my sentiments EXACTLY. I have posted about it before as well. I try to play devils advocate (once I have calmed down) and tell myself that a person is calling at that hour expecting voicemail. But that isn't the case often as I get voicemails where clients expected that I should be answering the phone. I got one a few weeks ago where the client said at the end of an angry 9pm voicemail "I guess call me back when you are ACTUALLY working" in a nasty tone. All because his DTV volume was cutting out.

When I am done playing devil's advocate, I realize that intentions on leaving a VM or not, it is not proper. Especially when dealing with a small business in which most of my clients KNOW the number they are calling is my cell phone. Do what I do and jot a note down to myself, put it in the spot you check daily for notes or whatever, and call within normal hours. I do it all the time. There is definitely a lack of decorum with people these days and no matter how many times you try to set the correct example, certain people will ignore it.

I too have NO passion for this business any longer and it is nothing more than a job now. I weigh my options all the time and try to think of what I can be doing instead. If I come up with something, I will not hesitate to jump and not look back.

I think I might start playing the lottery. Worked for Matt. That lucky SOB. :)

Every time my wife says its a waste (she plays too though, so go figure), I bring up Matt. "Listen, someone I sorta knows won and won big, so at least I know its real!!!"

There is a select few clients that I will pick up the phone for anytime day or night. These are typically the larger projects that have homeowners who I get along with. If I can't get to them right away they are usually very understanding. As soon as I get a signed contract, I normally put all that client's contact info in my phone, that way I know who is calling and can choose to answer or not.

The 9:45pm NYE caller called from a number I didn't have, like he knew that I wouldn't answer if he called from his cell or home phone.

I am too old and probably too broken for a career change at this point.
A few years ago I tried to make what I thought was a smart move, getting out of the field and working as a PM for a large, successful CI company.
Yeah, that didn't work too well for me. Having to get up at 6:00am, drive an hour and sit at a desk almost all day felt like a prison sentence to me.

I have certain clients I will answer and help at any time as well. It's not based on the size of the project, but how they treat me. I treat all my clients the same, but some people go out of their way to let you know they appreciate you and the work you do. They get special treatment.

This is an appropriate comment. There are some people you will help anytime, while others just have to realize that you don't work 24/7.

Some people call or text when they have an issue, or just when they are thinking about it, so they don't forget to let you know. So, the hour that it arrives, that doesn't bother me as much as it may bother you.

Let's face it, if you are the boss, and you work for people, expectations may not always be what they should be. There are just going to be times when you have to let that crud roll off your back and forget about it. Some people look for a fight, and will be amazed if you just stay cool and ignore some of the BS that comes with reporting an issue. Give them time to cool down, and don't ramp up the tension. If they can settle down and deal with you like human beings should, then you have done your job. There may be certain clients where you have to draw the line and tell them that this is not how it's going to work and cut it out.

I am 40 years into the electronics business, so I am not trying to conquer the world like some of you are. I think you have to decide what kind of installer you want to be. I am a Total Control dealer, but the majority of my work is single room component systems and Sonos music around the house. The result is that I can use URC CCP for most all of my work, and as you know, it is a fairly trouble-free system. I do read most every post on total control, control4, and the like. They allow you to offer the client a more amazing experience, but with the glitches that I read about, there is a price to be paid for that next level of technology. It seems we are the guinea pigs for stuff that gets rolled out and is not quite bulletproof.

The reason for that last paragraph is, you have to decide if you want to offer that kind of technology that naturally is going to give you more trouble calls. It really comes down to whether you have the stomach for being the troubleshooter and quick follow up guy when these systems go down. If you have it, keep rolling with it. If those kinds of trouble calls and clients are giving you ulcers, you need to reevaluate the kind of installer you want to be.

Oh, and you have to be able to tell people you can't start their system tomorrow when you already have a ton of work backed up. Overpromising will burn you out as quickly as anything else in this industry.

What if you just let the phone call go to voicemail...and then respond to it the next day during normal business hours?

Seems like most of your frustration is that you expect all the clients to behave in a certain way...yet you do nothing to train them. It's like expecting a puppy to know not to pee in the house.

This is the right answer. There is rarely an actual A/V emergency

Expectations.
R&R - Service Contracts.
The right gear.

I hear you. My goal is to fully establish service contracts R&R with a discrete phone number. Sold during the pitch, these are the levels, this is the response you can expect and when. If you're not on contract and you email, text, I'll answer the next day. If you call my work cell outside of hours, and I pickup, you'll get a bill. (little Russian Roulette, oh you expected voicemail at 10:00pm, $175).

Step up your networks, have some sort of reboot system in place. This is the gear we use, this is why, something else, and you can expect support charges and temperamental system.

Yes the industry has changed, and the clients. Dot your i cross your t and don't be shy about charges and standing up for yourself.

Tom, I touched upon that in the thread where we got to talking about networking. I dabbled in the largerish projects last year (2015) and on paper had a decent year. This past year, I focused on smaller jobs, especially in the 4th quarter. The stress being the main reason. Choosing the right projects and doing decent smaller jobs, I ended up with close to the same net profit for half the gross. The main reason was all the time that got eaten up on the large project. Mainly troubleshooting, time spent integrating whatever the latest and greatest is. For some people, they might enjoy it. Many people talk about billing for every second of time. I walk a fine line of keeping clients happy and being profitable. I feel that I can tip one way or the other and have success in only one aspect. Where I am, I can be successful in both. Where I used to hate TV hangs, I now welcome them as a stress free day with decent margin (as long as I choose the right ones) when adding some accessories such as the mount and a power bridge kit.

At the end of the day, I go home making $3-$400 and no stress, then I am happy. I no longer worry about having to make 2 or 3 times that a day. I also feel that the level jobs I am focusing on right now will make it a lot easier to find a tech if I chose to go back down that path that can do the work to my standards. Finding someone to walk into a $100,000 job and do everything to the level of standard I expect is difficult.

Mac, thats nice in a perfect world, but as I mentioned setting expectations does not work with everyone. You can flat out tell someone DO NOT CALL AFTER 7:00 and they will still call you after 7:00, and after 8, and after 9 and so on. Maybe its different as a small business owner, but when you are the only person responsible for starting your business, building your business, maintaining and running your business, then the 9:00 profane laced tirade in voicemail from someone about something as miniscule as DTV sound cutting out, it gets to you. Maybe not at first, but after years of dealing with the same kind of crap it absolutely does. I don't care what you say, what your contracts say, it does not matter. Some people WILL overstep the boundaries set forth. It is inevitable.

I’m with you. This is not the same business it use to be and the change has not been for the better. I have been around since before HDMI and when computers were computers and AV was AV. Our business is now more the IT business then the AV business.
Clients need to be told that the devices we install are all small computers. They have an IT staff at their offices that are PAID to take care of the computer network. We are the ones that are PAID to take care of their home network. Most of the devices in the system are not locked out to the client, only the control systems take dealer access. If the client wants to take care of it themselves (none do) they can. There is no reason why a client can’t reboot their own devices, update firmware, fix the network problems, etc. They simply don’t want to learn how to take care of their systems. That is the service we provide, that they can have all of the benefits of these systems and not have to learn a thing about how they work.
It’s your business, you get to set the hours. Sure every client wants you to be on call 24/7/365 but are they willing to pay for it? There are IT companies that provide that service to businesses and the rates start in the thousands of dollars per month to be on call plus more depending on hours used. That may work in some high end markets but in many markets clients just won’t pay what it would cost to provide the service. As long as you set the client expectations up front about what your service hours are then they have no right to complain. I have found that many people text or call to leave a message when they are thinking about it, not expecting me to pick up or reply. I have clients call the office number that I forward to my cell during the day and can un forward at night. Some clients have my cell but they are normally not a problem, if they ever get to be then I will just use the do not disturb mode.
There are some people like your Christmas Eve guy that fall into the self righteous A$$hole category and unfortunately