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.

If you feel burned out by all of the various demands of the business, the ridiculous calls and messages from clients and the tasks that are required but you're not thrilled by/interested in, it's probably time to define what you want to do, what you want to be and what you're willing to put up with. It may also be time to look at what you charge for and what you let slide but would probably help your bottom line greatly. In my case, I'm also dealing with people who decide to stop communicating and then responding as if no time has passed, which causes the project to be delayed and they seem to think people are sitting around with nothing to do, waiting for them to call.

My plan for the next few weeks-

-Define what kinds and brands of equipment I want to sell and the services I want to provide
-Define what I want to add to the mix
-Take a hard look at my rates and make any needed changes
-Look into hiring a helper and determine whether I can justify it, financially
-Decide how much longer I want to do this- I started selling audio in early-'78 and I'm REALLY tired of the musical chair company ownership, lack of manufacturer support, HDMI, the BS they trot out so they can try to make up for lagging sales due to the previous model years' crap, HDMI, people buying into the marketing of WiFi as the 'cure for all of your problems", HDMI,......did I mention I don't like HDMI?

Going to be 26 years this year; 16 of those years with my own business. I burned out a long time ago, I just don't know how to do anything else.
PLUS! Once you have been your own boss for a few years, good luck trying to get a job doing anything after that = unhireable.

You forgot to mention HDMI

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.

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.

Tonights angry phone call.

Netflix stopped working on the Blu-ray player in the family room (Lockup prone cheapie Sony BRD player he insisted on instead of my usual Appletv).

I cannot review recorded video from my cameras on my phone... I have told this guy about a dozen times that his iphone isn't really the best tool for doing this and refer to his computer....Not listening.

I cannot access the cameras from my Ipad..... He doesn't remember his Itunes login info.... Went over this last time with him, he has to contact his personal assistant to retrieve that info. I do not have his itunes login info, he changed the password since we set his stuff up last year.

He is headed back out of town tomorrow, wants this fixed before he leaves, is somewhat upset that I am not working today.

FML......

These are both examples of letting the client do your job for you. When they ask for netflix you tell them they need AppleTV. If they say no then they are on their own with the BD player app. Let them know that you dont recommend or support Netflix without an AppleTV.

If the iPhone app is buggy just say it up front and remind them each time. "Hey i sold you a camera system that works with your computer...the app is an unsupported bonus. Unsupported because it sucks". Now if the client specifically wanted to view cameras on the iPhone then you introduce him to a more expensive camera system that has a stable iPad app.

Perfect example of a phone call that should have went straight to voicemail.

What exactly can you fix here? You cant fix his forgetfulness anymore than you can forget a crappy BD player netflix app or buggy iOS app for a camera system. You really need to send him an invoice for the "forgot my iTunes info" and then have the heart to heart about his needing to buy a new AppleTV and Camera System.

And I want a vintage car or pickup. Might slap on of these in it- not too drastic, it's not common in cars and it's injected, so it's easy to service.