Call me immature, but sometimes, a childish prank is the best answer.

Flaming bag of poo-poo on his doorstep?

Ted,

The fact that you recognize and admit your mistakes is the reason why everyone else has and will appreciate you.

Some clients are just plain abrassive and not worth dragging yourself back to for another flogging. If he's not this type, I'd consider contacting him with an installation price and time and the specific apology that only pertains to his present need. He knows you're good. He just wants to be sure you're the same guy that did all the great previous work.

Mis-quotes are what they are. If you haven't installed it yet, it's an honest mistake everyone should understand and get over in short order.

I sold and installed a Pio 50" at cost by accident 2 years ago when they were $6,500. My hands were tied at that point so I took it right in the face (the client, however, was gratious enough to split the $500 rebate).

I was thinking something more along the lines of stealing his car and using it to kill a hooker. I'm just not a fan of dog poop is all, it makes me gag.

LOL, and just when I thought that I'd stooped to the lowest possible level.........

Wanna bet.

What Carl didn't tell you is that he was leaving the customers severed manhood lodged in the dead hooker for the CSI to find.

This could be funny

[Link: dogdoo.com]

I have wanted to use this once of twice, just never really got up the nerve.

"stealing his car and using it to kill a hooker"

Now that, my friend, is classic revenge. Who hasn't had to do that a few dozen times in the last five years?

Classic.

Don't sweat it. The type of client that wastes a month to get the display $5 cheaper, then demands service and satisfaction from you even though there's nothing in it on your end needs to learn a lesson.

Let him. He'll be back when he gets screwed.

Seriously, depending on how busy your are right now you have a few avenues to go down. You could extend the proverbial olive branch and attempt to patch up the relationship even if doing the job is out of the question. He seems like a guy to avoid, but if you patch the relationship and leave on a positive note, maybe he won't tell his friends what a dick you were and how you botched the whole thing (His take on the situation.) Attempt to leave on good terms if that is an option - sometimes its not. Save the F O as a last resort. If hes that bad and he does bad mouth you people will consider the source.

If your sitting around twiddling your thumbs then try to rescue the sale, even if he supplies the panel. BUT he seems like a guy your better off avoiding. Remember 1 pissed customer can destroy good will faster than almost anything, thats why I'd at least try to smooth things a little.

Sort of off topic but I'm with what AVDesign said earlier. I prefer when a client buys his own display and I take some value added to hang it, terminate the wires and control it. Very hard to comptete with the commodity pricing, very difficult to deal with the attitude ( completely understandable ) when there is a problem out of the box and you inform him that the manufacturer's warantee which you support only supports in home repair and you are unable to replace it. And supply issues are a real problem. You can wait 3 months sometimes to get a panel. You never know what it will arrive. There is so much down side with so few profits involved that it is simply not worth the risks. It makes you look unprofessional and it can, as in this case, add fuel to an already simmering fire.

I am on the side that would send a response back to the client thanking him for his time and patience and apolgizing for the inconvenience caused. I would explain the situation from the small business CI viewpoint. But what this story points out is that there are tons of value clients who need CI if only to hang the damned thing or terminate the wires but who don't want to carry the full freight we require. 2. That manufacturers are placing us in a very precarious possition with respect to all of our clients with their horrid warantees and distribution practices. I might live with the first but the second is impossible to deal with. I am becoming more convinced that selling any display is not worth the agrivation and risks.

Alan

While it's hard to argue with this point, it is frightening. Welcome to the proverbial slippery slope. Don't think so? Well ask yourself these questions.

1. 5 years ago when a 40 inch plasma cost $12,000 (10 years ago they were twice that), did your plan account for the fact that in 5 years time you would be installing customer supplied plasmas for the price of a mount, labor and wires?

2. Think this trend is going to stop with plasma and LCD TVs? From the manufacturer's standpoint, why would it?

3. Does your plan now account for the fact that in 5 years you will be installing customer supplied receivers, DVD players, speakers, furniture, music servers, AND CONTROL SYSTEMS for the price of labor and wire and maybe a MA rack if you're lucky? Why not? See # 1 above.

I expect to get flamed on this but I have never seen a good argument as to why it's NOT GOING TO HAPPEN? Again, who predicted the current state of the flat panel industry 5 years ago? Hell, who predicted it 2 years ago? 1 year ago? What makes flat TVs different from other equipment that we sell?

Want to argue the Crestron/AMX model? Well, if we all move into that space I'm not sure there's enough room for all of us with that super high end client base.

Want to Argue C4 and Digilinx and IP based MCE stuffs? Okay. The consensus seems to be that C4 will be in BB in a few years. Digilinx has to come down in price to compete. MCE computers will eventually be sold at Dell and the like and integrated/hooked up by the same customers who can currently follow a color coded setup poster to hook up a computer.

Now, before you crucify me, realize that I am not Mr. Doom and Gloom or Chicken Little. I just believe that the slippery slope is a real thing. There will always be vendors who only target the CI industry with protected lines and no internet sales. Those are the companies that we should be supporting now so that they are still around in 5 years when everything else is sold at WM, Target, BB and the internet.

In my opinion we have only seen the start of this paradigm shift. Again, I will point out that 10 years ago none of these conversations were happening. 10 years is a pretty short time span for such a huge shift to have happened. And I would argue that the shift only really happened in the last 2 or 3 years.

There will always be clients who don�t want to shop on the net or wallymart for the best deal and who appreciate what we can bring to the table. Just as there will always be clients who want to pay a premium for Crestron/AMX systems. But I feel that those clients are going to be a bit harder to find. We'll see.

If nothing else you can't argue that things haven't changed in the past 3 years.

In a country where cheap is the mantra of the general population, there will always be the elite to where only "Fabulous" will suffice. Boutique and exotic is the only way to turn the heads of the 1%'ers. Almost every kid from this new generation will have the ability to set up anything IP. My twin 9 year olds will be required to have a laptop next year. (Ok an exaggeration there, they dont really require them untill 6th grade). The entry level systems that they will install and live with are the color by numbers version for ordinary average Joe. This industry will become very specialized and much smaller than it is now. You wont see me going to another cookie cutter, one size fits all systems training. Im going to start Diamond studding my floor standers and sell them to Paris Hilton so that she can match them with her Ice covered PSP.

I mostly agree with all of your posts but this is pretty much exactly how I feel about. I probably should have just kept my mouth shut and hung the plasma he bought fromTw$$ter. And I appreciate the support as well as the constructive criticism. I wouldn't have posted this If I wasn't looking for some honest (and amusing) responses.
Really I just misjudged the thing from the start. I never for one second thought this guy was going to buy the set from me. He had eyes only for Costco open ended return policy. From that point on I can't say I was really interested in selling him a set, nor did I try very hard. As for the quoted price mistake, no way am I selling him a set at cost just to make him happy. I said verbally right from the start that there was no way I was going to be able to get him a 50" panel below 4G. The 4G price point was discussed SEVERAL times after that as well. I typed 3099 instead of 3999 in an email.
My business was started with "honesty and integrity" as the foundation of my business plan. But that has to go both ways or the system doesn't work. Considering the customers response once the error was discovered I have a very hard time believing he didn't know right from the start that this was a misprint that might come in handy later on in the bargaining.

The final breakdown was really from me saying that he would be better suited if the selling dealer installed the set. This is the conversation I always have whenever a customer calls me to ask about plasmas, now that they are so "affordable". I didn't have it with this customer because it just seemed very clear that he was going to buy the set from Costco and that was that. But once he had sold himself on the Sammy panel, I certainly didn't push the set on him, I made every effort to get him the set in the time frame he wanted it. Yet I always stated clearly "depending on availability". Even after that I stated quite clearly that, yes the situation has become frustrating for both of us, I have already ordered all the add ons that you requested and I will be ready to go Saturaday morning if that's what you decide. He said forget it, hung up and sent me the above email a few hours later. Which leads me to believe Tw$$ter was able to schedule the install in the time frame he wanted.

Seeing as it's Friday I really doubt there is any chance to save this deal but I do agree that I should send a polite follow up email, explaining the situation as I see it. I never got a referral from him before but that may keep him from bad mouthing me to other people. If he does, that's his business and there's nothing more I can do.

I started in this business as a young and clueless 21 year old all the way back in 1991. (shut up Steve). Even then people were talking about eroding profits on video and the inevitable end of the CI industry. I just don't see it happening. The big profit is often in the new technology and there will always be new technology. Yes it's true that the business is going to change significanly as internet appliances become a reality but when it comes to home construction you will still need people that have soome clue about how to design, manange and install a system from beginning to end. And do it without drilling holes through water pipes.
Any business owner that's not concerned about the future is doomed. But I tend to believe that the majority of owners and techs that frequent this forum will be in this industry as long as they want to, or at least until the knees give out and they can't get off the floor anymore.

I'll be around as long as the hinges on the trunk still work.....lol