I just got off the phone 10 minutes ago and it appears I'm putting OnQ Unity with 12 zones of audio in a 4 million dollar home.
Long story and I prayed for it to go away but it is what it is.
I'm not even going to tell you the crazy ridiculous number I shot them to eliminate the chances of this happening.
It should have gotten a very loud are you freaking crazy response but instead it got an OK where do I sign. I told them I would need a deposit of 50% which is 3 times what the whole freaking job will cost me and they replied "no problem".
I guess I'm doing this.

This whole job is a cluster with the electrashin married to the interior dictator. They killed my Homeworks in favor of RA as stand alone system which they provide and pushed Crestron out in favor of OnQ.

WHAAAAAAT!!!!! Who knew that was even an option??????? WTF!!!!!

I feel a little sick.

This could possibly go down in trunk slammer history.

The plus side is we got a very nice dedicated theater and Lutron blinds out of it.

I find it hard to get excited about a project like this.............I don't care if the money is good.........it just feels WRONG!!

I need to get over this whole "pride" thing in this economy ;-)

Thats where I'm at!
I have no idea how I'm going to conjure up the proper attitude to do this job and I physically feel it taking a toll on me.
I think more than anything I cant believe they can make these decisions from 5 states away without consulting anyone but a small town Legrand rep at their local electrical supply.
I cant believe that these home owners are so far up the interior dictators azz that what she says goes and money is no concern. All of this because some small town decorator and her not out of the closet yet electrician husband want the lighting control which they know very little about and are approaching all wrong or she will walk.
I've got to move past this and change my attitude but it is so wrong on so many levels that I cant help but struggle. It's a very uncomfortable feeling and I am highly considering calling tomorrow to decline the job. I dont like the emotional rollercoaster I am feeling and if I'm working for the interior dictator which it appears is the case then I do not anticipate it getting any better.

"SignatureSV Likes This!"

4mil house ey? im dealing with a customer right now that wipes his @$$ with $20's and is having a hard time justifying outdoor speakers.

Makes you wonder what is possibly going through their heads. Then again, somehow they're richer then me =)

That made my night.

I would walk away from it, then put onq in there. Unless I was really in need of work

It makes you think that they must have some damn good employee's!!

You mean this doesn't happen very often for you guys?

I was out at a job yesterday where the concrete guy was trying to tell my customer about this crazy new satellite system where you can have two TV's off one box and use the remote that came with it. This is for a 52" outdoor Pantel! I had to spend 10 minutes explaining why that won't work and why I couldn't just use a remote extender.

Then last week I had a friend call who paints for a company that owns a bunch of rental property. He says call this guy because he's in a pinch. So I call him and he says they are trying to figure out what to do about a projector. I asked him what where they trying to do. He proceeds to tell me his project manager (aka carpenter) was buying the cheapest 1080P projector he could find and they weren't sure why the image doesn't fit the 84" screen they bought. He also told me they didn't have a center channel speaker and they were trying to use a multi-channel amp that was for the whole house audio to drive the existing theater speakers. I asked about a remote and he said they didn't need one! The funniest part was the reason they were in a pinch was this is for a professional baseball player who is renting the place out for the season. He said the team was coming in town tomorrow and they needed to figure it out but didn't want to pay anything. I've never laughed so hard and they never called back.

I'm not sure if times have changed or I've ran into a string of tightwads.

If I was a customer of yours and saw this kind of rant, with the language you used, I would drop you in a heart beat - it does not sound very professional. JMO.

When it happens to you, you can replace all the words you want with pictures of puppies and butterflies.

PM me and I'll give you this clients email so you can forward them the link.

While a lot of people complain about the role of the Interior Desecrator, I loved them. I would tell them that my job was to work within their artistic vision to put both of our work in the best possible light. My consultations usually began at the design stage, I often helped with cabinet design and similar issues.

It only took one or two jobs to convert them into my best bird dogs. I would routinely get a call stating, "I have a new client who wants a home theater plus whole house audio & video, when can you meet with me and the client?"

Now there is no competition for the job, and the ID and I would back up each others work. Easiest closing process ever, as the decision is now left by the client to the ID, who only wants to work with me.

We used to do seminars to the ID community, another great source of profitable jobs.

Working with the high end ID community and their clients is one of the few things that I actually miss after I left that line of work.

Good luck.

I publish under my real name. My intemperate remarks can be traced back to me. Still I tend to speak rather plainly because I believe that the Truth shall set you free. But the rule of proportions ought to matter. The dreckorator will insist on 1000/yard fabrics and 50k chairs. But the idea of putting in the correct lighting and DA system seems strange? And when you confront someone making this idiotic decision you think it unprofessional to state that these people are out of their minds?

Clients are not always right. Clients are often the most unreasonable and unreasoning individuals one might have the misfortune to meet. It is particularly so when you see the decorator trying to mussel in on a project into areas where she knows little or nothing. We may live in a era of value consumers but stupid is stupid, whether it's Mark Sipe, some Red Stater, or a client who will overpay for the wrong system.

What you fail to hear is the disappointment in the OP. He is not complaining that he lost a bid to someone willing to do the job for less. He is incredulous that someone would overpay for the wrong system when he wants to do the right system. It may be unprofessional but it's sure human nature--if you care about what you do.

Alan

Recently bought a screen for a friend... It was origionally $1500, and the disty was blowing them out @ $200.00.

I told him there WOULD be freight charges, but still.... So I get him the screen, and I pay the $150 freight.

I give the screen to this guy, and he refuses to pay me the freight charge!!!

ex-friend now! (& this guys worth millions)!!!

...Then he calls me to ask if I'd help him install it... I said "No"!!!

Why don't you?

You made your best presentation and you did not close the deal. That happens. It doesn't make the clients stupid or idiots. It's their money to spend as they chose.

If I fail to close a deal I don't look at what's wrong with the client, I look at what's with my presentation.

Passion has it's place perhaps but that passion can take the form of feeling bad for the client, knowing they may someday regret their choice, or anger and disdain, declaring other people to be stupid, idiots, etc.

I stand by post, that kind of vulgar rant is unprofessional.

No kidding! The interior designer & architect are probably the most important allies you can have. The clients ALWAYS meet with one or both of them first and having them on your side means you just have to show up and do a good job.

If you do a good job then they have a go-to guy that they can recommend that makes them look good. You get presented to the client as the only option vs one of the options.