What would you?

[Pogo]

Just did a quote at a residence with 7 large Dogs(bouviers) and about a
dozen cats, existing wireless on Doors and one Motion operating on a 9 volt
flashlite(jerry rigged). Never seen this audible system which arm/disarms
via phone with central station audio.. AlarmBxxxge.. Either way, doing a
walk through and there is dog crap all over the place in the basement, place
is completely discusting.. I really don't want to spend a day working and
stepping in dog crap, I would like to politely decline this job, I would
price this job through the roof but don't want to be known as abusive.
(small town!) Any one run across a similar circumstance? At what point does
one say THIS JOB IS NOT FOR ME Feedback..

 

[Frank Olson]

Just did a quote at a residence with 7 large Dogs(bouviers) and about a
dozen cats, existing wireless on Doors and one Motion operating on a 9 volt
flashlite(jerry rigged). Never seen this audible system which arm/disarms
via phone with central station audio.. AlarmBxxxge.. Either way, doing a
walk through and there is dog crap all over the place in the basement, place
is completely discusting.. I really don't want to spend a day working and
stepping in dog crap, I would like to politely decline this job, I would
price this job through the roof but don't want to be known as abusive.
(small town!) Any one run across a similar circumstance? At what point does
one say THIS JOB IS NOT FOR ME Feedback..

I don't judge a customer by how clean his house is. If the installation
requires my having to access certain areas of the house that may be
messy, have them remove any "offensive material" beforehand. Don't jack
up your price because you don't like the neighbourhood. Everyone that
calls you deserves a fair shake and your best effort. That's what
"being a professional" is all about. Make damn sure he can pay you for
your time and professional attitude though.

 

[AlarmCo]

Either way, doing a

walk through and there is dog crap all over the place in the basement,
place is completely discusting.. I really don't want to spend a day
working and stepping in dog crap, I would like to politely decline this
job, I would price this job through the roof but don't want to be known as
abusive. (small town!) Any one run across a similar circumstance? At what
point does one say THIS JOB IS NOT FOR ME Feedback..

get one of those chemical gas masks to wear during the installation. I
think homey depot has em. Dam right I would charge more. Hazardous duty
pay and a new pair of shoes. ] I had a job like that once only with cats.
The ammonia from the urine burned my eyes and my lungs. I did all the crawl
under the house work [not too bad under there] and left my poor partner to
finish. The customer got mad because I wore a dust mask in the house [I
didn't give a shit, my fucking eyes were running and I could barely breath
by then] before I finally left. I wish I had had one of those gas masks.
Would have been the only way I could have stayed in that godforsakenhouse.

 

[ABLE_1]

At what point does one say THIS JOB IS NOT FOR ME Feedback..


I think you already did. Walk away.

 

[Nick Markowitz Jr.]

Had a similar situation couple years back where customers steps and side
walk were snow and ice covered and I explained to them problem I have with
my legs being unstable and the husband cleaned what he could and threw down
some sand and helped me in with my equiptment.
They were very understanding they were a younger couple in good shape and
lived up on a hill side with very few visitors so snow and ice was not an
inconvience for them.
I own a dog and 4 cats and keep my place clean but yet cats and amonia smell
are an unfortunate
problem that comes with the territory. I always make sure cat boxes are
changed house aired out before inviting guests in because as i have found
with owning cats the smell may not be aparent to my self and others who own
pets . But definately to some one who does not own pets.
Biggest problems with the amonia smell is when pet owners do not keep cat
boxes changed or pets spray walls etc and they do not keep after them and
clean up.
this is unsanitary not only for the home owner but the pets as well and
dangerous. i will not work in a place where pets are not properly taken care
of and will turn them in.
pets are a responsibilty. just like when i walk my dog i clean up after him
while others do not and let there pest run around the neihborhood.


It is just common courtesey to make sure house is clean and safe for a
repairman or guest to enter.
not doing so is inviting trouble luckily i only do couple resi installs a
year so it is not a big problem

I do have commercail and industrial customers with large dogs and ocassional
cat and they do a good job cleaning up but ocasionally one of the dogs will
have an accident but they clean it right up and its not a problem.

Either way, doing a

walk through and there is dog crap all over the place in the basement,
place is completely discusting.. I really don't want to spend a day
working and stepping in dog crap, I would like to politely decline this
job, I would price this job through the roof but don't want to be known
as abusive. (small town!) Any one run across a similar circumstance? At
what point does one say THIS JOB IS NOT FOR ME Feedback..

get one of those chemical gas masks to wear during the installation. I
think homey depot has em. Dam right I would charge more. Hazardous duty
pay and a new pair of shoes. ] I had a job like that once only with
cats. The ammonia from the urine burned my eyes and my lungs. I did all
the crawl under the house work [not too bad under there] and left my poor
partner to finish. The customer got mad because I wore a dust mask in the
house [I didn't give a shit, my fucking eyes were running and I could
barely breath by then] before I finally left. I wish I had had one of
those gas masks. Would have been the only way I could have stayed in that
godforsakenhouse.

 

[Crash Gordon]

I've walked on less offensive jobs. I reserve the right to do or not do a
job for absolutely no reason at all.
Just politely decline...no reason given.


| Just did a quote at a residence with 7 large Dogs(bouviers) and about a
| dozen cats, existing wireless on Doors and one Motion operating on a 9
volt
| flashlite(jerry rigged). Never seen this audible system which arm/disarms
| via phone with central station audio.. AlarmBxxxge.. Either way, doing a
| walk through and there is dog crap all over the place in the basement,
place
| is completely discusting.. I really don't want to spend a day working and
| stepping in dog crap, I would like to politely decline this job, I would
| price this job through the roof but don't want to be known as abusive.
| (small town!) Any one run across a similar circumstance? At what point
does
| one say THIS JOB IS NOT FOR ME Feedback..
|
|

 

[AlarmCo]

Had a similar situation couple years back where customers steps and side
walk were snow and ice covered and I explained to them problem I have with
my legs being unstable and the husband cleaned what he could and threw
down some sand and helped me in with my equiptment.

good thing you don't do much resi. man those houses they build now a days
with 3 and 4 floors will either keep those legs in good shape or totally
break you down with all the stairs up and down esp if you have to work one
by yourself.

They were very understanding they were a younger couple in good shape and
lived up on a hill side with very few visitors so snow and ice was not an
inconvience for them.

I did another install where their was so much "stuff" in the house that
there was only enough room for a path through house that a person could walk
through. Standard ranch with three bedrooms and barely enough room to walk
in . same in living room and kitchen and garage. what a pain that was,
couldn't even get to some of the windows, had to climb over and reach over
'stuff' just to drill the windows. took a couple days to do that one. at
least it was close to home. ain't life interesting?

 

[alarman]

Just did a quote at a residence with 7 large Dogs(bouviers) and about
a dozen cats, existing wireless on Doors and one Motion operating on
a 9 volt flashlite(jerry rigged). Never seen this audible system
which arm/disarms via phone with central station audio..
AlarmBxxxge.. Either way, doing a walk through and there is dog crap
all over the place in the basement, place is completely discusting..
I really don't want to spend a day working and stepping in dog crap,
I would like to politely decline this job, I would price this job
through the roof but don't want to be known as abusive. (small town!)
Any one run across a similar circumstance? At what point does one
say THIS JOB IS NOT FOR ME Feedback..

Price the job so if you get it, it will be worth the trouble. Or just tell
them you are too busy. If they challenge you, tell them you don't want to
work in their dogs' toilet.

You do not have to take every job that comes along.
js

 

[Doug]

Only you can say when the job is not for you, it depends not only on the
working conditions, but also if you need the work, personally if its as you
described then I would decline the job, tell them you are too busy or you
are allergic to dogs or cats if you are concerned about their feelings, if
not then tell them you don't want to wade knee deep through dog shit to
install the alarm.

Doug

 

[Bill]

What small contractors (carpenters, roofing, home repair, etc) do is to make
an appointment and then not show up. Or say "I will get back to you", but
then don't call back. Or don't return their calls.

I know a few of these construction workers and have seen why they do this.
Sometimes they know the customer will be more trouble than it is worth.
Sometimes they are busy with a more profitable job and don't have the time.

Most of the time they were out partying the night before and are hung over!

I had a friend get new carpeting in a house they bought. The old carpeting
had cat/dog urine in it. The carpeting company REFUSED to remove the old
carpeting. They even had this written into their contract.

So I suppose you could also refuse to do any work there because of the
working conditions.


"Pogo" wrote in message

 

[timO']

What small contractors (carpenters, roofing, home repair, etc) do is to make
an appointment and then not show up. Or say "I will get back to you", but
then don't call back. Or don't return their calls.

I know a few of these construction workers and have seen why they do this.
Sometimes they know the customer will be more trouble than it is worth.
Sometimes they are busy with a more profitable job and don't have the time.

Most of the time they were out partying the night before and are hung over!

I had a friend get new carpeting in a house they bought. The old carpeting
had cat/dog urine in it. The carpeting company REFUSED to remove the old
carpeting. They even had this written into their contract.

So I suppose you could also refuse to do any work there because of the
working conditions.

"Pogo" wrote in message

Sometimes when you do service calls, you walk into situations. How you
react has a lot to do with you. If you're a dog lover, you might have
a higher level of tolerance for that crap.
If you're struggling to pay your bills, you might overlook something
else.

Remember your health and safety are #1, and then you need to be
guaranteed to get your price, and then get paid.

Maybe tell the client you have a compromised immune system and you
also do not wish to subject your employees to hazardous conditions, so
they need to address the filth before you can address their alarm.
These homeowners might be in need of some attention from the health
department, or require psychological help if they're in someway
afflicted. Can't you tell?
Or they might just be animal lovers in which case you need to read
them the Riot Act.

The original person who posed the question had really only one
problem; their own indecision.
It takes a professional to recognize a hostile environment and know
when to bail out.
There are a lot of diseases associated with feces. Do you want to
carry that home to your wife, kids or grandchildren?
They all are counting on you to stay healthy and not expose them to
danger too.
This post must've pushed my button. We all encounter issues daily for
which we're unprepared to deal with because we're confused about
priorities.
If you're not sure, call the boss.
If you're the boss, then call your wife.
If neither are available, ask God, he knows.
God knows I've been there too.

 

[Pogo]

Well I got a wide range of responses.. I think TimO's seems most to the
point here. As a profestional we slowly get eroded into accepting things
that we would not normaly otherwise accept. I think personal health issues
that have been brought up... others (family) depend on us not to risk
ourselves and there health.
I think this post was refreshing in that I did get a good sampling of
reactions... "Pussy.. to indecision to Health... and your own good judment"
I don't think I will do this job, was going to price it so high they would
not call back because I did not want to insult the potential client by
telling them it was a pig sty... to each there own castle.. to my peers..
thanks a bunch

Pogo

 

[Jim]

Just did a quote at a residence with 7 large Dogs(bouviers) and about a
dozen cats, existing wireless on Doors and one Motion operating on a 9 volt
flashlite(jerry rigged). Never seen this audible system which arm/disarms
via phone with central station audio.. AlarmBxxxge.. Either way, doing a
walk through and there is dog crap all over the place in the basement, place
is completely discusting.. I really don't want to spend a day working and
stepping in dog crap, I would like to politely decline this job, I would
price this job through the roof but don't want to be known as abusive.
(small town!) Any one run across a similar circumstance?  At what pointdoes
one say THIS JOB IS NOT FOR ME  Feedback..

All the feed back has been pretty good on this one.

As for me, when I run into something like this, I just don't get back
to them. But at my stage of business, work is no problem. I can
understand your reluctance, if you live in a small community, though.
Therefore, you may want to "kill two birds with one stone" You can
tell the person that your are really, really busy. That you are
working on a great big job and you don't know how long it's going to
take for you to finnish. So, rather than putting them off, you'll do
the next best thing. You'll refer them to someone who will be more
than happy to do the job for them. Then give them the name of your
best competitor or two or three . .....

Now you can walk away contented knowing that you've done the best that
you can, to help your business progress.