Crippling Fear of a Negative Review?

[climbingmonkey24]

I’m glad I came across this, as I was just going to get on and ask a very similar question and get some input.

What about going out and giving a quote, get told you have the job, schedule the job, then day before/day of they ghost out?
(I do not start a job without day of confirmation.)
I have had this happen twice recently.
The first, the guy acted like all was good then day of I let him know we would be by after lunch as agreed and got no response. I figured he was busy with work. Got all organized and headed his way and let him know (via text after no answer), and got a reply that “today isn’t so good now”. There was a bit of runaround with the guy meeting for the initial bid and complaint about the cost. I just let him know we were booked busy and that we had worked him in for this day/time. Cut my ties/losses.

The next a lady got with me about some limbs and shrubs which turned into completely removing two small trees, trimming bushes, and cleaning a property line. I gave her a price and offered to get started as soon as that evening (lot of rain and wife expecting so not booking up).
She didn’t want to that day due to some family being over who would have input on what she’s having done (I can respect that).
We agreed on a price and day. They day before, I called. She said she was driving and in traffic and would call back in half an hour.
Two hours later I hadn’t heard back. I texted and just let her know we would like to get started the next morning if still good and got no response. I got a response the next morning (day we were supposed to do the work) stating that she was out of town and wouldn’t be back for over a month. I just responded “Ok. Thank You” and left it at that. I will not be following up on this one unless she reaches back out.

Are others experiencing this as well? I think it’s sad to say most people have no concern about your time and are terrible on their end about communicating.
After giving a free quote and booking a day to do a job only to back out day of, causes a bit of a loss so I don’t care to waste any further time with them in the future.

I’m personally not concerned about a negative review from someone I didn’t actually do work for.


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It does happen. Sometimes it’s because people are just not considerate of you or your time and don’t care if they inconvenience you. On the other hand, sometimes you don’t fully know what someone is going through at the time or where their head is at, and a little bit of patience and understanding (even though it can be really frustrating when someone isn’t good with their communication and wastes your time) goes a long way. Sometimes you have to give people a break and look at it not just from the business perspective but also from a human one. And then in other situations, you need to know when to draw the line and make the appropriate decisions whether that’s to walk or however you determine is the best way to handle it.

 

[Crimsonking]

I’m glad I came across this, as I was just going to get on and ask a very similar question and get some input.

What about going out and giving a quote, get told you have the job, schedule the job, then day before/day of they ghost out?
(I do not start a job without day of confirmation.)
I have had this happen twice recently.
The first, the guy acted like all was good then day of I let him know we would be by after lunch as agreed and got no response. I figured he was busy with work. Got all organized and headed his way and let him know (via text after no answer), and got a reply that “today isn’t so good now”. There was a bit of runaround with the guy meeting for the initial bid and complaint about the cost. I just let him know we were booked busy and that we had worked him in for this day/time. Cut my ties/losses.

The next a lady got with me about some limbs and shrubs which turned into completely removing two small trees, trimming bushes, and cleaning a property line. I gave her a price and offered to get started as soon as that evening (lot of rain and wife expecting so not booking up).
She didn’t want to that day due to some family being over who would have input on what she’s having done (I can respect that).
We agreed on a price and day. They day before, I called. She said she was driving and in traffic and would call back in half an hour.
Two hours later I hadn’t heard back. I texted and just let her know we would like to get started the next morning if still good and got no response. I got a response the next morning (day we were supposed to do the work) stating that she was out of town and wouldn’t be back for over a month. I just responded “Ok. Thank You” and left it at that. I will not be following up on this one unless she reaches back out.

Are others experiencing this as well? I think it’s sad to say most people have no concern about your time and are terrible on their end about communicating.
After giving a free quote and booking a day to do a job only to back out day of, causes a bit of a loss so I don’t care to waste any further time with them in the future.

I’m personally not concerned about a negative review from someone I didn’t actually do work for.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@Tom Dunlap, can you give him a gold star for reading other threads and choosing not to make a new one?

 

[Dan Cobb]

Anyone ever take a customer to small claims court over backing out of a contract? Seems like if they enter into a contract and change their mind for whatever reason, they would be in breach of contract. You'd just have to prove your damages. If they canceled in time for you to schedule other work and you never showed up, you'd have no damages, but if they cancel once you're on site with equipment, you probably have a good case. Might not be worth pursuing for a variety of reasons, though. Anyone have a cancelation policy in their contracts?

 

[Serf Life]

That’s a fine reason for down payments, especially on larger jobs. Perhaps with rhetoric about forfeiting the payment with last minute cancellation? Legal confrontations with clients generally seem not worth it though, more headache and stress ontop of running a fast paced business.