The Dudeism Forum

I have a auto glass and upholstery shop, and this undude that I have never met before came by wanting estimates on a few jobs. Well everything I priced was to high to him and he went on and on about it. Well in the past this has always been a high stress factor for me, seems to me if you think something is more than you want to pay, you should just say thank you for your time and move on elsewhere. Well after about 20 mins. of hearing this and me keeping my cool I said, "Yeah, well,you know, that's just like your opinion, man." He looked at me like I had two heads. I did get the work though.

I like what I'm reading here, Dude.

Excellent! Nice work, Dude. And it was a perty good story too.

Quote from: A Dude on July 26, 2013, 04:30:38 PM
I have a auto glass and upholstery shop, and this undude that I have never met before came by wanting estimates on a few jobs. Well everything I priced was to high to him and he went on and on about it. Well in the past this has always been a high stress factor for me, seems to me if you think something is more than you want to pay, you should just say thank you for your time and move on elsewhere. Well after about 20 mins. of hearing this and me keeping my cool I said, "Yeah, well,you know, that's just like your opinion, man." He looked at me like I had two heads. I did get the work though.

Sounds like a real reactionary.

Hope the profit was worth the 20 minutes of irritation.

Dogbert once said, "The customer is always right, and must be punished for his arrogance."



Gotta feed the monkey, but you don't have to put up with people's bullshit needlessly, either.  I love the way you handled it.

Soooo dudeist ! You are the kind of man I like.
I usely don't argue about prices, but if I do it someday (may the Dude preserve me from it), that's the kind of reaction I wait from the saleman.

You made my day.

I used to sell stationery and office supplies. Occasionally I would get someone who was really uptight about prices, a real penny-pincher. A typical exchange would go like this:


"You're charging me too much for Tipp-Ex!" (yes, it was that long ago...)
"Are you really worried about the price of Tipp-Ex? Really? I'm not worried about the price of Tipp-Ex. Have a bottle on me. Have two. In fact, have the box."
"Really? You're not going to charge me for it?"
"No. Of course not. It's just a box of Tipp-Ex. If you ordered it and I put it in the van as a delivery on its own, it would cost me more to deliver it and invoice it than it would to just take the hit and give it to you for nothing. I'm not interested in the price of Tipp-Ex. I am interested in how I can help you run your business smoother and more efficiently, so you think about your customers and your competition and your market, and you're not wasting your time worrying about the price of Tipp-Ex. I want your business to thrive, so you pay my invoices at the end of the month, and I can pay my electricity bill. Forget about the Tipp-Ex, it's not important. Your mortgage and my electricity bill, that's what's important to us."
"...?"


A couple of years later, the company was sold, we got a new layer of management, the idea of being an individual and building a relationship with a customer went right out the window, in the interests of 'progress'. That was time to move on.


I've often thought about starting my own business, but the whole idea of selling things for more than I paid for them is uncomfortable somehow. Also, charging more for my time for more than I would willingly pay for it myself just makes me embarrassed. If you've ever used a tradesman or a service that has charged you a ridiculously small amount of money and you wonder "How does he stay in business?", that would be me, and I wouldn't stay in business for long.

Quote from: roystonoboogie on July 31, 2013, 03:44:13 PM
I used to sell stationery and office supplies. Occasionally I would get someone who was really uptight about prices, a real penny-pincher. A typical exchange would go like this:


"You're charging me too much for Tipp-Ex!" (yes, it was that long ago...)
"Are you really worried about the price of Tipp-Ex? Really? I'm not worried about the price of Tipp-Ex. Have a bottle on me. Have two. In fact, have the box."
"Really? You're not going to charge me for it?"
"No. Of course not. It's just a box of Tipp-Ex. If you ordered it and I put it in the van as a delivery on its own, it would cost me more to deliver it and invoice it than it would to just take the hit and give it to you for nothing. I'm not interested in the price of Tipp-Ex. I am interested in how I can help you run your business smoother and more efficiently, so you think about your customers and your competition and your market, and you're not wasting your time worrying about the price of Tipp-Ex. I want your business to thrive, so you pay my invoices at the end of the month, and I can pay my electricity bill. Forget about the Tipp-Ex, it's not important. Your mortgage and my electricity bill, that's what's important to us."
"...?"


A couple of years later, the company was sold, we got a new layer of management, the idea of being an individual and building a relationship with a customer went right out the window, in the interests of 'progress'. That was time to move on.


I've often thought about starting my own business, but the whole idea of selling things for more than I paid for them is uncomfortable somehow. Also, charging more for my time for more than I would willingly pay for it myself just makes me embarrassed. If you've ever used a tradesman or a service that has charged you a ridiculously small amount of money and you wonder "How does he stay in business?", that would be me, and I wouldn't stay in business for long.

Just don't slip up, and say, "Forget about the toe" instead of "Forget about the Tipp-Ex" Haha.
You''re right roystonoboogie, good business requires good people, individuals and not robots.
I like yer style dude.

Quote from: Oompa Loompa Dude on August 01, 2013, 01:03:06 AM

Just don't slip up, and say, "Forget about the toe" instead of "Forget about the Tipp-Ex" Haha.
You''re right roystonoboogie, good business requires good people, individuals and not robots.
I like yer style dude.

Thanks, Oompa Loompa Dude!


I wonder sometimes why I felt like I was driven out of the private sector and into working for charities and voluntary organisations, because they are the only places I feel like I can be myself, act like who I am and not be a fraud. Maybe I don't have the killer instinct they're looking for in the private sector? Or maybe I'm not a greedy dick, which is what they really want working for them?


Either way, I am both poorer and happier as a result. You want a box of Tipp-Ex? I'll get you a box of Tipp-Ex by three o'clock, Dude...

Sounds like you handled it perfectly Dude. I run into the same thing quoting carpentry jobs for clients. Most of the time they say "sounds great" and I get the work. Sometimes though I don't hear back from them after sending a quote, indicating I was too expensive for them. At that point I say fuck it and go bowling. 

I did that once back when I set up networks. Local insurance office got a referral from my professor to set up a local network with a file server, shared printers, the whole nine. Gave her a quote.

Couple days later, she calls me back. That's a lot of money, she says. I say, not really, in fact I cut you a break because you're friends with my professor. OK, she says, here's a counteroffer: I'll hire you, you become a secretary here, we train you, you become a licensed insurance agent, and you do all our IT work.

I respectfully say no, not interested in becoming an insurance agent. She continues saying I'd learn a new skill, yadda yadda yadda. I say no again but call me back if you change your mind. No, she says, that's the only plan she wants to go with. I stand, shake her hand, and leave.

My professor says her friend is an idiot, and that she would've charged her lots more anyway.

Fast forward ... my professor tells me she ended up spending more than FIVE times my quote and got equipment she didn't need. Her pride had gotten in the way and she was too embarrassed to call me back when my professor said to.

The place is now out of business.

Me? Professor lady and I had a good laugh. (They weren't great friends anyway.)

It did happend to me very often. But hey, they can go to other place

Fuck it, dude. Its your business.

Want to welcome you Rev. Luis Florebowski. Grab a rug , man!