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Cheap-@ss Customers

Pull up a chair, grab a cold one, and talk about life as a locksmith. Trade stories of good and bad customers, general work day frustrations, any fun projects you worked on recently, or anything else you want to chat about with fellow locksmiths.

Re: Cheap-@ss Customers

Postby billdeserthills » 13 Feb 2015 13:37

deralian wrote:I add and extra $10 for each adjustment as well. I was just saying that the ones who are unwilling to spend extra money are the ones who have the most problems (ie because they aren't willing to pay for corrections). The problem comes in when you HAVE to make sure everything works before you leave, because you are ultimately responsible for it since you just worked on it.



While it's true that they will try to make You responsible for anything You touch, I often times will document that the customer refused to repair X, which voids the warranty.
For example, if I install a new deadlatch, if the client doesn't wanna pay for the strike adjustment I'll just write that the deadlatch cannot be warranted, due to the strike adjustment
having been declined and then just for fun I get them to sign underneath where I write the note(s) at the bottom of the bill. In case of a warranty claim I always require the client to
present me with his receipt, that way I don't hafta keep track of them.
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Re: Cheap-@ss Customers

Postby sentientsentinel » 17 Feb 2015 20:25

I say there is nothing wrong with haggling or price shopping but if you have a quality service and its priced right then stick to your price.The sad reality is though many people don't have extra money as the bankers devour everything around us.
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Re: Cheap-@ss Customers

Postby dll932 » 18 Feb 2015 10:32

I'll never forget the time a customer came in the shop I was working for and said he wanted a key duped. I took his key, grabbed a blank and started to put them in the machine when he said "wait-how much will it cost?" I told him $1.75 and he said "no, gimme my key back-I can get for $1.25 at the hardware store!" It wasn't worth taking the time to explain he might have to take that copy back 2 or 3 times till they made one that works. We had many, many customers who'd given up after a few tries and brought their keys to us.

I had to change locks for a shoe store at an upscale mall years ago. When I told them the price one of the women who worked said "that's a ripoff!" I told her she had little room to talk selling men's shoes for $250.:)
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Re: Cheap-@ss Customers

Postby billdeserthills » 18 Feb 2015 11:32

I had much the same experience with a hardware store shopper, he said he could get that key at the hardware store right now for $1, only the hardware store was out of them. I told him that when we are out of them we only charge 75 cents! Of course he didn't find anything funny in my little joke and just stomped off.
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Re: Cheap-@ss Customers

Postby GWiens2001 » 18 Feb 2015 12:04

billdeserthills wrote:I had much the same experience with a hardware store shopper, he said he could get that key at the hardware store right now for $1, only the hardware store was out of them. I told him that when we are out of them we only charge 75 cents! Of course he didn't find anything funny in my little joke and just stomped off.


:lol: :lol: :lol:

Some people just have no sense of humor.

Gordon
Just when you finally think you have learned it all, that is when you learn that you don't know anything yet.
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Re: Cheap-@ss Customers

Postby dll932 » 19 Feb 2015 12:22

Supposedly some guy went into a hardware store wanting one washer. They told him it was 15 cents. He said "15 cents! For that I'll go home and drill a hole in a quarter!" :mrgreen:
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Re: Cheap-@ss Customers

Postby Pahaseta » 24 Feb 2015 14:40

Around 2000 I had a call to open a Daewoo. I said 400mk, around 65€ nowadays. That was too much for him and he said that he will brake the window. The thing was that it was a pretty new car make in Finland and afterwards I heard that the window was 4000mk/650€ and with a 3 month delivery time. :lol:
tuska tekee autuaaksi
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Re: Cheap-@ss Customers

Postby billdeserthills » 24 Feb 2015 15:47

Pahaseta wrote:Around 2000 I had a call to open a Daewoo. I said 400mk, around 65€ nowadays. That was too much for him and he said that he will brake the window. The thing was that it was a pretty new car make in Finland and afterwards I heard that the window was 4000mk/650€ and with a 3 month delivery time. :lol:



I believe it, thing is for the first few years the car is using original equipment parts, then after that the lower priced parts start being manufactured
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Re: Cheap-@ss Customers

Postby MatrixBlackRock » 15 Apr 2015 12:11

Sinifar wrote:AFTER ALL the cops or the fire department would come out and do it for FREE!!!


Oh they will do it for free but it is not an inexpensive service call, last year my wife and I where leaving a restaurant and she noticed a parked car with two small children inside strapped into car seats and crying, I noticed the ignition key was on but the car was not running and judging by how wet the kid where, it had to be hot inside the car. I called 911 and two police officers quickly responded, they tried the doors and finding them locked one officer stated to the other "I'm going to blow out the window" the other officer contacted his sergeant and received an affirmative to blow out the window. The officer retrieved a center punch device from his trunk, put it against the lower corner of the drivers side door window and with one click the tempered glass shattered, then using a baton he knocked the shattered glass out of his way reached in and unlocked the doors, EMS had already arrived and extricated the kids and transferred them into the ambulance.

The officer took my information and advised me I could go on my way, I asked what about the kids and car and he advised me the kids where going to be ok but would be transported to the ER for a checkup and the PD would standby the car until the owner came back from where ever he had drifted off to.

Turned out, according to an article in the local section of the newspaper the following day, the parents where in a nearby lounge boozing it up and had left the kids in the car with the motor running and the AC on which failed, the parents where arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse and my guess is, with it's blown out window, the car was towed off to the impound.

That was one expensive lockout call.

Wayne
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Re: Cheap-@ss Customers

Postby dll932 » 20 Apr 2015 13:18

Police opening cars is a bugaboo of mine. Back in the day when I worked on cars, I can't tell you how many calls were to open cars where cops tried and failed, but broke the linkage instead. Some departments are getting smarter and refusing to open cars.

I'll never forget the time I saw this stupid cute gal standing near her Volvo, watching FOUR cops yanking on slimjims.:)
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Re: Cheap-@ss Customers

Postby hjlocks » 21 Apr 2015 20:55

dll932 wrote:I'll never forget the time I saw this stupid cute gal standing near her Volvo, watching FOUR cops yanking on slimjims.:)


You'd think police would be the first to realize that most things aren't as easy as they look on TV.

I actually get a fair number of lockout referrals from cops.
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Re: Cheap-@ss Customers

Postby Jburgett2nd » 21 Apr 2015 21:32

The police in my area will only try to gain entry to a vehicle if it is an emergency like a kid is locked inside or old man Jenkins forgot his medicine in the cup holder and is having heart palpitations. I have to agree with them on their policy.
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