HANG IN THERE

"."

"Wow, after 26 years in this business, I finally got THAT customer. After spending almost two hours giving her a bid, going over colors, examples, ideas, she agreed. Before I even started the original bid was chopped in half. She was going to paint the walls herself. The walls were old plaster walls with lots of damage. I spent a lot more time making the walls smooth than expected. She rubbed the walls everyday by hand as if a Genie was going to pop out. I did not use a tarp on her table, it was a coated table cloth with an extra layer of heavy duty plastic on top. She saw that I had things on her table, she was behind me everyday, none that could have caused any damage. I did not use it as workbench. I never had deglosser or paint thinner . I was stripping wallpaper not furniture. If she was upset she never let me know. As for being sloppy, I had to clean the dining room and kitchen floor from all the dog hair before I could even start, so my tarps would not smell of urine or have hair all over them. I did the wainscoting with picture framing, she was not happy with the design, I redid the entire room at my expense, then she was thrilled. She was unhappy about her chandelier, I suggested that I could prime it and paint it with a baked on enamel, brushed pewter. It looked awesome, better than the old tarnished brass that she had. She didn't like it, so I ate the materials and labor. It still is hanging there. I also removed broken baseboards in the kitchen and spent an entire Saturday afternoon trying to match the exact ones she had, after several places I was able to find 60ft. of the same that I was supposed to install. I primed all 60ft. , labor and primer were never paid for, so I ate that too. The bathroom had badly damaged walls that had been painted over with enamel, I had told her for the price I gave that I could not make them "baby smooth" without an adjustment to the price. She said "do what you can it's an old house" I did and she was surprised how nice it looked after that. After finishing the job and the removal of all my tools and supplies form the house, I got down on my hands and knees and cleaned her hardwood floors and tile floor from any dust or leftover debris, and dog hair. That's when she had stated that there was a dull area on her table, looked like an old water ring or candle oil ring. I told her that I had nothing that would have caused that and that if she would like I would have a professional come over to look at it, she said "Don't worry about it" , so I didn't. As for "slinking out of there", after cleaning the floors and putting away the remaining materials, I came back inside where she was writing me the remaining balance, I thanked her and said I would be back after she was done painting to install the primed baseboards.My contract clearly states that I do not receive any final payment until the customer is completely satisfied. I was paid. Week or so later I get a text with no name talking about the table. I was never allowed to have anyone look at it, never saw an estimate or a bill for what was 1 spot that grew into 3. It's ironic that the cost of the table was the same cost for the kitchen repair. She never spoke to me on the phone, just text. It takes me along time to type all those little letters without glasses, so my spelling could have been wrong. I will never work for a LAWYER again. Her outside painter has been there for 6 months and is still not finished, poor chap. I pray she can find happiness within herself."

"What a great couple to work for, I look forward to doing more work for them in the future."

"I THOUGHT EVERYTHING WAS COVERED. NEED BETTER GLASSES. WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN..."