[TheForge] Was another railing question. Now, "the client from hell."

[Keporter at aol.com]

Some people shouldn't be allowed to have money!!

This brings up a fascinating subject. In fifteen years of ornamental rionwork 
(southern Cal. from the late fifties through the sixties) I only met a few 
really problematic nitpickers. Not one of them was rich, although the rich 
comprised about one-half of my customer base. Rich people are easy to get along 
with. You merely state what they are supposed to receive for their money, and 
then make darn sure it is delivered in full. They make very loyal customers, who 
will send their friends to you.

What I used to dubb "the customer from hell" was found among the upper middle 
classes, and I only met a handfull of them out of thousands of sales. This is 
just as well, because they are always "a handfull" to deal with. Basicly, 
this kind of charracter isn't satisfied no matter how good the deal is. Trying to 
placate them is like pouring gasolene on a fire. Fortunately, they are rare 
and easily "solved." Once you get the suspicion that this is the situation 
you're caught in, you simply put your work back on the installation truck, wring 
the doorbell, and start writing out a refund check in front of them (at this 
point allowing yourself a mean little smile is helpfull). As soon as they see 
you don't want anything more to do with them, they will reverse their position 
and start working franticaly to "save the deal."

Sounds fantastic doesn't it? Nevertheless, I bet there are plenty of folks 
here who have had the experience. Not that their aren't other kinds of problem 
people (flakes for instance).
Mikey (Michael Porter)