As someone who picks customers very stringently, getting a customer who was referred by another client can sometimes make turning that customer down rather difficult if they end up being a potential pain in the ass to deal with.
Well, not too long ago, my client decided to refer me to his sister, and prior to me actually meeting the sister, whom I shall refer to as Kyla, my client briefly told me that Kyla wasn't interested to do a lot of renovation works, she only wanted to do a little false ceiling and that was it.
I wasn't too interested upon hearing that, so I told him rather bluntly that if she wanted to do just the false ceiling, she should contact a contractor directly instead because that is going to save her a lot of money and also because the amount of commission I will earn from the project is honestly just not worth my time, it will probably only be able to cover my transport cost with some spare change, that is how much commission I will be able to earn.
Well, I don't really know what my client relayed back to Kyla, but she texted me weeks later, introducing herself to me and requested for a quote for the false ceiling works. I wasn't really keen to have anything to do with her renovation, but because she was my client's sister, I told her I will prepare one for her within the week and send it to her out of an obligation to my client.
I procrastinated and didn't bother to actually do the quote until she rushed me for it about a week later, so I rush one out really quickly, did a huge mark up for the false ceiling works and then send it her way, hoping it will scare her off, and I thought that was going to be the last time I ever hear from her again, but I guess she thought the price was reasonable and requested for me to quote her for additional carpentry works as well, she didn't request to meet up at first, she simply wanted a quote, so she told me she will collate the requirements and send it to me in the evening, but then quickly changes her mind, requested for a meet up and told me...
"I would like a 3D drawing, the same one you prepared for my brother."
... and that nonchalant request from her really pissed me off.
You don't just ask for a 3D model from me, it's not a free service that you can simply request, when I prepare a free 3D model for my customers, it is an extra service that I provide out of goodwill, not out of an obligation. People outside can pay upwards to a hundred dollars per 3D renders, and she wanted me to prepare a 3D model for her, a model that can churn out at least 4 to 5 different angles, which would mean the market rate for that request would actually cost her at least $300.
So I explain to her that I don't just do 3D model for any Tom, Dick & Kyla, you don't just ask for it and expect it to be prepared for you for free, she got disappointed but confirmed a date and time with me for our meet up anyways and I was quite bumped out when she still decided to come for a consultation because I really wasn't interested in her project.
Fast forward to today, the day we were scheduled to meet. We had agreed to meet at 4.30pm, and since I didn't have to report to the Showroom in the morning, I was planning to leave home at around 3.00pm and only reach the Showroom at 4.00pm, since it would take me an hour by public transport.
At around 2pm, I receive a text from Kyla asking me where the showroom was located, I shared with her the address and she replied with...
At around 2pm, I receive a text from Kyla asking me where the showroom was located, I shared with her the address and she replied with...
"Okay, will let you know when I am reaching, will probably reach at around 3pm plus."
... Huh? We had already agreed to meet at 4.30pm, what the fuck are you talking about? She doesn't even bother to ask me if I will be available at an earlier timing, she just assumes my whole day has been dedicated to meeting her, so I quickly pack up my stuff and rush to the office.
I manage to reach the office a little before 3.00pm, printed out the quotation and floorplan and waited for her, at around 3.15pm, she messaged me telling me she was on her way, so I waited and waited. At 3.45pm, I was still fucking waiting.
It wasn't only until 4.15pm did she finally arrive with her fiance, I was honestly quite pissed off at their tardiness, she told me she will be reaching at 3 plus, made me rush from home and then make me wait an hour, strolling in casually at 4.15pm without apologizing for being late, but I couldn't call them out for it, so I ushered them to my table and got right down to the consultation.
"She doesn't plan to do a lot, just simple false ceiling that's all."
.... that's what her brother shared with me weeks ago when he told me his sister was going to get her own apartment, I assume that means she isn't planning to spend a lot of money on the renovation, so that means I should only be recommending the basic necessities. The problem is, their apartment is an Executive Condominium, that means all the necessities have already been provided by the developer, the kitchen has been fully done up, the toilets are done and wardrobes are done, I honestly didn't know what else they needed that they couldn't buy off the shelve, so I just ask them...
"Do you guys have any idea what you want added to the space."
.... thinking they might have some inkling, they told me they wanted storage space, maybe a TV console and then when I ask them if they wanted to do any carpentry for the room, they weren't very receptive to the idea, they even decided to scrap off the false ceiling works for all the bedrooms and only do the living room, which brought the total contract amount to "way too fucking low for me to even pay any attention to", thinking that since they weren't too keen on the idea of doing any carpentry for their rooms, I decided to end the consultation after 20 minutes and ran through the final requirements with them, to which the fiance suddenly goes...
"Actually, based on the requirements that we have shared with you, it feels a little pointless to even have this consultation, as a designer, shouldn't it be your job to propose ideas to us for us to maximize the space. We would be willing to pay more if we like the proposed idea." *paraphrased, he wasn't very direct about it, but this is the equivalent of what he meant*
... I wanted to karate chop him in the fucking neck when he said that to me. I fucking hate it when a customer comes to me with a floorpplan and then tells me...
"Propose a design to me"
... without sharing their requirements. Everyone has a different lifestyle, so everyone will have different needs, you don't just go into an Interior Design firm, throw an empty floorplan at a designer and then ask the designer to propose a design for you, do some fucking homework, plan how you want to use the rooms BEFORE you meet the designers, or at least have an idea.
Customer A might want to use the additional bedroom as a kids room, but Customer B doesn't plan to have kids and wants to convert the bedroom into a study room, Customer C on the other hand might want more wardrobe space, so he or she might request to convert it into a wardrobe.
We can advise you on how you can best utilize the space as a study room, as a bedroom, as a room dedicated to just being a wardrobe etc, sometimes if we think that the space is not ideal for those functions, we can advise you against it and explore other options, but don't come to us without any fucking idea, and then try to "call us out" for not doing our jobs when you are the one who didn't do the fucking homework.
And what fucking grates me is the fact that they were the ones who were not planning to do much, her brother told me she didn't want to do much, when I ask her, she said she doesn't want to do much, so it's not that I do not want to propose, I am just respecting your fucking requirement to not do too much built-in carpentry work because all the "must-haves" have already been supplied by the developer, anything else that I propose will just be "wants", not "needs" and if you are not planning to do much and spend much, trying to propose the "wants" just seems redundant.
And another thing is, when I ask them what their budget was, Kyla told me it was between $12k - $15k, and her words were....
"The highest I will be willing to go is $15,000."
... if you are willing to pay, then tell me from the start you are willing to pay for design, don't have one party give me a $15,000 budget limit one minute and then the other tell me he is willing to pay more, make up your mind and stop contradicting one another.
But anyways, after he calls me out for me wasting their time, I decided to just start proposing the carpentry ideas to them, no fucking surprise, Kyla wasn't big on the idea, she didn't want to spend money doing built-in furniture, the whole consultation just felt like a huge waste of everybody's time, and in the end, the new requirements was almost identical to the original requirements, with the addition of a bed frame that they were also clearly not interested in, but I decided to add in just so that whole discussion didn't feel like it was all for naught, though it was really all for naught though.
Yeah, so it's not really difficult to guess at this point that I do not like them and have zero interest in their project at this point. With her brother and his wife, what was different was that they didn't have a budget, they were open to ideas and they were willing to pay for the ideas, they shared that sentiment with me right from the start, so that gave me a lot of creative freedom to design as well as to propose the space planning for them.
So if Kyla and her fiance thinks that the consultation was a waste of time, well.....
... and the feeling is mutual, I also felt like my time was wasted, they really should have managed their expectations, if not planning to do much, don't look for an Interior Designer, go to fucking IKEA or some shit.
I have since prepared a second quote and emailed it them, but I really can't be bothered to reach out to them beyond that email, I just do not wish to deal with the two of them.
