My company has recently reshuffled the groups again, so now I am in a different group with my manager again, which means I will probably be a little more diligent with my showroom duties now that there is someone in the group I actually talk to.
Had to attend a company meeting yesterday and boy was it still uncomfortable for me to see so many faces I am not familiar with, the rate at which my boss is hiring new designers is insane, it's like watching a seahorse give birth.
A lot of the new designers will eventually end up quitting not even 2 months into the job when they realize it's not exactly the most lucrative or even stable career to have.
So after the meeting, there was actually a Halloween Party organised by the company, I wasn't even remotely interested to attend it, so I just left after the meeting ended while everyone was busy painting their faces, plus I also realized I had severely under-quoted one of my customer for their carpentry work so I was in no mood to party.
I will have to break the news to the husband tomorrow about the underquote and I really do not know how it will go down, I mean I definitely need him to top up the additional amount that is for sure, because if he doesn't, that project will be in the red zone and the company will literally be losing money from that project. It's careless mistakes like this that makes me want to give myself a tight smack in the face because it shouldn't be happening in the first place. I will definitely be giving him and his wife a discount for it, just need him to top up enough for me to recoup my losses.
My biggest fear right now would be my client telling me that he won't pay for it because...
"We signed the original quotation under the impression that it already includes the cost of the full cabinet, so we won't be topping up any additional cost for it. This is your mistake so you will bear the cost of it."
... and although that statement is technically right, it can also show how unempathetic the clients can be. I haven't had the displeasure of meeting such clients personally before but I have heard enough horror stories about clients from hell to know that they exist.
Update : He was willing to pay the additional charges after I explained the situation.
That being said, he brought up an issue with the carpentry during the installation and I really didn't like when he starting playing the blame game.
To give some background, he wanted to do a cabinet door that was made of glass with wooden framing to display some toys and trinkets....
.... something simple, nothing too complicated, but the main point was for the doors to be made of glass so he can display his items, I didn't think too much about it and proceeded to follow his requirements and relayed those requirements to my carpenter.
Everything was going smoothly during the installation today and when I was with him during the first half of the install, there was no issue, we had a good chat and I stayed around for a good 3 hours while the installation was happening before I left.
Not long after I left his place, I receive a text from him, asking me why the border of the frame was so thick, so I explained to him that the frame had to be a certain width so it can accommodate the hinges at the side, to which he replied...
"Why didn't you advise us on this beforehand?"
.... the thickness of the frame was never brought up as a concern from him from the beginning, so I can't advise him about it if I didn't know it was going to be a potential issue for him.
This is an issue that NO ONE will be aware of until it actually becomes an issue. I am not a robot that can predict every single potential issue that may arise and bring them to the client's attention.
That's like him asking me to get roses, and when I come back with red roses, he questions why I didn't get the white ones.
It's simple, if you don't clarify what you want, I'm going to give you the default option.
But at the same time, I also can't retaliate and tell him that he should have shared that concern with me from the start because he's just going to tell me it's my job to have anticipated this problem blah blah blah, there is really nothing else I can say that won't make me sound unprofessional, so I had to eat shit and accept that it is my mistake.
I agreed to change the doors for them because it's "my fault for not advising".
I'm really not earning a lot from his project, after the door fiasco, I calculated my commission to be less than $400, totally not worth my time and effort. I was planning to use the commission I earn from his project to get myself a Secret Lab chair, but now, it's barely even enough to get the cheapest model.
He is actually keen to engage me again to do the renovation for his parent's house, but after this, I am honestly no longer interested in that prospect, not because I am planning to leave the company soon, but because this second round with him just made me remember how unpleasant it was working with him the first time.
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A few days ago, I also decided to drop an email to the company I had interviewed for to get an update on their interior stylist position.
Emailed them about 3 days ago and they haven't responded back yet, not sure if they ever will, would be a little rude if they don't because I was told that I was supposed to be scheduled for a second interview after the first but I didn't get any follow up from them for about half a month.
I honestly don't really care too much about that job, I just send them a follow up email after a friend urged me to. What I care about is getting ignored, especially when I am asking a legit question...
"Is the position still available? Are you guys still selecting the candidates or have you already made your selection.?"
...heavily paraphrased of course.
Guess I'll see how that goes, if they don't respond me by next week, I guess that in itself is an answer, a very rude and unprofessional answer, almost as rude as the many times I leave customers hanging by not sending them the free quotation they requested.
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