In the recent weeks, I will say that that has stopped, I am now pretty much project free, the days are passing much slower now that I am not constantly visiting sites after sites on a daily basis and the amount of customer leads I have been getting from my company is slowly dwindling.
The only project I have on hand now will only started 3 months from now and the meager amount of customer leads I have been getting are not enough to really get me busy, because there aren't a lot of them and because more than half of the leads I have been getting are just a waste of time.
The last lead I got from my company wrote in asking how a bank loan works. It's just so bloody stupid and such a huge waste of my time, I actually called the customer up, thinking he might be asking how to proceed after he gets the loan, but nope, he was actually asking me how he should go about getting a bank loan and then asking me if I have any contacts, so I gave him the only bank loan contact my company had, and he goes...
"Wow, that bank interest is quite high. May I know what benefits will your company get if I get the bank loan through your contact?"
... it was really quite triggering when he ask me about the benefits my company would get.
Firstly, the benefits that my company or I get from introducing the bank to you is none of your fucking business, do you go up to a cake shop and ask them...
"Hmmm, you are selling me cupcakes at $3.00 a piece, may I know what is the actual cost of the ingredients and how much you are earning if I bought this single cupcake from you?"
... we are not going to break down how much we earn or the commission we get from the referral, if you think that the interest is too high and my company has ulterior motives introducing such an expensive loan to you, then look for another bank, which brings me to my next point...
CALL THE FUCKING BANKS IF YOU WANT TO ASK ABOUT RENOVATION LOANS!!!
.... the renovation loan has nothing to do with Interior Designing and Construction, why the fuck would you call an Interior Design firm and hope to be educated on it.
That's like walking into the cake shop again and then asking them where would be a good place to buy a flour mill, get the fuck outta here.
So I kept reiterating to the client that he should call the banks directly to check and he just went...
"Okay, I will discuss with my wife and contact you again."
.... I know he isn't going to be contacting me again, such an unnecessary customer lead. My company actually pays the renovation portal quite a generous monthly fee for customer leads and it just feels like such a rip off when all the leads I have been getting are of such crappy quality.
Leads aside, I have also been getting referals from my clients and just last night, I actually got a call from someone I didn't know, literally asking me...
Leads aside, I have also been getting referals from my clients and just last night, I actually got a call from someone I didn't know, literally asking me...
"Can you drop by *caller's address* on Saturday?"
... doesn't bother to introduce himself, doesn't clarify what he was calling me for, just started the conversation asking me if I was available on Saturday, he was extremely brash over the phone and just overall unpleasant, I thought he got the wrong number until he called me by my name, so I thought he was another Interior Design firm trying to set up an Interview with me, probably got my name and contact from Jobstreet or something, and as I was about to turn him down, he FINALLY tells me....
"You did my niece's house before,I need you to drop by my sons' place this weekend to take a look at his place."
... really could have started the phone call with that.
By the time I realize who he was and what his intentions were, I really wanted to reject his request and told him I was too busy, but he is my client's Uncle and I just don't feel really comfortable to just outright reject a referral, so I begrudgingly agreed to the meeting and the conversation that we were having after the confirmation was not pleasant.
He wasn't being an asshole or anything, but the tone he was using the entire time was just very unpleasant, very impatient and every time I repeat what he told me, it's like every response I get from him will be an annoyed "No!", and then just a repeat of what I have said.
Him : The apartment is old, so I need to change all the floor tiles and wall tiles.
Me : Okay, so you want to revamp the space by hacking off the old tiles and installing new ones.
Him : NO!, the current tiles look really ugly, so I want to change them.
---
Him : I will meet you, my son can't make it because his work is shift base.
Me : Ah, I see, so he is doing shift this Saturday.
Him : No! You know what shift is? He has shift work this weekend, so I will meet you instead of him.
Everything I say, even though it has the exact same meaning as what he has told me, gets responded back as if I have been mistaken, it was so frustrating, and when I ask him for the address, he tells me...
"I will Whatsapp you later!"
... and then he suddenly gives me the address verbally over the phone.. doesn't give me time to write down the address properly, he just strings out the entire address like I am suppose to be able to remember all the numbers.
Him : 432 Apple Street, Level 5, Unit Number 56
*as I am writing down the address and verbalizing what I am writing*
Me : 432 App-....
Him : NO! the Unit Number is 56, 432 is the Street Number!
I wanted to scold him so badly.
If he was a lead from my company, I would have turn down his request then and there for a site visit, but alas, he is my client's family, so the least I can do is show up out of courtesy for my clients.
Of course, the pricing on my quotation will ultimately depend on how he is like during the site visit, if he is as unpleasant in real life as he is over the phone, then I will also do my best to distance myself from his project by being the most expensive Interior Designer his son will meet. I hardly ever turn potential clients down directly, unless they can't take a hint of course because there have been such cases before and it is always really surprising how dense some people can really be.
Speaking of unpleasant customers, Sly Fox is still in my life, the issue has yet to be resolved, even after my contractor has gone up to the place multiple times to try and rectify the issue. None of this is Sly Fox's fault, it really is my contractor's fault for doing a shitty job, but because Sly Fox is ultimately the one who has to text me about the the problem, he has become my source of annoyance and I just can't help it when my mood gets ruined by his text messages.
Was literally trying to have fun last night by playing a game, lost my mood completely when his wife texted me telling me the issue has not been resolved. I would really like to push this to my manager and have him handle this problem for me but then that would be a pretty dick move.
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