On Saturday, while I was out getting lunch, I get a text message from Jonny informing me that one of my contractors had been smoking in his apartment and left a cigarette burn on his white kitchen counter top.
A WHITE kitchen counter top.
I remember one of the contractors asking me if smoking was permitted in the apartment and I told him by right they shouldn't, but if he wants to, don't get caught, so that means don't throw the cigarette butts on the floor for the homeowners to catch and don't leave any evidence that anyone had been smoking in the house, that was my requirement because the truth is telling them that smoking is not allowed is useless, they will still do it when I leave the place.
So imagine how peeved I was when Jonny send me a picture of his white counter top stained with a small cigarette burn. You'd have to be an actual fucking idiot to put the fucking cigarette out near a WHITE kitchen counter top.
With that on my mind, I was really distracted for the rest of Saturday, trying to find solutions to get rid of the burn mark because the contractor who left the burnt mark there wasn't able to repair it, all I could do was tell the contractor's boss and have him reprimanded but that does not help me a single bit, the damage is done, no amount of reprimanding would solve anything.
Then on that very day, I was slated to meet the clients with the $80,000 project, a couple I first met at the end of 2018 and have met a total of 8 times, never confirmed their contract with me, we have been in some sort contractual limbo ever since, so I was really not expecting them to sign a contract with me that day as well.
We had a pretty long discussion and I was pretty much offering them a lot of design input that would normally only be reserved for clients who have signed a contract with me, despite having been dangling a carrot in front of me for the past 7 months, it was still nice talking to them and they left once again without confirming anything with me.
Sunday rolls around and of course the first thing that popped into my head when I woke up was the damn counter top problem at J&J's house.
As the day continued, another client popped into my head as well, the meager $3000 project that I had gotten my hands on earlier this month, I shall call her Emily.
Emily is a PRC, so she mainly speaks to me in Mandarin when we meet in person, but via text messages, she always writes in English, not perfect English, but completely understandable.
So last Wednesday, I dropped Emily a text message, informing her of the upcoming work schedule, which days the different workers will come in and what time she should be expecting them. Since her project was pretty small, I didn't find it necessary to do any sort of site management because Emily is staying in her house, so she can oversee the works herself.
In the message, I also told Emily that her next payment is due and she has to transfer the amount by the end of the week, which to me is latest by Sunday, because whether she sends it to me on Saturday or Sunday, I will only be able to update my finance department on Monday.
It was a pretty chunky text message,, but I didn't use any difficult words that would be hard for her to understand, so she replies back many hours later with...
"Okay, noted!"
... Sunday rolls around, and she still hasn't made her payment yet, thinking that she might have forgotten about it, I send her a reminder to make payment soon, I didn't want to force her to make payment now because that might come across a little strong, so I wrote soon, hoping she will develop some sense of urgency and transfer the money within that day, but she responds back with...
"I remember, before Wednesday."
.... her carpentry is slated to be installed on Thursday, I told her in the last message I needed her to transfer the amount by the end of the week and she tells me she will transfer it before Wednesday, I was shocked because it's supposed to be before MONDAY!!!!
I then responded back and told her that she might have been mistaken, that my company's policy requires the homeowners to make the payment at least a week before the carpentry is slated to be installed, which means she should have made the payment by Thursday, and she went...
"You never told me this."
.... I did tell her this the first time she signed the contract with me, but that was done in person so I really don't blame her for forgetting. In an attempt to try and instill a sense of urgency in her, I told her that my company has a policy of withholding a client's carpentry work if payment isn't made on time because I mean if you are not gonna pay up, we are not going to deliver the goods, simple as that, this is how a transaction works, and I was simply explaining to her the policy with the goal of coming across as a helper, that I am on her side, helping her prevent any potential delays due to late payment, but she took it a completely different way and went....
"I told you I will pay before Wednesday."
"I feel like I am being threatened."
...I was really initially really worried by how she had completely misconstrued my intentions, so I immediately apologize for coming across that way, but she just ignores the apology completely and ask me how much the electrical work will cost, so I apologize once again, send her the electrical costing and she doesn't say a word of thanks, just leaves me hanging after the quote was send to her and the more I think about it now, the more irritated I get.
My goal is to HELP you prevent any delay and you are taking it the wrong way and calling it threatening. What the actual fuck.
When I tell my other clients of this policy, they are always aware that I am telling them that from a place of good intention, to help them prevent any delays, but Emily found it threatening.
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