Its a true story.
just wanted to make sure it posted for the mention!

Anyone remember the scaffold scene from the Tom Hanks film, "The Money Pit"? Yeah, one of THOSE days...

Performing an installation during the remodel of a brewery / nightclub... "Hey Craig, toss up that wire clip gun, yeah, I see the opening, throw it to your right..." Craig throws it to MY right, glances it off the attic ceiling, and it lands on the handle, firing a nice sharp staple nail at my shin. No, it didn't stick, but as I reach down to rub the sore spot, I bang my head on a truss nail plate, thus knocking myself off balance. I mis-step, and end up with both legs through the ceiling, one on each side of the truss member I had been standing on! Of course all this happens as Craig is talking to the owner of the joint very nearby, and both are showered with ceiling tile crud. Fortunately the ceiling was coming out anyway, and I have since been able to father children.

This message was edited by Ian Schatz on 07/17/02 01:33.07.

See what drinking on the job can do for you ,
Ian next pub ya do , for your own good ? DON't DRINK and NO TASTE TESTING lol sorry had too :-)

Here's a good one... 17,000 sq ft. house. During the course of the job, the client was so difficult to work with that: the electrician walked off the job (then came back), walked off again (then came back), the interior designer was fired, the first super quit, the swimming pool company walked off the job (then came back), and 3 different companies were consulted for motorized window treatments (finally settling the first company). All this while the company I work for remained a constant on the job. Right about the time we were getting ready to order his A/V gear, he had all of the equipment either transshipped from dealers in other states, or purchased directly after convincing some manufacturers that he was setting up a company to sell their products. If that weren't enough, he expected us to sell him equipment based on prices he was given over a year ago even though he never gave us a down payment. All in all, we lost over $400,000 in equipment sales and installation!

Sometimes it's best to just walk away, better yet, run away from a job, and don't look back!

JJP

Installation fees get one third higher when they do that. (If not we walk and as john said we don't look back. No need too their are billions of dollars out the in other profitable jobs . )

Put a disclaimer in your contract

"Estimate quotes for equipment are only valid for 10 days due to manufacturer specification changes or model changes.
Equipment not purchased through us has LABOR CHARGES added on to remove or reinstall same (in other words . If we didn't sell it to you it has no labor warranty (hourly rate in whole hours) for us to take it out when it breaks (if we sell it it gets the mfg.
warranty + our labor is good for the life of the purchaser)"

This message was edited by kabster on 07/18/02 00:40.23.

Sounds like the guy Mesa was talking about was a real jackass....what a con artist. Wish there was some way for you guys to get the money back, Mesa.

Well when you piss off the people that you count on to do the work for you, you risk not getting anything close to "Quality" craftsmanship....and since most of them came back, let's hope his house falls apart in a few years. Or at least burns down....mysterious electrical problem maybe?

Hey! Don't look at me!!!


This message was edited by Larry Fine on 07/17/02 23:24.04.

I'm pretty pissed, but I don't think I'd wish for anything quite that bad to happen. Perhaps it would be justice for nothing to work when someone else hooks up all the equipment? I wouldn't want to come in on this job cold - there's over 120,000 ft. of coax, CAT5E and audio cable in the house...

Let's see.... this wire runs to..... no, no, it runs...

Boy I could see some technician buried under wire, chasing runs in a circle.

It won't take long for the company that DOES decide to take this thing on to leave it back in the client's hands. And if they do stick with it, it will end up costing more in labor, or it will end up a mess. Either way, the client WON'T like the result.

Fact is, most companies don't want to touch a job like this at this particular stage. No company in their right mind, anyway.

JJP

That's exactly what I thought, but the word I hear now is that another company (maybe more than one) has taken on the job and that they are having an easy time due to the "excellent prewire and trim work". Makes you wonder how we lost out on the equipment. I guess the bottom line was a dollars issue. I agree with you though John - I can't imagine how it won't cost him much more in labor charges... and headaches! I forgot to mention that the client was my friend. We went to high school together and were roommates after that. I should have known from the beginning not to take the job. Having a lot of money can definitely change people - and not always for the better.

What kind of documentation was done on the prewire? From the sounds of it, the documantation was TOO good.

By that I mean, it sounds like too much information was given when the prewire was done, either in documentation, labeling or both. We typically use a pull schedule and label the wires at one end, cryptically. For example, if a structured cable was running from the hub to say, the study, we would label only the hub end with a "S001" identifier which would cross-reference to the pull schedule.

Pull schedule documentation would read: (Which by the way, the client NEVER sees)

"S001" - Destination: North wall, study.

Just an FYI

By the way, the fact that the client was a friend, you usually aren't as secretive about the project, so I could see how this policy could be overlooked.

Of course we all find out, that we need to treat all clients the same, regardless of who they are.

JJP

1

This message was edited by QQQ on 08/22/02 16:21.48.

I have one of these to bid next week.
The company just walked off the job.
I'll keep y'all posted .

!!!!!!! WARNING WARNING WILL ROBINSON !!!!!!!!!!

Please do. Should be fun to hear about it.