Strange Customers

Having owned a paint contracting business for more than 20 years, I’ve had my share of strange customers. At the time, those experiences were annoying or worse. Looking back, I can now laugh at them. And on occasion, their antics were as much my fault as theirs.

I had one customer who wanted to supply the paint. I agreed. He then asked if he could use my charge account. I agreed. He then asked if I would pick up the paint, since it wouldn’t fit in his tiny sports car. Like a fool, I agreed. So much for him supplying the paint.

Another customer failed to empty his kitchen cabinets, even though he wanted us to paint them the first day. He wasn’t at home when we arrived, and his caretaker told us to empty the cabinets. He later called to complain that he didn’t like the way we had stacked his pots and pans.

One customer called to complain that we had stolen a throw pillow. It turned out that her decorator had taken the pillow to match some fabrics. We never received an apology.

Then there was the customer who called to complain about our work 4 years after we completed the job. Interestingly, we had been to his house on 2 other occasions since the original job, and he had made no mention of any problems. When I pointed this out, he said that he was unaware that we had done more work for him.

Finally, there was the customer who said she wanted the walls painted the same color. I bid one coat, as she was simply trying to clean up the walls. She then changed colors and expected us to apply 2 coats for the same price. She proceeded to berate me when I refused.

Customers—we can’t live without them, and sometimes it’s hard to live with them.

© BEP Enterprises Incorporated 2008