That customer's 'just a quick seam fix' turned into an entire living room redo

Lady in Boise called me about a seam that popped in her hallway, said it was a 20 minute job. I get there and the pad underneath is shredded, the tack strips are rusted out, and her dog had chewed a hole in the corner of the carpet. I quoted her $850 for the full room and she tried to haggle me down to $300, guess who walked away with damp carpet and no finished floor? Has anyone else had a "small repair" balloon into a full rip-out and reinstall on the spot?

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tara64225d ago

Oh man, that's the worst feeling when you show up expecting a quick fix and it turns into a whole project... I had something similar last month with a lady out in Meridian who called about a loose stair runner. One little nail popped out, right? Get there and the whole staircase is shifting, the subfloor underneath is basically dust, and she had this huge cabinet that had water damage soaking into the bottom step. I ended up ripping out five steps and rebuilding the whole landing... quoted her $1,200 and she tried to talk me down to $400 like I was selling used furniture. I packed up my tools and told her good luck finding someone who'd do it for that price. She called me back three days later crying because two other guys refused the job, but I already booked that week out. Guess she sat on those damp stairs for another week and a half before anyone could get to her... people really don't get that the price goes up when the job grows.