The most important thing with these types of jobs and customers is to clarify the terms of engagement. If you want to take on the job, make it very clear that you charge by the hour and guarantee no results. Bill frequently and get paid before you move on. Get a substantial deposit, it will probably be the only money you get. Write a contract. I had a customer ask me to install a battery based solar system they bought from China. I agreed as they were previously customers and we needed some work. The system did not work properly, the specs were all wrong for their needs. They argued over everything and would not listen to any reason. I got paid because I had a contract and it was very clear we were only responsible for wiring it up. I had them purchase a disconnect for the grid feed to the inverter and they argued for days that they didn't need it, and that the disconnect was stealing electricity from the grid.
You can't win on these jobs, unless you make a load of money. On Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 12:36 PM Ray <r...@solarray.com> wrote: > Ok, Nick wins. That's definitely the worst I've ever seen. That took > years of dedication to make that look that bad. The soot? just insuring > you maintain your top spot for years to come. This brings up another > part of this: the customer has to be willing not only to allow you to > completely rewire the system, they also have to be willing to possibly > relocate equipment, like that generator. I haven't had the soot, but I > have had generators in the same room as the equipment, which caused > batteries and electronics to over heat. > > I too used to think I had to solve every problem I came upon, but you're > just going to wear yourself out. Both for your profit margin but also > your sanity, you've got to pick the jobs that are best for you. > > Back to the firing clients: some of these folks seem to think there is > an entire phone book of off grid electricians they can call, if one > doesn't work out. However, savvy customers recognize how important we > are to their life style, and so pay promptly and treat us with respect. > > Ray Walters > Remote Solar > 303 505-8760 > > On 2/26/21 12:38 AM, Nick A Lucchese wrote: > > Yes, an interesting thread. Glad to hear I’m not the only one seeing > > this more and more these days. Internet lowballers and Youtube “pros” > > aren’t helping the situation either. There is always a bit of guilt > > not helping someone out especially after hearing that declining to > > help really often unfolds into more unfortunate turns for them. It’s > > always a balance of what's best for me and my time versus the best for > > the safety of our community. Just have to accept that I can’t save > > everyone and perhaps by not they’ll find someone else that needs the > > experience. > > > > As far as “firing" a customer yes that can feel really good. I did > > that a couple years ago with a client I had been helping for 16 years. > > It was the best $830 I’ve ever walked away from! Brings a smile to my > > face to this day! > > > > Just for fun, here’s a sweet system I declined to work on a few years > > back. He didn’t like the fact that I told him I was going to > > completely remove it before re-installing it and then charge him a > > $300 fee to clean all the carbon deposits off my tools and body each > > time I was there. Not shown 4’ away is 100 gallons of diesel fuel and > > the generator. Yet somehow he got this permitted by parking a tractor > > in front of the access door (so he claimed). > > > > Nick > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the > other: > https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org > > -- Chris Mason Solar systems designer Generac Generators Industrial technician Comet Systems Ltd DBA Comet Solar Anguilla Cell 264.235.5670 WhatsApp 264.235.5670 Skype: netconcepts www.cometsolar.com <http://www.cometenergysystems.com/>
_______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change listserver email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the other: https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: http://www.members.re-wrenches.org
