A customer in Springfield told me I was 'robbing him blind' for a simple cleaning

I was finishing up a job on a brick chimney in a nice part of town last fall. The homeowner, a guy in his 50s, watched me the whole time. When I gave him the bill for $250, he got red in the face and said, 'All you did was push a brush up and down for an hour. You're robbing me blind.' I stayed calm and explained the inspection, the tarps, the vacuum system, and the creosote removal. He just shook his head and paid, but it stuck with me. Everyone sees the brush, but they don't see the years of knowing what a cracked flue tile sounds like or spotting a weak mortar joint. It made me realize we need to explain our value better from the first handshake. How do you guys handle customers who think the job is simpler than it is?

3 comments

3 Comments

mitchell.lee2mo ago

Yeah, that's the worst. I just point at my truck and say the bill's for all that, not just my hands.

james_campbell122mo ago

I get what you're saying about the truck, but that line never sits right with me. It makes it sound like the tools are the only thing you're paying for. The real cost is the years it took to learn how to use them right, and the know-how to fix things so they stay fixed. That's what the bill is for.

sethhernandez1mo agoTop Commenter

Ever have a buddy who does tile work? He got called out to fix a single cracked floor tile. Lady said it would take five minutes. He spent half a day on it because the subfloor underneath was totally rotten. Had to explain the whole process just to charge for the repair he actually did. People only see the one tile, not the problem holding it up.