IT WAS ONLY A FIB

When it rains it pours, this is a motto of a salt manufacturer and it is also an old saying meaning that when things go wrong they go really wrong! Well it is POURING at the Greenstein house!

I have a leak in my basement which may or may not be being caused by the fact that the cracks in my driveway are getting wider and starting to get uneven.

So not only is it pouring but the water is running through my basement.

OK, so that was the lead up to today’s post. I have had to get estimates from companies to do the work needed to solve my problems. First a company that can stop the leaking basement and then a concrete company to demo and remove the old driveway and re-pour a new one.

I have had several companies out to give me estimates and as I expected, the professionalism of the sales reps has been extremely diverse.

Each sales rep gave me the facts I needed about the work that needed to be done and they each had their own solution that they knew was the absolute best. I have no problems so far, if they didn’t think their solution was best why would I want to do business with them.

For the most part they have all been pretty ethical about measuring and providing me an estimate. However one company was all but dishonest about it. After the rep measured my basement and gave me his explanation of his solution and why I should use it, he got out his calculator and started figuring his price. He wrote out everything on his quote sheet and in BOLD numbers at the bottom he gave me his price to do the needed work.

His price was almost $1000.00 higher than the next nearest estimate I had gotten. I was about to say something about how high he was, but before I could he started talking. He said that he had a crew that really needed the work and that if I was ready to sign he would discount the price $500.00. (Still $500.00 higher than the next estimate) I was looking at the paper when he started talking again, this time he told me about a credit he had with his concrete supplier and if I would say yes RIGHT NOW he would use the credit on my job which would save me another $500.00. (Now he was the same price as the next estimate) As all the infomercials say, WAIT THERES MORE! I hadn’t said a word yet and he started talking again, this time he said he would rewrite the estimate so it would show 60 feet less drain, and he would charge me... you guessed it..$500.00 less.

At this point I was just sitting back waiting to hear his next price drop. I hadn’t said yes or no and I have already saved $1500.00 off the original estimate.

I just sat there looking at him and he must have known I was waiting for something because he said with a big question, “Is that enough to get your business”?

I just sat and waited to see if he would cut his price again. He did, he said he had forgotten the $200.00 discount form Angie’s List and he would honor that also. I thought it was funny he actually used the word honor because he surely didn’t have any.

I was getting tired of the game especially because I had decided I wouldn’t do business with him at any price. If he is that unethical and willing to spew any lie he thought of I didn’t want to know what he had lied about in reference to my work needing to be done.

I thanked him and brought the “sales pitch” to an end. He asked again if I was ready to sign and I said I didn’t think so. He asked why and I just said I am not sure who I want to do business with yet, but I was sure it wasn’t him.

I love bargains, and I love saving money, and I really love saving a lot of money! What I don’t love is being lied to, cheating, and stealing. The rep may have had a crew that needed the work, I will give him that one and I may have done business at that point, but to then to throw in a $500.00 credit was a stretch, but even that could have been true and I still may have done business with him. However, stealing and making me a part of it was too much for me. To be dishonest enough to under estimate a job to get the price down is over the line.

I am having my basement waterproofed Thursday by a company that gave me the next highest estimate. Not because I believe high price means quality, but because the sales rep didn’t tell me what I wanted to hear rather he told me what I needed to hear to solve my water problem.

Lorin

ACT NOW

Today I was severely reprimanded by my wife. I know what some of you are thinking, “SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW”. Well, I am usually the first one to admit when I act like a jerk and deserve to be reprimanded, however this time I really don’t believe I deserved it. You be the judge. Leave me a comment and tell me if you think I deserved it or not.

Here is what happened;

For the first time in several weeks we had a good rain storm come through the Atlanta area. Because we have been in such a drought the famous Georgia Red Clay has hardened and has constricted. This causes it to pull away from the foundation of homes and when the rain comes can cause leaks in the foundation. This is what happened to me.

For the past 2 days I have had a steady stream of water running into my basement. I had to buy some absorbent socks and try to put up a dam so the water wouldn’t ruin everything on the floor. The flow of water has been enough volume to soak all the socks I have put down in about an hour to an hour and a half. This means that for the past 2 nights I have been sleeping for 90 minutes and then getting up, going down 2 flights of stairs to the basement, using my shop vac to pick up as much of the water as I could, putting the soaked socks into a bucket (the bucket weighs about 60 pounds when it is filled with wet socks) carrying the heavy bucket up one flight of steps and to the washer where I spin them to dry them out, carrying the bucked with the damp socks (now only about 25 pounds) back down stairs and putting the socks back down as a dam. WHEW, I am tired just by remembering everything I have done.

Needless to say I have called a company that water proofs basements to give me an estimate to fix the problem before the next rain storm hits my area.

Late this afternoon one of the sales reps from a company I called showed up to give me an estimate to fix the problem the “RIGHT” way (meaning his companies way) He started out strong and asked me questions and gave me his full sales presentation. He then walked all around my home and in the basement taking pictures and measurements. After about an hour we sat at my kitchen table and he started doing the math.

I could almost feel the heat being generated by his calculator as he added up everything he needed to do to fix my problem the “RIGHT WAY”. He was writing and adding for about 10 minutes and then said to me, “This isn’t too bad, it will only be $XXXX.XX for the entire job” he then recapped everything that he had told me he was going to do. I looked over his estimate and he asked if I had any other questions. I told him no and he went for the close.

At this point I was not very happy with his figures, but I was impressed at this sales process and technique. I told him that I needed to think about it overnight (the rain had stopped and I knew I was going to get a good night’s sleep tonight) and I would call him tomorrow and let him know my decision.

He said to me, Mr. Greenstein (he had been calling me Lorin the entire time, now I was Mr. Greenstein) my company knows that many people need an extra incentive so if you say yes now I can offer you an additional 5% discount.

Here is where he lost the sale and my reaction is why I got reprimanded.

I said, “You know, I more than likely would have called you tomorrow morning and given you the go ahead, but now I am not at all interested in doing business with you or your company.” The rep looked at me and asked why, I said, “I don’t like a price that drops 5% for the next 5 minutes and then goes back up. If you can offer me a 5% discount now and you don’t give it to me tomorrow that means you are over charging me 5%” He started back peddling and stammering. I said, “I teach sales reps for a living and in all my years I have never dropped a price and told the customer it was for the next few minutes only, if I give a price I stand by it!”

As I spoke I got madder and madder until I said that I wouldn’t be doing business no matter what.

When he left my wife and youngest daughter told me I was too strong and I was almost rude to the rep. I told them that I was mad and I don’t like cheap sales tricks to get the customer to say yes. They agreed they didn’t like what he said but still said I was a jerk and was rude.

I defended myself by saying that if he was smart he would learn from the experience and not use cheap trick and pressure to close sales. If his price and service was as good as he said it was he shouldn’t need them.

We went back and forth for a while until I just said well he is gone and I am not calling to apologize.

OK you tell me, did I do anything wrong? I still think I helped him in the long run and that if he thinks about what I said and adjusts his story to soften it, he will close more deals and make more money.

Leave a comment and let me know if you are on my wife’s side or mine.

Lorin