sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Unusual jobs or Customers

I had this job one day in a gated community. I get to the address and there is this huge circular driveway with two electric gates, one of which was open,so I drive down the open gate side, get out of my truck and out of nowhere this german shepard jumps on me(scared the s**t out of me). I smacked it down. I turned around to see the customer yelling at me not to smack her dog. She tells me to go back out the driveway, wait for her to open the other gate, and come back down and then she mumbled something.(now I'm a little pissed off at this point between the dog and her yelling and making me drive back out) but I say OK. Now my truck is parked in the exact same location only facing the opposite way. I get out of my truck, go to the front door, ring the bell, I hear her coming (her heels clicking on the marble floor). She gets to the door, opens that little peep hole door in the middle (you know the type with the wrought iron grate over it?)and all I see is lips saying "I told you to use the back door, you a--hole." I say "a--hole?" F-you lady, I'm outta here" and out the gate I went. I get about a quarter mile down the road and my beeper starts ringing off my belt. It's my boss demanding to know why I told a customer F-you and that he wants me to go back and apologize and do the job for free. We went back and forth about it for about 10 minutes and he tells me "okay, forget it". (apparently she was married to a township politician who called a big shot in my company who called my boss who called me.) Okay, you would think that would be the end of the story, right? Not yet.

About six months down the road, I get a job in a rooming house, third floor, rear. You had to use the fire escape stairs to get to it. I knock on the door and guess who answers? Yep, that bitch from the mansion. She looks at me and says "YOU?" and I say "YOU?". Well I lit into her - telling her how she almost got me fired, how they put a letter of reprimand in my file because of what she said, (none of which was true, of course, but it felt good to tell her that). She starts apologizing, saying she's going through a divorce and he kicked her out and she has to live here. I say "yeah, nice digs lady, where do you want your phone?" I billed her for every inch of wire, every staple, every wood screw and anything else I could think of.... Poetic justice, right? just because she is sleeping with a rich guy don't make her better than me. Hey, I treat everybody with respect whether they have money or not. Maybe she learned a valuable lesson that day.

You just can't make this sh-t up!


What's your story?

How's this:

As you know I do the wiring for AT&T/TALK AMERICA & others here in Maryland. I get more thank you's and hugs from the customers in areas the navy seals wouldnt go into.

Last week when we had a nice little blanket of snow I had to go into someone's house in the ritzy part of town. Well to make a long story short I happen to track some snow into the downstairs room and GET THIS the husband was upset NOT the wife.....

BOY OH BOY did I want to BIT-H SLAP THE HUSBAND.....

Wow, we need more techs like you 2 down here in Texas. Then more work would be coming my way.

Hey,dnr,whats with the shot,you dont know anything about what I do,I got plenty of work and Im not willing to put up with people who disrespect me out of hand. Like I said I respect everyone that respects me.Now you said you can use techs like me and mitch right? Well I got news for you pal,If I get so desperate that I have to eat s**t for a buck I'll come to texas and work for you.

geez.........take it easy....or ya gonna blow a gasket....

what did DNR say that got ya fired up????

Mitch,I dont know the man,but it looks to me like he's implying that if we were in texas,we would lose all our customers to him.As if to say we're not professional or something. Maybe dnr can explain what he meant. John..

I don't know what part of Texas DNR is talking about, but I can assure you we don't put up with foul mouth customers in my part of the Loan Star state!!!!!!!!

Although I do like to shine them on sometimes.
A long time ago, 1988 I think, I had picked up a bunch of Merlin 410's and 820's.
I ran an ad in the Dallas Morning news.
Got a call one day from a guy looking for a system for his Dental practice, hes was located in Gulf Port Texas, thats down by houston. When I found out his location I suggested that he contact a local provider and buy from them. He got extremly rude and asked if I was a "dealer". He went off on me about how phone dealers were like used car salesmen, crooked and sorry etc.etc,
I finally hung up on him. My buddy mike was in the office at the time and heard it all as I was on speakerphone. About two week later Mike answered the phone on morning and danged if it wasn't this same guy.
He was calling about a merlin system. He says he's coming up to Dallas for a week to find a system and is going to check out all sources. Well Mike has always been a big joker, and I hear him telling this nut that I am a big broker and I get truck loads of lease returns in once a week and that my name is Jerry Hanes (Jerry Hanes was Mr Peppermint on TV down here for about 30 years). I got on the phone and the nut didn't even recognize my voice. Gave him a redicklsly lopw price on Merlin 820 w/ 15 ph, MOH and BGM. To make a long story short I set up several meetings with this guy and I missed three of them (he drove to the office three times and then called, we told him we had to go to an auction. The fourth time he came over I was at the office, he was ready to go back to Gulf Port with his prize Merlin. I came out and greeted him real nice and all and said "man I'm sorry but another dealer from Oklahoma just bought my entire stock of merlin syetms for a cash offer that I just could not turn down. Then I suggested that he purchase his system from someone close enough to service it,and how it was dumb to waste his time in Dallas looking for phones when he could be fixing teeth or on vacation. It was about that time he remembered who I was,
what a Hoot!!! Mike lauhghed his rear off that day!!

One of Mike fav deadpans was to tell women who asked what the toner was for when he unplugged a cord and put in the toner, he would tell them,(with a straight face) "I have to put in that device to keep the dial tone from running out on the floor".

Or after fixing a strange problem, either phone or net work that had defied others,
he would blame it on an "upsidedown bubble memory anomaly".

AAAHHH its so great to goof on the customers....after all we have to have a little fun at times....

YOU KNOW how many times I walk into a customers premise and they look at me with my tool belt on and say to me: are you here to fix my phones?????? I just tell them Im a gynocologist....

HEY VZ....lighten up...take it easy....you are starting to sound what I use to be like...relax....have a smoke...have a drink...

OH and BTW...we are talking about the customers here NOT the technicians....