Great thread !!! Back when I first year installing I made a bad mistake at a install. The tv was inside a Wal-mart tv entertainment center. This thing was loaded down with a stereo huge speakers on top and a godly amount of cds and dvds. I noticed right off it was sagging under its own weight. It was placed in the corner so there was no way to get behind it to hook the tv to the dct. I tried to spin the tv around to get to the back of the tv......right then the whole thing started to sway a little bit. My spidey senses kicked in and I tell the customer "You willl need to pull the entertainment cab out so I can get behind it.
The customer was a single man 50ish overweight and chain smoking ever since I got there. He gets up from his chair and ready out of breath from his 10 foot walk to the tv. He attempts to pull the unit out with everything still in place...I hear a snap. The whole unit moves forward about 2 inches and every cds/dvd crashes to the floor. He looks over at me and says "Give me a fucking hand here." This is where I messed up........I go to the other side and he counts "1....2....3" and with every ounces of his bacon grease clogged body he lifts his side and pulls it forward. Another loud SnAp....and the thing just implodes on itself.
The amount of stuf that fell to the floor was just amazing. VHS tapes Cds DvD 5 weeks of discarded mail his 15 inch 3 way tower speakers along with his bookshelf 100 watt stereo system. Of course the Tv fell and did a cartwheel like a cheerleader. Another funny thing he had wedged 10 weeks of discarded mail in several of the areas in the shelves.....these went everywhere.
Now with all the shock and awe that happened the man yelled "Susan !!!!!!!! Oh no !!!!! SUUUUUUUUSAN !!!! " Now I knew he was the only one there. I had done a 3 room install with phone and internet. I had been in every area of the house and I hadnt seen anyone. This is where it gets realllllllllly bad. Who's Susan? Oh just his dead wife that was sitting on top of the entertainment center. Susan's ashes were inside of what looked like a Dollar General vase that during the collapse of 2005 showered herself over the entire debris field.
At this point the man tells me to "Get the $%#@ out of his house" with no mention of what or who Susan was.I figured the ash was from a ashtray or something. I agreed and left. I call my sup and tell him the whole story and Im told to move to the next job he would complete the job and talk to the customer.
I hear nothing that day about the event and even called my sup to see how things went. He never answered his phone or returned my call...typical. The next morning I see the sup and am called into the office this does not look good !!!! I was told about Susan and the price tag for the "damages" $1600! I pleaded my case that I didnt even lift my side and the customer did the lfiting. Of course this didnt matter since the MSO got a completely different story of how I carelessly tipped it over (even though it was around 500lbs+).
So to put a quick end to this long winded story.....never move anything.....bring your own laptop and portable tvs are very cheap. C.Y.A. at all times !!! Lesson learned early in my install days and Susan......sorry !
Sidenote: Some names and descriptions of the events have been changed to protect the retarded.
Re: Why do customers insist on lying on you???
Member #: 69582
Registered: 6/27/2009
Posted:
22
Name:
Greg
Company:
Subcontractor
Occupation:
Installer
Location:
Illinois
Personal:
late 40s
Experience:
~19 years
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