Customer Told Me To Go Home - Electrician Life 

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People don’t realise they aren’t just paying for you to fix or find the fault but are also paying for your experience and expertise of the trade. Good video mate 👍🏻

I don’t think I’ve ever heard such polite ranting before.

The minute they sound hesitant is the moment I suddenly become very busy and tell them i cant make it.

I once had a slabbing job around a swimming pool to do, with my dad, 35 years ago. We did a lovely job plus a couple of brick piers with flint inlays. Come pay day he didn’t want to pay and started looking to get the agreed price down. So my dad said “ I’ll go and reason with him”. 10 minutes later he was back with the full amount. “ how come he paid up “ said I ......“ I strangled him “ said my dad, all matter of fact..

An electrician is much cheaper than a new house, and/or funeral...

In 41 years folks never cease to amaze me... seen this several times.. In your case she probably perceived your keenness to help as your need to take lots of money from her for just an hour,.. when in reality you are clearly very solvent and were genuinely keen to save her from a potentially very bad situation... Mate, I could write a book on such call outs,.. you would be absolutely staggered. Great videos and keep up the good work. Cheers mate.

Another great raw, truthful video Jordan. Completely get the ‘yes man’ quote, I’m the same, feel some customers are ungrateful and walk over me especially when I’m there doing 1 job, I then agree to ‘help’ the customer by doing another job installing a light fitting which is a nightmare as no CPC behind old fitting, trying to sort it out and have the customer constantly asking ‘How long will you be, I didn’t think it would take you this long to put up a light!’😡😡😡

Take solice in the fact that she will end up paying three times as much in the long run when Bodgit and Grommet have finished repairing everything with terminal blocks and insulation tape! Happens to us all mate don't stress it.

People like that makemy blood boil. I work in computers and took a call from a company who said they where having problems with their mail server and wanted a price to fix it. I told them that we charge £750 per day and going on their description I could probably fix for that price. They said another company had quoted them £350 per day. I said thats great, go with the other company as that is our price for non contract customers. We got a call back a week later asking if we could call out, I asked ifthe other company had not turned up, she said they have been here for 5 days and have told me they cannot fix the problems and billed us £1750. We went out the next day and fixed it in about 4 hours.

You have the right attitude, don't let the odd bad customer change that. This video proves just how important customer service is too you personally and how fundamental it is to your successful business. Helping the client is the most rewarding part of the job, especially in their hour of need.

had similar things happen when i was in london, this particular woman had kids and had to get them to school, so we agreed i would be there at 9.30,..... I knock on the door at 9.25 to a woman ranting and raving because i am late, she said i said i would be there at 8.30, so i pointed out we said 9.30 because she had to take kids to school, so she said well her husband took them and went to work a bit later, so she started ranting some more and it was only when i started walking down the path she said, where are you going?? and after a few more words, well you may as well come in now you are here. needless to say i didnt go back when she called a few weeks later wanting some other work done.

It would be a bittersweet experience to see that house on the news. Everyone got out OK but the house is destroyed. Possible electrical problem caused it. Then you could contact insurers and direct them to this video.

But you did the absolutely the right thing in the circumstances - no question - clear conscience for you - I share your values - keep them !

I can recall going to a ladies house for a similar problem, RCD tripping, minus the burning smell, it ended up being a simple socket screw caught the neutral wire and nicked the insulation, over time it it caused the tripping as it touched the neutral conductor. Anyway, before I went I explained the hourly rate, all inclusive rate I may add, no hidden costs. She was happy that I could help despite being so busy, she was local and I wanted to help. After the work she asked me if I could review my rate, I was in total just less than 2 hours and stated it would be a 2hr charge. She said she couldn't afford my rate and wanted to pay me in Christmas cake instead. She was of the older generation, really sweet lady so I accepted a good slice of homemade Christmas cake. Only to be told by the misses that cake don't pay the bills and I should be on a diet anyway. Hmm, maybe she was right, but the cake was good and I did a good deed. I learnt to say no somtimes.

Too keen like you say. I would have asked if she wanted to try calling others first if she sounded reluctant to agree to your prices

I got one. Back in 2018, I drove around as a locksmith. Not my own company, I was just a wage slave. A small restaurant called us, they had snapped a key in their bikes lock, so they couldn't do delivery, which is unfortunate. I got the job to fix it, went there, in the middle of the capital, a right nightmare to park. They were told the price for all of it, 600 dkk, less than 70 British pound and accepted before I was sent. Their bike had two locks, a circular one behind the seat, and a massive chain lock. They had snapped the circular locks key in the chain one, and had no spare, so both locks had to be cut off. We weren't given tools to pick the locks for reasons I guess would be obvious from a business stand point. After dealing with both locks, I went in for the payment. At that point the two owners were arguing whether or not they could simply refuse my service, and asked me if I'd be alright with that. Like I somehow could just leave the locks be, but forget I did what they asked for. Took a bit of arguing before they accepted I too needed a wage somehow. The nerves of some people.

Call out should start from home to job, the fact that she instructed you and you got in your car to drive down. Sometimes you have a gut feeling about a dodgy customer. she seemed suspicious asking about the price. Alarm bells start ringing when she said will you fix it within the first hour🤣 Your still a good bloke, don't change your ethics just around one customer, because there might me somebody genuine that needs your help, treat people how you want to be treated.

Remember you are one of the good guys.Your closing comments are spot on. Paperwork vs being a super hero. Sometimes you can’t win them all.

30 min call out is pretty fast... If i was the customer, even if I changed my mind I would be too embarrassed to turn you away the door... thats really rude

Take a callout charge up front then charge labour separately. That way your travel time and fuel are covered, many times customers have cancelled on me whilst on route at 11pm after 40minutes into the journey.

Yep, went to quote a job, arrived and she said ‘ooh I’m glad your here, my washing machine isn’t working and my clothes are locked in there’ long story short, faulty socket front behind the integrated dishwasher. Swapped it, and all back on and working. Said to not worry about a call out charge if we get the quoted job. If not, then it’d be a £40 call out, (which I know is too cheap) Didn’t go with the quote, then multiple emails about how I should run my business and my prices are far too expensive. Lol Never got paid, and tbh I think the whole thing was made up to get a free call out. Live and learn I guess.

What ever you quoted, I guess it was cheaper than a funeral 😂😂 I went to quote for a rewire once, the woman seemed embarrassed to let me it, but I was there on time, I realised her embarrassment was, because the first electrician was still there doing his quote 😂😂

As a customer I appreciate that someone professional would come straight away regardless the price.

Yes, what a polite rant 😃 There will always, always be an unreasonable customer, even to someone like yourself who is professional and friendly. The fact you are professional and friendly merely decreases the amount of silly customers you get, it won't eliminate them. You remain professional towards them at the time (as you have done), walk away, off load to your mates (or youtube) and don't ever go back!

You dodged a bullet there Jordan

Hi Jordan, I would probably bill her anyway. Your office person should be able to run interference on calls like that. Like if there is someone injured or there is iminent danger of fire .If not shedule it .When she balked at the price,that was the first signal that she was going to do a runner. Remember you are worth what you charge. you should know that by now. The sound of a panicky damsel in distress triggers us to want to go fix whatever is wrong. That is just magical thinking. Learn from that 90 minute lesson that the universe just thought you. It shows us that you have a good heart and will continue to do so but sometimes there are people are selfish and inconsiderate of both peoples time,skill and value. Remember she still has the problem which she still has to pay someone to fix and more than likely it will cost her more to fix. she will return home from work and not be able to use or trust her electrical system, Maybe thats her lesson to be learned from the Universe. Thats my rant, "Anyone for Coffee!!!!

Usually what happens is that we get a great run of jobs for months on end that we forget about the bad customers and drop our guard. That's when the bad ones manage to slide under our radar. If this guy had a similar phone call tomorrow, he'd know exactly what to do because he's raised his guard again due to his recent experience. It's worth remembering this can happen anytime.

Well put it this way, when a client starts whinged about pricing, it's simple, get someone else. 7 out of 10 times always the case, waste of time.

I feel your pain. I am an electrician in the United States and have dealt with a very similar situation. It is very frustrating and unfortunately I don’t have a solution. I have to say you are doing an excellent job handling the situation. I wish I could be as calm as you. I enjoy watching your videos. It is interesting how different our wiring methods are and the similarities are in dealing with customers. I definitely would like to have a boss like you if I worked in your country. Excellent job. I look forward to more videos. Thank you.

we've had this a few times as plumbers in London, usually for blocked drains and emergencys especially at night it happens, but we normally send them an invoice for wasting time on 1 hour or a callout charge of £75, I wouldn't have just left that's ridiculous, she should have understood that she called out an electrician and nothing is free

You handled this self-entitled individual appropriately- they have no idea of the costs of running a business and, more importantly, she doesn’t appreciate the danger she is in.

Unfortunately it won't be the last time it'll happen,everyone wants 5 star service but doesn't want to pay for it

Some people live on a different planet and expect everyone else to work around them. I arranged to be at a customers house at 8am but as I was leaving she rang to say come at 9 instead because she had things to do. This meant I got caught in the school traffic and she started calling and texting and 9:02 to tell me I was late.

Great video I have had this happen to me and always try and call before leave the house and on the way to get to know the customers attitude to the job and what they think of your price. Your a “do a” but not everyone appropriates good people. Good luck johnc

Who wishes they were a fly on the wall when he told his wife 🤣

Best business advice I got was from a retired and well accomplished businessman, who said "never be afraid to say no" and he was right the work will always keep coming if you are doing good work and keeping good customers happy.

Learnt my lesson years ago with idiots like this, as soon as any charge is mentioned and you hear a change in tone in their voice, I kindly decline the work. They're idiots mate, they can phone around and have other choices. Letting you go there and turning you away is naughty.

God Bless your Kind heart. Don't be discouraged. Keep going broo

She should know emergency call out is not cheap, all trades tend to put a premium on it, generally people accept it's cheaper than your house burning down/flooding/etc. she wouldn't have turned you away had you been a plumber and her issue have been a pipe spraying water everywhere I bet.

not a nice man, youre just a kind person, keep winning god bless

Sadly, the world is full of very stupid people, YOU are SO polite!

Not quite the same "cancel" story you were expecting, but it's still a good story: Quite a few years ago, I needed to get one of my vehicles in for service. I paid to have the vehicle towed to a shop and informed them of the repairs I needed. (Two front wheel bearings, nothing major.) I called back after two weeks, they hadn't gotten to look at it yet. Third week, I call. "We're unable to get the parts." What do you mean you can't get wheel bearings? "Your car's so old we can't get the parts for it." OK, it was 2001, and the car was a '92 Geo Storm (Isuzu Impulse). Not exactly hard to find parts for... Especially when I walked into an auto parts box store ten minutes from the shop, bought both wheel bearings off the shelf (they had 7 in stock) and delivered them to the shop. "Where'd you get these?" I told them AutoZone. "We've been looking everywhere for these parts!" Fast-forward a few days later. "Yeah, um, we need to replace the actual hub itself, it's damaged from the wheel bearing failure." OK, do it, call me when it's done. "OK. Should be a few more days." During this whole time, it required all sorts of complaints to the manager for my friend to retrieve his blood-sugar testing equipment and strips, and when we went to do that we noticed the strips were scattered all over the car, not in their case. We found the entire contents of the car rifled through. Spare change was stolen, along with the stereo. I kept that in the back of my mind and moved on... Finally, after another week, they would hang up on me every time I called. After two months, as soon as they picked up the phone, I blasted them. I WANT THAT GEO FIXED THIS WEEK. No excuses. Understand? **click** The next day, phone call comes from the shop. "If you're not serious about fixing this car, just bring us the title so we can scrap it." EXCUSE ME?! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO FIX THE CAR FOR NEARLY THREE MONTHS! "Well, if you really want it fixed, you're gonna have to get us the hub assembly yourself. I'm sick of wasting my time, trying to find rare parts for a piece-of-[expletive deleted] car nobody wants." I call a junkyard - ten minutes from the shop, maybe fifteen if traffic is heavy - he has 7 Geo Storms sitting in the yard. I go buy the part that day, drop it to the shop that day, and say I'm giving them three days before I contact all news media, Consumer Protection Agency, and the Department of Motor Vehicles. I hear a racket behind me, the three "mechanics" are out doing donuts in the street on their quads, one doing a "brake stand" and kicking up stones on my other car. A three-year-old off-lease mint-condition car that I just bought six months prior. The car was completed, they called ten minutes before closing and warned me about storage fees if I didn't pick up the car that day. Good news for me, a friend of mine and I were less than 1/4 mile away (the same friend with the diabetic test strips). Showed up, and they seemed shocked that I was there in a few mere minutes. We haggled over three months' storage fees tacked on, long beyond the closing time, then I pulled out my phone and showed them all the times I called them and the few times they called me, and talked about having to source my own parts from places in the same physical town they were in because they claimed they couldn't find the parts, and then I brought up the stolen car stereo now mounted in one of his mechanic's Ford Explorer, the stolen change, the car doors left ajar so the interior was moldy, how the same mechanic with the stolen radio from my Geo was at a party where we had mutual friends, and I was there as he drunkenly bragged about how they didn't even lower the flatbed to unload the car, they put it in Neutral and floored the wrecker so the GEO ROLLED OFF THE BACK AND SLAMMED ONTO THE GROUND, and then they stopped the truck and the car rolled into the back of the truck (I-beam bumper), before they pushed it back into the yard using the same I-beam rear bumper, and how I had just put front struts on the car a few weeks before the wheel bearing failed that are now completely destroyed and my hood's all scratched. Miraculously, at this point, the charges dropped to simply 4 hours of labor. Which, knowing the labor rates for that job on that car, is a significant discount. So, I paid by check, drove the moldy car straight to the gas station to replace the 3/4 tank that disappeared (trip odometer showed 137 miles - fools didn't even see I reset it to zero!), and enjoyed two new wheel bearings on four formerly-new tires that were now slicks (now we know where the gas went and where the 137 miles came from, and also why the e-brake no longer worked), with an added bonus of two free hubcaps to replace the two the car was missing before I bought it. Next morning, stepped right into the bank, and stopped payment on that check. Never heard a peep from them, and never set foot in there since. TL;DR: I got two new wheel bearings installed and two used OEM hubcaps, plus another $800-1000 in repair costs (ignoring bodywork), by having a shop do $379 worth of work that I ended up only paying $25 for because I stopped payment on the check (not including $200 in parts I had to provide). If you've made it this far, the shop is Fitchville Auto, located in the Fitchville section of Norwich, CT. I wouldn't buy a soda from their soda machine if I was literally dying of thirst, that's how much I despise them.

As soon as the warning signs show themselves, I tell them NO! Make 'no' your default answer. Let them convince you to do their job for them.

Attend in ten minutes!!!! She was lucky to get you there with in half an hour i like how you kept things polite 👍

I have just clocked the age of this video and you didn't change.

Everything is an "emergency" until they realize they have to pay.

I have been in sales all my life - for the last 10 years as a plumber so whenever I received a 'blow in' order I would go to see the customer immediately as you did. By responding quickly I would then be doing all their work in future. I never had the 'I don't want you' response but I have been turned down by 'Can't you do it cheaper' and I say no and go. Your response to her first call was what I would have done - but I don't have a wife to tell me not to go - its my business and I do what I think is right!!

You should have a trade blacklist you can all access for people like that , I could then choose to decline the job or charge minimum fee up front.

You done the right thing mate. 9/10 of the clients will appreciate your kind nature and prompt service. Unfortunately not everyone understands this service or costs/process OR the seriousness of the danger. Every now and then these messers pop up, you just have to learn to sniff them out early and decline!

As sparkies we deal with that funny stuff, that people can't see or smell , more often than not , people won't deal with the problems with it untill it bites them . I had a few customers like that it's now water of a ducks back , the next time that customer call me my price has goes up

Your CUSTOMER was being polite.

Keep being a yes man. Don't be discouraged by this woman's attitude. You are one of life's good guys. You have a bloody good skill and deserve to reap all the positive energy you gain from fixing. Don't allow someone elses negative energy to infiltrate your head. Stay true to your good character. 👍

It’s painful when you care about your job and your clients. Some days I wish I was one of those employees that do not care or give a s*it. How easier their life must be.

Ha Ha, your story made me remember the time a lady customer chased me down the garden path with a broom. At the time I'd just qualified and was sub-contracting for my local council and went to this one house where the lady had turned the house in to a shrine to Elvis and was playing his music. She asked me if I liked Elvis and stupidly I told her I didn't and she chased me out of the house and down the garden path with a broom. It was quite scary at the time but every time I think of it it makes me laugh.

Id have told her she called and I came so shes paying for the hour either way. I can look at the problem or go home but shes still getting a bill.

Ive had this I politely say " FINE you will receive my call out invoice in the post - BYE!" off we go job done!

You did the right thing in agreeing to attend. This was a potentially dangerous fault and there will always be the "difficult" customer ....what else would a professional do.....?! I am retired now but I had more than my fair share of selfish customers when I was an electrician. I recall a builder who phoned me on a Friday night and said that he needed a first fix urgently done on an extension as his sparky was off sick and he had a plasterer booked for the Monday.....I went that Friday night, priced up the job and the builder agreed. I said I would do it on the Saturday......I turned up with cable, capping, boxes and was all ready to get stuck in......but the property was all locked up. I rang the builder and his wife said he was at a football match but she had the keys.....I picked the keys up and did the job. When I returned the keys the wife of the builder said there had been a mistake and the builder had changed his mind as the price was too high that I had quoted and he had found someone else........too late I said I have done the job.....! I think it took about three months before he paid......

She still gets the bill. She authorised your trip to site, so she has to pay. End of story.

Easy solution.....take the call out fee upfront. Stops all messers in their tracks. We started to do this years ago( mobile transport refrigeration engineers) and also solves the hassle of them trying to do a deal if you do fix it quickly.

Lesson of the day: Listen to your wife

A VERY polite rant! I’m so with you, I am equally a yes man and although 99% of the time to fine, some customers will take the p*ss and it leaves you feeling pretty angry and flat. I’m multi trade and have had this with a customer with a leaking toilet who is more interested in arguing about the price than letting me get on and fix it and limit damage. Sometimes you just have to say no….

I had an awkward customer recently, her burglar alarm did a diaharea in the middle of the night and she couldn't silence it. When I arrived at the job she called me an ar****** and she was saying bad words. She then pushed me out the way and started spitting at me when she spoke it got so bad I had to leave.....I always get the good one 😁. Enjoying the videos always interesting entertainment 👍

Charge her anyway. Send the invoice

Sure of of heard of it because my father is a retired licensed electrician. Usually doesn't happen alot since the company he worked for didn't do residential.

Listing to this, blowing fuses in my head, the one main thing that I don’t miss as a gas safe registered engineer is some people/customers. You can get out of bed and go to work in a bright, cheerful and positive mood and it just takes one customer to blow your day to bits.

As an electrician of 45 years had plenty of these you provide a good service mate don't despair Michael

My wife heard that and smiled at me 😂 thanks 🤣

Great vid, full sympathy mate!, I'm a plumbing and heating eng, had a customer phone me in lock down, I was self isolating, when I was back up & about I went to her for probs with a shower, nothing urgent tho..I got there as arranged, looked at the issues, told her the shower had been installed wrong, she asked questions, I gave her good advice,on her heating also, told her to ask the guy who installed it to come back, as he shouldn't have put it in..I told her it was£45 to cover my cost, she said what for?, you've done nothing!!!I've got to go get the money now, I'll be 20mins!!!. I said forget it, keep the money, it's Christmas, never ever phone me again thanks!!!!

Sometimes we have to trade in the calculator for a halo... That woman may well have been scammed before or realised that there are those out there that love to take advantage of other's misfortune... Waste a few more minutes, ring her to check that the problem is now resolved... It is a poor man that has nothing to give and a weak one that can't say no

Two main problems in the UK are most people have absolutely no idea about construction, and there are a lot of cowboys and rip-off merchants about. That means people are paranoid and will sometimes take it out on decent tradesmen.

Put a big sign on your office wall. Do not leave office until paperwork is done. Check with Wife

Something similar happened to me one Christmas day (lunch time) - the customer didn't want to pay the minimum 1hr call out charge !!!

Completely understand your situation but speaking as a consumer (since I’m not a tradesperson), I kind of understand her position. She must’ve been a very price sensitive customer. Not everybody has the ability to afford the best and they’re just going through life trying to manage to stay above the bread line. A lot of people live knowing the fact their houses are in a state of disrepair but cannot afford to pay for it to be repaired. Whether that’s electrics or plumbing or anything else for that matter. I’d personally request you don’t take it to heart but understand that there’s always a lot of customers that can end up wasting your time but it’s not that they want to waste your time, rather it’s them trying to get by.

It is hard to say no when you think someone might be in a potentially dangerous situation. I'm retired now but I had one customer who tried to accuse me of over charging him when he had told me he would dig a short trench which i ended up having to do and charged him. I think he sensed when I left it would be wise not to call me if he needed electrical work. He never did call again as it would have been nice to say no. Most of all the customers I had appreciated my work and always paid. Meriden, Kansas My advice is don't put undo stress on yourself if you are swamped. Just say no. It's obvious you know your job and how to run a business and are a good people person. Chalk it up to experience and move on. Also we probably don't listen to are wives enough. Amen 😀

I'm not sure here. The way the story is told "I just want to knkw what can be done". "Well, ill come now" "no, I have to go to work" "that doesn't matter. I'm coming". "Can you actually fix it?" "Don't know but I'm deffo coming" sounds a lot like "I see an opportunity to take your money before you get a chance to think" TO A CUSTOMER. She may not have had that money . People don't always not want to pay because they are tight, she may be skint. Also, she may have called some smartarse relative while you were travelling and he said it sounds dodgy. It may just be the way the story is told but it sounds like all the urgency is from the spark. People go to garages all the time and are told "this is a fail and could be dangerous" and guess what, they drive off because they can't or don't want to pay at that time.

Of course if you had quoted Pimlico Plumbers prices, her reaction might have been a bit more understandable but as we don't know what you quoted her I guess we'll never know if her reaction was OTT or not ;-)

When I have people call my business that I do in Australia we have a call out fee of $105 this covers us for the first hour plus small parts - we tell the customer we need card details before we head out but we will not charge the card until the work is done - if people hesitate about the price or say they will get back to me then it’s not a job we don’t want .. they most likely will waste our time meaning that hour or so spent running around for this client has probably lost me some good jobs worth more money.

Sometimes good to have a break when you have days like the one you’ve mentioned I find .

Worst that happened to me (security industry) Event planner calls up books 6 guards for a event in a few weeks for a 8 hour shift. I book guards and end up coming in to cover event as well as anything over 2 guards requires a supervisor. We show up, event planner tells us "oh the client didn't want to pay so much for security so we won't have security sorry" So now the company is out 18 man hours of pay at $14 a hour (labour law says 3 hours minimum if you show up for a shift that's cancelled) and we have no way of getting paid. Boy I was not impressed nor was the owner. Needless to say we never took calls from that planner again.

If the cutout was outside in a meter box do you think you’d be justified in pulling the main fuse for safety’s sake or is that too far?

I have no idea who you are personally but I do love your channel along with Nick Bundy, David Savery and Nagy. What I do know is that you are passionate about your work and your customers and will always put them foremost, It looked like you were choked a little at the end because of how much you do care - You will never say no though will you? I'm a Cisco Network Consultant and get resued a lot of work because of my day/half-day rate, they then go cheap and get me in a few weeks later when it's all gone wrong. Just keep being you. PS - you have a great team with you.

Good morning to you, good story about pain In the A customers. Regular customers yes help them every time but you have to wonder why she rang you, were you the third on her list, had the others said no ? I was a retained fireman (and electrician). We had a few people dial 999 and then cancel when we were on way ! We always attended anyway of course, and we didn't charge. There's no accounting for some people ! Keep up the good work Jordan.

It is a hard thing wanting to help in an urgent situation, however what I have found is that most of these calls are not new issues and the clients usually let the problem go to the nth degree or level of danger or degradation where it eventually causes a major issue then cry for help. The old motto I find holds true is never let someones poor planning or lack of organisation impact yours.

I have had this before in another line of business. We used get clients to sign the call out report as not required.

It happens sometimes but learn from such customers. Its awesome.

I,m a painter and decorator. Get the same when quoting for work. Always trust your gut instinct. Can usually tell the time wasters within 5 mins.

Not an electrician, but I got a call about a popcorn machines not working at a hotel. The gentleman called twice within 10 minutes. I've got 6 microwaves, a mixer, an oven and a hot dog roller to fix at the shop. But I drop everything to go take a look at this popcorn machine, but as soon as a I pulled into a parking spot, got a call and said they figured it out. Then I leave, the guy calls me 3 minutes later and asked if we could order him switches.

Do you have documented proof that she called and cancelled? If not then bill her and see what happens for a trip charge.

It will never alter and you will always go that extra mile because thats your mindset and the right one. Some you win and some your loose, thats being self employed. Thank goodness I'm now retired, had it all but the best part of being good natured and doing your best for customers and doing a good job no matter what (whether they appreciate it or not) is you sleep at night. I've lost £££££ but knowing you've done your best and do a good job is priceless, don't alter :) Oh love the vids, being an old spark (last update for me was 16th ed) how things have altered. Long gone the 70s when we saw rewireable fuses go and cartage ones come in lol, thought we'd reached the pinnacle of ele engineering, plastic consumer units OMG what trickery was this and then MCB, RCD, RCBOs and now anti arc etc. Fast becoming a dark art now. Keep the vids coming love everyone.

Bill them something for yout time travelling at least. If I've arranged a site visit with a customer like that and they refuse access, or are not there, there is no question, they are invoiced for the wasted trip. Did you check with office if she had called to cancel ? If so, check what time, if you've said you'll be a half hour and they call to cancel when you will be almost there, bill them.

It’s the right attitude, hopefully something your genuine customers appreciate and return for. I would say having a process for new customers in this situation could help, if you could charge a call out fee prior to going that would filter out the riffraff. That would put something between them and your kind nature.

Absolutely right to be annoyed, that's ridiculous! Time, fuel there and back.

Mate did a cctv job drove 1.5 hours agreed a price prior and when I got there customers said they got a cheaper quote on a tvi system instead of IP comparing apples and oranges. Tried explaining the difference with no luck so headed back off to the office.

"The cost of the call out is .... per hour and I will be with you in 30 minutes. If you decide to cancel in the meantime then we will still charge 50%. Is that acceptable?"

There’s always 2 ways to look at anything. I know it’s frustrating but she’s the one with the problem not you. I only wish more tradesmen had half as caring a nature as you. You were willing to go out of your way for someone in need when you had absolutely no reason to because of your schedule. First of all STOP beating yourself up and don’t change who you are because 99 percent of people will appreciate you and your kindness and helpfulness. I’m just like yourself, I would have done exactly the same as you but unlike you I wouldn’t blame my decent character and give myself a hard time I’d just go “ well it’s on your head lady’, and moved on. You win some you lose some. Take care mate your such a total gentleman I really enjoy watching your videos.

Yer had it a few times people wasting time. Easy thing to do is don’t ever go answer the phone to that number again wasting time

Ok im not an electrician but im a aerial engineer and i have gone for a quote before and the thing i get all the time is my mate ca do it cheaper, as you know we need to make money now i charge a reasonable price but i hate it when i get told my mate will do it cheaper. Anyway love watching your videos and keep up the good work

It doesn't have to be a loose connection or a fire hazard just a simple faulty cooker , kettle , washing machine could trip it out and cause a burning smell

Good life lesson! My wife is always right... even when she’s wrong. 😅 I’ve experienced similar problems also. I’m forever saying yes, when I need to except that sometimes a no can be just a valuable.