Just had the "why don't you do that for free?" line

Premises, staff, heating, and lighting all cost money!!

Bless!

I often get people (patients/insurance companies etc) seem a bit miffed when I tell them there’s a fee for ‘non contract/non NHS’ tasks..
Insurance reports, notes for work, signatures etc…

Premises, staff, heating, and lighting all cost money!!

DrP

I suppose I can see it from the Drs perspective, but the purpose of the NHS feels rather narrow in that case. General public plebs like myself tend to think of the GPs as the tax payer implemented medical professional paid to serve the community within which they practice and are rather blind to the subtle nature of what constitutes contract/non contract work.

I lost a bit of respect for our GP, who we don’t see too often as relatively fit healthy types (dare I say it cash cows on the doctor’s patient list) when she charged my wife £120 to sign the form to say she was fit to swim the channel – no medical required, just a glance at her (very short) medical notes and a squiggle. Her swim raised money for diabetes UK, but no matter. As a teacher I sign tens of passport forms for kids – I wonder if there is a money spinner in that too? As a known cyclist at the school I’ve also adjusted my fair share of headsets for kids without charging – clearly I’m no businessman 😉

[Quote]Jesus how’s it the customers fault [/quote]

Try reading the post.

As an aside I recently found out you work for EBC which is a company I wouldn’t trust with a bargepole, as a company you can’t even be arsed to check the indexing on a new bikes before sending them out

Not my experience with edinburgh bikes in Alvanley Terrace. I know that doesn’t fit in with the ‘lets gang up on the op’ but I like to think for myself.

He deserves it, proper unprofessional to come on a public forum and bitch and wine about your customers and colleagues. Even worse when we all know where he works!

He’d been quoted it for free (a colleague’s error) and so he wasn’t charged.
But he though it was ridiculous to charge whether he’d been quoted it free or not. – the point behind this thread.

Ah now it makes sense.

Ah now it makes sense.

Only took 3 pages to get there 🙂

It’s Lord of the Rings of bike shop stories. If he’d only used the Eagles in the first place.

He deserves it

Don’t read his posts then? You know if it bothers you that much, just a thought.

And I wouldn’t say the original post involved whining or bitching.

He’d been quoted it for free (a colleague’s error) and so he wasn’t charged.
But he though it was ridiculous to charge whether he’d been quoted it free or not.

Clearly your colleague agreed with him, which is why he’d quoted it for free.

In your position, I’d have started a thread about your colleague being a muppet. Rather than criticise a customer who’d done nothing wrong other than expect to pay the same amount that he was quoted.

Neal, where have I once criticised the customer?

Try engaging your brain and/or reading the thread….oh hang on…you couldn’t join the flame-a-thon.

£40 of brake work and he expected his threaded headset adjusted for free.

This is your very opening line of a thread no one asked you to write. As I read it that lays the blame very firmly at the customers feet, where as it wasn’t, it was your colleagues fault for saying it would be free.

Your headline Just had the “why don’t you do that for free?” line,while not a criticism certainly sounds a bit snidey.Nice 🙂

Well done for not reading my posts dragon, no point in suggesting that again.

Well I read it exactly the same way Dragon did.

Just had the “why don’t you do that for free?” line

As you would expect for someone who had a quote for it to be done free by a member of staff.

If you weren’t criticising him, or trying to make he was was wrong, why start a thread about him ?

£40 of brake work and he expected his threaded headset adjusted for free.

He was quoted that price, why shouldn’t he expect it for the quoted price ?

Again, if this isn’t you criticising his expectations, why mention it ?

Try engaging your brain and/or reading the thread….oh hang on…you couldn’t join the flame-a-thon.

I’ve read it all, and my brain is engaged.

Only took 3 pages to get there

That’s less than average I think

nealglover – Member
As you would expect for someone who had a quote for it to be done free by a member of staff.

He was quoted that price, why shouldn’t he expect it for the quoted price.

You’re actually saying you read this?

cynic-al – Member
But he though it was ridiculous to charge whether he’d been quoted it free or not. – the point behind this thread.

You’re actually saying you read this?
cynic-al – Member
But he though it was ridiculous to charge whether he’d been quoted it free or not. – the point behind this thread.

Yes. I read that too.

But I was wondering, if it was indeed “the point of the thread” as you say

Why did you wait a couple of days, and three pages, into the thread before mentioning it ?

Possibly because your argument was faltering a bit and needed a bit of shoring up.

How long will it be before an independent third party witness steps up to agree with your side of the story I wonder.

I don’t understand why you can’t have a conversation to the effect of “I’ll have a look and if it’s a 2 minute job, I’ll do it for nothing. If it needs more; I’ll have to charge at £XX per hour”

Neal, I get that you have it in for me. I don’t particularly care but I’d prefer you not to write speculative crap about me publicly.

I made that point because I’d not made it clear enough previously.

And I don’t make stuff up.

Here’s hoping you find something better to do than keeping at me on here.

And I don’t make stuff up.

Apart from independent witnesses called Alistair.

…the event described did happen, I did that to protect my identity and have a chance of it lasting longer on TA, which I think is reasonable in the circumstances.

I don’t understand why you can’t have a conversation to the effect of “I’ll have a look and if it’s a 2 minute job, I’ll do it for nothing. If it needs more; I’ll have to charge at £XX per hour”

+1

It’s pathetic to moan on a public forum about something you seemingly did nothing to resolve. We have these type of issues at work with clients all the time, but shock horror we resolve them by having a conversation.

Maybe you could chain your colleague, who made the mistake, around a street sign outside a local cafe and see what transpires.

Neal, I get that you have it in for me

I don’t. But you may have a persecution complex as you seem convinced you have “haters”

Maybe have a look at yourself and what you post, and it will help you figure out why people seem to be always disagreeing with you.

The common theme is you.

I’d prefer you not to write speculative crap about me publicly.

Get a grip. You post stuff about yourself on a discussion forum and expect people not to discuss it.

And I don’t make stuff up

Sorry, but you failed the reliability test by posting a fake review on trip advisor and having it removed.

Whatever lame reason you give for doing so, it undermines your credibility.

dragon – Member

I don’t understand why you can’t have a conversation to the effect of “I’ll have a look and if it’s a 2 minute job, I’ll do it for nothing. If it needs more; I’ll have to charge at £XX per hour

It’s pathetic to moan on a public forum about something you seemingly did nothing to resolve.”

The quote had been given, the work had been done, we didn’t charge for it, your suggestion was not possible by the time I was involved – at which time I did resolve it (seems you’re not bothering to read the thread again!). All I was commenting on was the expectation.

nealglover – Member

I’d prefer you not to write speculative crap about me publicly.

Get a grip. You post stuff about yourself on a discussion forum and expect people not to discuss it. [/quote]

Discussing it is one thing, speculating that it’s made up etc is another.

nealglover – Member

Neal, I get that you have it in for me

I don’t.

I can see you’re making a real effort to understand me.

YAWN!

I always find it amusing when people open a topic on a forum to do the ‘yawn/this is boring/i hate people that post about x’ post. You must have a very dull life if you go to the bother of reading x number of pages of something that’s boring you to death.

You don’t need to read every single post on STW you know.

Gary_M – Member
I always find it amusing when people open a topic on a forum to do the ‘yawn/this is boring/i hate people that post about x’ post. You must have a very dull life if you go to the bother of reading x number of pages of something that’s boring you to death.

You don’t need to read every single post on STW you know.

I didn’t read it all, are you mad?! I read the first few posts and got the gist of it, then skipped to page 4 to find that even a number of days later the two main protagonists are still bickering!

It’s all a bit handbags at dawn and not really worth a four day arguement, hence the yawn!

You don’t need to read every single post on STW you know

LIES!!!

The quote had been given, the work had been done, we didn’t charge for it, your suggestion was not possible by the time I was involved – at which time I did resolve it (seems you’re not bothering to read the thread again!). All I was commenting on was the expectation.

Apologies al. I must be missing something (I found your explanation a little unclear). Did you agree to do the work gratis, then get annoyed to the extent that you start a thread about doing it for free?
If you have gone the extra mile for the customer, let him know that you have and hopefully they’ll come back with some profitable work.

I can see you’re making a real effort to understand me.

As I said, credibility is important, and tends to earn the benefit of the doubt.

The opposite earns scepticism and doubt.

Sorry, but I guess as someone who worked in the Legal profession (?) , this won’t be new information to you.

I think this thread’s getting out of hand and I don’t think anyone has actually understood the OPs intentions for it.

Whether the customer was right to expect it, whether someone made a mistake and said it was free etc etc etc is not the point at all. Who really gives one? Life’s too short to quibble over who said what to win some pathetic points scoring BS.

If I’ve understood it correctly, it was merely a punt at trying to spark some amusing examples of unreasonable customer expectations?!

For example:

“It’s like paying for a lap dance and then expecting the stripper to launder your underpants for you!”

That kind of thing?

Pretty much, albeit it was obvious that other discussion would arise.

I think this thread’s getting out of hand and I don’t think anyone has actually understood the OPs intentions for it.

I think the gang did but didn’t really care. And to be fair the op know fine well how it would go.

The common theme is you.

Its quite common for you to be disagreeing with someone [ and in this manner] so its not ONLY him is it neal ?

FWIW I quite like both of you as posters.

Now shake hands and be friends 😛

Its not only me who disagrees with Al though is it ? So the common element isnt me in that regard

If fact, recently, it seems to be almost everybody, (or at least a large percentage)

Plus, I’m not the one regularly moaning about having “haters” as if I’m some sort of misunderstood pop star 🙂