Had a customer watch me fish a cable for 45 minutes then ask why i didn't just use the attic

I was doing a new install in an old house in Nashville last month, nothing but thick plaster walls and lathe everywhere. Spent almost an hour trying to find a clean path from the basement to the second floor den. The homeowner, this older guy, just stood there watching me the whole time without saying a word. Soon as i finished he goes "you know there's an open attic above the garage right?" like it was obvious. Has anyone else had customers wait until the very end to drop some obvious tip they knew the whole time?

3 comments

3 Comments

susanm5626d ago

People hold back info just to watch us struggle, it's a weird power thing.

dakota_patel9826d ago

Honestly I think most of the time people just assume you already know something or they forget to mention it. It's not always some power trip, just poor communication. Like when my coworker told me about a deadline change but didn't mention the file format had to be PDF, not Word. That was just him being distracted, not trying to make me look bad. You ever find that people usually come back and apologize when they realize they left something out?

the_stella23d ago

Not quite sure I agree it's always a power thing though... sometimes people just get nervous or don't want to seem like they're bossing you around while you're working. Had a customer once who watched me rerun a line before sheepishly mentioning a drop ceiling panel I'd totally missed, turned out they were just afraid of offending me.