Posted by NCWayne on April 13, 2013 at 22:14:39 from (173.188.169.54):
Having read the responses to my post about the guy not showing up to work on a customers machine I am stunned. As expected many of you guys understood exactly what I was talking about, but there were a few responses that blew my mind and actually defended the guy.
To those I ask this. How would you feel if you were the customer in this situation?
Before you answer let me explain a few things. While many farms will have more than one tractor to do a job there also many that don't. This makes their situation like that of most contractors whose equipment is a bit more specialized than a simple tractor. As a result they don't usually keep two of every type machine, on every site, just so they have a spare. When a rental is needed they do rent, and in this case my customer already had one rental machine on site. Unfortunately finding a telehandler with a 10,000 capacity and plumbed for a grout hog, local to every job site, and having it delievered at the last second....when you just need it for a day or two... isn't as easy, or as cheap, as many seem to think it is.
In this case I knew my customer, whom I have worked for for several years now, was calling in someone local. In fact I had suggested it to them given both my schedule and the scope of the repairs I thought they were going to need based on several phone conversations with them concerning the problem. Why pay me more time and mileage to drive to the machine than the repair itself was going to cost. In this case my mileage (and I still only charge $1.50) was around $315 just to start. Add in nearly 5 hours ride time at $60 per (and I just went up to $70 last week but hadn't officially notified them yet so I offered to do it for the old price since there was so much riding involved and they are a really good customer) for another $300. Now consider that it only took me 4 hours to do the job needed once I got there. So they basically had to pay me $615 in time and milage to do a job that actally took only $240. All that for a total of $855, for what amounts to a 4 hour job. In other words finding someone local for a simple job like that only made sense for them, and I told them as much. Now had it been a major repair they wouldn't have considered anyone local and would have instead waited on me, and spent the extra money on a rental, as they have done in the past on several occasions. They have been around long enough that they know how to use their heads and make money without wasting it for no reason.
That all said, for those that defended the mechanics actions, how would you feel if your only tractor went down on a Thursday. You had a mechanic come out to look at it, tell you what parts are needed so they can be ordered overnight, and ready, and that he'd be back on Friday to make the needed repairs. You, being a small time farmer really need to get your hay up before it rains on Saturday or Sunday because the budget is tight and you really need that hay in the barn before it gets rained on if you want make a profit off of it. Unfortunately the guy doesn't bother to show up, call, answer your call, or return your message. So, you call someone else. Unfortunately he is busy, so your just out of luck..... or you get lucky and he is already tied up for the day Friday, but says that he can be there on Saturday to get you going. You thank him and pray that the rain holds off til Sunday. The second mechainc shows up on Sat only to find that the parts the other guy said were needed were incorrect. Being the weekend the parts aren't available as the supplier is closed until Monday. As a result your hay lays on the ground through the rain. Come Monday you finally get the parts ordered next day for Tuesday and by Wednesday you just might be able to get your hay up, if it's worth messing with after laying on the ground soaking wet for several days.
Now you could have gone to the local rental house and got another tractor for several days, but they didn't have one the size you need, or that has the specialized controls for your bailer. But you got lucky and the had exactly what you needed but the cost to rent it long enough to get your hay in would cost you more than the profits you planned to make.
Remember your a small time operator with only one tractor. As a result the first mechaic felt that you probably couldn't afford to pay his bill so he thought you were unimportant to the point he couldn't even be bothered to call you in a timely manner to say he wasn't doing the job for you, or even return your calls.
Now I ask, if you were in the shoes of the customer in the situation I just described, how would you feel about the first mechainc, and how his actions effected your ability to do business and make a profit? I ask because a few of the responses to my previous post actually defended the mechanic. To that I can only say I still don't understand the way some people think...because everyone I know that has been in a simlar situation would have not an ounce of pity for mechanic number one. In fact many would happily kick his a$$ if they ever saw him again after he cost them as much downtime and money as he did.....but feel pity for him...NEVER....
Just don't understand how someone could care about a man that cost them money and time, when he didn't care enough about them to make a simple phone call...... regardless of his reason......unless it's the simple fact that it wasn't their money being dealt with here. Put the shoe on the other foot, put the drain on their wallet and I pray their thoughts would change. If not then we have fallen way further down the hill toward accepting apathy in regard to having a good work ethic than I ever imagined. Sad.......
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