So I am doing a boundary survey in a city. This lot was laid out in a lot plan in the 1920's or so. It is a rectangular lot 75' wide by 100' deep with a road in the front and an unopened alley in the rear. The property owner wishes to build a garage in his back yard abutting the alley. Only problem is there is not enough room. I called him on the phone and talked with him. His statement "If you get five different surveyors they will come up with five different locations for the pins so why can't I place his pins further into the alley so that he can build his garage." I stated that yes there may be 5 different locations but then again, if the surveyors are right, those 5 different locations shouldn't very by much more than 2 inches and if I "moved" his pins into the alley that would be my rear end on the line and I just will not do it. I also failed to mentioned that 3 of his 4 corners are existing (including both of the rear corners). This property is located in a higher-scale part of town (lots of doctors, lawyers, and judges). Once again, you have to love how the general public perceives the surveying profession.
My answer to that statement is: "Yes, if you hire 5 different surveyors, the ones that are right will all say the same thing, within measurement tolerances, and the ones that are wrong may say anything. What kind of survey do you want? one that is right, or me to do whatever you want?"
So, tell 'im to hire surveyors, until he finds one that does what he wants!?
🙂
N
Statements like that prompt me to move on and let him call someone else. It will only be problems.
(Check that, it looks like you're already hired. Good luck)
Reminds me of a call yesterday. The first things out of his mouth were "how much do you charge per hour". I asked him what he was doing or building and he said "...I only need 4 or 5 points, on about 2 acres... what's your hourly rate...". He never would tell me what he was looking for, he just needed some "points set".
Obvious red flag. Luckily, I was in a bad cell phone signal area, so I had to call him back. About 2 hrs later, I got back and called him and he "..found another surveyor to take care of it....". Of course I asked him who, he balked but told me.
I just politely thanked him for the inquiry and wished him well.
yep..... that sounds about right....lol
Tell him that your charge for talking to the client is $800 per hour, but, the charge for surveying is only $xxx per hour.
