We've all had them. The client that can't or won't understand. Or the adjoiner who caused the problem in the first place. One of my favorite "stupid clients" was the one telling me that the line I was set on was not straight. I had him look through the machine at the mark on one end, then inverted the scope and had him look at the mark on the other end. He then declared, "I ain't gonna believe no damm machine."
Perhaps you've had the client who refuses to believe that water must flow downhill, because, if it does, he can't do what he wants to do.
Perhaps you've had the adjoiner that knows more about the practice of surveying than you and all your "licensed legion of idiots".
Perhaps you've had the client who thinks he can offer you $20 to move that stake you found to where he thinks it should be.
Perhaps you've had the adjoiner who parked his boat/trailer/truck/car/travel home directly over the corner marker you must recover. He did it as soon as he found out you were coming.
Don't want to talk about it on the public record that is the internet because this person has threatened to sue (and in fact filed a suit which was thrown out) and last I heard was still searching the state looking for some surveyor who could show the facts agree with his case. To my knowledge, he has not yet found that surveyor.
If you catch me in person, a delightful telling of the tale can be had over cold frosty ones at the establishment of your choice. It is laughable and frustrating at the same time and taught me a lot of things about doing business with people that you perceive to be mentally incompetent.
We had a client that insisted that the neighbor planted trees on his land, and that the previous surveyor had set the (original subdivision) corners in the wrong spot. We sent a crew out, verified that the lot corners were fairly accurately placed according to the subdivision plat, and that the neighbor's trees were, in fact, on the neighbor's lot. We flagged up lath next to the capped rebars and sent the client a letter stating the results of our examination.
He insisted that we were wrong because he had used a measuring wheel to check between the monuments, and had come up with a longer distance than platted, and maybe we hadn't actually been to the site, and hadn't set up an instrument at all, but had merely sent him a bill for work we didn't do. We sent him pictures that our crew took of the flagged lath and another copy of the invoice, insisting on payment. He called the BBB, the State Attorney General, and the Federal Trade Commission (for real!) to file complaints. He sent a number of harassing, threatening e-mails. We simply filed a claim in small claims court. We were prepared to provide additional proof of our site visit, such as raw data files and field notes in court, but we weren't going to share those with him at this point. He sent more harassing, threatening e-mails. But the day before the hearing, he called our attorney wanting to know how he could settle this. He paid the full invoice amount (although the attorney got a chunk of that +o( )
I remember a story around here in which the surveyor had to be wrong because the owner checked him with his 100' garden hose and came up with a different distance.
When in private practice I was lucky enough to only have the "ring . . . ring" type of contact with a few of these. Had one fellow call and tell me he knew exactly where his corners should be and just needed me to set them where he wanted them. As soon as research of his and adjoining deeds was mentioned the response was "Already had a guy stake the deeds they are wrong. I want you to fix them the way I tell you." That was about the end of the conversation.
I once had a person that said it wasn't a straight line between two corners we found. In fact the mowed line, or the edge of the field was curved, but he swore that a line between the found pipes wasn't straight. I told him to look up the definition of a line and call me back.
Was covering for the P.S. in charge while he was on vacation. Hadn't had any contact with the client but was familiar with his job since I had done most of the drafting and had helped the P.S. with getting the requirement from the zoning people. Show up and no more than get the inst. man set up than he was set upon by the client. He was pee'od because instead of 4 lots he had only 3 lots. I went to help the inst. man out and got an ear full. I asked him how long ago he'd received the preliminary plat, he said two weeks and he'd just been waiting for us to show up to express his displeasure. I said he didn't have enough frontage to allow for 4 lots at the county required minimum. I told him we'd then used the frontage he was wanting to sell and had split it 3 times. I pulled a copy of the letter my boss had sent that said if he wanted something else to tell us and we'd do it. He said his realtor had told him he had enough frontage for 4 lots and that’s what he wanted. I said he was 110 feet short, he said that’s impossible his realtor had used a wheel not some "gizmo" that shot light beams and he was right. I tell him to tell the realtor not to do any surveying, I wouldn't sell any houses and we all be fine. Now I'm getting bent because the job was 1hr away from the other work I had and if he didn't like the plat why the hell hadn't he said anything for 2 weeks. He starts yelling, I tell the i-man to pick up, we're not setting anything today. He can work it out with the boss.
His son finally comes out and pulls me to the side to tell me that his dad had "alltimers" and that everything was fine, they'd looked at the plat and letter and had thought everything was fine last week. He gets his dad to calm down, go look at some bucket calves and we get back to work. We're picking up and the old man comes over to thank me, said we'd done good work, he was glad to meet us, didn't even remember talking to us before that moment. Not the stupidest, just the saddest.
I don't know if I'd call her stupid, but this lady was sure crazy..
[msg=164183]"You humiliated me!"[/msg]
1 client (big lesson there), 1 adjoiner.
Both women over 70, ultra b-youknowwhat-y doesn't even begin to describe their issues with the world.
The client was upset that her neighbor painted HIS side of a common block fence wall white. She just didn't like the guy and they had been neighbors for 30 years. He said they used to be friends until her children left then it sort of deteriorated. She went nuts.
The adjoiner lady was convinced she knew where the boundary was located and she probably hates my guts after I persuaded the Judge to my point of view which wasn't as much as my client wanted but at least he is a reasonable person. His brother is an Oregon PLS and so that helped because the brother and I could discuss it and he agreed with me.
Poll---Stupidest Client or Adjoiner - I Got both
Client - We where marking the centerline of a proposed road when the excavator/road builder client came up and said, "I saw a lath marked P-one, but where is P-two?". The lath said PI (Point of intersection). This guy has been a road builder forever, I could not stop laughing and he felt dumb and laughed also, after I explained it.
Adjoiner - He came up to my boss and I, as we where staking the common property line between him and our client. Asked how much to stake his line too. Boss got some cash from him, wrote this guys lot number on the other side of the four lath that we had already set and we where gone. NO, I would never do this and my boss was not the owner of the company, just a crew chief trying to make a buck. 25 years ago and still makes my laugh when I think about that guy.