Three months ago---Ring Ring
Me: Hello. How may I help you?
Him: My brother told me to get you to do a survey for me because you did such a good job for him last year.
Me: (thinking his brother was an excellent client) Be happy to help you out. What needs done?
Him: Long story that will require a section breakdown so that he buys a house and 20 acres while his other brother buys the remainder of 200 acres.
Me: We should be able to get to that in about six weeks and the cost will probably be around $XXXX.
Him: Put me on your list. I'll let you know if anything changes.
Two months ago---Ring Ring
Me: Hello. How may I help you?
Him: Hey, this is Drew. Remember me?
Me: Yes, I do. We should be able to jump on that in roughly two weeks. Everything going OK?
Him: Well, here's the deal. It looks like I will need to buy the full 40 the surveyed tract was going to come out of. So, I need to cancel the survey.
Me: No problem. We had not had time to even research it, yet.
Two days ago he calls again to tell me now he is only going to able to buy the house and six acres and asks how soon we could do it. Told him at least four to six weeks. Then he tells me a guy down the road suggested he call ABC Surveyors because they did a great job for him a few years ago. He had called them and they said they could be there in two weeks but for about double what I had told him three months ago for a more complicated tract. He asked if I could somehow get it done within two weeks. No. Sorry. We have already committed to other clients. He bids me a fond farewell as he prepares to learn a very hard lesson.
I had spoken with the owner of the other survey firm just a few days earlier. He was running a solid two months behind on everything.
