have one scenario where client wants to buy a "lot".?ÿ problem being the entire "block" is mythical- that is, if it was ever on paper that paper has long since disappeared. not a monument to be found.?ÿ it's a 500 dollar survey, whole area is unimproved.?ÿ i've done a bunch of work in the area and- now- i'm confident i've done more research on this particular little corner of earth than any human currently walking around and breathing.?ÿ client doesn't like his west property line... can't say why.?ÿ adjoiner doesn't like it either... but going the other direction.?ÿ and he's sitting on a sheriff's deed/tax sale, no description.?ÿ and that adjoiner is occupying dirt assumed to be owned by the larger adjoiner to HIS west, who was born and raised on the property.?ÿ the whole area has, for the last 70 years or so, been owned by a series of cousins, nieces, grandmas, etc, etc, except now for my ostensible client and the adjoiner guy.?ÿ so i just went ahead and knocked on everyone's door, handed out a card and gave a synopsis.?ÿ now i have a dozen people pissed off at me: 2 guys who are fighting over 10' of land neither of them had laid eyes on until three months ago, one guy who found out he's lost 1/2 acre of his homestead, and a whole row of family members in various states of cooperative spirit.?ÿ phone has been ringing off the hook about this one since saturday.?ÿ?ÿ
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now just get a call from the husband executor of the estate (grantor) of a 30 acre title i did back in february.?ÿ deal fell through back then, and i haven't ever been paid.?ÿ i'll never forget that survey, and every last detail of it, as i did it on the day the temps fell through the bottom.?ÿ by the end of that day it'd stack up as top two or three coldest experiences of my life.?ÿ so recently retired husband just calls and says- after the last two weeks of them asking me for new copies so they could get this new deal going- and yes, they did pay the invoice- that he walked the property the other day and couldn't find any stakes and what was i gonna do about it.?ÿ "i'm not accusing you of not doing your job..."?ÿ (funny, sounds like that's exactly what he's doing) so i asked him what the point of his call was- that i set laths on every last corner 8 months ago and that what feral pigs, hunters, or adjoiners did in the interim wasn't keeping me up at night.?ÿ he "strenuously" disagreed with that possibility ("that land is out in the middle of nowhere!")?ÿ then he started in on how the bearings on the survey didn't make any sense and i needed to give him decimal seconds for his e-trax to prove that i'd actually done the work.?ÿ i told him i'd be happy to go flag everything back up again in a month when my schedule has the first hole in it, and that it'd be 150/hr, which likely would add up to 500 or so when considering the hour drive and back.?ÿ if the man has ever spoken a curse word in his life then i'm impressed with his ability to withhold it at that news- i could feel his rage through the phone.
The last thing I ever want to do is to speak to adjoiners if I don't have to, but, I have to say, at times, when I felt like I had to, some of them have been very helpful providing documents and surveys for me to copy and return to them.?ÿ As for handing your card out to other owners in the area, that's something that gives you a 50/50 chance of receiving some often abusive phone calls.
If I am not directly working for the person on the other on the other end of the phone, I'm absolutely not going to entertain any verbal abuse from anybody, client or not.?ÿ I did a fairly large ALTA survey near the foot of the GW Bridge across the Hudson from New York City not too long ago. The client was my CEO's brother and both my CEO and his brother were in my office.?ÿ As we were discussing the survey status a Paralegal participating in due diligence called and wanted me to change wording in my certification, add Attorneys to the certification and add wording that I was not willing to add.?ÿ I politely said no to his requests and he started yelling and cussing.?ÿ I calmly and politely asked him to stop yelling and speak like a professional, not once, but twice.?ÿ I hung up on him in the middle of his rant, expecting to either be unemployed or in massive trouble.?ÿ The client high fived me and my CEO shook my hand and laughed.?ÿ The financing on the transaction was in excess of $2 million and closing was to be the next day.?ÿ I did not hear from the paralegal or his office for the rest of the day and the deal went though with no more glitches.?ÿ?ÿ
This Surveying work would be fun.....if it wasn't for the clients!
And lately it is 10 calls a day for new work not to mention the daily diaper changing (existing clients).
It is why I am retiring at the end of the year. I am old and no longer feel like dealing with people.
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If I am not directly working for the person on the other on the other end of the phone, I'm absolutely not going to entertain any verbal abuse from anybody, client or not.?ÿ
agreed.?ÿ and i apparently started this thread too early.?ÿ after i got back from my cooldown walk got a?ÿ phone call from a client who's spitting fire because two lot owners in the subdivision we platted for her are moving their pins around and fighting over a fence.?ÿ somehow that turned into our fault and she was screaming about how we only care about her when there's an invoice due.?ÿ told her she needn't worry about getting that impression ever again in the future.
@flyin-solo great answer, some day you will look back and laugh if you aren't doing so already.?ÿ Nothing like getting those calls, feeling your blood pressure go through the roof and remaining calm and professional.
I had a client on a wooded tract who was in a dispute with the adjoiner over the use of a private road approximately 2,000 feet long.?ÿ The adjoiner had another road to access their property from but refused to use it.?ÿ The client simply wanted me to set line stakes along the road on their property (not an access easement for the adjoiner to enjoy) based on two old corners along that line.?ÿ I got a $900 deposit, did some research, went out into the field two days in a row, an hour and a half from the office and found that, according to all of the evidence that I found in the field, both points had been moved from where they were set.?ÿ I already spent twice the retainer money and had a signed agreement saying that if things did not work out with evidence found, the price for an entire boundary survey would increase significantly to establish the correct line.?ÿ Needless to say, the dispute turned into court action and the adjoiner's Attorney subpoenaed all my reports and plans.?ÿ I had my Attorney write a $250 letter telling the other Attorney there was no reports or plans to be had because the project was never completed.?ÿ That cleared me from any further action, however, a few weeks later I got a certified return receipt letter from my client's Attorney demanding immediate return of the $900 retainer.?ÿ I sent him our qualified signed contract and copies of all of our email exchanges.
By the time that all was said and done, that $900 retainer cost me about $5K in time and expenses but I removed myself from the situation, based on the documentation I maintained and didn't have to involve my E & O insurance company.?ÿ?ÿ
What I got from the OP:?ÿ Do not do surveys for only $500!
@one-cup-o-joe I started my department almost 7 years ago, we have become the main go to Engineering & Survey companies in the county and it has been expanding out.?ÿ We created a system on the admin lever where the responsibility of taking calls, preparing proposals and billing have completely been taken off of my shoulders.
The only time that I deal with people now is to answer technical questions in house and deal with Attorneys and Paralegals on ALTA surveys.?ÿ It's a god send position, I have an amazing support and admin staff and have another PLS and 4 techs working under me.
@dmyhill you got that right- all because i'd already done a ton of work in that area and thought i was doing right by a good client.?ÿ no good deed...
i'll never forget that survey, and every last detail of it, as i did it on the day the temps fell through the bottom.?ÿ by the end of that day it'd stack up as top two or three coldest experiences of my life.
amen.?ÿ
@dmyhill I thought the rates mentioned in the OP were low too but, I guess that depends on the local economy.?ÿ I practice between the Philadelphia and New York City metro areas where wages, taxes and fees are among the highest in the country.
Good for you, retirement is nice after you get used to it. It took about a year for me to calm down from the daily insanity. ?????ÿ
What I got from the OP:?ÿ Do not do surveys for only $500!
What's an OP? Hell, by the time I get to page 2 the OP is already forgotten... ?????ÿ
@flga-2-2?ÿ
By the time the post gets to page 2, the respondents should have massaged the OP into what the OP really meant to say.
Good for you, the retirement that is.?ÿ I am starting month 9 and the relief of not having to pander or reconcile clients perceived issues is wonderful.?ÿ This week, I am starting a survey of my ranch for kicks and giggles and next week, well, I just don't know.?ÿ
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Once you remove one irritant, you will replace it with another.?ÿ We are all cursed.
