IF we work for you, here is what we are going to do, and here is how long it is going to take, and here is how much it is going to cost. I also want 1/2" my fee up front, and the rest when I am finished.
(My favorite is the realtor type, that are pushing for a small fee.)
OK, add yours!
N
"I need to see your surveyor's license in order to fulfill your request".
sorry meester, no hablo inglais.
Had a pushy realtor ask me to survey a property that he had listed a few months ago. I sent over a short contract for him to sign and it took him two weeks to get it back to me, and with it he informed me that the 'stupid survey' was holding up closing. I worked that weekend, in the rain, to get field work done and then worked long hours to get it wrapped up as quickly as possible. When I dropped off the invoice to him he paid me on the spot and said "hopefully this will give you some incentive for next time."
Point of story, there are some clients you just avoid.
It depends, doesn't hurt to listen and be professional in your response, even if that might be a painful and difficult thing to do for some.
jud.
> OK, add yours!
I'm a big fan of the old Perry Mason series - I own 7 seasons worth on DVD. Perry frequently runs into clients that try to tell him what to do, go with cheaper lawyers, or refuse his services just when they need them most. The way he conducts himself is instructive. Mostly he stands his ground and tells the client that things will be done his way or they can find other counsel. Sometimes they take him up on it, at least temporarily.
So I think that you just need to be able to let them take their business elsewhere.
I don't have too much trouble with clients telling me how to do the job, but when they complain about the price I usually just say "I understand, thank you for calling." I don't change my prices.
"Thanks, that is useful to know."
"Can you tell me anything else about the property?"
"Have you ever seen an iron axle driven into the ground near that oak tree?"
"That is interesting."
"Come over here and lets see if there is anything in the ground at this spot." (Then they can watch you dig up the actual corner marker as opposed to thinking you poked it in the ground while they weren't looking)
"If I check it from each direction, we can be sure that everything is correct instead of just hoping it is right."
If all of the above don't work, what I have only had to do once in my career -
"You apparently do not trust me or believe what I am telling you. Instead of continuing to a conclusion you do not want to hear, I suggest you hire a surveyor you do trust. I will give you the name and number of the other local surveyor, or you can search for one yourself."
I was working for an RPLS friend when I was just out of high school. He became fond of using the "Can I see your license?" approach. He only pulled it out for the real a-holes, until one day he pulled it out on an old codger on a rural highway that owned the property adjoining the one we were surveying. The guy kept pestering my friend about over analyzing everything and excessive methodology until my friend finally asked "What's your registration number?" expecting to shut the guy up. The guy responded "XXXX". Turns out he was an old highway engineer that got his RPS stamp by grandfathering years before and wrote all of the descriptions in the neighborhood (mostly by "butterflying 90's" and "stepping off the distances") I almost busted out laughing on the spot. What are the odds?! Well on that day, they were about 100%.
Kind of reminds me of something pertaining to a buddy of mine. This was in about 1954 or 1955. He was a couple of years younger than me, so he would have been 16 or 17 at that time.
I wasn't there, but one night he was going from Sheridan, Wyoming to Billings, Montana in his 1950 Ford. He was pretty well known for driving a lot faster than the speed limits, which in Montana at that time was open road during the day and 55 mph at night. Anyway, a Montana Highway Patrolman pulled him over and when he walked up to my buddies car, he said "Lets See Your Pilots License"! So he opened his wallet and pulled it out and handed to the cop. He said that the highway cop was so flabbergasted that he never gave him a ticket or even a warning.
The buddy had had his pilots license since he was 15 years old and told me when the highway cop asked him for the license, that's what he handed him.
Give me $300, I am leaving.
You say what, Why?
Cause you know everything and I've got other things that really need doing without anybody following me around telling me what to and what not to do.
:-O
I had a client who found six cornerstones an average of four feet deep with "x"'s.
I gave him a discount off of the quoted price. Maybe I should have asked how well
he swing a machete.
Charles, that is great!
N
That was great
I had to share that with quite a few people. Hope you don't mind. None of them are Montana Highway Patrol, though. However, I did share it with our local Sheriff and the recently retired County Attorney.
somewhat similar....
On more than one occasion, I've had an adjoiner accuse me of "stealing their land..."
One of these days I'm going to have some dirt in my pocket, and when an adjoiner makes that comment, I'll reach into my pocket, remove the dirt and tell them, "yea, you caught me..." LOL 😉
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you...
> Kind of reminds me of something pertaining to a buddy of mine. This was in about 1954 or 1955. He was a couple of years younger than me, so he would have been 16 or 17 at that time.
>
> I wasn't there, but one night he was going from Sheridan, Wyoming to Billings, Montana in his 1950 Ford. He was pretty well known for driving a lot faster than the speed limits, which in Montana at that time was open road during the day and 55 mph at night. Anyway, a Montana Highway Patrolman pulled him over and when he walked up to my buddies car, he said "Lets See Your Pilots License"! So he opened his wallet and pulled it out and handed to the cop. He said that the highway cop was so flabbergasted that he never gave him a ticket or even a warning.
>
> The buddy had had his pilots license since he was 15 years old and told me when the highway cop asked him for the license, that's what he handed him.
Pilot's License. Great. B-)
As an unregistered party chief, I learned long ago to filter out personality deficits and try to get to the kernel of truth they were trying to convey. In 9 cases out of 10, the immediate PIMA turned out to know more about what was actually going on in the dirt than the recorded legal instruments were leading me to believe.
Old farmers tend to know more about their actual boundaries and the historical timeline than some attorney that wrote a description for a fee 30 years ago.
I have actually told a client of mine who offered to tag along and watch or even to "help" me do my surveying.
I told him that my fee increases by 1.5 for him to watch & it doubles if he wants to "help".
I think I hurt his feelings a little bit, but he has turned out to be an excellent long term client (who by the way, has left me alone to do my work).
:good: On the old farmers!!
Had one 80 year old and his neighbor tell me their grandfathers showed then the corner stones when they were about 10 and told them to never let anyone damage or move the stones. As we approached one corner they said it was the only one they could not find. About 5 minutes later I was standing on a pile of rocks where about 100 feet of fence was missing each direction. I eyeballed a fence intersection, looked down and asked if the marked stone between my feet might be what they were looking for? Both of them looked it over and agreed they would be rebuilding the fence tomorrow.:-)
Nothing like old farmers. With crooked fences!