Customer tried to get me

[Doug Riemer]

Seems im taking over the fourm, im bored on a saturday and figured id share with yall. I had a customer who had a metal roof who called and told me the last contractor ruined her roof and if he would of had insurance she would of went after him. So that throwed up a flag but i still went ahead and bid the job i knew she was going to be picky so I over bid the job so if i got it it would be worth it. I did a pile of writing on the contract but didnt go over the part with her about the other contractor messing up and made sure she signed it before we did the job. Also this roof had a lot of crusty oxidation espicialy at the bottom. I toke a pile of pictures and mabe this was wrong but I recorded our conversation which she admitted the roof was damaged and she knew there was a lot of ox on the roof. My bid was to remove alage, mold, dirt and grime from the roof not ox, even though some would come off. Now I dd bid a super detail clean to remove that. So jobs done and the complaining starts and its about the ox which she says is dirt. Well dirt removes with a brush and soapy water we scrubbed and scrubed a section to prove it was ox not dirt so she pays us. Then 2 weeks pass an she calls says shes so unhappy with the job that the fat guy I sent out there didnt know what hes talking about. I recorded this conversation as well. I go out there and do a quick go over the job do more recordings and try to make her happy which cant be done. She calls leaves me a voice mail that says the roof looks great now and next time a old lady says its not oxidation that its dirt i need to listen but either way thanks for coming back. Then I get a call that she wants to go after my insurance to replace the roof and I I laid out the contract she signed but didnt read to well, and the conversations she said I was shady and she wouldnt hire me again which dont matter I wouldn twork for her either. I had a feeling she wanted to pin her bad roof on some one why i did what i did but I wasnt going to be the one to buy that roof. 

[woody70]

Dang, brother, I feel for you.  Hopefully she's blowing smoke trying to see if you'll just buy her a new roof and she's full of hot air.  Luckily, you took a ton of pics so if you do have to end up hiring an attorney or going to small claims court you have pics and decent documentation to back up your work.  I get that feeling sometimes from landscaping customers (I'm sure you've had a few of them too), that want a $5,000 landscaping makeover for $500.  If she persists, I'd possibly send her a nicely worded letter with pics, but probably speak to an attorney first and get them to send it on their letterhead. That'll usually get rid of the people looking to get over on the hard working, honest businessman.  You may have to pony up a couple hundred bucks for an attorney, but should give you some peace of mind.

[Doug Riemer]

No thats the thing she tried but I had that feeling so when I laid out everything she went away atleast for now but i made my insurance agent aware so she has all the info she wont get a new roof from me but she will out of some one

[Roof Cleaning Contractors]

You are actually pretty lucky. I had a similar experience in 2009...ran across a guy while dropping off door hangers. He had a single pitch roof with a very mild slope, looked like a giant "lean to". The shingles were almost black they were so bad. He claimed he had it cleaned two years prior and was interested in my warranty...he didn't believe me when I said it was nearly impossible for a roof to get that bad five years later...let alone two.

After thinking about his request for a quote for a day...I called the number he gave me. He was at work, his wife answered. I told her that I was concerned that the previous guy had powerwashed the shingles, that being the only way it could be this bad after two years. She was very honest, unlike her husband, saying "oh yea, they powerwashed it, and we weren't happy so we made them come out and do it again the next day" (a roofer BTW). That's two high pressure cleanings in 24 hours.

I should have just dropped it there but instead I called her husband back that evening and told him that my insurance would not allow me to clean it. I just didn't want to be the bad guy. However, the man was beyond persistent. This man that was mowing his lawn when I met him...unconcerned about the roof stains was now acting like it was life or death. At this point...red flags are going off all over in my head.

He offers to sign a paper that he won't hold me liable...but still insists on a certificate naming him as co-insured. More red flags. He also insists on telling me how to clean it (ladders, harness, etc) but his front yard has a steeper slope than his roof. More red flags.

I was about 90% convinced to just clean it and be done with the guy...who's calling me daily at this point when I decided to call Joe Walters and ask them about the no liability waiver. The lady at Joe Walters said it wouldn't matter if he signed a waiver...if he filed a claim, they would pay. She explained that the number of claims filed against roof cleaners is so low that it isn't worth them wasting their time over.

I was less concerned over a rate increase and more concerned with reputation...plus I didn't want to see a jerk get a free roof on my nickle. I decided to tell him I wasn't interested...he tried to talk more but I just said I was too busy and hung up.

My point is...check with your agent. From what I was told, no matter how much I do to document and protect myself, the insurance company will probably just write a check.

Also...follow your gut. Like my example...you knew that lady was trouble in the first five minutes. Better to walk away from people like that.

[Doug Riemer]

at the moment we were talking id never gave her my info for insurance i would of ratherd take a day off go to court and waste her time while my boys are out working making money. unfortantly there is a pile of these types of people out there

[Roof Cleaning Jacksonville FL 904-304-0810]

I had one on a house wash start complaining about windows leaking, but she had the nerve to tell me the ones above the windows she complained about had already leaked. I was like, "oh, you have defective windows then". Dodged a bullet on that one, because she sounded like it was something I should remedy. She asked how I would deal with it. I just said I'd refer you to my insurance company if need be, but if you have defective windows above these ones, they're probably not going to replace them. I told her to go after the window manufacturer or something, because it wasn't my problem. I really thought it was going to be my first time calling the insurance company for help, but I got lucky. I mean come on. You know you have defective windows, but when I wash and find more, they're my problem? Don't think so. 

[Doug Riemer]

Ive had customer call because there ac wouldnt come on after we washed I explained she hired us to wash the house which is what we did the power triping aint my falt coe to find out she hired a electrician who came in and it was a gfi tripped he mashed the button in and billed her 150. then we washed a house who didnt have a cover over the outlet on the front porch and it wasnt of a gfi and when we washed it started smoking he killed the breaker and then wanted me to fix it again sorry im washing your house and cant help the power wasnt run right not my problem house is clean though. Ive gotten in the habbit of telling customes up front Im not resposible for your tripped power windows that leak or doors that leak thats for them to deal with. almost every door we see leaks but if you dont clean it some one will compalin. If some one wants there house washed there is the chance a gfi or breaker will trip and thats just part of it.