Problem Customers
The following stories are all true. They all have one theme in common – they all involve clients. I have presented each one as a complete story, as far as possible, without identifying any individual. Each one has a lesson for us all, when dealing with The Problem Client.
Case One
A lady doctor, living in Epping Forest, commissioned a water feature. This was to be quite specific – clean, crisp, modern, foaming, white water, but not too noisy – and contained within a small area incorporated into a patio/raised bed with steps leading up into the garden.
I duly designed such a feature, constructed using shuttered concrete finished with a waterproof render, painted black. The width was 45cm, depth 30cm and the length approximately 3 metres, with a right angle in the centre to go around a step. Crisp, modern etc, as requested.
I installed a 2000 gallon per hour submersible pump, with 37mm hose. The hose was sealed at the end, and a series of cuts made along the length to produce a white water effect (the water drawing in air as it passed through).
The client was extremely pleased, and paid without hesitation. Nothing was heard for over a year. THEN – the letter. A very irate sounding doctor, demanding her money back – the essence of the letter being that every time she introduced fish into her pond, they promptly died. She had called in a pond expert who informed her that the pump was far too powerful and that I did not know what I was doing.
I very politely replied to her letter, that, should she care to read my quotation, which clearly set out her instructions for a white water feature, and my statement that under no circumstances should the feature be stocked with fish due to the amount of oxygen in the water, should she wish to change to nature of the scheme either by changing the pump or fitting an in-line flow control valve, she could indeed, introduce some small fish.
I concluded that I was surprised that her expert did not suggest this.
MORAL. Make sure you record, in your quotation, the precise nature of a feature and its intended purpose.
Case Two
Going back quite few years now, but as relevant today as then, I was contracted, by a fairly well known Southern building company, to carry out soft landscaping works to a new build school, including seeding and turfing.
My contract was with that company, and the standard agreement and payment terms were signed, with them as the Main Contractor, and myself as the sub-contractor.
The builder had experienced difficulties in completing the main works because of the amount of heavy rain over several months and naturally, he wanted to finish as soon as possible.
The landscaping works were delayed several times by the Main Contractor, as he had not completed certain works, and over the course of two or three months, what should have been a September project was postponed until mid December.
The Main Contractor instructed, in writing, that the landscaping works were to proceed, we were to attend site without further delay (!) and complete our works before Christmas, even though the ground was under water.
Not surprisingly, I refused point blank. I could not move around the site. No turf was being cut – anywhere – and grass seed should not be sown in the middle of December, especially not on top of water.
The Main Contractor then issued a Notice of Determination, effectively cancelling the contract, and promptly sued me for Breach of Contract for non-performance, with a claim for a huge sum of money.
I then sued the Main Contractor, through the Small Claims Court, for a modest sum for works carried out earlier in the project (soil moving etc), and it being a small claim, was dealt with promptly. The contractor arrived at Court with a very expensive entourage of lawyers, with a superior look on their faces.
Imagine then, what they thought when the Judge immediately ordered them to pay me, and tore into them for employing a specialist sub-contractor to carry out projects using their knowledge and skills, then totally ignoring that expertise. ‘If you employ an expert contractor, you listen to their advice and not ride roughshod over them’.
MORAL You are employed as the expert. You have the high ground when it comes to such disputes.
I have never heard of any case at variance with this ruling. It is really only common sense.
NB. My claim was made under the principle of Quantum muruit, which translates from the Latin as ‘what one has earned’ and is used as a measurement of reasonable value of services. This law prevents anyone from having works carried out, and if, for whatever reason, the full contract is not fulfilled, making no payment for the work that has been completed.
Case Three
Some people you simply could not invent – they defy description!
A very large house, a Barrister owner, a very famous garden designer, a very prestigious project, involving a lot of hard landscaping, balustrading, a couple of formal pools, some statuary, a classic Country House, with a great view, and with a decent budget.
The job started out fairly large, and over the space of a few weeks, grew into almost twice the original size, with the designer/client adding extra paving, steps, more balustrading etc. A very nice, fairly local job.
All went very well, the client was delighted throughout, payments were made on time. The designer was very pleased, all was well.
Towards the end of the extended works, a few days before we broke camp and cleared the site, the clients invited the Team to a summer barbecue to say ‘thank you’ for a job well done.
The barrister invited me to come to the house on the Thursday evening to settle up the bill.
I duly arrived and was invited into his study. We sat down to business when he declared, with a smile on his face, how pleased he was with our works BUT he had overspent quite badly, and, although he owed me sixteen thousand pounds, he would offer me six thousand there and then in full and final settlement. He stated that he knew he owed the money, and did not dispute the amount, but that if I wanted to ‘chase him around the Courts for a couple of years’ I would win, no problem. ‘Why don’t I go and make the coffee while you decide what to do. Six thousand now, or chase me for the sixteen – your decision’.
To show my true temperament, I did not threaten him with the blunt end of a pick-axe handle, but replied that, if he did not pay me now, the full sixteen thousand, I would be straight onto the Law Society Ombudsman tomorrow morning and have him charged with failing to discharge lawful debts. (I should add, that I had no idea if that threat was real or not). He reached for his chequebook and paid in full, there and then – still smiling!
The men still had their barbecue on the following Saturday, and he was full of the joys of Spring, repeating how pleased he was.
MORAL Know your enemy. I always try to establish what my clients do for a living. You simply never know when such knowledge could come in handy. Most professionals belong to some form of Association, and in the case of a barrister – it’s the Law Society.
Case Four
Another water feature, another doctor, this time a lovely fellow from Esher.
A clever garden designer, who runs a small practice from Guildford was responsible for the scheme. A rear garden, with numerous features including semi-circular steps, stone walling, paved, brick path – a typical modest sized garden owned by a fairly wealthy chap.
We constructed, in natural stone, a ‘wet wall’ type miniature waterfall, in a very confined space. Possibly 2.0m depth and 2.0m width, the feature/feeder pool was at ground level, with the upper/header pool around 1.2m higher.
The water reservoir was a 40 gallon rainwater tank set into the ground, with the pump (accessible by means of a rope) and with paving disguising the pool edge. All in all, a very pretty little feature, which gave the client endless pleasure, one which he turned on and off to suit his wishes (it being near to the house, and a source of much leg crossing when using the patio)
What the doctor could not understand however, was how the whole thing worked. When he turned the pump on, the water level in the feeder pool went down. When he filled the lower pool, and turned the pump off, the patio flooded. I lost count of the number of times I called in to reassure him that there was nothing wrong with the waterfall, and carefully went through the process of how it all worked.
One day, having reassured me that he finally, finally understood, he rang in a panic. He had decided to top up the lower pool with a hose pipe. He had turned to tap off when it was full, but now it was empty! Help!
What the dear doctor had done was to turn off the hose, and disconnect it – but failed to take the end of the hose out of the pool, which promptly back syphoned, straight down the drain, with no trace of water anywhere on the paving (the tap drain being lower than the feeder pool).
MORAL Either give up building water features or provide the client with a full, fool proofed step by step guide explaining how everything operates, and get them to pin it up in case of emergency.
Case Five
What is with water gardens? This time though, it could have been any one of several different scenarios.
A large, level plot, part of a field taken over to become part of a larger garden and have a fairly large liner pool constructed within that new area. The site was in Staffordshire, so distance was an issue, inasmuch as I visited the site twice per week, relying on the telephone and fax/emails for further correspondence. (I live in Sussex)
The client was a speculative builder, buying a plot, building a house, selling it then repeating the exercise. It is fair to say, that he was not the easiest of people to deal with.
In order to offer a good service, and to ensure that he was pleased with the end result, I played on the fact that he was a contractor, used to making decisions, and therefore agreed that we would not fit the liner until he was happy with both the shape and configuration of the shelves etc. We would continue shaping until he was satisfied – which was not a cop out – if he wanted anything different than that which was proposed, he would still want the final say.
On the Sunday evening, he faxed me to confirm that he was very pleased with the shape and to continue with installing the line. The job was completed, and we moved on to the next job.
He then rang to complain that he was not at all pleased with the pond, his daughter had fallen in having slipped on some cobbles and made her dress wet (it was a shallow edged, wildlife friendly pond) and that he would be arranging for the liner to be removed and reinstalled to new configurations at my expense.
Obviously, he had completely forgotten about the fax he sent to me giving the go ahead (I half suspected he might have had a couple of glasses before he sent that missive – I never knew why I had that feeling….), and of course, once I gave him a copy, he quietly went away.
MORAL Keep all paperwork from every job, for as many years as you can. Be especially careful to keep items such as I have mentioned above. Clients cannot be pleased one day then change their mind without consequences.
Case Six
An American lady, living in the States but buying a new build house in Wimbledon as a London base. (I believe she was a magazine editor).
A fairly large rear garden, it was agreed with the builder that we could proceed with the garden as she had paid for the house in full, although it was not complete.
She paid a mobilisation payment of £2,000 plus VAT – or rather, she paid the £2,000 without the VAT. When I asked her for the extra money, she simply said that she would sort it out.
Halfway through the job, maybe further, it was time for the second payment, the job being slightly delayed by the builders, but not a problem, we were working on other neighbouring gardens. Once again, payment without the VAT.
I mentioned this problem to the Site Agent, asking him if she had a problem with VAT. He stated that she had boasted about not paying any VAT. ‘I’m an American and sure as Hell ain’t going to pay UK taxes’ was her comment to him, in regard to my query. ‘It’s a long way to Houston’.
We simply pulled off site – she went ballistic, her lawyers threatened to sue me for $3 million dollars for making her miss business appointments and loss of income. All of which I found quite entertaining, especially as she was in Breach of Contract – by not paying the stage payments in accordance with her contract. Nothing more was heard, and someone else took over her garden build, money up front!
MORAL Stand your ground if you know you are right. This lady had no intention of ever living in England, and I would have lost many hundreds to the VAT man, as I would have to pay out of the sums I had been paid.
Case Seven
A great story, whether true or otherwise, concerns a private girl’s school and a problem the caretaker was experiencing, with sixth form girls putting on lipstick before going home from school, and kissing the mirrors in the communal toilets, leaving dozens of pairs of theatrically staged lipstick bows which he was obliged to remove. Becoming fed up with this work, he arranged with the Headmistress to gather the girls and explain why Mr Caretaker would like them to cease this practice.
Naturally, the girls thought this very funny, until the Headmistress asked Mr Caretaker to demonstrate how difficult it was to clean the mirrors.
He donned his thick rubber gloves, dipped his hands into disinfectant, and picked up a long handled brush which he dipped into the nearest toilet bowl and proceeded to clean the mirrors………….
Needless to say, no more lipstick on the mirrors.
MORAL There is always more than one way to solve a problem!
Case Eight
This case clearly illustrates the need to be wary of making rash statements.
A landscaper answered the telephone to be greeted with a challenge. The client wanted to know if the contractor could create the perfect lawn at his new house. The landscaper, who really should have known better – no, it wasn’t me! – readily agreed. He duly visited the site and was flattered by the owner, who was delighted to find someone to meet his requirements.
The contractor sourced, supplied and laid the turf, following correct procedures of preparation – everything by the book – but, of course, nothing can ever be perfect.
The owner could find any number of minor imperfections, which, even after three years or more of high maintenance, bowling green club style professional care could not be eradicated 100%.
The owner sued the contractor, who was obliged to pay for the removal and installation of another lawn, this time, presumably, to the owner’s satisfaction.
This case is interesting, as there was no presumption of Quantum muruit, as the Court ruled that the contractor had not met the pre-requisite terms of the agreed contract – that of the perfect lawn.
MORAL Never use,or permit to be used, certainly not in writing, any word or phrase that may be open to misinterpretation. Words such as ‘level’ when describing grading a garden. To you, it may mean raking to a fine tilth, to someone else – the client – it can mean level, as in ‘level’!
Always use more descriptive words, e.g. ‘grade to running levels and falls’, or
‘grade to cross falls’. Avoid phrases that may come back to haunt you such as ‘to ensure water run off’, only to find that water is still lying in some areas.