Oh Paula, he really isn’t trying very hard, is he? What gets me — he thinks you’re “just” an insurance-related client. He doesn’t realize that you might need a contractor in the future, and that he’s trying out for THAT job, as well.

It’s like the car salesperson who acted all snippy and literally stormed off not to return when we couldn’t agree on a price. She lost not just that sale, but future sales because I told everyone I know not to buy from her (or that dealer, so they lost, too). Know what it was about? The $636 advertising fee. Yep, I said, rightly, that I didn’t have to pay that. She lost her cool right there.

There’s only one job I never completed by choice, and frankly, I’d completed it, literally, 14 times before I finally realized the problem was the editor, not me. That bridge was burned gladly.

“Never leave a client hanging.” — This. Again, you come up with a new t-shirt slogan!

Yep. They’re still out there. We finally got rain and the ends have been rained on multiple times since Friday.

Oh, another thing: he wouldn’t have left the GINORMOUS plaster-dust-covered trash bag sitting right beside my front door. He either would have tossed it in his truck or the very least set it beside my trash cans, right?

Thank goodness the ceiling looks good. But that wasn’t the contractor’s doing – it’s due solely to his talented employee who put in three consecutive 10-hour days without a negative word. At the end of his third day, he cheerfully said, “It’s already 6:30? The day went by so fast!” In this case, the contractor’s employee saved the day while the contractor himself keeps dropping the ball.

But that ball is in my court. If he wants his final payment, he’ll caulk and paint the existing trim, then clean up after himself. As the business owner, he will ensure it gets done even if it means doing the work by himself if his employees are all tied up on other jobs.

Completing the job is the least a contractor/writer should do. We also need to communicate with our clients. If there is a delay, we need to let them know what’s going on and when they can expect us to wrap things up. We should never leave them hanging or wondering if or when we’ll be finished. One of the top rules for any independent contractor/writer should be: Never leave a client hanging.

Anyone want to take bets on how long that stack of wood trim will be sitting on the porch? Unless, of course, someone swipes it before the contractor returns.