How many times have you gone out to do an estimate/field measure, met with the customer, struck up a good relationship, made an offer or a proposal, and got the job - All verbally or... Started the project on your end with only a handshake?
In this day and age, it's becoming more and more difficult to protect your collective assets if you do not have an agreement - documented - in writing, that outlines exactly what your customer has expressed that they want, and how you are going to provide for that expectation.
The last word of the previous sentence is key here in remembering what your customer wants - expectation. If your customer has expectations other than what is in the realm of reality, you are going to be in for a very long and wretched existence during the life of the job with your "customer from hell."
The saddest thing about this little detail, is that we as craftsmen/businessmen (and I'm speaking from my own personal experience here) usually are responsible for creating the conditions for the "perfect storm" that sets up a customer to go crazy on us for various reasons.
The most common ingredient in this whole dilemma is not really educating our customers adequately.
I recently was asked to accompany a friend of mine (who has been fabricating granite for approximately eight years now) to a job meeting where he said, "This customer is being totally unrealistic with me in the quality of the stone that I have fabricated for her."
My friend "Joe" had been hired to fabricate a whole house project that included a full kitchen (that required 5 slabs) along with secondary tops in all 5 bathrooms, as well as wet bar, laundry and various niches.
I was asked to come and look at the quality of the work to act as an independent third party and to evaluate the quality of the workmanship, as Joe had the impression that his customer was accusing him of providing substandard work.
I do this all the time as a consultant to the natural stone industry for both fabricators and consumers, and work as a third party mediator to help get disputes resolved without having to go to court.
This encounter was not much different, except the old saying "every story has two sides" became painfully obvious by the time I had heard both sides of the scenario. Here's the scenario in a nutshell:
1. Job "proposal" is issued to the customer based on dimensions that the customer supplied to Joe for him to fabricate. Customer purchased slabs direct from slab distributor. Joe is hired for "labor only."
2. Customer verbally accepts the proposal but does not sign the document. 3. Customer cuts a 50% deposit check for the labor portion of the work to Joe. Joe takes the delivery of the customer's slabs and begins fabricating.
4. Joe starts the work and completes all aspects of the originally proposed "contract" work to MIA and local building code standards.
5. Workmanship, aesthetically, is flawless -some of the best seams I have ever seen, as well as a 1-inch ogee/square bottom front edge that is pristine.
6. Installation is spot on - not a single issue that I can dispute as being anywhere near "questionable workmanship."
7. Customer complained about surface pitting and fissures in the stone (which they saw, approved and accepted when they purchased the slabs) and had Joe spend about 10 hours surface polishing the entire kitchen, over and above what Joe's original contract outlined he'd do.
So at this point the job (in the original proposal/unsigned contract) was complete, but the kitchen island, which was not part of the original work, was added in after the fact (the island was originally going to have been butcherblock maple). Joe, at this point, is not wanting to proceed any further with this customer because (according to him) they are being totally unrealistic about what he can and can't do as a fabricator.
Joe wants to end his involvement with these folks and let them find someone else to finish their kitchen. We all have been in this position, and I'm sure, like for me, you have been tempted to "bail" on a problem customer too.
But what if the bulk of the problems that you have been experiencing with your customer have been caused by their lack of understanding of what exactly the contract specifies that you do? What if you did not do a good enough job educating your customer about what stone can and can't do and what you will and will not do as a fabricator?
What if all of that "stuff" goes unsaid and undiscussed (because after all, we are fabricators and we already know this stuff about natural inherent beauty, and the natural variation and qualities of the stone, and so on).
I show up for the job meeting, meet the customers and start to hear the "other side" of the story. It appears to me that after listening to Joe's customer's concerns that Joe did not do a good enough job educating his customer about what exactly it was they were buying.
There's an additional legal problem: it is Joe's desire to stop all future work based on the fact that he had a proposal that had never been signed. Since it was not a "signed contract," has it made the entire contract (of which, all of the work called out in the original scope of the work had been completed) enforceable or not enforceable? The answer here is about as clear as mud, and has some "gray areas," but here's my take on where Joe stands (and what should have taken place):
1. Joe should have checked to make sure his customer had signed the contract when the deposit check was issued.
2. Joe should have checked to make sure his customer had signed the contract when he received the customer's slabs prior to layout and cutting.
3. At this point, had the contract still been unsigned, no further work should have been done until the customer signed Joe's contract.
Under contract law, if a proposal is made, and not acted upon by either party, it is nothing more than an "offer" or a "proposal." But, if one of the two parties acts on the terms of the proposal - like the customer cutting you a deposit check, or the fabricator beginning to do the work- it means that you have a binding contract in many states regardless of whether or not your customer signed it.
This is what happened in Joe's scenario. He made a proposal, his customer paid their deposit, but neglected to sign the acceptance of the contract, but Joe started the work anyway, and completed the job.
At the end of the day everybody lived happily ever after. Joe's customer got their kitchen completed and Joe got paid in full. In fact, his "problem customer" turned out to be a great reference for Joe and sent him many referrals - all because Joe decided to do the right thing and finish the job.
Until next month...
Best Regards & Happy Fabricating!
"Proposals versus Contracts" is a Fabrication Management topic that is taught each month at the AZ School of Rock in Gilbert, Arizona.
For more information, contact Kevin M. Padden at www.azschoolofrock.com , by phone at 480-309-9422 or via e-mail at info@azschoolofrock.com
Under contract law, if a proposal is made, and not acted upon by either party, it is nothing more than an "offer" or a "proposal." But, if one of the two parties acts on the terms of the proposal - like the customer cutting you a deposit check, or you as the fabricator begin to do the work, means you have a contract in many states regardless of whether or not your customer signed it.
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