The Big Green Monster

[Peppy]

This a good place for this one! Just came back last week. A boomerang boat tarp!

We did this earlier this year. We all got bad vibes from this customer but we'd come off a good stretch de-pickling clients asses, so we thought we were golden.

We gave him this-



He gave us back a 2 page list of things we did wrong. Fearless Leader says we build a new top from scratch.

I say we head for the hills. One of his complaints was "No evidence of silicone used under snaps." You can bet he'll get big globs this time.

[JuneC]

Fearless Leader needs to refer this particular customer to your most-hated competitor...  ::)

June

[Mike8560]

looks like a nice cover from here. form fitting zippered arounf the bimini.
heres a question i have it looks like the cover goese over the rubrail and you have opening cover on the cleats. if the boat is going to be tied up at a dock did the owner use mooring whips and is there openings allowed for them also otherwise the cover is sure to pub the dock posts that is unless its a floating dock. here most boat are on lifts so the open cleats are not needed. I   tried to talk all my customers when i was up north on the  lake to stay above the rubrail made it easier for me and made sence to   them.

[Peppy]

We went over the rail cause thats what he wanted. Same as the flaps at the cleats. I think he's got a railway, but it's at a dock sometimes. Whips arn't real common around here. I'm not sure why, no tides? Everybody has lifts or railways it seems.

I hate going over the rub rail. We use waterstop/stop leak stuff and it's really useless trying to snap up under stuff. The gasket gets in the way of the snap, ect. This top was cursed from the get go. Everybody involved f*@ked it up a little (me too). It's about 70% perfect which is why fearless leader is making him a new one. We lost the wow effect so I guess we start over. When he says tarp, I say where at!

[Peppy]

Well here's strike two.



Frickin' frackn' shmizzle dizzle, ect....He took it and paid anyway. Is it better? I don't know. The last one would've been good enough for most other guys. His main (and really only LEGITIMATE gripe) was that the old one was too tight. After being in the rain and wind and what not I had NO problem doing it up. Not really the case when I installed it, it was indeed too tight. Funny thing though, sunbrella stretches! Who knew?

This isn't going to stop the osmosis thats all over his boat I'm sorry to say. I wish I could see him put it on in the water. I wonder how long before he falls in?

[hdflame]

I think the first one looks better...tight with no wrinkles.  Did you glob, er I mean, apply silicone to the snaps this time? hehe ;D

[Peppy]

Thanks Bobby. The first one is certainly better for towing down the road. But whatever. I don't care. Either would be fine for anybody else. This guy is just a dickhead, pardon me for saying.

I looked at the snaps and it seems I intentionally left globs of silicon peeking out from the snaps on purpose. I thought I remembered doing that, because I thought that would come up, and it turns out that I did. Seems that he went over the entire top with a micrometer but didn't have his glasses on. The dickhead.

[DBR1957]

There are times when I thought a job was absolutely great and the customer nit-picked something that actually made the top stronger. Other times when I thought maybe I could have done something to make the canvas lay just a little better the customer thought the job was perfect. You just never know.

It's cases like this that make me want me to add the following to estimates.

"We promise to perform the described for the price stated. Fit and finish will be comparable or exceed the canvas articles currently intalled on the vessel and the neighboring boats in the marina. However, perfection is in the eye of the beholder. If you desire a perfect job, then services will be billed at $XXXXX/hour in 1/4 hour increments for all time dedicated to these services including but not limited to travel/conference/design/procurement/production/installation until it is perfect in your eyes"

[hdflame]

There are times when I thought a job was absolutely great and the customer nit-picked something that actually made the top stronger. Other times when I thought maybe I could have done something to make the canvas lay just a little better the customer thought the job was perfect. You just never know.

It's cases like this that make me want me to add the following to estimates.

"We promise to perform the described for the price stated. Fit and finish will be comparable or exceed the canvas articles currently intalled on the vessel and the neighboring boats in the marina. However, perfection is in the eye of the beholder. If you desire a perfect job, then services will be billed at $XXXXX/hour in 1/4 hour increments for all time dedicated to these services including but not limited to travel/conference/design/procurement/production/installation until it is perfect in your eyes"

It's funny how differently two people can see the same thing!

[wenaLIZZ]

That is great! Thanks for sharing.

[papasage]

i would have taken it back to the shop and  waited til he called  and said i can`t please you  so go to  another shop.