obsessive compulsive !? customer delema

[lc]

I have one quick question before I spill my delema...what does it mean on this site where they show who you are when you sign in..yet every once in a while   it'll have someone hidden ?? how does that work ?...secret agents ??   heh heh ,,,kidding ......How and why do they hide ?
My pet peave.,
Customer brings own fabric ..., mark up yes......I do the job as she comes in constantly asking mega questions how I am doing it... is it going to be this way? can we do it that way..I want it as firm as possible and so on. I convinced her not to go with firm foam ( back problem ) I suggest she go with a medium density ( she really doubted me on this one)
It was a pillow bag style sofa that are so popular with seats and backs attached . I was to take it and redesign it to a loose cushioned sofa ....I did and it was beautiful.

I have been doing upholstery over 25 yrs . I've only had my own shop in the last few. Much to learn.
I picked up on her nature after getting to know her and she was absolutely....,,.I can't swear'' but she was not easy to deal with..maybe smooth is the word for her absolute sophisticated way.
Did the sofa / she loved it...At first.
Princess and the pea I have named her. The med density foam was too firm..thank goodness I didn't order the firmness she wanted.
What was the kicker was is the cushions were shifting but she did not come to me about it for a  fix. I always address concerns..

I called her to ask if she was happy with her set and she admitted to what she had done ...she had another upholsterer inspect my job thus saying my seams were not right which was why her cushions were shifting.
I nicely told her all she had to do was tell me what the problem was and I would deal with it no charge .,but she jumped to conclusions.  its little bit longer story ...
I was hurt and felt insulted ...should I be ?? I kept my composier though.

in the end I told her the pattern was up and down ., the nap however was sideways which explains the cushions going awry . This fabric was like carpet to work with,
The end all of this ..........she complained to the other upholsterer that they didn't fix the problem so she was reimbursed. It was 900 dollars to re-do 6 cushions ???  Go figure .. I wouldn't ding anyone that much for altering.
It wasn't the mainstream problem anyway
the customer then decided to wash the cushions and they shrunk..she admitted to me at least 4 ''  she couldn't get more fabric therefore she went out and bought a leather sofa from the Brick ..ditched the one I did for her...after all that work .,payng my labour being watched with every step I did and she had paid 85.00 a yard for her fabric......14 yds .... nice to have money to waste I suppose

I don't know is it me ?? or is she obsessive conpulsive ? I was told after all this a brick layer rebricked a large wall in front of her house ..she made him tear it down and re-do it...Now the next kicker is my husband and I were passing by and the truck from the Brick furniture store was there and they were taking the new leather set back out she had bought and putting it in the truck.
She wants more work done by me ( a couple of chairs ..?????)..I don't want to do it .

I am needing advice . I've only been on my own for 4 years I have so much to learn .How do you say you don't want to do it ??

[Mike]

Well if shes got money to burn giving s hight prices probly wont do it.  Idjust say im way to busy now to do it. 
I had a customer like that not long ago i wanted to fix skmtjhing  for her she just did t want it so i  just shut up and said ok.

[MinUph]

Welcome to the business world lc,
  She is a tuff one. They will come once in a great while. You can do her work, as it sounds like you sold the sofa well explaining the firmness of the foam. She will be like this with every project she has done. If you can handle the maintenance the continue to work with her. No discounts ever. You might mention that you have stopped working with COMs as they never work out for you. Sell he fabric, mark your price up to make up for the maintenance end of it and continue on.
  Do your best and you will be fine in the end.
  Or you can bit the bullet and just say I no longer can take any work on.

[lc]

Yes I know at times you have to set your feelings aside but wow!  when you've done this kind of work for so long its amazing how they can punch you in the gut and bring you down with self doubt ..silly I know for as many jobs we pull in but that one customer can  put a dagger in your questioning of ability. We think we are gods of upholstery    umm I think we are !!...a talant that is fading away., just like the trades for example ., wood carving ...the wood that is carved in the pieces we see that we upholster no one understands the work that went into it...hours upon hours.., I am always in awe.
our children are going into different directions ..the trades are fading. My son seams to like it I hope it sticks
We have so much pride in our work and people are buying all the cheap stuff now ..thank goodness for the ones that actually realize they have good furnture. It`s up to us to encourage recycling but people like her really make it hard ,. I know I`ll get over it but its amazing how one customer can keep you up at night .

[lc]

Paul I apologize but what does coms. mean ? I am not good at short form lingo..I am just getting into text ha ha.... Us oldies have some caching up to do with the times

[sofadoc]

I know that a dissatisfied customer can be a punch in the gut. But this one payed 900 bucks to have only a portion of your work redone, and then demanded a refund for the redo. Now she's coming back to you. I think I'd just consider this one to be an "odd nut", and not let her get under my skin.
Like Paul says, charge accordingly. 

[Mojo]

I think this woman is a wack a doodle. I would starve before I took another one of her jobs.

I just got in a job from an RV tech who owns his own company. He brought me a new awning he ordered ( wrong size ) and asked me to rip out a seam and cut off a few inches and re-stitch it back up. I told him $ 75 for the job. I probablty wasted an hour just wrestling with the fabric. I just finished it tonight and when he comes tomorrow to pick it up I will let him know I no longer will do that type of work. I am setting a new policy...........Unless I make it with my own fabric I wont touch it. The awning he brought in was the cheapest plastic/vinyl sh*t I have ever seen. It was pure hell working with it and I prayed through the whole job it wouldn't snag on something and rip. If anything sharp would have touched it, it would cut right through it. What nasty cheap Chinese crap that stuff was.

I am getting to the point in my life where I am to old and too busy to screw with crap jobs like this or demanding customers. Maybe I am spoiled working with top notch materials and customers who treat me with respect and are understanding and easy to work with.

I do not need the headaches at this point in my life. :)

Chris

[MinUph]

Paul I apologize but what does coms. mean ? I am not good at short form lingo..I am just getting into text ha ha.... Us oldies have some caching up to do with the times

COM = Customers Own Material

[Bob T]

Chris, I'm with you.  I've a customer with a patio umbrella that seems to always have fabric problems.  The problem, it is a price point umbrella and the manufacturer used cheapo nylon for the covering fabric. Two years ago he brought it to me for a new cover.  I priced the material and labor for a good one out of Weathermax.  Even material costs were way out of his budget, so he finally found one similar to his  for about $89 and brought it to me to modify to fit his umbrella frame.  A year later, he's back asking me to reinforce it because it was falling apart.  My reinforing bill was like $40 even though I spent 4 hours on it and I knew he was cheap.  Who needs it?  It's better to take the day off!

[fingers]

I vote cut her loose. It won't get any better, you'll just get used to it. That's a bad thing.

[rustyeod]

I would have to let her go because I don't think she will be happy with anything.

[kodydog]

IC, sounds like you did all you could to make the customer happy. Often I get jobs asking to change the foam out but I always explain were fixing a flaw in the design and experimenting with different foam densities. I'll change out the foam as often as they like at their expense. I bring out three samples; soft, medium and firm and let them choose.

This week I did 4 chairs for a designer. I got lost on the way to the appointment and when I got there she started cussing me out and told me how stupid men were. She questioned whether I would be able to do the job. I had to remind her that she was not obligated and if she wanted me to leave I would. Shes a real fireball and extremely fussy. Shes using a black and gold silk stripe. The job was very stressful every step of the way but they came out perfect and now I can move on to the next project. I deliver them Friday.

Over time you learn to not let those people bother you or you learn to spot them and don't work for them. Price them right out of the job

The lady you describe is defiantly obsessive. And these people seem to seek out upholsterers thinking we can fix all their problems. You can spend hours explaining how your going to fix their sofa and still not cover it all. Like the nap running the wrong way on a pattern. There have been 2 or 3 times over the years I've had to tell a customer, I don't think I can satisfy you. And just moved on.

[sofadoc]

I told this story over a year ago about a customer who came into my shop.
She told me right up front that she was a "Perfectionist", and would be very hard to please. She wanted to know if I would be willing to take her on as a client. She was opening an upscale store in the "design district" of Dallas.

I pointed to a sofa in my shop, and asked her to critique it.
She came up with a whole laundry list of "imperfections".

Then I explained to her that the sofa she had just picked apart came from a high-end furniture store, and was only in my shop for new foam cores. This particular sofa was as close to perfect as you will ever see.

We both agreed that we shouldn't do business together. She never opened that upscale store, her credit wasn't as perfect as SHE was.

There's a fine line between "Perfectionist", and "Obsessive compulsive".
It's been my observation that most people who call themselves perfectionists actually demand perfection in everyone AROUND them, but not necessarily IN them.

[Gregg @ Keystone Sewing]

I think this woman is a wack a doodle. I would starve before I took another one of her jobs.
Chris

That appears to be the gist of it!

[lc]

Word of mouth has been my best advertising which gives me good indication I am putting good work out...
What I find tricky though, is how do you pick up on these people?  She was good at putting on the airs and had that phony smile

When she addressed me on the cushions she used the horrible phrase ''I don't want to insult you but "' 
We all know they do want to insult you with that crazy line.
A person like that can give you self doubts ., I guess if anything it isn't all bad . It just makes you watch your work habits more. ha ha