I Would Do Anything For Work, But I Won't Do That?

[jojo]

The last few jobs I've worked on were from customers who said they had tried other shops (closer to them) but were turned down. This puzzles me, because they're not particularly difficult.
For example, one was a Jeep tonneau cover that the guy wanted modified because he modified his Jeep (removed the rollbar). So he wanted to take off the boots on the cover that come up and velcro around the rollbar, and patch the holes. Simple, right? It was. It only took me about an hour and a half. He had taken it to a few places that do canvas, and they looked at it and turned him down. And it wasn't dirty, it was a brand new tonneau.
Do you guys turn down odd jobs? I actually welcome them.
There are also local upholsterers here that won't do restaurant booths.

[sofadoc]

Do you guys turn down odd jobs? I actually welcome them.
There are also local upholsterers here that won't do restaurant booths.

People are different. What seems like fast money to one guy may seem like a nuisance to another.
Some guys probably want to discourage quickie repairs, so they can sell a complete redo.
Like you, I'd just as soon go for the fast money as opposed to the big job that has a big payday, but also consumes a lot more time.

Mom & Pop restaurants are always on a ridiculously tight budget. And chain restaurants usually gut the place and buy all new furnishings. I can see why some small shops don't want to waste time bidding on them.

[Darren Henry]

In my case it was simply logistical. The guy who trained me refused to do auto, so I had no experience and was not efficient when I opened my own shop a year after I left there.As a one man shop I didn't have time to take it on as well as the boats,upholstery, and shoemaking/repair so turned it down.

More common in smaller communities, but I have seen work turned down because the customer was know to be difficult or a bad credit risk.

[JDUpholstery]

the only jobs I have turned down so far are people who want to "half ass" it...I just politely tell them that my name is forever associated with this piece and I don't want people to think I do that kind of work....Recently had a guy with a Cadillac come in...he had leather seats with the caddy emblem embroiders in the backrest....that area around the emblem was tearing so he went to a junk yard, cut some squares out of another caddy and brought them in...different colors and wanted me to cut that area out replace with his squares and spray it to match old color.....I turned him away, a week later he came in and asked me to do it right, which I was happy to oblige the request

[jojo]

Mom & Pop restaurants are always on a ridiculously tight budget. And chain restaurants usually gut the place and buy all new furnishings. I can see why some small shops don't want to waste time bidding on them.

Sofa, these are restaurants who are coming to me saying they need their stuff done and are turned away before price is even discussed. And I've had Drs. offices tell me the same thing. This particular upholsterer is telling people they don't work with vinyl! I get not doing cars if boats are your thing, but to not work with a specific material seems really weird to me.
JD, I had to learn not to take half-ass jobs the hard way. :-[

[kodydog]

If the other upholsterer is super busy or semi-retired I could see turning down commercial or vinyl jobs. They can be a pain at times. But I've never been THAT busy.

[sofadoc]

If the other upholsterer is super busy or semi-retired I could see turning down commercial or vinyl jobs. They can be a pain at times. But I've never been THAT busy.

Even if I WAS too busy, I would put the commercial job in ahead of the others simply because you only get ONE chance at those. And you don't know how long it will be before the next one comes along.

It may not be fair to my residential customers who were first in line. I suppose in a Democracy, it should be "First come......first serve". But I never claimed that I was running a Democracy.

Dictator, Monarch, Totalitarian......call me what you want. :D

Having said all that, I don't chase EVERY commercial bid that rings my phone. I'll throw a big round number at them. If they don't hang up, THEN I'll pay them a visit and crunch some numbers.

I still think that saying "We don't work with vinyl" might be code for "I don't want to waste my time bidding the job".

[gene]

I gave a quote to reupholster an antique piece of furniture. The owner called me a few days later and said they got a quote from another upholster that was more than double my quote.

They wanted to work with me (duh?!?) but they wanted to make sure I did the same quality as the other upholsterer.

How did they know the other upholsterer had better quality? Because his price was more than double mine.  :D

It's not often that you get beat up for having a lower price. I felt like I was Walmart and they were wanting custom, quality work for a Walmart price.

They also wanted me to explain why the other upholsterer's price was so high. I told them that I had no idea, they would need to ask that person. LOL. They really felt like I should know why. ROFLMFAO   :P

gene

[Mojo]

I always turn down work that is outside of my realm of expertise unless it is a quick job for a friend. I just turned down a seat re stitch on a car a few days ago. It is the third time I have turned one down.

Like Darren stated I am a one man shop and my main focus is canvas work. That work pays much better then these other jobs I could do. The way I look at it is for every hour I am doing side work I am losing money on my canvas orders.

I know better then to screw with other work ( auto or marine ). I am a frigging perfectionist and I would spend hours on a job till it was perfect. I simply cannot accept OK, my OCD wont let me. So this would eat up even more time and just like Darren I have never been trained in Auto or Marine work and do not care to start now. I am to old and too ornerous.  ;D :)

Chris

[Grebo]

I don't do 'half arse' jobs as JD calls them  ;D
I never have to advertise as my customers do it for me so consequently I can not afford to have some pitiful mess sitting in the marine that I 'patched' up for some one.
At the same time I do enjoy the odd ball jobs but always be careful if they have been turned down by other shops as it may be the person not the job thats being avoided.  ;)
I currently have THREE, PITA customers but I grin & bear it as they always pay well.

Saying that I avoid car work like the plague, as far as I am concerned I am not geared up for it, don't have the knowledge or the time to learn. I 'specialize' in marine, anything else, I will see what I can do.

Suzi