Doright wrote:Abrasive nature?????

Thought you'd like that.

Keeping it relevant for OP, I had a lady come in once and ask for a particular kind of repair. I went to some length to explain to her that, while it was a cheaper option, the repair wouldn't be perfect. She was cool with that and actually congratulated me on what she termed "expectation management", i.e. making sure that your customer fully understands what they're going to get, and agrees. The job actually turned out pretty good and she was happy that I'd under-promised and over-delivered. She became an infrequent, but repeat customer and turned out that she was a psychologist in the Army and really (professionally) appreciated the approach that I had (still have).

Doright wrote:Like a Business associate told me long ago "You are NOT helping people by charging them less than the job is worth". It took me a LONG time to understand what he was saying.

Too right. That's a quotable quote.

Dennis is completely right in his opinion! I've had the same issues. Luckily, I can pick and choose my customers, though even then, I get a lemon once in a while. I had one guy bring his car back to me after a HUGE amount of rust work, and customization, and finally, custom paint. He had been doing his own mechanical work on it while the paint cured. When he brought it back (later, I heard he lost his job), he tried to convince me that sanding, buffing, and assembling his car was "part of the paint job". Even though I had been charging him time and material throughout the entire build. He was so stubborn about it, I had to send him on his way. Funny, during the build, in which he had did some of the dirty work on weekends, he used to brag about how he 'got over' on people who did some of the work for him. I guess he can't say that about me!