13
Appreciation post: The customer who paid me in cash and said "fix it right, not fast"
Had a guy last month bring in a 1998 F-150 with serious rust on the quarter panels. He handed me $1,500 in cash and said he didn't want filler, he wanted real patches welded in. Do you take the easy money with bondo or tell them the honest truth that it costs double?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
finley7771mo ago
I mean that's exactly the kind of customer you remember for years, right? Had a guy with an old Jeep last summer who wanted the frame fixed properly instead of just slapping a patch on it. Always worth doing the honest work even if it means less profit upfront because those folks tell their friends about you.
9
finley_flores281mo ago
Is it really that deep though? Like yeah doing a good job is nice and all but not every customer is gonna turn into some word of mouth gold mine. Most people just pay for the work and move on with their lives.
6
laura_ross1mo ago
@finley_flores28 I get what you're saying, most customers really do just want the job done and gone. But I had a buddy who runs a small shop and he told me about this one guy who came in with an old Dodge van. My buddy quoted him double for the real repair and the guy just said "do it right." That van kept showing up at car meets and people started asking who did the work. My buddy says that one customer brought him like five other jobs over the next year. So sometimes the "less profit upfront" move pays off way bigger down the road, you know?
2