'Trust me, just do it': Contractor scores $12,000 extra on a job because a know-it-all client insists his measurements are accurate; they are not

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Aug 24, 2023 1:00 PM EDT

Clients lie. This is the one thing that is certain for every contractor in every industry. For some reason, know-it-all clients feel like it's some kind of flex to press their hobby knowledge on someone who is literally a professional in that field. In this case, a pushy Californian client was getting his home remodeled and couldn't fight his manly urge to try and teach his contractor a thing or two about construction. Naturally, this backfired immediately and he was quickly in deep trouble with his wife and his bank account. 

The contractor, being the pro that he was, insisted on taking his own measurements of a particularly specialized arch project in their garage. OP wanted to come take a look for himself to make sure the add-on to the arch would be substantial enough for their RV to drive into the garage, but the client arrogantly pushed for OP to use his DIy measurements. When the original estimates turned out to be insufficient, and after OP had already charged the client, it was time for the client to reach deeper into his wallet to fork out the dough necessary to correct his monumental measurement– totaling $12,000 for a custom arch that could have been $4,000.

Scroll for the expensive tale of a customer whose arrogance came at a hefty price. For more, check out this story of a workaholic who rage quits after being told the office 'didn't need him'. 

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  • 01
    Font - Posted by u/Arnhildr-Fang 18 hours ago You want a bigger arch? Sure! S OC
    via Arnhildr-Fang
  • 02
    Font - So, this is a story my dad told me from when he was a contractor in California. My dad built this house back in 1983, biggest & most
    via Arnhildr-Fang
  • 03
    Font - extravagant house he ever built. The driveway had a carport with a beautiful archway to drive into (about 10ft) that lead to the garage. He got a call from the
    via Arnhildr-Fang
  • 04
    Font - customer, and this is roughly how it went. Customer: "I just bought an RV, I need the carport entrance raised another 16 inches to make room to park the RV in the garage."
    via Arnhildr-Fang
  • 05
    Font - Dad: "Sure, bring the RV by and we can measure it." C: "I measured it already. I need the archway raised another 16 inches."
    via Arnhildr-Fang
  • 06
    Font - D: "...are you sure? Let's double check." C: "I checked three times already, trust me, just do it."
    via Arnhildr-Fang
  • 07
    Font - Eventually my dad just said sure, charged him $4000 for it, and made the change. But the roofline was too low to go another 16in, so he just converted it to a rectangle
    via Arnhildr-Fang
  • 08
    Font - shape with rounded corners. 3 weeks later, he got a call again. C: "Hey, uh...there's a problem with the arch..."
    via Arnhildr-Fang
  • 09
    Font - D: "What's up?" C: "...its tall enough...but I didn't measure the width...the RV is to big and my wife won't shut up about how she preferred the arch...I need the arch back...
    via Arnhildr-Fang
  • 10
    Font - D: "No problem...that will be $8000" C: "8000?! But last month it was only 4000!"
    via Arnhildr-Fang
  • 11
    Font - D: "Yes, but I wasted all that material tearing the arch out, and I have to pay for the materials and my guys to go in & reinstall it."
    via Arnhildr-Fang
  • 12
    Font - C: "...fine...just get it done before the weekend or I won't hear the end of it." My dad deliberately spent 2wks on it. Netted $12000 extra on a house for no reason.
    via Arnhildr-Fang
  • 13
    Font - jeffrey_f +3. 18 hr. ago Rule #1 of contract work: Never trust the customer's measurements.
    via jeffrey_f
  • 14
    Font - Petskin +3. 17 hr. ago That sounds awfully much like the rule #1 of the IT world: Customers lie.
    via Petskin
  • 15
    Font - mbabker. 17 hr. ago House saved us all the trouble with his first rule: Everybody Lies
    via mbabker
  • 16
    Font - scumotheliar. 16 hr. ago Yep, listen to what the customer says, there might be a few diamonds of information in the t you. pile of horses have just been told, but double check everything.
    via scumotheliar
  • 17
    Font - DutchTin Can. 8 hr. ago Rule #2: If they don't lie, 50% of the time that's because they convinced themselves it's the truth. It's still a lie.
    via DutchTinCan
  • 18
    Font - Ho Fiempre_sin_tabla +3. 14 hr. ago Rule #2 of contract work: If the customer insists they are right and will not allow you to double check their findings, put that in writing and obtain the customer's dated signature and then do it exactly to their spec.
    via Fiempre_sin_tabla
  • 19
    Font - imsowhiteandnerdy +1. 6 hr. ago Rule #1 of contract work: Never trust the customer's measurements. That is unless you're interested in making an extra $12,000.
    via imsowhiteandnerdy
  • 20
    Font - Marc123123 +3.7 hr. ago Actually, his measurements were correct, height-wise. He just didn't measure how wide the RV was
    via Marc123123
  • 21
    Font - Frenetic_Platypus +2. 18 hr. ago S Another victory of super contractor against his arch nemesis.
    via Frenetic_Platypus
  • 22
    Font - 15 hr. ago gbot1234 Sounds like a rich customer. To him, $12000 is just a rounding error.
    via gbot1234
  • 23
    Hand
    via u/canva

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malicious compliance custom house architecture customers incorrect californian client construction california arch wrong home improvement building expensive Reddit contractor money measurement
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