Flooring expert shares how they got paid thrice for same job by fulfilling bossy client's demands

While every job has its own challenges, people who have to deal with customers directly have the additional challenge of sometimes dealing with control freaks. Some customers wouldn't be satisfied no matter how great the service is and some are too specific about their expectations. In such cases, patience is the key for any worker. In a recent post on Reddit, u/TheGrandmasterGrizz who worked in flooring installation shared an incident where the client nitpicked their methods. The worker, without arguing much, happily complied with them instead and the outcome left the client dumbfounded.

Giving us a brief background on themselves, the worker mentioned that they had over a decade's experience in flooring installation. They mostly worked with commercial developers and usually, their expertise lies in installing carpets or vinyl tiles. The client in question belonged to one such commercial project where the flooring expert had to install carpet tiles that had patterns, lines and borders at the head office of a large developer. "I start installing and just as I get the first tiles out after laying the glue, the 'big boss' comes out. He says I'm doing it wrong," they mentioned. The worker was completely baffled by that comment and gave the client a puzzled look.

The boss then explained, "Those numbers on the back of the tile are the sequence order. You need to follow the numbers." However, the flooring expert knew that the boss had no idea about flooring installation. "What he is talking about are God knows what, parts, serials, lots," they said. Turns out, what the client instructed about following the tiles' sequence numbers had nothing to do with installation. "So if I actually followed whatever he was saying it would look like a mess, not the intended pattern," the worker pointed out. Though they tried to explain this to the client, it didn't work. "He got frustrated and called the head office who in turn called me and said to just do it how he wants it," they added.

So rather than arguing pointlessly, the worker decided to follow the boss's orders. "As I'm finishing up he comes back, takes one look at it and says, 'I don't like it.' I smiled and said, 'I don't care, that's how you wanted it.' I packed my stuff up and left, he didn't say another word to me," they wrote. Soon, the client had to contact the head office to redo the flooring the way the worker "originally intended to install." So, the same worker was assigned for the rework. "I got paid to remove the work that I just got paid to install so I can get paid to install it again. Needless to say, he didn't come out to make small talk the second time," the worker quipped. 

This post amused many on the internet and people lauded the worker for dealing with the client shrewdly. "This is a perfect example of a lesson my grandfather taught me: 'If you're going to hire a professional to do something, let them do it. If you don't trust them to do it, why did you hire them? Go do it yourself if you know so much!' It's way easier to just tell someone what you want done and then let them do it," said u/Demented-Alpaca. "I like how your succinct style shows that you're a clear communicator, thus insulting the 'big boss' all the more," commented u/TrippedOverTricycle. "People with some power feel the overwhelming need to exert that power. They'll explode if they're not telling everyone what to do. I don't mind, I get paid to do it your way and I get paid to fix it," added u/Techn0ght.