Customer had me grease his boat lift.

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Nov 29, 2009
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I had a customer pay me $200 to grease the pulleys on his boat lift. I do the landscaping at his house, so I guess he figured he would give me the money than a boat lift repair company? I get there and he doesn't have any zerks on these pulleys. Went to grab the ladder and I heard the screeching from the from yard, omg. Get back to the boat lift and give it a listen. I'm like that's up by the chain, not the pulleys. I point out two zerk fittings and tell him there is a screw that connects to that gear that needs to greased lol. Didn't grease the pulleys like he wanted, but still paid me the $200 for fixing the squeak. It stopped immediately once he greased it. I'm still trying to figure out why he thought I needed $200. That was his number not mine. I went ahead and greased anything else I could find since there weren't any pulleys. Normally on something like that I'd say don't worry about payment, but I'm broke with how expensive everything is these days. He's got back problems, so who knows. He was happy in the end. Opinions? I guess this is one of those instances where my knowledge makes me a dollar and not my body. Lol
 
I didn't quite follow your story , but in the end you scored 200 bucks . Cool .
It just seemed like a lot of money for 5 minutes worth of work and was trying to figure out why he thought it was worth $200. I mean I get he's got a bad back and couldn't do it himself, but still. In the end I located the problem and solved the problem, so I guess that's what matters in the end.
 
I just spray CorosionX in the pulleys on mine - stainless anyway but the stuff seems to penetrate and then cling well …
Up at the motor and worm gear there are zerks - and on the shaft bearings
 
I just spray CorosionX in the pulleys on mine - stainless anyway but the stuff seems to penetrate and then cling well …
Up at the motor and worm gear there are zerks - and on the shaft bearings
It was the worm gear that needed it. That's what was screaming Bloody Mary. I had to hold my ears it was so loud
 
It just seemed like a lot of money for 5 minutes worth of work and was trying to figure out why he thought it was worth $200. I mean I get he's got a bad back and couldn't do it himself, but still. In the end I located the problem and solved the problem, so I guess that's what matters in the end.
He knew it would cost about that just to get someone out there within the next 1-600 business days but only between 12:30pm and 2:21pm, and only on a day with a blood moon.
 
I had a customer pay me $200 to grease the pulleys on his boat lift. I do the landscaping at his house, so I guess he figured he would give me the money than a boat lift repair company? I get there and he doesn't have any zerks on these pulleys. Went to grab the ladder and I heard the screeching from the from yard, omg. Get back to the boat lift and give it a listen. I'm like that's up by the chain, not the pulleys. I point out two zerk fittings and tell him there is a screw that connects to that gear that needs to greased lol. Didn't grease the pulleys like he wanted, but still paid me the $200 for fixing the squeak. It stopped immediately once he greased it. I'm still trying to figure out why he thought I needed $200. That was his number not mine. I went ahead and greased anything else I could find since there weren't any pulleys. Normally on something like that I'd say don't worry about payment, but I'm broke with how expensive everything is these days. He's got back problems, so who knows. He was happy in the end. Opinions? I guess this is one of those instances where my knowledge makes me a dollar and not my body. Lol
Everyone has their "what it's worth to them " price. Case in point. I ran across an article whereca kid in Canada was looking for some extra revenue before heading off to college. A few years ago he offered to thoroughly clean his neighbors grill. When the neighbor asked the kid what he owed he didn't know how much to charge. The guy gave the kid $150 Canadian for three hours of work. I didn't know that people don't/won't clean their grill. Apparently he has expanded and is hiring more people. I wouldn't have thought that a bbq grill cleaning company would make that much money yet people seem to think that $150 is reasonable. The guy probably figured a couple hours of your time to figure out his boat lift issue was reasonable.
 
A guy at work got a $50 tip for checking and adding air to a man's car tires. Yes, $50, I witnessed it. Co-worker asked are you really sure? he said yes. Probably the most inexplicable and bizzare thing I've seen there and I've seen it all.
 
I have on occasion paid more than I should for the convenience, especially for something I just don’t want to be bothered with doing. Honestly, $200 isn't chump change, but I also wouldn’t miss it if I paid you to grease some gears. You’re happy, he’s happy, all is good.
 
You got a business-to-business price. This is better than the Scroogey McHomeowner price.

Be nice to this customer, you might get more lucrative work out of him. People with boats have money and they spend (lose) it rapidly.

It's like that parable of paying the mechanic to hammer on the (whatever) but knowing exactly where to tap the hammer.
 
I used to do a lot of handyman type work as a side hustle back when I was younger. We all had side jobs at the FD. Nowadays no one works side jobs and its all but impossible to find anyone to do random stuff.
 
I used to do a lot of handyman type work as a side hustle back when I was younger. We all had side jobs at the FD. Nowadays no one works side jobs and its all but impossible to find anyone to do random stuff.
2x, cash is king. I did side jobs all the time before I retired from my main job as an appliance technician. It's how I bought a new Harley amongst other things.
Too many lazy citizens out there now, and a lot of envy for those who do hustle.
 
Everyone has their "what it's worth to them " price. Case in point. I ran across an article whereca kid in Canada was looking for some extra revenue before heading off to college. A few years ago he offered to thoroughly clean his neighbors grill. When the neighbor asked the kid what he owed he didn't know how much to charge. The guy gave the kid $150 Canadian for three hours of work. I didn't know that people don't/won't clean their grill. Apparently he has expanded and is hiring more people. I wouldn't have thought that a bbq grill cleaning company would make that much money yet people seem to think that $150 is reasonable. The guy probably figured a couple hours of your time to figure out his boat lift issue was reasonable.
Wow that was a great business idea for that kid! There are some unique markets like that....just like I never would of thought people would pay for someone to pickup their dog poop or clean their trash cans but they are huge markets!
 
I’d bet his wife was on his —- to get that awful noise fixed. At that point $200 is also for his happiness.
 
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