WFB asked followers on Facebook and Instagram to fill in the blank: My toughest customer was __________. Here’s what they said:
David Friedland
Microsoft retail stores.
Troy Stanfield
A toss up between two clients, but to keep it brief: One we laid an engineered herringbone oak floor for; it was fully trowel glued to concrete and she said she could hear hollow sounds under the floor while she tapped her stiletto heels around. When I did the knuckle test, they all sounded sufficiently firm, yet I was forced to pull out 94 of them and swap them out before I got paid.
Steven Triplett Jr.
… my best teacher. Tough customers make us better.
Michael Gwin
A lady who watched YouTube too much and thought she knew how to refinish hardwood floors.
Bill Bagley
A 5-foot-tall German woman who was an 8th grade math teacher. She called me a thief because my square foot measurements were higher than hers. She measured every corner and half wall to the 1/4 inch! I've not bid by square foot since 1999. I only give a complete turnkey price. Yeah, she left a mark on me. Lol.
Wesley Elliott
Myself.
Robbie Allen's Custom Hardwood Flooring
My toughest customers (to no fault of their own) have been the ones where a third party was involved … and therefore direct communication between myself and the homeowner was limited, resulting in unmet expectations, plain and simple. I no longer allow this to happen.
Maria Tee
All designers.
Taylor Elam
A retired NFL lineman.
Christopher Bock
A non-paying one.
Travis Morse
The guy who was a DJ and played the same song over and over and over trying to nail the transition.
John Booth
My wife.
Frank Bechard
The guy who wanted to look at the sample color under natural sunlight, incandescent light, florescent light (this was before LED).
Michael Gwin
One lady made me vacuum all the dust off her grass and then put tarps over where I was cutting.
Larry Israel
Barbra Streisand.
James Woods.
Horrible job sites.
Louie Harrington Jr.
Government agent and Federal agent in Kannapolis, N.C.
Tripp Tobin
Indecisive.
Harbour Precision Floors
A banker that got down on his hands and knees with a magnifying glass.
Nathan Kelly
A banker from halfway around the world. She attempted to inspect every process and even argued with me about what machines we would use in what steps. Karma sorted this one out on its own, however … She thought they could save money by repairing the floor by herself/her husband (a professor); he hurt himself using the circular saw attempting to remove boards and they decided it was best to let us be the professionals on the floor. 🤪😆
Matthew Shumway
Not very nice, lol.
Aaron Goodman
The first people I have ever had Google how to sand maple so they could teach me. Told me I used the wrong grit to finish with because the maple, as everyone knows, looks blotchy or “marbled,” as I like to say, when stained. This is after I made a 4x4 sample, which they approved then freaked out when they saw the whole floor. The husband would confide in me that the floor looked great but his wife was unhappy he just didn’t have the nerve to stand up to her. That’s actually what was the most frustrating part: Being told it’s fine in one ear and catching hell about not knowing what we are doing by the wife in the other ear. Some crazy folks out there to deal with.
cottonwoodfinishesllc
I remember one guy who did his own floors and hated the result. It was Labor Day weekend and he had to have them done for a BBQ or something and he called asking for us to redo them. He wanted it cheap and fast. He got his own stain that he insisted we use. We stained the floor and he didn't like it. Then he told us the tech who mixed the stain said there was too much colorant and it wouldn't work. We started over and worked a 12-hour Saturday and finished on Sunday. Then he stiffed me.
acustomfloors
One complaining about the fumes from the oil-base poly when I told her in advance the pros and cons of the polyurethane. Making me go at night to open windows and put a fan to exhaust fumes!
danny_sandhouse
My richest customer.
johnnyrodriguez1976
On "flooring" Google two days prior to commencing his project, when we arrived he was a Certified NOFMA/NWFA Pro + Bona Certified.
😂😂😂
Dang "Googlers."
dmhrdwd
Always important!
sgv_hardwoodfloors
Customer wanted to hire out cheap demo work and prep because he thought my price was too high for demo. Then I came in and said it still needed more prep. Then, they had the audacity to tell me, “We do all the hard work and you do the easy work.” 🙄 Decided not to take on the job.
