Fuel for Thought

Customer Camping

Time at home means time to catch up on chores that accumulated while I was on the road. It was a very productive vacation last time. The roof on the house was replaced. Old roof removed and new one installed. The bathroom got a much needed remodel. We even got the flower beds cleaned up and replanted as well as some fence repairs done. All in all it was a very satisfying two weeks of work done to get things in order for the warmer months ahead. The roofing contractor and his crew did a great job, as did the plumber, electrician and tile crew for the bathroom remodel. We did the yardwork ourselves and it also turned out quite well. The only issues we had at all were when the contractors were done, they would not leave. They said they had nowhere to be yet, as they didn’t have other customers lined up yet. The roofers finished on Wednesday and didn’t leave until Thursday, but the plumber and electrician didn’t finish until Friday and it was Monday before they left. We have a large property so it wasn’t a huge deal for them to hangout for a while afterwards, but doesn’t it seem excessive to spend a day or more at a previous customer? The constant requests for the use of our new bathroom were a bit much. I paid for crews to do some work on my house, not stay and use it for a couple of days. We showed them an area on our property where they could park their vehicles and they did move there, but it was still an inconvenience when we wanted to go out since we didn’t want to just leave these people on our property while we were away. And then Monday came when the last one left. My gosh! The cigarette butts strewn all over the area, empty potato chip bags and soda bottles laying everywhere around where they “camped”. We live in a wooded area, and I know the old saying about what a bear does in the woods, but apparently when they didn’t want to walk to our house and ask again to use our bathroom, they took to the woods and to do their business. I thought when I hired them they would do their job and leave, it is normal to stay for extended periods at a customer when the work is completed?

You probably wouldn’t accept this at your house, no more than I would at mine.

Why do some of today’s truck drivers feel the shipper or consignee owe them a place to stay for hours on end? The customer hired a truck and driver to transport goods from point A to point B, that’s it. Not to accommodate trucks and drivers for unknown periods of time just because they chose to drive a truck and now have to find somewhere to park it. Many customers will oblige drivers and allow parking at their facility, but that should be seen as a privilege, it is not a right. You do not have the right to encroach on another’s property without their consent.

Treat your customer’s property just as you would have someone treat your own.

 

See you down the road,

Greg