Please send me a word doc report so I may add or change items

[Ted Menelly]

For the third time the same client has called me to send her a word doc instead of the optimized pdf so she can change what she wants and add what she wants. For the third time I told her if she wants items added or deleted then she needs to add a note to the builder of her wants and additional needs. I told her that she may have paid for the report but as it is is what she paid for. Only I can add to my report that I sent to her.

Hmmm, wants to alter my report and change my report and delete items from my report, add, enhance, and, and..........like what, I am the one doing it not her. Ahhh, no.

Say whaaaaaaat?


Never got that before.

Ted

Ooops. I forgot to add, reformat the report. Formatting is TREC's not mine. Can't be changed.

[Ron Bibler]

Ted. Thats a Wacky lady. Next time tell her your reports are a copyright protected. if she wants to she can get her own program and do her own inspection.

Best

Ron

[James Duffin]

I'd refund her money and tell her she is on her own. She WILL make more trouble for you than your fee is worth. Been there....done that!

[imported_John Smith]

Ask if she minds if you change her check to fit your needs.http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_inspection/images/icons/icon7.gif
Smile


I wouldnt waiver on what you already sent her. If she complains, just write her off as the wack job that she is, and realize you cant please everyone and the customer isnt always right. Dont prostitute yourself out. We provide a service for a fee, and I like to think with the highest integrity.

I wouldn't refund her money. You did the work, you deserve to be paid.

[Rick Hurst]

If your sending out your HI reports in a "word document" you had better be protecting that document with the use of the tool bar.

Any "word" document can be changed or altered otherwise.

I suggest a PDF on every document you send out.

rick

[James Duffin]

If you spend 3 hours defending yourself then you have broken even. If you get a bad rep with 3 of their friends then you in the hole. Plus if you offer a refund they most likely will not take it.

[Billy Stephens]

-- send her a word doc instead of the optimized pdf so she can change what she wants
.
Ah, That's why I sent it in pdf. ( so it can't be changed.)
.
So what did you open, turn on for Her? :D

[Ron Bibler]

Don't send her any money. That will not fix anything.
You did your job and that cash is your's

Re: A PDF file that can be changed or altered just as easy as a Word doc.

Thats one more good reason to email your reports. You then have a record of what you sent out...

Best

Ron

[James Duffin]

I disagree....once you give the money back then that problem is gone. It happens 1%of the time so why fret about it? Is it pride or stupidity that keeps you going?

[Ted Menelly]

If your sending out your HI reports in a "word document" you had better be protecting that document with the use of the tool bar.

Any "word" document can be changed or altered otherwise.

I suggest a PDF on every document you send out.

rick


Rick

I did send a protected pdf. That's what she did not like. Her words. "I know what you mean, our company protects our pdf's as well so no one can change them" That was when talking to her. Then she starts emailing with send me the report as a doc so I can alter it. What is this OCD lady all about?

No, I am not doing a thing. She can do as she wishes. She does not worry me in the least. She'll go away.

No. Refund what money, my money, hell no, that inspection was worth every penny of the 3 I charged her. I might send her a new Bill for correspondence.

What was Gunnar's saying. They're all out to get you :)

James says it with out saying it. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Ted

[Ron Bibler]

Hey Ted I was thinking of posting Gunners words.

what a trip.

Best

Ron

[Victor DaGraca]

It sounds like your client is trying to perpetrate a fraud upon the seller of the property. E-mail her now with words to the effect that any alterations to your report will constitute a fraudulent act and that you do not endorse such actions.
Furthermore, if she persists, you will notify the authorities of her actions.

[wayne soper]

Tell her when she sends you a blank check so you can write whatever YOU want on it, you will send her a blank report and she can write whatever SHE wants on it. With her own name on the letterhead of the report I might add.

[Ron Bibler]

I like wayne's idea.

Ron

[Jack Feldmann]

I feel your pain. I had a client that, her agent warned me about. He said SHE WAS CRAZY!!!!! She seemed normal during the inspection, then it started.

All told, I have probably spent 15+ hours on the phone with her going over one small issue. She just goes on and on and on and on and on saying the same thing, then calls a couple days later and starts again. She is very very crazy.

The funny thing is, she is not complaining about anything I did, in fact she thinks I am the greatest thing since sliced bread with peanut butter. But she is worried.

If I had a clue that she was like this before, I owuld have fired her on the job and been done.

This woman that wants to change the report is crazy, AND TROUBLE. She maybe crazy enough to complain to the state about you. You then have to defend yourself for doing nothing wrong.

I guess if it was me, I would tell her in not uncertain terms that the report it just what you uwrote and delivered to her. THAT IS the TRUE report. If she wants to change it, then she is altering the truth, and you are not responsible, since she is obviously trying to do something unethical, and dishonest, and you want no part of it.

Depeniding on her response, you then should either give her the money back and divorce yourself forever from her transaction (documenting everything), or she will realize that she is barking up the wrong tree and back off. I think I would document her request and possible pass it on the to Realtors involved with the transaction. POut it in her court, but give her the money back if necessary. And get the release signed.

Good luck with this one.
JF

[Rick Hurst]

Jack,

I think what you have there with that client is known as a "stalker"

:D

rick

[Ted Menelly]

The weird thing about this woman is as you said. She is happy with my findings but she is so OCD that she feels she must add her words, her formatting, little foolish things that are of no concern and have nothing to do with her warranty.

This is a high end three story town home. Three issues. Improper HVAC placement /improper placement of zone dampers (absolutely no access without either ripping a wall out or literally disassembling the condensate lines, removing the gas pipe and partially disassembling the HVAC and duct work to the HVAC) to gain access if one of the dampers stops working. Three loose roof tiles. No access to gas or water shut off (for kettle filler) because they are behind a slide in gas cook top oh yeah a bad switch and bad GFCI receptacle. One of the better one year warranties I did in a long time.

She is so hung up on being able to get a word document so she can put her touches, additions (nothing to do with warranty), deletions and formatting to it so she can be part of it. All this would have been caught with an inspection a year ago and repaired then but she would not get one. She would not even tell me what so I might be able to see what she really wants.

She just wants control and I took it away from her. Oh well. Not worried. Just an OCD older control freak that needs something to do in life and be in charge.

[Ron Bibler]

This is why I work in Calif. We don't get people like that.

We get the ones... Well I will stop at that.

Best

Ron

Never give the money back!!!

[Dana Bostick]

If your sending out your HI reports in a "word document" you had better be protecting that document with the use of the tool bar.

Any "word" document can be changed or altered otherwise.

I suggest a PDF on every document you send out.

rick

So can a PDF if you have the right program. I can open the locked PDF that 3-D produces as a Word doc and edit it. Nuance PDF Professional 5 On sale now for $29.95, normally $100
Dana

[Jerry Peck]

Nuance PDF Professional 5 On sale now for $29.95, normally $100


Dana,

Where is the sale at?

I just went and am now downloading their 30-day trail version to see how it works.

The $29.95 sale price is very intriguing.

[Ted Menelly]

Nuance is selling it for 79. I have nuance. If someone wants to go to that trouble of unlocking my PDF, I still have the original. I am certainly not going to make it easy for them. They change it, They are the ones who will be on the hook, not me.

Ted

[Ted Menelly]

Well at 99 it is still a good deal. I think I received a special to upgrade to the 5 for 79

[Jerry Peck]

If someone wants to go to that trouble of unlocking my PDF, I still have the original. I am certainly not going to make it easy for them. They change it, They are the ones who will be on the hook, not me.

I have Adobe Professional (have had for many years, did a few upgrades, then stopped at whatever I had then).

I felt (and still do) the same as you do - I created the file, I have an original copy, I used the Adobe password protection and set it to allow printing, no copying or pasting, etc., printing only.

If you used another program to copy it and defeat the protection, then *YOU* are responsible for any altered information as *YOU* "went to special efforts" to bypass the protection.

[Jerry Peck]

Nuance is selling it for 79.

All I see on their site is $99 for either hard version mailed or download.

[Ted Menelly]

All I see on their site is $99 for either hard version mailed or download.


Like I said I receive stuff from them all the time. I think the 79 was an upgrade price.

Still for the program 5 is you could not get a better PDF for 100 that I know of

Ted

[Jerry Peck]

The only reason I would use it would be to work with people using pdf files, so I could convert to Word (or Word Perfect, except that the trail version I just downloaded did not format it in Word Perfect as well as it did in Word).

I already have Adobe Professional for printing stuff into pdf files.

I'll have to check and see if a current Adobe upgrade includes a converter for pdf to Word or Word Perfect.

Have never needed one (a converter) before so I never bothered to get one, but I know they have been around a long time.

[Ted Menelly]

Everything out here is pdf whether it be builder, agent, inspector, title company, hud, you name it. The fax for example it about 99.9% dead.

[Billy Stephens]

Found a Free Program on PC World that lets you Edit PDF. Not Change the wording .
pdfxchange viewer.
.

[Dana Bostick]

Dana,

Where is the sale at?

I just went and am now downloading their 30-day trail version to see how it works.

The $29.95 sale price is very intriguing.

Jerry, I mis-spoke. It's not PDF Professional 5 it's PDF Converter 5. Here's the link
http://www.nuancestore.com/dr/v2/ec_Main.Entry17c?SID=19198&SP=10034&CID=346075&PID=&PN=1&V1=1622723&CUR=840&API1=65&API2=EMAIL&API3=346075|NAM|ret|pdfc5|ppp10|2008-06-24_newreg_q3||&API4=Empty&API5=Empty (http://www.nuancestore.com/dr/v2/ec_Main.Entry17c?SID=19198&SP=10034&CID=346075&PID=&PN=1&V1=1622723&CUR=840&API1=65&API2=EMAIL&API3=346075%7CNAM%7Cret%7Cpdfc5%7Cppp10%7C2008-06-24_newreg_q3%7C%7C&API4=Empty&API5=Empty)

[Dana Bostick]

Nuance's PDF Professional 5 is very expensive, like $500. Converter lists for $49.95 so the $29.95 price is a good deal.

I write software reviews for a computer news letter and I reviewed a bunch of Nuance's products including Pro5 and Converter 5 over the last 6 months. (I'm a bit of a Geek) Pro is major overkill, but I was impressed with Converter. Nuance's tech support sucks but Converter has good "Help" files so that's not a problem.
I used Converter 5 to oen a 3-D PDF and it warned me that "if I had the password, it would do a better conversion". I didn't have it so forged ahead anyway. It did an almost perfect job. Only glitched a little formatting but that was easy to fix.

[Jerry Peck]

I used Converter 5 to oen a 3-D PDF and it warned me that "if I had the password, it would do a better conversion". I didn't have it so forged ahead anyway. It did an almost perfect job. Only glitched a little formatting but that was easy to fix.

Same thing I got when I tried the "Free Trial Version".

If a programmer cannot even get the "Free Trial Version" right that they are using to try to sell the main program from, what did they do wrong on the 'for sale' program?????

Those types of mistakes make me seriously question their ability to make a good product and be able to support it (and you added they their support is lacking - there you are).

[Dana Bostick]

Jerry...
It worked almost perfectly, about 98%. Would have done a little better with the password.
Can't really complain about that. the point is that it did open it so I could edit without needing to make the correction in the report and reprint the PDF. It was just some bad formatting I was correcting, not the information in the report.

[Mike Schulz]

Jerry,
openoffice.org (sun micro)has free software and has PDF creator built in.

[Mike Schulz]

For those of you who has PDF documents and wish they could copy a line or so to put in there report but can't because there viewer won't let you, I have a work around. Send the PDF to gmail or similar account. View it in HTML when opened. Copy and paste into your favorite program.

[imported_John Smith]

I have only been able to get decent looking reports using Adobe Acrobat. I tried some of the others, but the photos never looked that good. I pay $10 per month for online conversion with Adobe. Seems reasonable. If I can get away from the hard copy reports, Im definitely money ahead at $10.00.

[Jerry Peck]

I pay $10 per month for online conversion with Adobe. Seems reasonable.

I started with Adobe Professional 4, I think it was about $100 or so.

I upgraded to Adobe Professional 5 a year or two later, and am still using that version. I think the upgrade was around $75 or so.

That's $175, make it $200 just in case.

I've been using those for, I don't remember, maybe 10 years???

That's 120 months.

At $10 per month to use an online version, that's ... well, not a really good deal if you use it very many months. :)

[imported_John Smith]

Jerry, Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro is currently selling for (from $499) on Adobe's site. Im sure I could probably buy an older version on ebay or something and do the upgrade which lists for (from $159).

The way technology changes, Im just kind of treading water until the mother of all inspection reporting programs becomes available at a good price.