Thread: got fired

I thought that would get your attention.

The truth is the job ended early by mutual agreement. The job was being done for a seller. It turns out the client thought they were getting a code compliant inspection. Not only that but one which took into account what the codes happened to be at the time the house was built. As I began to point out things that needed attention he began to question about code and grandfathering and all that. I explained that I didn't do things that way.

To make a long story short, we had a respectful discussion, he paid me a partial fee and I did a partial report of what I had done.

Have any of you ever had a client misunderstand what your service was intended to do? How did you handle it?

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Originally Posted by John Dirks Jr

I thought that would get your attention.

The truth is the job ended early by mutual agreement. The job was being done for a seller. It turns out the client thought they were getting a code compliant inspection. Not only that but one which took into account what the codes happened to be at the time the house was built. As I began to point out things that needed attention he began to question about code and grandfathering and all that. I explained that I didn't do things that way.

To make a long story short, we had a respectful discussion, he paid me a partial fee and I did a partial report of what I had done.

Have any of you ever had a client misunderstand what your service was intended to do? How did you handle it?

I always ask a prospective client what type of inspection they are looking for. I briefly go over on the phone what I will be doing during the inspection. I would hope that if they were looking for a code compliant inspection that they would tell me first and not after I'm at the home.

Customers don't always know what they want and what they want isn't always what they really need.
I usually assess needs during initial phone or visit and go from there.
You should consider having multiple contracts for various types of inspections. Each of my contracts has a different heading that makes it fairly clear that it is or isn't an HI (HI insp contr; Specified condition contr; Construction insp contr; etc)
I've done many code compliance inspections. I only do them on an hourly basis, not for a set fee. You can never foresee all the issues that might arise.
It sounds like you did OK with the client, a good learning lesson.