I finally told a client to leave my shop mid-project

Had a guy last month who kept showing up unannounced every afternoon to "check on progress" on his custom kitchen cabinets. He'd touch the wood, move my chisels around, and once even tried to adjust the fence on my table saw. I tried being polite for two weeks but he cost me 3 hours of work time total. Finally told him straight up his constant visits were slowing the job down and he needed to wait for my calls. He looked shocked for a second then actually apologized and backed off. Has anyone else had to put a client in their place like that?

4 comments

4 Comments

shane_park921mo ago

Wait, it was really just 3 hours across two weeks? That's like 13 minutes a day. Feels like you could've just locked the shop door or put a sign up.

the_tessa1mo ago

Fair point. Kinda feels like making a mountain out of a molehill to me.

hannah3201mo ago

Shane, a buddy of mine had a client literally follow him to the lumber yard once.

samk771mo ago

And I thought my clients were bad. @hannah320 that story from your buddy is WILD though. I had someone text me at 11 pm once asking if I could "just pop over" to look at their HVAC because it was making a weird noise. I told them I'd charge double for after hours and they got MAD at ME. Some people really think contractors are on call 24/7 like we're paramedics or something.