When are jobs really finished?

In the beginning I thought that all jobs were just as good as finished when we got the call requesting a proposal. I was young and very sure of myself. I was sure that I could get any job if they called me. I thought I was such a nice guy that they would have to hire me. I was full of myself. I WAS WRONG!

It didn't take long to figure out that I wasn't going to get ALL the jobs that called. Obviously there was something wrong with some people. For some unknown reason they would sometimes choose another contractor to do their work for them. They must have had some kind of problem that didn't let them see through other contractors BS, LOL. At this point I figured that a job was as good as finished when the contract was actually signed. I knew we could paint houses. So doing the work was just a minor part of it. WRONG!

It didn't take much longer to figure out that everyone is different. Some people have very peculiar ideas of what a completed, quality paint job really is. I remember one customer saying to me, "There is a problem with this wall over here". I asked him to show it to me. He took a real hard look and said, "I can't see it right now, but at 5:30 PM when the sun is in just the right position and shining through that window, you can see a little bump on the wall". That is when I decided that the job was not really finished until we got the check. I WAS WRONG!

Sometimes the check is made out wrong. Sometimes it bounces. Then we have to call the customer and explain the problem, blah, blah, blah. This is about the time that I figured that jobs really aren't finished until the check CLEARS the bank. I WAS WRONG!

We painted a rather large interior in December 1998. The owners liked us so much that they gave me a 150.00 gift certificate and each of our painters 100.00 certificates. Everyone was happy and the final check cleared the bank. I thought O.K. that one's finished lets move on. I WAS WRONG!

Eight months later the decorator for that job calls. She tells me that the customer says that we painted the master bedroom the wrong color. She asked if I would call him. I told her of course I would, and made the call. The owner was very upset. I said, "Mr.____________, let me come over Saturday morning and see if we can figure out what went wrong". He said, "You can come over if you want but it won't do any good since the new painter I hired will be finished by then". I asked what he wanted me to do. He said, "Pay the new painters bill". I couldn't do that. That would be wrong.

We are going to court over this matter April 11th. Sixteen months after the final check cleared the bank. I'll let you know how it turns out.

When are jobs really finished? Be careful, you never know!

Paul