I can really relate to what your feeling, I did my last work for a "customer" in 2010 and have never been more relieved. I'm now concentrating on my own projects and the fun has returned to working on old cars for me. The last drunken asshat I did work for still asks me to do work for him and it is so satisfying to tell him no.
Doesn't really make any difference does it. I mean some people wouldn't be happy if you hung them with a new rope. Jim, Good for you. I have always stuck by the premis that when it stops being fun I'll stop doing it. It is good that you are able to distinguish between and unhappy customer and it just not being fun any more. A lot of people never figure it out and just end up being misearble.
in twenty years in the restoration and hot rod business, i've had a couple of unhappy customers, just couldn't please them no matter what i did. it's hard to spot them but have since thrown a couple out [told one to pick up his car the other to pick up his parts] found out later they tortured the guys who ended up working on their stuff. don't quit, just wait for the right customer with the right project and the right budget.
Jim, someone with the name tp said you may be interested in this car I'm selling. It's a 36 chevy 3 window master deluxe with rumble seat it's very rare. Check it out if your interested. If not please pass the word on to anyone who might be. Thanks.
I dont know what to really say here other than, I have ALWAYS been impressed with your work and you never seem to be afraid to tackle jobs that I wouldnt think about attempting. Thank you for your inspiration... Mike
Everything I've ever seen done by you was first class, beautiful work..I found that customers would drive away the finished job smiling from ear to ear, but they were never happy with the amount of time and money it took...
This isn't a sad moment. It should be just the opposite, actually. Who wouldn't like to be so lucky as to have that "one clear moment" and realize that they can produce work to their own high standards and don't have to try to guess what will make someone else happy. There's an ever increasing number of people who don't know what, if anything, will ever make them happy. They have short attention spans and shop at W*lm*rt. They are preoccupied with "bling" and are easily distracted by shiny objects. They buy stuff they don't need to impress people they don't know and when nobody's impressed they return it and get their money back. They expect perfection while chiseling a nickel off the price. They have few skills of their own and they've been trained to assume that your skills are of no value. Good riddance to the lot of them! Keep working to your own standards and raise the bar for yourself, not someone else. Sleep better and look forward to work the next day.
Hey Jim, you inspired me to push myself to build old cars and hunt those hard ones down to find. Screw customers, they always take the fun out of it. I'm busting my ass down here on this shoebox build with rust I've never seen before trying to make a name for myself. I'm always thankful for the help and advise you've giving me. I'm five years new to this and on a roll brother. miss you guys up there. 32' fords buddy, finding as many as I can. Lol Crazy Chris
I worked in a body shops for a few years when I got out of HS. I remember one customer that we did some work on a newer chevy short box. He constantly came back complaining about things. Bed wasn't square, paint didn't match, little things that didn't exist to anyone except him. One day he came in (4th or 5th time) and my boss told him to get bent he wasn't wasting any time on his truck. The guy got mad and left. I asked my boss why he did that instead of trying to keep him happy. My boss told me "that guy doesn't have anything better to do then drink beer and stare at his truck until he see's something wrong. We will never make him happy and I am not going to loose any more money trying too. I don't even care if he badmouths my shop, anybody with a brain will know he is a idiot and not listen to him. I have a very good reputation and I am not gonna let one customer get me down." He was right too, shop stayed busy and all was good. I learned a good lesson that day that there are people in this world that you just cant please. If you let them get you down, they win not you. Just something to think about Jim, you do awesome work. I am sure if this customer complains to someone about your work they are gonna think less of the customer and it is not going to damage your reputation one bit. Anyone that does think less of you because of this guy, isn't worth you caring about anyways.
If someone's unhappy with the work of a guy who can make miracles happen and save things no one else would even see the possibilities in, there's something wrong with that person. But the general public is full of assholes, it's hard to blame a guy for not wanting to put up with the nonsense they generate.
I can't beleive i'm reading this, you do some of the most outstanding work i have ever seen. I only meet you last fall when i bought a model A frame from you and have stopped by your shop several times. What ever you decide to do more power to you! I understand your delema, i have worked in aviation most of my life and there is always a few that are never happy. One in particular that everytime he came to Felts Field he had something he wasn't happy with, last time he stopped in and asked what should be done about a preceived problem i told him to buy a new aircraft that we weren't certified on! What i'm curios about is how many other HAMBERS know that Jim has the local high school shop class over every wed. and teaches them hands on in his own shop!! and is envolved in numerous other community services. And this is how someone treats him
Sounds like you have a lot of really great friends on this forum. Listen to em' If you're your own worst critic you must be doing things right. The customers don't 'own' you even though some of them seem to think they do just because they can throw cash at problems or dreams they haven't the first clue how to 'fix' or 'build' themselves. One particulr time years ago when I got in a similar 'mood' and ranted "Sometimes I hate people!" an older buddy of mine reminded me "You don't hate people, you just hate A--holes! Those kind never learn so it's their loss, not yours.
I remember reading in a magazine about a famous builder only building for himself. He builds the cars he likes, in his style, on his time frame. And then he sells them. People like his cars (as people like your cars) enough that he never has to compromise his tastes.
Take a break, come back and build another mind blower! Your skills are second to none, whoever didn;t recognize that doesn't deserve one of your builds, anyway. Hang on and shake the funk, Sib!
Tell them if not happy with what your doing,then tell them to pay their bill and send them down the road. If they piss and moan about that. It's time to set them free. Just saying.
The Jalopy Journal
