Doing the right thing may cost me everything

[flchub]

I get roughly 80% of my business from another tennis court contractor.

I have been doing business with them for 15 years now,as their business has grown so has mine.

the last few years i have been at odds when them over quality of materials and what i consider bad ethics,now this isnt the company i once knew in my opinion,they used to make quality and integrity their number one priority.

I guess this is a case where bigger just isnt better.

Anyway i have tried everything recently to get them todo the right thing with two customers i felt needed to be informed about bad materials used to resurface their tennis courts,the response i received from them was upsetting to me to say the least,i was told that the customer had no idea there was a problem so dont say anything and 6 months from now tell them they need to resurface the court again

I wouldnt want someone todo this to me ,i dont know anyone who would ,so why they expect me to screw these guys over i have no clue.

I wish i could just turn a blindeye but i cant,no matter how i try to forget about it and moveon i just cant,it bothers me allday long.

If theres another way i'd like anyones input.

Thanks

Clint

 

[Dom426]

id resusurface it in 6 months and make some more money...............have not had a chance to find the nozzles ill let you know before the weekend

 

[Dom426]

i was kiddin about the makin more money.......do what you feel in your heart is the right thing and you will be ok

 

[Black1]

I feel your pain Clint... Been there before. If it's something that is eating at you, then you need to do the right thing. If the other company is botching jobs, and you're associated with them, you will be looked at as untrustworthy/unscrupulous as well. Failure by association is the mother of all fkc-ups in business.

If I were you, I would dissociate yourself with that company.... and do the right thing by telling those two customers the truth.

Good luck to you, Bro.

 

[powertrain]

what to do

You know what you have to do because you said it's always on your mind now.do the right thing or you will never live with yourself for sure having that on your mind.

 

[FATJACK]

Good luck, I am sure you will make the right decision.

 

[SilvrSRT10]

Tough situation to be in. You've been placed in the middle. If nothing is said to the customer, in six months time when the court needs resurfacing, the customers gonna want to know why so soon. You may be backed into a corner and have to tell them about the bad materials. It's going to have to be said sooner or later. What is the warranty on a job like that?

Try to get the contractor to listen again. If they won't fess up and take responsibility then you don't want to be associated with them anyhow. As was said before, your reputation may be at risk too.

But on the flip side, you don't want to cut off your main source of business so it would behoove both of you for them to fix the problems and maintain their high level of quality and continue to be recommended for more jobs. In my business, word of mouth advertising is key. Good luck with your decision and I hope things work out for you.

 

[SRT10VENOMOUS]

what you do is look the other way for now ... for now... and grow your business away from them.. get your own contacts when u replace that 80% or even 60% then tell them straight or whatever .. protect yourself first.... your career is worth more than a reserface of 2 courts...

 

[flchub]

what you do is look the other way for now ... for now... and grow your business away from them.. get your own contacts when u replace that 80% or even 60% then tell them straight or whatever .. protect yourself first.... your career is worth more than a reserface of 2 courts...

we have already put that plan into place,whether it works or not i wont know until the dust settles,i do know once word gets back to them that we are meeting with their clients they may cut ties with us anyway.

its a gamble eitherway

 

[Yellow venom]

we have already put that plan into place,whether it works or not i wont know until the dust settles,i do know once word gets back to them that we are meeting with their clients they may cut ties with us anyway.

its a gamble eitherway

Its a tuff call,but then again if you get caught by using there material and knowing about it,what happens when the customer comes back to the guys you work for and complain,will that company back you or point fingers? Its a tuff call,but you don't want to get a bad reputation,but if you go on your own and all the previous customers find out why you left because you weren't happy with the quality of product,That might work to your benifit too! Very tuff decision,Wish you all the best.:rock:

 

[OCBob]

If you're here asking this question you already know the answer. Do the right thing by these customers. Stealing is stealing, doesn't matter if it comes wiht an invoice or at the end of a gun really.

 

[JTS VENOM PERFORMANCE]

I've been told I am not qualified morally to give you the correct answer...........



But I dont listen either

Chubs you know what to do bub

Sad thing is , thats the way biz is dont these days, piss poor job, means repeat biz

 

[Rice Eater]

start your own company with your client base and buy your own materials....easier said than done but you must have an in with these clients on a personal basis...tell them what went down and why they should go with you......Mr. Cllient.....isn't it important to you that you have your courts resurfaced with the best possible materials?

 

[RedSrt007]

Could you satisfy both ends by possibly doing the resurcacing job at cost?

That way the customer is happy by not having to pay...regardless if the guy that hires you know that you are paying for it??


And possibly SLOWLY start building more clients to work for and cut your tries with him later down the road?

 

[flchub]

Could you satisfy both ends by possibly doing the resurcacing job at cost?

That way the customer is happy by not having to pay...regardless if the guy that hires you know that you are paying for it??


And possibly SLOWLY start building more clients to work for and cut your tries with him later down the road?

already tried that route,i was told if i wanted to buy materials and do it myself then go ahead but they werent putting anymore money into the job.

as for the client base,for years i have walked a fine line with the contractor by not going after the clients whether i had done work for them in the past or not,but now i dont feel that loyalty anymore.

 

[flchub]

start your own company with your client base and buy your own materials....easier said than done but you must have an in with these clients on a personal basis...tell them what went down and why they should go with you......Mr. Cllient.....isn't it important to you that you have your courts resurfaced with the best possible materials?

already have my own company chad,problem is also that i have to buy all my materials from the contractor as well,they're a monopoly,i cant get supplies without going through them unless i want to pay 25% more

I've been told I am not qualified morally to give you the correct answer...........



But I dont listen either

Chubs you know what to do bub

Sad thing is , thats the way biz is dont these days, piss poor job, means repeat biz

aww stinky i'm glad u didnt listen to the tards!

thanks for the advice

 

[nycstev]

I am involved in a similar buisness so I'm not surprised. They are probably cutting corners to compete with other contractors.Their main objective is to offer a low price job that customers will buy because thats what attracts consumers... low price. What they don't realize that this is a service oriented buisness . Its not like buying a TV set where they buy the exact same thing for a lower price somewhere else. They are buying a service composed of workmanship AND materials which are not exactly duplicated from one company to the next.
My advice is if you want to stay in busness with them just go with the flow.

 

[Ylw-Fvr]

It is really not a tough call at all. Try to get the company to do what's right. If they just simply will not, it is on you to do the right thing and redo your customers job at no cost to them or at least at a significant reduction of cost. I know this is a bitter pill to swallow but you know it is the right thing to do or it wouldn't still be bothering you. I promise you, your company will be way ahead in the future if you make things right even if you have to quit doing business with the bigger company. It is your reputation protect it at all cost.

 

[Ram From Hell]

You also need to be careful from a liability standpoint with this company you're doing business with. I've seen things in the construction trade where a subcontractor made a comment to the homeowner about deficiencies (none safety or structurally related, just workmanship) that they were unaware of, and it cost the contractor thousands to satisfy the customer. Guess what? The subcontractor who pointed out the deficiencies was sued by the contractor and the subcontractor lost.

Be exceedingly careful in how you proceed.

 

[Black1]

You also need to be careful from a liability standpoint with this company you're doing business with. I've seen things in the construction trade where a subcontractor made a comment to the homeowner about deficiencies (none safety or structurally related, just workmanship) that they were unaware of, and it cost the contractor thousands to satisfy the customer. Guess what? The subcontractor who pointed out the deficiencies was sued by the contractor and the subcontractor lost.

Be exceedingly careful in how you proceed.

AGREED.