Question about a customer complaint that actually made sense

Got a call from a homeowner last week who said my concrete work had 'too many edges.' I thought she was crazy at first, but she pointed out how the control joints were cutting her patio into weird little islands. She wanted a big open slab for her patio furniture and the lines were messing with her layout. After some back and forth, I ended up cutting the number of joints from six down to three and spaced them better near the house wall. It took an extra hour of planning but the final pour looked way cleaner. Has anyone else had a complaint that actually improved your process?

2 comments

2 Comments

seth_green8518d ago

Man that "too many edges" thing really hit home. My buddy runs a landscaping crew and he had this lady complain that his retaining wall looked "too busy" because he put in all these decorative blocks every few feet. He thought she was nuts at first too (he's super proud of that fancy block pattern), but she just wanted a clean, smooth wall that didn't fight with her flower beds. He ended up pulling out half the decorative blocks and just used plain, matching stones. The wall looked way simpler and actually made her yard look bigger. He still jokes about it but he's done that exact same layout on his last three jobs now.

ivan_perez18d ago

Wait, he actually pulled out half the blocks he already installed? That's insane. I would have just told the lady to find another contractor and moved on to the next job. @seth_green85 your buddy has way more patience than I do. I mean, he spent all that time setting that pattern up, and then he just tore it apart because she said it looked too busy? I get that the end result worked out, but I would have been too stubborn to admit she was probably right. Her yard looking bigger is nice and all, but that's a lot of labor and materials wasted just to prove a point. He must really like making his customers happy.