Several months back, my husband and I were interviewing painters for what would be the final leg of a major construction project we were undergoing in our house. One painter in particular was very impressive; however his work was primarily scenery; mostly landscapes, and not something we were looking for at that moment in time. He was an artiste; we were looking for someone to slap yellow paint on our kitchen walls and call it a day. When he e-mailed me his quote, I sent him a heartfelt reply, declining politely, yet telling him how beautiful his work was and that when the time came, I would be looking to utilize his services for our master bedroom.
I waited and waited but I got no response from him. Not a thank you, screw you, nothing. At least not for a few weeks.
Imagine my surprise when I opened my e-mail one pleasant morning only to find a plea from Rembrandt. It seems he was running in a 5K race to benefit something or other and wanted to know what dollar amount he could expect to receive from me as a donation. Who wants to guess how much I sent?
I received three identical e-mail requests from him before they finally stopped for good.
Is this standard practice nowadays? Because as far as I’m concerned it’s just bad business.
The next contractor who wants my “address” is getting the one that hangs over my front door. And if they’re too young to know what a stamp is, I’ll contract some old fart who does.
At this point, I wouldn’t hire that guy to paint my toenails.
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