We had a phone call yesterday from someone asking whether we would copy a page from an old Chamber of Commerce Directory and send it to them. They didn’t want to buy the book – just wanted a copy of the one page and were happy to pay for the service. Being a helpful sort of bookseller, I obliged, and as it really took very little time or effort, told them not to worry that there would be no charge. About half an hour after sending the e-mail with the attached page, we received a request asking if we would mind sending another page, and again insisting that they should pay us for our research. So for a second time we did the honours - for free – honestly it’s not a problem when I’m not rushed off my feet. A bit later in the day I clicked on the website link in their e-mail, and discovered that they were a firm of London plumbers – and that was when the penny dropped. Plumbers are so used to charging a call-out fee that they don’t expect anyone else to do something for no payment. I once had a leaking down pipe and the plumber came and changed a washer in the valve thingy in the loft – he was here for a maximum of 15 minutes and 10 minutes of that time was spent drinking tea and revelling in his good fortune that he could fleece me! 40 quid it cost for a little rubber washer (and that was 10 years ago.) The same plumber used to service our boiler every year, but, so peeved was I at being mugged, that after that we never used him again. So maybe I should have been a plumber, but at least I can sleep at night. And the moral of the story is the next time someone rings wanting a service that I would normally provide for free - I’m going to ask them what they do for a living. 
Friday, June 17, 2011
You Scratch My Back...
We had a phone call yesterday from someone asking whether we would copy a page from an old Chamber of Commerce Directory and send it to them. They didn’t want to buy the book – just wanted a copy of the one page and were happy to pay for the service. Being a helpful sort of bookseller, I obliged, and as it really took very little time or effort, told them not to worry that there would be no charge. About half an hour after sending the e-mail with the attached page, we received a request asking if we would mind sending another page, and again insisting that they should pay us for our research. So for a second time we did the honours - for free – honestly it’s not a problem when I’m not rushed off my feet. A bit later in the day I clicked on the website link in their e-mail, and discovered that they were a firm of London plumbers – and that was when the penny dropped. Plumbers are so used to charging a call-out fee that they don’t expect anyone else to do something for no payment. I once had a leaking down pipe and the plumber came and changed a washer in the valve thingy in the loft – he was here for a maximum of 15 minutes and 10 minutes of that time was spent drinking tea and revelling in his good fortune that he could fleece me! 40 quid it cost for a little rubber washer (and that was 10 years ago.) The same plumber used to service our boiler every year, but, so peeved was I at being mugged, that after that we never used him again. So maybe I should have been a plumber, but at least I can sleep at night. And the moral of the story is the next time someone rings wanting a service that I would normally provide for free - I’m going to ask them what they do for a living. 
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