LaslowNET

Here’s a collection of a few short Tales that aren’t quite big enough for posts of their own. Hope you enjoy!

How to Talk Yourself Out of a Sale

A few years ago, I was doing a quick-and-dirty wiring job for a friend and needed to grab a thousand foot spool of CAT-5e Ethernet cable. At this point, I hadn’t really developed any contacts in town, so I ran out to one of the local computer shops (we’ll call it “Pete’s Computers and Machines”) that tended to carry more than just systems and basic accessories. When one of the salesmen finally acknowledged me, the following conversation ensued:

Him: What can I get for you?

Me: I need a thousand foot spool of CAT-5e – no ends, it’s going in the wall and I’ve already got jacks.

Him (after a brief pause): No, you need these. *points to a wall displaying a myriad pre-made, bagged cable*

Me: No…I need bulk cable. I need to do a few long runs from a patch panel to wall jacks. All of this stuff isn’t long enough and has ends.

Him: I don’t know why you’d think you need bulk cable. Really, this will do for anything you need.

Me: Let me explain this one more time. I’m running cable. Specifically, it’s going from a patch panel in a utility room, through a drop ceiling, and then down a wall in to a box with a jack there. I need about a thousand feet for a few runs. Do you have what I need?

Him (flashing a beaming smile): Of course. *pointing to the same bags on the wall* Right here!

Me: ….

Needless to say, I never went there again.

A New Definition of Professionalism

A friend of mine that does low voltage wiring/telecom systems asked me to help him with a small job – the customer just wanted some jacks installed on either end of a direct-bury CAT-5e cable, but wanted two wireless routers and a debit machine configured as well. As I used to do debit machine installs in a past career I agreed to help.

After driving an hour to get to the job site, we got everything setup and working to the owners liking. I gave them a tutorial on how to use the debit and then we left. Later, the customer contacted my friend and told him that, by bringing someone in who specialized in networking and debit machines that he was being ‘unprofessional’. The customer went on to say that if my friend ever wants to ‘make it big in the real business world’, he should just do it himself, even if it takes three times as long, costs three times as much, and needs a second visit to fix things.

That customer was branded a P.I.T.A and neither my friend or myself will be doing any work for him in the future. It’s funny how some people don’t want things done right or cheap.