# does an old van affect buisness?



## IHI (Dec 25, 2004)

pcplumber said:


> I purchase only used vans and do not letter most of them for several reasons. One is to make us appear less expensive. Another is because when we do sell a huge job we don't want to advertise that we are working on the job because we have had nosy neighbors see the lettering on our trucks and they immediately walk into our customers house and talk the customer into canceling the job.


I just gotta ask...HTF does this happen?? something is seriously amiss here??? not wanting to pull permits so staying low key to stay on the down low works better to do this? or WTF?? I've NEVER in all my years heard of this sceanario- neighbor walks over and tells HO, stop, cancel the work and then turns arond and goes home while HO actually listens...so where does that leave the HO that obviously needed your services?? They just have you stop mid stream in a faucet install, rough in plumbing, reno??


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## 22rifle (Apr 23, 2008)

IHI said:


> I just gotta ask...HTF does this happen?? something is seriously amiss here??? not wanting to pull permits so staying low key to stay on the down low works better to do this? or WTF?? I've NEVER in all my years heard of this sceanario- neighbor walks over and tells HO, stop, cancel the work and then turns arond and goes home while HO actually listens...so where does that leave the HO that obviously needed your services?? They just have you stop mid stream in a faucet install, rough in plumbing, reno??



This guy has made a lot of posts on this forum. Read over them (the ones he hasn't deleted that is.) and you will soon understand why this kind of thing happens to him.


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## IHI (Dec 25, 2004)

22rifle said:


> This guy has made a lot of posts on this forum. Read over them (the ones he hasn't deleted that is.) and you will soon understand why this kind of thing happens to him.


I see...i always hate to take a soap box stance, but too many holes in this thought process is why i asked.


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## rbsremodeling (Nov 12, 2007)

IHI said:


> I just gotta ask...HTF does this happen?? something is seriously amiss here??? not wanting to pull permits so staying low key to stay on the down low works better to do this? or WTF?? I've NEVER in all my years heard of this sceanario- neighbor walks over and tells HO, stop, cancel the work and then turns arond and goes home while HO actually listens...so where does that leave the HO that obviously needed your services?? They just have you stop mid stream in a faucet install, rough in plumbing, reno??



The neighor has a plumber, friend, uncle, nephew husband etc. That can do it cheaper. It happens on the big jobs not the small one day in and out trips


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## rbsremodeling (Nov 12, 2007)

22rifle said:


> That says all I need to know about your company.



I think you mis read him. I know exactly what he is talking about. It comes from working in the city. The tickets, thieves, competition, neighbors, everything comes into play.

It is insane what people will do to keep you from being successful. I might be wrong and he may be the guy you pegged him for


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## 22rifle (Apr 23, 2008)

IHI said:


> I see...i always hate to take a soap box stance, but too many holes in this thought process is why i asked.


Nah, you are OK. And you are spot on with your questions.

The emperor has no clothes. And the neighbors can see that. So they come over to tell the victim... er... I mean customer... that the emperor has no clothes. Then when the victim/customer opens his/her eyes they see the truth for themselves and run the emperor off the place.

So the emperor tries to make sure the neighbors don't know he is in the neighborhood.


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## 22rifle (Apr 23, 2008)

rbsremodeling said:


> I think you mis read him. I know exactly what he is talking about. It comes from working in the city. The tickets, thieves, competition, neighbors, everything comes into play.
> 
> It is insane what people will do to keep you from being successful. I might be wrong and he may be the guy you pegged him for


There is more to this guy than just your normal big city issues.

I have plenty of friends who work in big cities without the neighbor problem this guys speaks of. Yeah, I know what it's like to have neighbors second guess you. But to the extent you have to hide who you are?

The emperor has no clothes!


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## pcplumber (Oct 12, 2008)

*That is not very nice!*



22rifle said:


> There is more to this guy than just your normal big city issues.
> 
> I have plenty of friends who work in big cities without the neighbor problem this guys speaks of. Yeah, I know what it's like to have neighbors second guess you. But to the extent you have to hide who you are?
> 
> The emperor has no clothes!


We are currently servicing approximately 3,000 customers every years. The size of the city is irrelevant.

It is very common for a neighbor to walk over to another neighbor when they see 2 to 5 employees show up. People are nosy. In fact the more upper scale neighborhoods have the most nosy neighbors. They want to know what the Jones' are doing.

It is common for a neighbor to ask another neighbor what is going on. 

It is common for a neighbor to tell another neighbor they can get someone to do a job for less money even when they don't have a clue about the scope of the work nor a clue about the price. 

One neighbor talking to another neighbor has absolutely no bearing on my company. After a job is started about 95% of all neighbors and contractors tell a customer or neighbor they could have done the job for less. That is just the way it is! Since we stopped lettering our trucks we get less people interfering with our jobs. 

We even had plumbers walk directly into our customer's homes without knocking and try to take away our jobs when the customers don't even know these plumbers. We have had neighbors who were plumbers (drug addicts) walk directly into our customer's homes and tell us to get out of our customer's house because they were the sole contractor for our customer. Most often, our customers called us because they did not want to do business with their neighbors. A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about a job where a neighbor tried to take it away and I came close to hitting the neighbor with my 4-battery mag light. We almost had a riot on the job and several police cars arrived. That is just the way it is and I have no control over neighbors. All I know is not advertising on my truck reduces the encounters with neighbors. It has absolutely nothing to do with the way we do business.

Those remarks were disrespectful.


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## neolitic (Apr 20, 2006)

Yet another reason to be glad
not to be in LALAland.....


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## 22rifle (Apr 23, 2008)

pcplumber said:


> Those remarks were disrespectful.


I guess I can't hide what I think very well huh?


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

Uh-oh the plumbers are getting restless.


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## 22rifle (Apr 23, 2008)

WarnerConstInc. said:


> Uh-oh the plumbers are getting restless.


Nah, it's just that this guy showed up on another forum Nathan owns and tried to tell us how he was a plumber from Louisiana and a lot of other BS. 

So Jack aka Leonard aka PCPlumber aka City Girl is the guy who runs Bestline Plumbing in California? The repipe guys? The Marry a Plumber guys?

These guys: http://www.bestlineplumbing.com/

These guys: http://www.bestlineplumbing.com/1%20...%20Plumber.htm

I see...

And yet, the guy who owns Bestline Plumbing from California goes on Plumbingzone.com and tells us he is an 18 year old from Louisiana? And a whole lot of other bogus stories about who he is. At least he isn't running a scam with his plumbing business. At least I hope Bestline Plumbing doesn't scam their customers. I hope they are more honest with their customers in California than they are on that forum.

PS. Mods, be prepared for requests to delete this thread. Please dont.


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## pcplumber (Oct 12, 2008)

*Yes, I have many anonymous names.*

This is the reason I came to this forum.


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## 22rifle (Apr 23, 2008)

shrug...

the emperor has no clothes...


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## boydsdodge (Apr 13, 2008)

I don't think the age of the truck is the problem, I think it is the condition that it is kept.
I have an 89 Dodge van that looks great with not a dent or rust spot on it.
I have gotten many complements from customers and other trades on how good of condition my truck is and how it looks.
The thing that looks good on me is that it is my up keep of my cars and trucks that look good and that all the maintenance and repairs are done by me.
I am a serious motor head in my other life.


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## RenaissanceR (May 16, 2006)

*I'm not worthy*

[deleted]


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## concretemasonry (Dec 1, 2006)

The appearance and maintenance speak far louder than the age of the van. - It is a reflection of the life and and benefits of doing it right, not the age. Most people cannot identify or care about the age of a van. The function and appearance are what counts and makes worrying about card layouts and graphics look insignificant.


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## rustyjames (Aug 28, 2008)

RenaissanceR said:


> Had an estimate with a client in a rich, snotty town near Boston last week. I drive a 1998 Ford van, excellent condition, no dents, dings, professionally lettered/signed. The person came to the door and muttered "Oh, a Van, I am not impressed, most contractors who work in this town drive Hummers or Land Rovers".
> 
> I left...


I would have done the same; too bad you had to waste your time.


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## RenaissanceR (May 16, 2006)

*Dreaming...*

[deleted]


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## handyhands (Sep 8, 2008)

*my honest opinion*

My daily driver is a bmw 325i.

My window rep. drives a lexus, and my other rep. drives an audi. I've personally wondered at times if the homeowner thinks "geeesh....these guys prices must be high if they're showing up to my house and pulling a window sample out of a lexus." But in all seriousness, my window rep. has the best sales closing ratio at our place of business.

We have a company lettered/ logo'd truck that is generally used when doing some of the estimates. Always clean, and very nice looking truck. Professional.

Would I go to a homeowners' home for the first time, driving an amc gremlin with rot holes throughout, music blaring from the speakers, in my finest marilyn manson concert shirt encrusted with leftover kfc crumbs? Probably not the greatest idea. 

As mentioned previously, 1st impressions mean the world.


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## TBFGhost (Oct 9, 2008)

I have a 1996 Ford Ranger XLT. White with a rack. It is a simple rig that gets me where I need to go, and does everything I ask of it. I make sure it mechanically upkept and I try my best to keep it clean. It is a little harder in winter, but with 180k on the clock now she is still doing pretty well. Even though the paint is pretty shot, I wax it with a high quality wax and keep the wheels clean. That makes a truck look 200% better. Throw on some tire shine and that helps a ton. I have been lucky enough to stumble into a pretty good situation. Got a job replacing exterior trim with AZEK in one close-nit development...the word spread and now I am getting neighbors and neighbors of neighbors....so when it is warm, I can now take my 600RR to run estimates...:clap:

Yes, I have no lettering on my truck...most of my work is coming from WOM.


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## beerisgoodfood (Mar 16, 2007)

mmmmmmm...

KFC crumbs.


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