Had a customer today (well it was the "maid") follow me around the pool today. The home owner was not at home and was hung up that the leak being in the light niche becasue the company who opened the pool said it could be there (they dont do leak detection) the leak ended up being a hold in the deep end of the pool. The homeowner directed the maid to watch me as I performed my inspection. When I was done with one light she was standing over the next one pointing down to it as if she was directing a 747 on a instrument landing system on the glide slope. She never left the side of the pool the entire time I was in it. When I was done the maid handed me the phone and the customer was asking me what I used as a patch. When I handed the phone back to the maid the home owner asked her what brand of adhesive I used on the patch. The maid picked up the container in my tool box and read her the label off the can. I only could possibly think that she wanted fries with that. Best thing about this is they watch you like a hawk and have no idea what it is that you are doing.

That is not right for the maid or the homeowner to play with your tools or materials. I have people ask me all the time where I get my tools, supplies, or even knowledge and I do not feel that is right either. But it is funny the homeowner is despirate enough to have the maid look at the materials so they think they will purchase it for future repairs. But I would have made it a point to tell them they cant find the leaks without the machine.
I know that sounds mean but I'm not trying to give away work either.

A word to the wise... I have had a "bird dogger" pool man on a job with me in Beverly Hills. I had to dive the pool to abandon the main drain and was underwater for a while. On the next job of the day some of my plugs had "mysteriously" disappeared. All I can say is that if you can't keep an eye on your equip. and there are circumstances where anyone can pilfer your tools, be careful!!!
Happy Hunting

Customers who LIE, claiming the pool is clean and ready or overstating the loss to try to get faster service. Had one last week: "The pool is half empty" actual loss 3 inches, owner had taken the glued in place front plug from the skimmer.
Bruce

Yeah, I agree, that is probably the best one. Their version of clean is a lot different than mine. Oh yeah, there is only a few leaves in the bottom of the pool. I get there and half a california redwood is it in.

I hate the pool owner/operator who already knows more about leak detection than I. Many say to me "why do I need to refill the pool? The leak is stopped just look above the waterline." That sort of stuff. You can have a hard time convincing some of them that you must have water over the leak for it to leak and be seen. One friend said a customer accused him of using his syringe and needle to make holes in his vinyl. He then showed the customer the "non-sharps" needle, got out of the pool and left.

Had a customer claim that I broke their light. Stated it was working before I removed it to check the light niche. I removed the light for them after explaining to them it was FILLED with water and should not be. Now, as standard practice. If there is a light in the pool I have them turn it on before I check for leak. Did a pool last week and told the customer to turn on the light for me and refused. I told them I would not enter the pool until they turned the light on. And when they did the light did not work. They in turn attempted to place blame on the liner company who installed the liner three months ago. Some people, what joy

Well said Track. I have a friggin novel of disclaimers on my invoices trying to cover my backside. Most have been hard lessons but good learning experiences. My favorite one is people calling us to find a leak, then accusing us of creating a leak by pressure testing!!! I mean give me a break. Working in Beverly Hills is such a nightmare, theese people have a lot of money because they pinch every penny and will fight tooth and nail over the cost, demo, repairs... you name it. Just gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside!

Or explaining to people who are convinced they have a leak that the liner is not leaking. After all, they are the leak detection experts, i forgot I dont know anything about it. Then people will argue with you how they dont think they should have to pay because I did not find a leak. I explain it to them itslike going to you doctor and he finds nothing wrong with you. You get your hand x rayed and the bone is not broken, you still have to pay for the x ray even when then found nothing wrong. Then they give me the deer in the headlight look and I get paid. LOL