Your input, please.....

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Lousyweather

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Lets say its winter and cold.....a customer calls you for a pellet stove repair. You show up at their place, get inside, you notice that hey, this place is infested with fleas! Now, not being a animal person, I don't have any at home, nor do I have fleas. Being somewhat cognizant of the diseases borne by these little fellas, and their propensity to infest your own clothing, end ergo, your own domicile, do you folks feel the technician is justified in packing up and leaving (without fixing the unit), and basically requesting that the folks call back when the flea infestation is taken care of? Of course no charge for no work done, so, the service call price is a nonissue.....

What do you guys and gals think?
 
I think he technician was justified.
 
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You have the right to refuse service to anyone as a business owner. My wife is a Vet and she has refused service to owners with unruly animals. If she felt there was an increased threat of harm to her or her staff her first action is to work around the situation with safeguards like an E-collar or having the owner and staff hold the animal down. If the staff injury risk is high because of a biting or scratching animal she charges the owner more. If the risk isn't worth it she says sorry I can't take care of Spike the dog, or Mr Ed the horse. I even had a mobile notary come to my home and refuse to enter until I unplugged all portable electric devices, the microwave, and turned off my cellphone. I needed a notary on short notice and she was available so I complied.

It's your business and you operate it at a certain standard. If the risk/reward is not worth it I would politely refuse as you did. That being said, I've learned in life that a service becomes valuable when you are willing to do what others won't do, can't do, or if you can do it better, or cheaper. A stove repair person in a wintery setting is a gold mine in and of itself from my limited experience.
 
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EastMtn said:
You have the right to refuse service to anyone as a business owner. My wife is a Vet and she has refused service to owners with unruly animals. If she felt there was an increased threat of harm to her or her staff her first action is to work around the situation with safeguards like an E-collar or having the owner and staff hold the animal down. If the staff injury risk is high because of a biting or scratching animal she charges the owner more. If the risk isn't worth it she says sorry I can't take care of Spike the dog, or Mr Ed the horse. I even had a mobile notary come to my home and refuse to enter until I unplugged all portable electric devices, the microwave, and turned off my cellphone. I needed a notary on short notice and she was available so I complied.

It's your business and you operate it at a certain standard. If the risk/reward is not worth it I would politely refuse as you did. That being said, I've learned in life that a service becomes valuable when you are willing to do what others won't do, can't do, or if you can do it better, or cheaper. A stove repair person in a wintery setting is a gold mine in and of itself from my limited experience.
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I dunno.....maybe I'm just more anti-flea than others, so, I sit there maybe overanalyzing an issue, but man, I sure don't want to have to do service, get infested, have to flea bomb the van, have to immediately wash my clothing, and have to worry about infesting my own place and everywhere else I went between the customer and end of day. Possibly many folks just look at fleas as a way of life with animals, and its no big deal to them......meh...what's with a few fleas kind of stuff.....
 
Working as an electrician early in my career I was sent to install some outlets for a homeowner. Well , the place really stunk of cats and the waste they produce was not only in the litter box. . I told the homeowner outright I wouldn`t work there under those conditions and I quickly returned to the shop for another job assignment.
A week later my boss sent me back to that house to do the job originally slated and as promised I found the place cleaned up and no odors. The homeowner didn`t seem to be the least bit upset or concerned over the matter one bit . He was quite friendly and obviously happy that I stayed and performed the work he requested.
Personally I`d be absolutely embarrassed to have a tradesman refuse to work in my home for any similar reason , but the fact is many folks who keep animals become accustomed and or immune to the stink and maybe subconciously oblivious to it.
 
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Yea not worth the money. Although that must have been quite a infestation for someone to see flees that quickly usually it requires some digging.
 
Yeah get him out of there. We have a cat and went through our first flea attack in 18 years three years ago. You do not ever want that to happen to you. Ever.
 
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Maybe I'm the only animal lover out there, but if it's that bad, why didn't anyone contact the humane society or the animal control officer? The poor critters don't need to be kept like that and the law is probably being broken.
 
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absolutely justified in leaving.
as someone else mentioned, if you were able to see fleas without really looking for them, that is a serious infestation.
 
Stevekng said:
Maybe I'm the only animal lover out there, but if it's that bad, why didn't anyone contact the humane society or the animal control officer? The poor critters don't need to be kept like that and the law is probably being broken.
Click to expand...
No animal lovers.:(
 
If you've EVER been under a flea attack like BB, you'd agree that your tech doesn't want to be in that home. I've gone thru it, with a dog that picked up sand fleas, & I must be high on the flea food chain, cause they FEASTED on my legs. I scratched to the point of bleeding....Maybe as a former blue-eyed, blond-haired kid, my skin is a little more sensitive than most, but I can FEEL a flea if it lands on me. If I can get to it before it bites, I grab it between my finger & thumb & "friction" it into oblivion by rubbing my finger & thumb tips together...We keep pets covered monthly with flea & tick stuff & I keep flea collars in the vacuum cleaner bags so any eggs that get sucked up, won't hatch or won't live long enuff to breed, & we still might hafta "bomb" once in awhile...
 
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