Unreasonable

These people were my good customers. After working in their last five homes, the deal is off. I will tell the story and then you be the judge.
I always got on well with these folks, although I was never sure that I was good enough for them. She was on the top ten picky list for sure. I always thought that one day she would push the wrong button on me and it would be over between them and me. It happened in this house. She called me in to do touch ups in her stairwell. Just a bit here and there, and it would be fine. I warned her that the paint had to be from the same can as what the original job was from, or the touch ups would show. She assured me the half empty five gallon pail that she brought up from the basement was the right paint and just go ahead and do it. It was an hour of work, hardly worth driving out for but she had agreed to my fee. As the paint dried, it became obvious that it was a slightly different colour. Needless to say, she was displeased. Her perfect walls were ruined and now I had to get some new, fresh paint and redo the whole entry which had a curved staircase and was not easy to get at. I drove back to town, purchased the paint, brought some scaffolding, and fixed the problem properly. It looked like new, but now my bill was $300.00 instead of $50.00.
She flipped out and would only pay me the $50.00. I did not argue with her, but did try to be reasonable and persuasive. Just then her husband came in the door. His wife was in hysterics and I could see by his reaction that his thoughts were "Oh no, not again." Much to my relief, he grasped the situation immediately and took my side, as he was a man of logic and reason. He finally got firm with his wife and told her to "just pay the man!"
Amidst dirty looks and much muttering, she wrote the cheque and tossed it my way. I thanked her and left.
I have not seen either of them for a few years now, but neither have I had a call asking for my services. It is just as well.