The only good lawyer...

puttyboy

CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
Joined
Jan 28, 2005
Posts
283
Loc
minnesota
I had a freshly minted lawyer come in,black suit, red tie,with a black overcoat; Yet not quite ready to shave every day. The guy is looking to frame his new law school and state bar diplomas (2) and right off the get go he asks for a quantity discount after consulting on mats, moulding, etc.
I politely explained that we only give quantity discounts on 5 or more pcs but I would happily give him our sale price that we've been doing the past couple weeks (50 % off the frame only).
You would think I slapped him based on his reaction of "thats the best you can do?" Now I'm a pretty patient man, but this guy was able to get the short hairs standing on the back of my neck. I kindly said yes, thats our sale price.
He then says, "oh com'on, you must make a killing in this business." That did it.
I gracefully let him know about the deep-discount framer about 3 miles from here if he needed it done for less than I could provide for him. No, he wanted to pick out cheaper things here. So we picked out a cheap black moulding with no mats,I gave him the price to which he agreed to and then asked when they will be ready. I said 7-10 days.
He grabbed his diplomas and said "thats ridiculous" and walked out.I smiled.
I can almost garantee this guy will be successful in his new found career as an ambulance chaser, but I'll be able to sleep at night knowing that the work I do brings me joy and peace of mind.
Anyone have good lawyer jokes?
 
Judges/ Lawyers all are bottom feeders in the lower realms of our existance.
On our best day we make art more enjoyable, on our worst day we wait for art to make more enjoyable.
Lawyers wait for misery / accidents / sorrow to touch someones life and then exploit it.
My FORMER brother in law was a lawyer then a judge, got busted after he beat up his new fiance (a radio DJ in NY) then dui his car into a parked car.
His punishment...................6 months no license and he quit the bench.
If it was a regular person they would be locked up before the ink dried on the paper work.
Lawyers are mean and mean people suck!
 
They are not all like that.
Some of my best customers are lawyers( should I say thier wives). One of my biggest jobs was for a lawyer and he was very easy to please.(rare I know)

The ones I struggle with are the engineers. They are hard to please. They don't understand the concept of "hand done".
Jennifer
 
I agree with J about the engineers.

Last week, I had a guy who works for one of the local defense contractors. He brought in a scale rendering of a triple mat with two openings. No problem! Trouble was that he drew it on a CAD program full size then scaled it down to a standard 8-1/2 x 11 paper.

When he scaled it down, the 12 point type dimensions became 2 point. I had to use a magnifying glass to read it.

Here. Try these.

http://www.workjoke.com/projoke40.htm

http://www.lawyer-jokes.us/
 
Let's not forget the lazy .... realitors,they sure are a waste of good money, but who needs them a smart person with some marketing experince and a good laywer (I know I said laywer and good in one sentence)anyone one could become one.
 
Most of the lawyers I know are very nice people, but then I live in a small town and only know small town lawyers. My daughter, who is a very nice person, wants to be a lawyer. Looking at the price of law school, I can understand that a new lawyer would want to save as much money as possible. He probably has loans to pay back. I think I would have pointed out to him that he worked hard for those degrees and they are worth alot of money (how ever much law school cost.)I also would have pointed out that, nicely framed, they will enhance his image. Poorly framed, they will detract from it.

I'll have to show my daughter the lawyer jokes. She isn't sure what kind of law she wants to go into, but she wants it to be something that helps people. I could see her as the kind who specializes in wills and estates.
 
A lawyer came in today with a signed print and dressed to the nines, of course with no time to spend. We're running a sale for employees of the adjoining office tower tomorrow and he caught wind of it and asked for the price a day early. No problem. Declined acid free mats. Declined conservation glass. Went to a smaller moulding. He's down to paying about $240 for the $342 job. Almost never discount that much, but January has been really slow. He wants to "think about it" and also needs it for Wednesday of next week. I can only do that if we complete the sale now so I can get the materials in on my Friday Larson delivery, otherwise I'll have to make a trip to the distributor which would mean a rush charge. Sensing my dislike for the 50 mile drive he comes back with "if you take off an extra $20 I'll make up my mind now, otherwise I'll decide tomorrow but I won't pay a rush fee when you'll still have 5 days to complete the job." I gave him too much information to work with. Even after all these years, I still screw up.

I hate running sales.
 
Johnny, only if you gave in to his demand did you screw up. Though, why give him the option of acid free mats and conservation glass, just tell hinm that is what he is getting. If you give options never give a lesser option.

He's putting pressure on you, that's what he does for a living. Sales is a pressure game as well, he needed it by Wed, you pressure him to make the decision now in order to get it by then. Remember you are always in charge.
 
"Anyone have good lawyer jokes?"

Yep, but it's on me!

When I worked for another shop, we would notice that many professionals were "cost conscience". Everyone joked that lawyers and Doctors should be charged double because, 1. They had no trouble charging us for their services and 2. Their "dealing” required more of our time at the counter.

One evening I was calling customers to tell them that their framing was completed and they could pick up their order. After dialing one number the answering machine informed me that I had reached a lawyer's office. Just as the tone sounded I shouted to a colleague that this guy was a lawyer and we should have charged him double. After I realized that I had been recorded I hung up and asked my colleague to call back in the morning.

I bet they had caller ID.

The cheapest customer I have ever had was a Pediatric Neurosurgeon who had graduated from Harvard. All of his diplomas and photos were framed in cheap shiny Formica frames with no mats He would not even let his wife pay for a single mat on a piece she was framing for her office and she was also a doctor!
 
Originally posted by MerpsMom:
The money's in deciphering phone and cable bills. If she masters that, I think she would find medical bills a breeze.
She can't even dechiper her own bank statements half the time! That's why she knows she doesn't want to go into business law. Currently she's majoring in history with an emphasis in law. The other thing I could see her doing is working in some form of public service. She's not real interested in the money aspect. It's the helping change the world that she's more interested in. She'll probably get caught up in politics evetually.
 
These are good!

I had the local lawyer come in and wanted to design something "special" for his kids law degree. He had seen the high-end framing we had done of my husbands various engineering degrees and licenses and wanted something like that. I pulled out versions of multiple mats, fillets, frames, and priced it out; he said to me while he threw his hands in the air(and I had to bite my tongue) and I quote "what has custom framing come to?" and then stated that he guessed he would have his wife figure it out (never saw the degree again). I bit my tongue very hard, because my first response was to ask what his hourly rate as a lawyer was - but I didn't, but I now know that their "rack rate" is a measley $175 an hour - "what has lawyering come to?" :D

elaine :D
still smiling
 
For Doctores and lawyers make sure to remind them that the framing may be a tax deduction. This has paid off big several times.

framer
 
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