What would you have done?

at the least, he should have offered to reimburse you for the cost of the wax and materials, (and a short case of beer would probably cover them). Some people are just cheap.
Buzz
 
"It is about supporting this excellent site with dollars so that it continues to be. Without the dollar support from people like myself and others this site would have died along time ago."

Oh baloney. More like without the technical support of knowledgable members it would die. Without that kind of support, no one would want to become/stay a member or spend the $20. There are plenty of sites that don't charge a fee to join or get special access that keep running along just fine year after year.
 
You're right, Les should pay for the whole thing by himself. Obviously you have no idea what it costs to operate a high traffic site.
 
The owner of the 23 Trophy said thanks. IMO that should be it. The bottom line is.... we don't know the boat owners financial situation, how he maintains his boat or anything about him except that he said "thanks, nice job." We do know that the detailer did not ask what specific boat was to be waxed nor was the Marina specific about what boat. Two mistakes were made neither of them by by the boat owner so why should he be laying out cash for something he didn't ask for and maybe didn't want????
 
I guess I might have given you something, but is this a case of what is an insult vs a tip? What might you have charged for this job, several hundred $? It's an unusual situation. The guy might have felt that offering you something was opening a can of worms where he's going to say here's $20 and you're going to counter, you owe me $200.

I used to live in a corner house that for whatever reason had it's address on the side street. And on the street I faced, the number I would have had, was actually the number of a house way down the street. Way out of sequence. I guess this made sense to the local PO at some point but I don't know why. On many occasions I got this guy's packages, which I always called him up about or dropped off. But once, his lawn guy fertilized my lawn. Nice, but I wasn't big on fertilizers or pesticides and didn't think it needed it. Another time his oil guy started filling my tank. I was home that day but out in the garage and eventually heard him and managed to stop it after about 100 gal. Again, thanks but, I had a free service contract with one company and wasn't supposed to go buying oil from another one (the driver didn't really seem to care anyway as long as I signed something acknowledging what he had done.) Last time, cable company hooked me up for stuff I didn't pay for, which they figured out about a month later and took away.

The thing about all of those was, it was a weird situation I just didn't expect, and I was half expecting some guy to throw a bill at me and was just happy to have him go away. At that point in my life, I was in no position to be buying anything that wasn't planned and budgeted, especially something I didn't really want done in the first place.

I eventually had to buy a sign with the number and street name from the side street and stick it by the front door so this stuff would stop.
 
A little bit like the college students that stroll down the street each spring. They paint the house numbers on the curbing at every house, then start knocking on doors asking for donations for the cause. It is nice to have something unexpected happen at times but to expect payment from me for something I did not order or budget. You better forget it!
 
George, most people would normally do the right thing. However, some people are very protective of their boats, more so than their wives. If I were you, I'd be happy he didn't get upset, claim trespassing, etc, etc...there are some nuts out there.

In the future, I hope to see you have something in writing from the marina owner to protect yourself. God forbid something happened while you were on this boat unauthorized.

Live and learn, put it in your "experience" file to make sure that never happens again.

BTW - this story reminds me of my first boat. It was "free" as I was relieving the owner of a yard ornament. However I felt better leaving behind a case of beer.
 
If it were my boat that was waxed by mistake, I would have offered to pay you for your materials and given you a tip. But that's just me. As was said by others, some people don't want anyone touching their boat, and some people are not in a financial position that they can make an offer to you. The marina goofed, but they did so because you have a history with them and both you and the marina got sloppy. Luckily, it wasn't their mechanic replacing an engine on a boat! So, my advice, in the future get all work orders in writing. Then the marina's solely at fault. P.S. The marina's "recommended" detailer here on Long Island wanted $1300 to wash and wax my "new" used 20' boat, including steam cleaning the interior. It had been sittng at the marina for 2 years. Needless to say, I can't afford to pay that and am going to do it myself over a period of a week or so. Hy
 
I would have asked you how much you usually charge for your service, and then would have offered to pay for the job. But that's me, others act differently
 
quote:
Originally posted by king5899

You would assume the owner would be happy and give you something, but then again some peaple are just downright cheap.

MJK

Click to expand...

My local ____ dealor wanted me to go look at a zipper for a guy at his house. He said it was stuck and couldnt move. So i asume its coroded and brittle teeth in need of replacing.so this afternonn i make it over to the guys house he shows me the zipper on the arch for the bimini top. I look at it its like brand new just stuck. the pull got stuck on the welt cord like you jacket zip will do. after a bit of tugging i get it free and all its good. anyway it was on my way home and not to far out of my way so i told him there would be no charge. I wasnt going to turn in a bill to the dealor for that.

then after i left i though not even a tip. after all I just tipped my diver for clearing some sea weed in my intake that he didnt bill me for this weekend.
 
Several posters have referred to "doing the right thing", meaning the person who's boat got waxed by mistake should chip in to cover the cost of the error.

I disagree.

Obviously manmade has done work at this marina before. There may be any one of several reasons why an owner would -not- chip in to cover the marina's/manmade's error:

It is not in the budget. Sorry.

"I only use xyzzy wax on my boat, now it is all screwed up"

Maybe he does not want -any- wax on the boat.

Maybe he has seen the work done by manmade, and for some reason does not like the type/quality of work done. ( The reason he has not asked manmade to wax the boat ever before )

Maybe he has already promised to detail job to someone else scheduled for the next day.

Maybe he just does not like unauthorized people messing with his boat.

Perhaps he likes manmade, likes the job done, and believes that since manmade made the error, manmade should eat the cost.

---

If your car dealership "accidentally" put a new muffler on your car, I seriously doubt that any of you would offer to pay for the un-asked for "repair". If you go to a restaurant, ask for the fish special, and get roast beef instead, you would send back the fish and wait for the corrected order, and then pay only for the fish.

I fail to see any reason why the owner of the waxed boat should feel morally compelled to offer anything whatsoever to manmade. In fact, I feel that the reverse is true: manmade should apologize for the error to to inadvertently waxed boat's owner. And the owner of the marina also owes the boat's owner an apology ( at minimum ).
 
I think he should of atleast invited George to the boat for a cocktail or adult beverage and discussed it!!!
 
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