Many years ago I had my own business called "Dirty Works" which involved home improvements, painting, hauling off trash, yard work, etc. I used to give out business cards, fliers and advertise in Yellow Book. I received a call about a week ago from a retired couple that had gotten one of my cards in years passed and needed stuff hauled off from their basement.
I told them that I no longer did that type of work but that I would look at their basement to see if I could work them in on a weekend. The stuff in their basement had been stored there for over 20 years and had also received flood damage. Among the stuff was a mattress & box springs, old cardboard boxes, a couple of old chairs, some smelly old carpet rolled up and other odds and ends, some of which was stuck to the floor.
It wasn't as bad as I have seen and I saw an opportunity to make a little extra money in my spare time. They were in no real big hurry for the completion of the task and said they could work around my schedule. They said, "we've waited 20 years to clean it up so a few weeks more isn't going to hurt".
I told them I would charge them by the load and told them it would take at least two truck loads. It took me two Saturdays to complete the cleaning. Over 7 large construction grade trash bags and two truck loads later the job was complete.
The retired couple were well pleased with my work and I felt guilty about charging them full price for the second truck load because my truck was only about three fourths full. After my work was done and it was time for them to write me a check I explained my reasoning concerning the second load and told them I would reduce their fee by $25.00 to pro-rate the last load. The lady of the house spoke up and said, "Oh no, we will pay you for two full loads and give you a tip"!
I was surprised by their response and not only received pay for hauling off two full loads but was given an extra $25.00 tip! I thanked them and was on my merry way.
Thanks to being honest and not taking advantage of them I not only got rewarded with monetary means but gained new friends in the process. Before I left their home they promised to call on me in the future if they needed any other work done. Doing a job right does pay off!
