Failure to Communicate

Fandango

“Give it a rest,” Dave, the contractor, told Nick. “The quote is what the quote is.”

“Give it a rest? That’s what you have to say after almost doubling your initial quote?” Nick said. “I’m flabbergasted by this. What are all these additional charges you inserted into this revised quote you gave me?”

“Now let’s discuss this with poise and grace, Nick,” Dave said, trying to calm down his client. “I think I know what the problem is. Your wife reached out to me and said that she wanted to upgrade to designer appliances and hardware, which is what those additional line items are. I guess she didn’t clear that with you before she contacted me.”

“No, she did not,” Nick said. “And you can cancel that designer crap she told you to get and go back with the baseline appliances and hardware we had agreed to.”

“No can do, Nick,” Dave said. “I ordered the stuff as soon as your wife asked me to. It’s been delivered and it’s only returnable if defective.”

“That’s your problem, Dave,” Nick said. “I never approved the changes to the original work order.”

“It’s actually your problem, Nick,” Dave said. “And it’s a lot bigger than about this job and the appliances. What you and your wife have is a serious failure to communicate.”

Written for these daily prompts from yesterday: Ragtag Daily Prompt (rest), The Daily Spur (quote), Fandango’s One Word Challenge (flabbergasted), My Vivid Blog (inserted), Your Daily Word Prompt (poise), and Word of the Day (designer).

10 thoughts on “Failure to Communicate”

  1. Ron. December 5, 2022 / 3:51 pm

    Great tale and prompt usage, Fan. Rings-true dialog, and closes with a reminder (for me) of a famous line from my all-time favorite cinematic oldie: when the chain gang warden stands over a badly beaten Cool Hand Luke (ie Paul Newman) & says, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

    Liked by 2 people

    • Fandango December 5, 2022 / 5:37 pm

      Yes, a great line from a great movie.

      Like

    • Fandango December 5, 2022 / 7:35 pm

      Maybe Dave was a big, burly guy and Nick was no match for him.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Nope, Not Pam December 6, 2022 / 12:12 am

    I wouldn’t hire Dave in a fit. 😡

    Liked by 1 person

  5. pensitivity101 December 6, 2022 / 9:22 am

    Big bucks score……… a good contractor would have checked with Nick first. A quote is a quote, and if Nick didn’t agree to the revisions, I don’t think he’s responsible (I wonder how he’d stand legally?)
    As for the wife, I’d ditch her with her new appliances and let her pay! LOL

    Liked by 1 person

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