Customer told me my work was 'too neat' and I get it now

Had a homeowner in Dayton stop me mid-install last month. Said the cable lines I ran along the baseboard looked like a hospital hallway. He wanted them loose and tucked behind trim instead. I argued at first, told him the tight 90s and clips would last longer. But he pulled up a photo of his last installer's work, all wavy and hidden in the shadows. Ran it his way, no clips, just friction fit. Took me an extra 20 minutes to make sure it wouldn't sag. Three weeks later he texted me, no signal issues. Sometimes customers want it to look like nobody was there, not like a pro was there. Anyone else find that hiding work beats perfect work in certain homes?

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wendy_bell832mo ago

And that's the thing people miss about this trade. We're taught to make it look clean and textbook, but the customer isn't paying for a textbook, they're paying for peace of mind. Loose and hidden means they don't have to think about the wires at all. I've had the same fight with a few folks, and every time I swallow my pride and do it their way, I learn something. The neat work shows like a band-aid, it draws the eye, and some people just want their house to look like nothing ever happened. Your extra 20 minutes was the real skill there, making sloppy look natural takes more thought than making it perfect. That text from the customer three weeks later is worth more than any before and after photo you could show a future client.

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