How to tell a customer i am not charging them for a job

[Esmae]

I have a customer that came to me through the week (he was a very broken hearted looking guy in every way. 30ish) and asked me to print and apply a photo of his son to a battered old milk can that he had powdercoated for his wife for her birthday. He didn't elaborate but told me his son had passed away. At the time I didn't know the details, like whether he was an infant or a teen and I always like to price carefully in this situation. I have been in this predicament before with engraving and have had to create plaques for deceased people(generally older 60+), usually a memorial type plaque that goes into a garden or similar and i always do them at cost, i can't bring myself to put a markup on them (we only get these a couple of times a year).

So i asked him to email a photo of his son to me with the details he wants on it. Today I received the jpeg with his sons name and the text he wants. The photo of the young guy shows he is about mid teens and obviously chronically disabled, my heart has completely gone out to him and his family. So as you do, i googled his name and he passed away in feb this year due to complications from cerebral palsy.

This milk can obviously holds some importance to them and the job apart from an hour or so of photoshop work will only cost about $3 in material. So my question is....

Do i charge a small amount to save the guy the embarrassment of me treating him like a charity case (not preferred)

or

Not charge at all, just hand him the job and run away. (preferred)

or

Not charge at all and come up with a reason why i am not charging for the job, this would be where i need input from fellow s101ers

or

(just thought of this) charge cost price and donate the money to the cerebral palsy league

 

[DizzyMarkus]

How about telling them to make the donation in their name in exchange for a no fee milk can :0)

Great jesture,
Markus

 

[Jillbeans]

I would just hand it to him and while doing so tell him that there is no charge.
I had to personalize a tiny urn for a little dead chihuahua's ashes, took me 5 minutes to hand-letter and there was no way I could charge for that.
Love...Jill

 

[tsgstl]

"The honor of being envolved in this project far outweighs any price I could charge."
If he insists on paying, then tell him to donate what he thinks it is worth to him towards charity.

 

[Techman]

I tell them.
I do this for the blessing from god.. I do not charge for that..

 

[d fleming]

+1

"The honor of being envolved in this project far outweighs any price I could charge."
If he insists on paying, then tell him to donate what he thinks it is worth to him towards charity.

 

[Marlene]

just hand it to him and tell him that you are sorry for the loss of his son then add any of the good advice given in the other posts. acts of kindness from one human to another is what makes all this worth while.

 

[omgsideburns]

I usually just hand it to them and say there isn't a bill. "Don't worry about it."

 

[webguru]

You have a kind heart Bless You!

Hand him the finished milk can and tell him a hug is the only payment required. It will do both of you more good than you could ever put a price on.

 

[bob]

I usually just hand it to them and say there isn't a bill. "Don't worry about it."

Exactly so. Just do it.

Never, ever, explain yourself unless circumstances demand you do so. This is not one of those circumstances.

Smarmy 'blessings from my gods' declarations, hugs, and commiseration of any kind are not only not needed, they are detrimental.

The object is to send the client on his way with a minimum of fuss. It his enough on its mind without having to feel beholden to you for anything. Even tenuous emotional support.

 

[Locals Find!]

Just say "This one is on the house" and leave it at that. Nothing more needs to or should be said.

 

[Gino]

I agree. We've been doing this for years. Hand it to them, shake their hands and tell them..... No charge.

 

[SD&F]

I would tell him no charge and give him a hand shake.
He will understand.

 

[houseofgrafix]

"The honor of being envolved in this project far outweighs any price I could charge."
If he insists on paying, then tell him to donate what he thinks it is worth to him towards charity.

Yep.. Thats it!

 

[Esmae]

Thanks everyone, yes i think i'll just tell him "no charge" and not elaborate.

 

[TammieH]

Just want to say, this thread makes my heart warm.

 

[cdiesel]

When we do these freebies we just say so. Two weeks ago it was 4:15 on Friday, we'd been getting our asses kicked for about two months straight, everyone was beat. I had just gotten off the phone with a truck driver wanting to get his truck lettered that day and told him no way. Not happening. Not five minutes later I got a call from a young lady looking to have a banner made. She said she needed it that day. I told her it wasn't possible, but we could probably get it done on Monday. She said to have it that day as her brother was coming home from Afghanistan the next morning. I told her we couldn't do it and we hung up. Sat there thinking about it for about 30 seconds and I got her number off the caller ID and called her back. She picked the banner up about half an hour later. She teared up when I told her there was no charge, but to tell her brother that the guys at azpro said thank you.

No matter how chitty my day/week/months had been, it wasn't that bad.

 

[Desert_Signs]

When we do these freebies we just say so. Two weeks ago it was 4:15 on Friday, we'd been getting our asses kicked for about two months straight, everyone was beat. I had just gotten off the phone with a truck driver wanting to get his truck lettered that day and told him no way. Not happening. Not five minutes later I got a call from a young lady looking to have a banner made. She said she needed it that day. I told her it wasn't possible, but we could probably get it done on Monday. She said to have it that day as her brother was coming home from Afghanistan the next morning. I told her we couldn't do it and we hung up. Sat there thinking about it for about 30 seconds and I got her number off the caller ID and called her back. She picked the banner up about half an hour later. She teared up when I told her there was no charge, but to tell her brother that the guys at azpro said thank you.

No matter how chitty my day/week/months had been, it wasn't that bad.

+1. We don't advertise it, but we will always print a free banner for a Soldier's welcome home. We always put our business name and contact info on the side hems of our banners. EXCEPT these. We won't put our name on it. Not because we don't want anyone knowing we did it, but because we don't want to earn business that way.

We do some stuff for Gold Star mom's (mother's who have lost a son or daughter in the service of our Country). Not the organization, per se, but for the individual mom's. Those are some hard jobs. It really puts in perspective how good your life is. I've never handed over a complete job without tears in my eyes when the mom sees it for the first time. Hell, it's getting dusty in here just thinking about it.