2 days ago I got this very urgent work to do ba. The person was such in desperation. He wanted the job done like the next day. Thinking that I wasn’t qualified to do jobs like that like a professional, so I put my level down. “How much do you charge for this job?”, he asked me on the phone before he came and showed me the work. Without much description about the word, I just put any amount that I think reasonable enough for a normal task. So he definitely agreed with my payment. But the deal was done way before I saw the draft.
When I saw the draft, it was actually like 5 times the job I expected so I should actually multiply the charge by 5 times. It’s like, I have to do the same procedure for 5 times and that means, it’s like I’m doing 5 different tasks. So I had to speak. I said “This work is much harder. I have to charge more.” But I felt a bit guilty because I needed to raise the price higher than he expected to pay earlier on. But it would be stupid to take the job for such a small pay, plus, he needed it urgent. My gawd, my time should worth something, right? So I actually gave a new price, but it was only double the price I asked, yeah, 2 times instead of 5 times. I asked that after considering MY INTEGRITY. I cannot change my words just like that makes someone else suffer. The only justification that he could make about the extra pay was he understood that the job was equals to 5 jobs – and I didn’t know about it when I first set the price. So it was my right to adjust the price, but then because I said the price hastily and the customer had made the effort to come to me thinking that I charged a good price – so in the name of integrity, I must take the blame. For that, I only charged double…even though I had to nullify that my time has value – the job is certainly wasn’t worth it for the time that it took and the other works that I had to set aside just to finish something that I got “underpaid” for.
So, dipendekkan cerita, finally it took 2 days of my time to finish the job. I even skipped my meal and I even ignored my other jobs that are waiting to be done – because the one was urgent. After the job finally done, and he was about to pay, he asked me once again, “How much is everything, again?” I think, anybody in my place would easily want to just pop out a much higher amount thinking that even during the work, there was a lot of last minute changes and even addition!! I was tempted to ask for higher payment but because of MY INTEGRITY, I didn’t do that. I just said, “Whatever we have agreed before la.” Actually sia rasa geram juga but better jangan banyak pikir. Tapi one important thing that I said to him, “Next time ada kerja last minute lepas ni, I’m going to charge you much higher tau” Then he just angguk while flashing that smile – because all he had in mind was “a profitable deal” – with someone who DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO CHARGE for her energy and time. That’s me, thank you. *Lols
But the good news is, it’s going to be the last time that I get underpaid, ok? And next time, I have to learn to say, “This is my charge. If it’s too high, there’s always someone else to do it. Take it or leave it.” Actually, I did that many times sudah – because it’s also in the name of integrity that I couldn’t simply cut my price just because someone is going overbudget. That is so unprofessional. So, what my integrity does to me? The good things, maybe. Though it’s mostly about good virtue versus good business, I think that at the end of the day, it’s all worth it. :)
1 comment:
Dalam konteks integriti yg sebenar, betul apa yg U buat tu dgn tidak menuntut bayaran lebih dan hanya meminta dgn harga yg telah dipersetujui atas rasa mungkin timbang rasa, kesal kenapa tidak tengok dulu bagaimana kerja itu dibuat atau rasa intergriti itu sendiri yg kita telah berjanji dgn apa yg kita telah sepakati kan. Tetapi.. bagi sy, U telah buat kesilapan dan boleh dikatakan kena buli. Kenapa..? nah..ini yg sy rasa U pun dah tahu kenapa..haha..
Andai kita lah yg minta pertolongan pada org untuk buat sesuatu dgn berbayar...kita sudah tentu tahu dan pasti bagaimana kerja itu dibuat..susah ka..banyak yg mahu dibuat,diedit..memakan masa yg lama ka...dan kebarangkalian seumpamanya. Jadi maksud sy, kita sudah tahu dan sedia maklum brapa harganya kerja yg kita tugaskan pada org tertentu dengan bayaran ANDAI kita bikin sendiri tugasan tersebut. memang lah dalam hati kita akan tersenyum bahkan ketawa andai kita suruh org taip paperwork atau assignment setebal 100 muka surat dan org itu hanya minta RM10 shj kan...deiiii.
Walaupun demikian, apa yg U buat tu boleh juga memberi keuntungan terhadap diri U sendiri jika dilihat dari garis positif dan jangka masa panjang.. sudah pasti org itu akan rasa terhutang budi dgn U dan percaya U boleh buat kerja dgn baik malah akan respect U..dah tentu dia akan mencanang-canangkan nama kita itu kepada org lain.. "wah.. si [256] tu da la ayu kerja pun teratur, kemas, cepat dan tidak ambil kesempatan..." Disini lah kemenangan kita atas segala jerih payah kita bebuat baik kepada seseorg..pasti org akan berbuat lebih baik dari apa yg kita buat, malah kalau kita merelakan dgn ikhlas..pasti kita jua akan dapat pahala dan lebih banyak lagi keuntungan... setiap yg berlaku ada hikmahnya..dari kita shj dapat menerima atau tidak kealpaan yg kita telah buat...
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