Accidents happen no matter how careful you are. When a crew member accidentally breaks a light fixture, cracks a paver, or damages something on a customer's property, what is your immediate step-by-step process?
How do you communicate it to the homeowner, and what is your policy for handling the repair or credit?
We have a pretty simple rule: tell us immediately and never try to hide it.
Our process is basically:
I’m a big believer that the communication matters almost as much as the damage itself. Most reasonable clients understand that accidents happen. What destroys trust is finding damage later and feeling like nobody was going to tell them.
We also don’t automatically dock the employee for every accident. There’s a big difference between an honest mistake and negligence/repeated carelessness. If there’s a pattern, that becomes a coaching or performance issue.
For higher-value damage, I’d also document everything thoroughly and involve insurance if necessary rather than trying to casually handle something that could become a larger liability issue.
The goal is really: disclose fast, own it, fix it fairly, and then look internally at whether there’s a training or process change that could prevent it from happening again.
Were you following me around today??? Funny you ask this question today...
I was using a tube of polyurethane sealant today and the tube cracked open and some landed on a clients floor mat! I immediately looked around the area and took a photo to ensure none made it on to anything else. Luckily it was just the mat and it could be replaced. She insisted it was fine and the mat was old, but I felt better using Google Lens to find the exact mat and was able to pick it up at Lowes. Crisis avoided.
I ended up keeping the old mat in the back of my truck to put down next time I'm caulking a sensitive area.
