A few years ago, a woman I know was being packed out for a PCS to Nicaragua. She was upstairs in her townhouse and overheard a conversation between two of the movers downtsairs. One guy told the other to hurry up. The other asked him what his hurry was. He said he had to be back at Lorton by 5:00PM. Turns out he was on a work-release program from Lorton, the District of Columbia jail.
These are rules to follow with any business.
As far as it being profitable to move quickly: There will always be different points of view on this. At my work (I own my own business, so customer complaints mean different things to me than to others) I may be quick, I may be slow. Computer virus scans, installs, troubleshooting - It differs all the time. I could do 2 machines at the same place, for seemingly the same problem, and it will take me different amounts of time.
I am ok with any of my guys doing this. When I’m running a scan or something, and decide to take a smoke break or call other clients, you bet I make my clients aware that they aren’t paying for that hour or so, or that the hours are discounted by some degree (Yeah, a cigarette may cost me $60 or so dollars to smoke). IT’s always a delicate balance.
Reminds me of my move where I later told my brother: “It was like having a crew of ex convicts in the house”. His reply: “What do you mean “like”?