Why give the customer more than the bare minimum they asked for?

I understand this is definition issue but communication is often terrible with customers so it invites this theater.

Customer: I want a door.

Contractor: Here's your door.

Customer: It doesn't open.

Contractor: Oh, you didn't specify that you needed it to open. We'll add a handle.

Customer: It doesn't lock.

Contractor: Oh, you need it to lock? We'll add that.

Customer: We just tried the door. You put it on the second floor without steps. No one can reach it.

Contractor: Oh, you wanted an entry door...

The bare minimum the customer orders must be balanced with forethought and good design. I'm not saying you don't know this already. I'm quite sure you do. Just wanted to say that doing more than the bare minimum has saved me a lot of trouble in the past and when it cost more than it returned, the cost was generally quite a lot smaller than the trouble saved in the other cases.

Update: I meant when it cost me extra, not the customer. I have a strong work ethic and I put in extra time to make things right or above and beyond when I think it needs to happen.

In reply to Re^7: Beyond Agile: Subsidiarity as a Team and Software Design Principle by Your Mother
in thread Beyond Agile: Subsidiarity as a Team and Software Design Principle by einhverfr

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