Charging for estimates

[truckracer]

I recently went to a local business that called on me to give them an estimate to upgrade their dvr surveilence system. It basically includied a new hard drive, replacing 5 cameras that did not work or had distorted images.

I also gave an estimate for another site having a full 16 camera system with webserver for online viewing.

I spent 6 hours or more metting three times with the facilities director and president.
They never took the bid and now that they got the bid i heard from an employee i know they took the specs off my estimate and ebay ordered cameras trying to get their maintenance man to do the work for 7.25 per hour.

I should have charged for the estimate if i was not going to get the job. My prices are well below the competition in this area. I know what the others charge and i do clean and neat installs.

I usually always get the jo s i bid around here.
I should not have put the exact specs in the bid but thats what they asked
for.
I got used!!!

 

[Paul Wozniak]

I'm a plumber and I don't charge for estimates either. I hate when people use me to "low ball' a competitor, or are just looking for an explanation for their problem so that they can fix it themselves. Probably easier for me than you, but now I don't give detailed written or oral estimates anymore. I've made "closing" the deal the emphasis now.

 

[lakebum431]

That's interesting. I would think that the detailed estimate would be a basic requirement for a product like yours (as there are so many potential variations it would be very important for an informed consumer to know what they are getting). That stinks what they did and I don't condone that at all, but I would expect to get push back if you stop providing detailed estimates.

 

[Skyhi]

I'm a plumber and I don't charge for estimates either. I hate when people use me to "low ball' a competitor, or are just looking for an explanation for their problem so that they can fix it themselves. Probably easier for me than you, but now I don't give detailed written or oral estimates anymore. I've made "closing" the deal the emphasis now.

I had a plumbing problem a few months ago and couldn't get an estimate over the phone to save my life....I ended up just calling someone and he took me to the cleaners.

 

[vanalex]

What about charging for the estimates and applying that to the price of the work if you get the job? Make sure the customer knows that charge for the estimate would be applied to price of the job if you do the work for them.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

There are some bad seeds out there. My rates are below the industry average. My business depends on word of mouth, so one screwed customer is very bad for me. Most of my work is repairs, and a lot of my business comes from the same landlords, whom have come to trust me to the point that they just give me the phone number to the tenant, and I go and fix the problem and bill the landlord later. Most of my work doesn't really entail lengthy estimates. I'm generally in and out inside of a couple hrs. on most jobs.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

I had a plumbing problem a few months ago and couldn't get an estimate over the phone to save my life....I ended up just calling someone and he took me to the cleaners.

It's sometimes impossible to give an estimate over the phone. Sometimes the true nature of the job doesn't reveal itself until you're inside the job. Even something as easy as a water heater can bring some surprises. Fixing leaks in a house with galvanized pipes always leads to a bigger fix than originally planned.

 

[Skyhi]

It's sometimes impossible to give an estimate over the phone. Sometimes the true nature of the job doesn't reveal itself until you're inside the job. Even something as easy as a water heater can bring some surprises. Fixing leaks in a house with galvanized pipes always leads to a bigger fix than originally planned.

I can understand that I guess....for me it was just power-snaking the kitchen cleanout in the basement....$180 for 5 minutes. Good work if you can get it!

 

[Paul Wozniak]

I"m surprise that nobody would give you an estimate for a snake-out. that is commonly done over the phone. Was this a clean out of the line running to the city sewer? If so it was a reasonable price, but if the snake never left your house, I would call the charge excessive.

 

[Skyhi]

I"m surprise that nobody would give you an estimate for a snake-out. that is commonly done over the phone. Was this a clean out of the line running to the city sewer? If so it was a reasonable price, but if the snake never left your house, I would call the charge excessive.

I was surprised too....they all told me that they can't give a price until they get the jobsite.

The snake probably went in the clean-out 4-5 feet. They told me the reason I couldn't get the clog with my handheld snake (and I tried for many hours) was because it was too flimsy to get around a 90 degree angle.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

They weren't lying about that, but the price was too high. Sorry. I would have made them snake the whole line for that price, just to be sure they moved the clog completely out of harms way. Get even, post a message at Craig's list about their pricing policy.