Hi there, any chance you could......

[HappyHippyDad]

So I work out a quote for a customer. Two months later, nothing heard. That's fine, the customer is under no obligation to reply, although it would be polite.

A couple of weeks ago he asks for another quote for some different work. I get it out to him straight away. No reply as yet.

Today, he texts.....

"I'm having a handy man run some cables in to position. He's asking if I can get them checked out by an electrician, could you pop over or could I just send you pictures?"

I sent a politely worded reply, basically saying 'No'.

 

[oscar21]

I always remember my mate talking to someone in the pub about a re-wire, the bloke went over the spec and my mate went away and did the figures, £2.5k he says. The bloke says gosh that's a bit steep, how much would it be if I did all the chases and ran the cables for you. My mate say oh, ok let me take another look at it, he goes away again and 5 minutes later goes back up to the bloke at the bar and says £2.5k.

 

[LukeD]

The moment a new customer wants the "whole Monty" on paper .I think they will use the specs and get someone cheaper in to follow as best as possible .

 

[westward10]

Please tell me your reply was just that one word, No.

 

[HappyHippyDad]

Please tell me your reply was just that one word, No.

I wish I could give you better news Westward, but I'm afraid not. It was a politely written paragraph, but to the point.

The builder/handy man is now going to stop what he is doing and the customer has asked me what I would be happy with, and would I need to completely rewire what the other chap has done, in order to feel right about signing it off. So basically a pretty good response.

I'll pop over and make a decision.

Of course if I had just responded 'No', I may not have got such a polite response . It would have been a better story though.

 

[nicebutdim]

Simple enough answer...

Quote hourly/day rate and tell them you'll advise on the best course of action once on site. That way you get what you need for whatever you do and customer has the choice about what work they want carried out. No matter how it works out they're going to pay more than you'd previously quoted.

 

[Marvo]

To be honest I wouldn't get involved with a customer like this. If they think that's acceptable behaviour then they obviously don't subscribe to far pay for a decent job school of thought so it's only going to get worse when it comes to invoice time. If you do decide to work for them I'd assume there's a high chance of problems so make sure all your paperwork is in good order ready for the small claims court.

 

[HappyHippyDad]

To be honest I wouldn't get involved with a customer like this. If they think that's acceptable behaviour then they obviously don't subscribe to far pay for a decent job school of thought so it's only going to get worse when it comes to invoice time. If you do decide to work for them I'd assume there's a high chance of problems so make sure all your paperwork is in good order ready for the small claims court.

I agree Marvo. I have had one or two tingles of doubt about this customer. I 'think' he is OK though.
I'll update if the story gets more interesting!

 

[Marvo]

I agree Marvo. I have had one or two tingles of doubt about this customer. I 'think' he is OK though.
I'll update if the story gets more interesting!

Good luck, I hope I'm wrong.

 

[HappyHippyDad]

Update..

I went back around a month ago. Gave him a third quote, for the little bit of work mentioned above, which he wanted done quickly.

Nothing heard.

3 quotes now. No response to any of them. I'll do the work if he ends up accepting them, which sometimes can be months later. However, no more quotes. I have about 5 people on my phone (out of maybe 200) which have 'DO NOT QUOTE' next to there name. I love being self employed and being able to choose who I allow in to my working life.

 

[KungFuTurkeyLeg]

Update..

I went back around a month ago. Gave him a third quote, for the little bit of work mentioned above, which he wanted done quickly.

Nothing heard.

3 quotes now. No response to any of them. I'll do the work if he ends up accepting them, which sometimes can be months later. However, no more quotes. I have about 5 people on my phone (out of maybe 200) which have 'DO NOT QUOTE' next to there name. I love being self employed and being able to choose who I allow in to my working life.

That is not a terrible idea to mark them up like that.

 

[Dustydazzler]

No more itemised quotes , no more written estimates

HOURLY RATE OR FIND SOMEONE ELSE

 

[7029 dave]

Sounds like trouble, getting money out of him could be.

 

[Marvo]

Are your quotes too detailed? Is the customer using your quotes as a template for other contractors to quote from or to work from?

That's something I've encountered in the past....

 

[7029 dave]

Are your quotes too detailed? Is the customer using your quotes as a template for other contractors to quote from or to work from?

That's something I've encountered in the past....

Its suspect.
A builder I knew would get quotes for electrical work from contractors and put his bit on, and if the customer accepted the (revised quote) he would say ok come in and do the work. Sub contracting behaviour.

 

[Marvo]

Its suspect.
A builder I knew would get quotes for electrical work from contractors and put his bit on, and if the customer accepted the (revised quote) he would say ok come in and do the work. Sub contracting behaviour.

To be honest if he was doing this and being transparent about it I wouldn't have a problem with it. He's arguably adding value by managing the project turnkey and even by selling the services to the customer and he would also be incurring management and admin costs so marking up wouldn't be underhanded. In that position however he would also be responsible for personally guaranteeing payment to you as a sub contractor ie the contract is legally between you and the builder, not you and the customer so you get paid regardless of whether the customer pays..

 

[SJD]

To be honest if he was doing this and being transparent about it I wouldn't have a problem with it. He's arguably adding value by managing the project turnkey and even by selling the services to the customer and he would also be incurring management and admin costs so marking up wouldn't be underhanded. In that position however he would also be responsible for personally guaranteeing payment to you as a sub contractor ie the contract is legally between you and the builder, not you and the customer so you get paid regardless of whether the customer pays..

But having the builder pay you might be a tad less reliable than having the end customer pay you directly!

 

[7029 dave]

But having the builder pay you might be a tad less reliable than having the end customer pay you directly!

Been knocked by a few builders in me time

 

[Marvo]

The multitude of builders we've worked for over the years have always been good payers. As long as we've got an official works order we invariably get paid after official handover is signed off by the architect or consultant. I guess with small domestic builders it might be a different story.

 

[HappyHippyDad]

Are your quotes too detailed? Is the customer using your quotes as a template for other contractors to quote from or to work from?

That's something I've encountered in the past....

Interesting point.
Yes, my quotes are very detailed. It's helped me out a few times by being able to refer the customer back to the quote. But, he could be using it as a template, as you say.
I expect he'll get his cheapy 'do it all' chap to do it.
I don't really mind, I was working opposite him, so it was no huge hassle to pop in. Plus, you have to expect one or 2 bad apples and just move on.
50/50 whether I even accept the job now, if offered. I may decide it's not worth it. Luckily, I have plenty of other work.