what would you do?

[huggytree]

I went for an estimate for a brand new remodeler last week.

2 bath redo

all he talked about was price. He's supplying his own fixtures(normally i handle it...the only reason for a remodeler to handle it is to squeeze a couple extra hundred out of it).....i asked him for model #'s and noticed the tub was a piece of junk...i outright told him all the problems...i recommended he switch to the Kohler version...he said it was $400 more and he wouldnt...i brought up my quality a few times....he seemed not to care....i didnt have a great feeling about him at this point....i know his type.

on my way out the 2nd plumber was walking in....i knew him...a $60 per hour guy who recently went out of business....so he's still got insurance, but is working for someone else and would be doing the project on the weekend. He went out of business because it costs $82 per hour to break even...i talked with him on the phone and tried to explain things, but he didnt listen...he never caught on that he was actually working for $11 per hour instead of the union wage of $33

anyways...i told the builder that my bid will be double his...the builder said to do it anyways because the homeowner may decide to go with a real plumber.

when i got home i threw the folder in the trash....why spend 30 minutes for nothing i thought...

if i would have made a personal connection with the homeowner and talked quality i could see having a chance...but the homeowner wasnt there.

the next morn. i pulled it out and did it anyways...i was $8,000...i expect my competitor to be $5,500-$6,000 range..i even called the other plumber on the phone to see what his bid was....we were friends from along time ago...we were apprentices at the same company...he was a very bad plumber 9 years ago...he didnt have the bid done yet...we laughed about the situation and talked for 1/2 hour about old times.

should i have done the bid or not?

[thx4yrtym]

Nope!

Waste of your time.

[orion_joel]

I would be inclined to say yes do the quote. However I would be inclined to include some sort of disclaimer or clause saying that you are providing the labor only, but will not include any warranty except where it can be proved it was your workmanship. Another thing i would have included a incidentals fee. Because often when you buy fittings or such there are odd things like plugs or washers or screws, or any number of other things that are not supplied and you generally supply, building it into the profit of the fittings you supply. Finally another clause maybe that requires the full scope of the work to be outlined prior to start, so that half way through he cannot show up and want something else done, or throw in some other fitting that might take you twice as long to install.

[thx4yrtym]

It's one job! forget about it and move on.

Why would you want your name associated with this remodeler?

He probably has a reputation for doing crap work and therefore you do crap work by association.

How much money will you have to spend on advertising to repair the damage to your reputation??? - impossible to know.

Some times you just have to walk away.

Have a great week!

[huggytree]

i didnt want my name associated with not completing bids either...not completing it would cause him to call me and for me to tell him why i didnt bid.....which may make him bad mouth me to others......

i may or maynot turn down the work if i get it....i think a 1% chance.

im going to call him and find out how far apart my bid was...ill learn something

[Spider]

Do the bid. Every bid is an advertisement. Having told the contractor that your bid wil be high because you only do quality work, that point will be proven with your bid.

I would never turn down a chance to bid on wiork. But I would price in all the costs I expect, including a charge for redoing work because of cheap fittings, extra costs anticipated because the contractor is disorganized, additional materials costs for items that should come with the fixtures that may not, a couple of days contingency costs for being delayed by other trades not of a high stnadard.... and anything else I could think of.

But the point is - Bid on everything. The more your name is in a builder's office, the more he gets to know you, the more he assoiciates your name with quality and the more work you will eventually get.

I'd also put in a few extra joints to make removal of the cheap fixtures easier when they break later and I am called back the replace them!

[cocoy]

I would do a bid anyway.

Who asked for a bid?

If the customer called you...then IMO it's an obligation if you want a good reputation. You can say he's wasting your time, but he can also say the same about you.

[thx4yrtym]

"If the customer called you...then IMO it's an obligation if you want a good reputation."...


I'm sorry I don't understand this. Huggy is running a business not a charity.

The client wants to push junk materials on the homeowner. What's wrong with saying I'm sorry but I WILL NOT install products that I can't stand behind due to the lack of quality. I'm certain you will find someone to do this. Best of luck with it and walk away.

Huggy... You know his type you said. This type probably isn't real fast on paying his bills either.

In this situation I don't see how this bid is positive advertisement.

There is no up side on this type of thing at a time when you are by your own admission getting busy.

Just one man's opinion, no more.

Again best of luck,

[huggytree]

i asked his other plumber if he pays on time....i already thought of that one...he said yes..no problems


i added enough to cover my wasted time working with low end products...its always easier to use well designed/high quality products....low quality products are usually difficult and cost hundreds more to install.

my price was fair

id still like the project...anything over $5k is a great project....his project would pay for a nice vacation for my family....

im going to be calling him at the end of the week...im curious how accurate i was about my competitions bid...he'll be the type which will tell me...otherwise ill call my friend back and ask him directly.

hopefully by telling the competition my price he will have raised his...thus helping my bid look better....i dont know if this guy is smart enough to think of it....i would have.

[orion_joel]

That is always my biggest hurdle with quoting. Especially on a blind product where you know the cost price and the Recommended Retail Price, but nothing else. It gets even worse with IT because there can be so much variance between companies. One might bid at Cost+5% another may bid at RRP or others over RRP. The problem is often you never know if you are bidding against the low or the high or a mixture. So you can big a price and be way over or way under or dead on and for me in IT price is everything to a large number of customers.