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Sometimes I hate to answer my phone!

4K views 15 replies 14 participants last post by  BrunoT 
#1 ·
I received a call today about some dethaching he stated "I have 6 house in a dead end street which is about 15000 sqft how much do you charge?" I said "I need some addresses I will go out in the morning and look at them my self and give you prices the next day".


Than it got weird.......


he stated I am bidding against 6 other lawn care peeps and this is an auction style bidding process. I would have to become a member of this auction thinger which would cost me 12 bucks up front. Than I would have some info about my company on there site. Than after all the bids are in I would get an email on the winning or lowest price and than I would have a chance to counter bid against that price.:hammerhead: I didn't get it...... am I an idiot?

So I stated "you want to low ball another contractor and lower my price so I don't make a profit and piss off the local guys?" I said "no thanks I do have morals ya dick" of course I said "have a nice day" :laugh:

any body else have this weird chit happen?
 
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#2 ·
The moment someone calls me and uses the word bid, they are fired. I will not entertain tire kickers or participate in the downward spiral of the green industry. Last person that did this to me was calling because of a rotor sprinkler head that needed to be replaced. I was "bidding" against the employee of a big irrigation company doing unauthorized side jobs. As soon as "bid" came out of this person's mouth, that person was instructed never to call me again.
 
#3 ·
I had a guy call me stating that he had an emergency last August. He was using a stick edger and cut his irrigation main line before the zone valves. He was freaking out because water was flowing out. So I walked the genious through the difficult task of closing the ball valve on the back flow. He wants it fixed so I tell him I'll be out in the afternoon and that service calls are $xxx.xx per hour, 1hr minumum plus materials. I get there, look at the busted line on the side of the house and and give him a price to replace the 6' section between the backflow and valve box. Then he tells me that my price is higher than the company that just left and he is waiting for one more bid. I asked him if he was serious, he had me drive out to just give him a bid for service, and he does not want me to fix it right now? He said yeah, so I went back into my truck, printed him an invoice for one hour service and walked up to the door with it and told him since you are getting billed for an hours service for asking for me to come out do you want me to just fix it while I was there. I did it to be an ass, but he actually said yes and paid for me to fix it right then.
 
#4 ·
I had a guy call me stating that he had an emergency last August. He was using a stick edger and cut his irrigation main line before the zone valves. He was freaking out because water was flowing out. So I walked the genious through the difficult task of closing the ball valve on the back flow. He wants it fixed so I tell him I'll be out in the afternoon and that service calls are $xxx.xx per hour, 1hr minumum plus materials. I get there, look at the busted line on the side of the house and and give him a price to replace the 6' section between the backflow and valve box. Then he tells me that my price is higher than the company that just left and he is waiting for one more bid. I asked him if he was serious, he had me drive out to just give him a bid for service, and he does not want me to fix it right now? He said yeah, so I went back into my truck, printed him an invoice for one hour service and walked up to the door with it and told him since you are getting billed for an hours service for asking for me to come out do you want me to just fix it while I was there. I did it to be an ass, but he actually said yes and paid for me to fix it right then.
LOL!!! NICE! :laugh:
 
#5 ·
trust me when i say this type of thing is getting worse.i had a call yesterday for a guy that wanted mowing so i get the address and leave right then (about 20 min. one way) and the f'en thing is cut so I'm standing in the front yard of this guy house and i call him and he tells me "I'm in the shower and the guy i called before you cut it for me and if you leave me a voice mail with your price to see if your lower i will call you back". i told him that i waisted my time and gas for this and sorry no quote:hammerhead:
 
#6 ·
I would have given him a rediculously low price to get the job. Then don't go out and mow it. When he calls to see when your coming say "sorry, another client paid me more, but you can call me back with your highest offer and maybe ill do it"
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#7 ·
It might seem stuck up and callous but I don't compete with local guys. I either work out a price with the owner or I don't price it. No bids, no competetive crap. If I give them a price and they say we'll get back to you, I ignore the call. Eventually, through their friends, they will get to know of me and they will realize I'm always the lowest price. Their penalty is having to pay more to someone else.
 
#8 ·
I would have given him a rediculously low price to get the job. Then don't go out and mow it. When he calls to see when your coming say "sorry, another client paid me more, but you can call me back with your highest offer and maybe ill do it"
Posted via Mobile Device
I would love to see this happen!
 
#9 ·
i had a guy call me at 730am the other morning wanting me to come give him an estimate and saying he had some others coming too give him one as well...i had some yards to cut that day so i said i could come give an estimate when i got done later that afternoon...sometime during the day he left a message that he had already given the job to someone else..he couldn't even wait a half day for me to come give him an estimate...talk about lack of patience...i always try to avoid the bid thing because i know someone is gonna bid less than me regardless of my bid even if i bid it on the cheap side...i bid $50 to another guy to cut his yard bi-weekly the other day and he said that was kindof high as he was paying the last guy $35 (who isn't around this year go figure)..he said he was gonna check with a few other guys first...i said well let me go look at the back yard and then i bid $45 and he took it...i mean people are weird man...what is the difference between $90 a month and $100?...$10...wow...like that's really gonna put a dent in the pocket book...i just laugh at people sometimes
 
#10 ·
I received a call today about some dethaching he stated "I have 6 house in a dead end street which is about 15000 sqft how much do you charge?" I said "I need some addresses I will go out in the morning and look at them my self and give you prices the next day".

Than it got weird.......

he stated I am bidding against 6 other lawn care peeps and this is an auction style bidding process. I would have to become a member of this auction thinger which would cost me 12 bucks up front. Than I would have some info about my company on there site. Than after all the bids are in I would get an email on the winning or lowest price and than I would have a chance to counter bid against that price.:hammerhead: I didn't get it...... am I an idiot?

So I stated "you want to low ball another contractor and lower my price so I don't make a profit and piss off the local guys?" I said "no thanks I do have morals ya dick" of course I said "have a nice day" :laugh:

any body else have this weird chit happen?
That's funny, last year i had something very similar happen to me (w/o the $12 entry fee lol) He wanted me to dethatch only his and his neighbor's front yard, and then mow the front weekly, and the back biweekly. I try not to bash people, but sometimes people will ask for the craziest things.

And for the record, I don't bid on residential homes, don't waste my time and gas.
 
#11 ·
I'm an ISA Arborist and Journeyman Landscaper. So, I advertise that I prepare
arborist reports.

This guy calls and wants me to prune a 40 foot tall deciduous tree.
He did not know what type of tree it was.

As a landscape company, our workers compensation here only covers us up to 12 feet off the ground.
I am a technical arborist and don't climb. So I gave him two numbers for tree companies with the proper insurance and equipment.

While he was on the phone I figured out that he had a sweet gum tree.

I said the first tree company is not ISA certified, but they can do take downs and will use spurs or ladders to climb

The second company has an ISA certified arborist and they do spurless climbing.

Both of these tree companies have voice mail on while they are working.

The guy calls me back ten minutes later when the two companies didn't answer their phones right away.....he didn't realize that he had just spoken to me and must have found my number again, on one of the thirty places I advertise online.....

This time he says, "ya I have a sweet gum tree that needs to be pruned. Can you give me a price?" I laughed at him, when he realized that he had just spoken to me.

Alot of residential jobs here go to the first guy to answer the phone, the first guy to show up on the property and the lowest price.

What bothers me is when I answer the phone and the potential customer doesn't say Hello, their first words are "You give me a deal?"

Or how about this....They agree on the price, sign a contract, you do the work
and then when it's time to get paid they pester you for a deal? PMO
 
#12 ·
Never fails. Every Friday I get at least one call for an "emergency" mowing or cleanup. "I'm having a party Saturday and the yard looks awful". Sorry Friday is a full route. I used to keep a couple hours free for these situations. Several times made really good money. Mostly though nothing but complete disasters that would take half a day cleanup and think they will get it for a one time mowing price. I am at the point where I ask if they are shopping for the lowest price. I guarantee I am not the cheapest. Good, fast and cheap are not synonomous terms. Thankfully most people calling have already been down the cheap, shady contractor route.
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#13 ·
Or how about this....They agree on the price, sign a contract, you do the work
and then when it's time to get paid they pester you for a deal? PMO
I loved the one I had last year with the guy who signed the contract for an instal which was scheduled out a few months. Then calls to put it off till the fallowing spring. I tell him I'll swing buy with a new contract with the amended dates, and find the guy has already had the work done by another company. Long story short after going back and forth by email I ended up taking the guy to court for the job he agreed to. I collected a very nice check for half a day in court
 
#14 ·
I'm an ISA Arborist and Journeyman Landscaper. So, I advertise that I prepare
arborist reports.

This guy calls and wants me to prune a 40 foot tall deciduous tree.
He did not know what type of tree it was.

As a landscape company, our workers compensation here only covers us up to 12 feet off the ground.
I am a technical arborist and don't climb. So I gave him two numbers for tree companies with the proper insurance and equipment.

While he was on the phone I figured out that he had a sweet gum tree.

I said the first tree company is not ISA certified, but they can do take downs and will use spurs or ladders to climb

The second company has an ISA certified arborist and they do spurless climbing.

Both of these tree companies have voice mail on while they are working.

The guy calls me back ten minutes later when the two companies didn't answer their phones right away.....he didn't realize that he had just spoken to me and must have found my number again, on one of the thirty places I advertise online.....

This time he says, "ya I have a sweet gum tree that needs to be pruned. Can you give me a price?" I laughed at him, when he realized that he had just spoken to me.

Alot of residential jobs here go to the first guy to answer the phone, the first guy to show up on the property and the lowest price.

What bothers me is when I answer the phone and the potential customer doesn't say Hello, their first words are "You give me a deal?"

Or how about this....They agree on the price, sign a contract, you do the work
and then when it's time to get paid they pester you for a deal? PMO
I have gotten calls and by the time I have answered them they have found someone else to do the job. They do take the first person that answers there call and seems "reasonable" to them.
I had a guy call me one Friday evening wanting his yard mowed ASAP. I called him back the next morning and his number was disconnected.He called again around 5pm Saturday afternoon wanting it done right then.I told him I was sorry but my mowers were off the trailer for the weekend I could put him on the list for Monday but he wasn't interested.
 
#15 ·
If I'm bidding an irrigation job or install, I tell the client that I probably won't be the lowest or highest bid they get, but that i believe I will give them the best quality and value for the price I charge. This helps me land "good" clients and steers me away from people looking for cheap work.
 
#16 ·
Over time you learn these things.

1. Don't "rush" anywhere to give a bid. A high proportion of those are BS. They just need it cut for the big party this weekend and will never hire you for scheduled service. They need a bailout, that's all. With no company coming around they're fine with it looking terrible.

2. Bid smaller jobs when you are already out. Don't put in an hour of drive time for a $30 lot that gets cut 15 times a year.

3. Anyone who is calling for lawn service several weeks after the lawn has started growing is proportionally more likely to be a big waste of time. Price accordingly. If they're so slack they let their home lawn get 2' tall they're likely slack about other little things, such as "paying the bills on time".

4. Read the clues. After calling a few companies who aren't interested in a one-time mow "tomorrow morning" they will start to wise up and say "I'm looking for a lawn service, but I also need it cut tomorrow ...blah..blah". They realize that the other 3 guys they called said "not interested" so they toss in the lie of needing a lawn service permanently.

5. For bids on non-recurring work, such as small repairs, be sure to discuss that a trip charge applies and includes xxx of time on site whether they take the bid or not. You can't be driving around all day for $60 jobs.

6. Be wary of anyone who sounds even remotely price conscious on the phone. If they bring up "how much" before they bring up "how well" they're price sensitive.(cheap). It's fine to care about price. But if they don't value reliability, quality, etc, they're not who I want to deal with. I can't compete with those willing to work for anything as long as it beats McDonalds.

7. I find that bidding when you're in the neighborhood already works better and results in your services being more valued than if you rush out. People smell desperation. If they're not willing to wait a day or two at least for a price odds are they aren't really that into the quality end of things.
 
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