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If one more person...

11K views 102 replies 41 participants last post by  TxElectrician 
#1 ·
Tells me I'm too expensive, and then asks if I could possibly give them the number of my roofing/drywall/tile/paint/granite/etc guy or supplier so they can just hire them directly, I'm going to hit them right in the larynx with a 2x12. Hard.
 
#41 ·
flashheatingand said:
You might not want to make comments about the 2x12 on the internet. We know you don't mean it literally, but, everything you say on-line, can, and will be used against you.
HAHAHAHAHA.

....right.

I plead guilty to making ridiculous and satirical claims for the sake of humor.

Do with me what you will...
 
#42 ·
Best story i heard was from real good friend of mine who owned a boat shop. Guy calls up looking for part.My friend says yes we have it in stock,it is x dollars. Guy on phone says you are kind of high and far from where i live. Do you know any shops closer to where i live and cheaper ?
 
#50 ·
"You're not a brain surgeon."

That's what a recent customer told me when I told him how much his bill was.

He's right, I'm not. There are plenty of brain surgeons in southwest Florida, but there are damn few guys that can pull a rusting rod out of your failing countertop, make it look good, and put several thousand dollars in your pocket by avoiding replacement.

He paid in full.
 
#51 ·
Kowboy said:
"You're not a brain surgeon."

That's what a recent customer told me when I told him how much his bill was.

He's right, I'm not. There are plenty of brain surgeons in southwest Florida, but there are damn few guys that can pull a rusting rod out of your failing countertop, make it look good, and put several thousand dollars in your pocket by avoiding replacement.

He paid in full.
What was your first clue? And if you don't pay your gonna need one.
 
#55 ·
My pencil is razor sharp. It needs to be so I can write out all those zeros before the decimal point.
 
#58 ·
The main difference I tell people who want to use my subs are my relationships with them. My subs give me a better price on the same job they would a home owner and that's due to me constantly feeding them work. Then their is scheduling. I know I hate it and others do to when things aren't planned right and a lot of times home owners don't plan right and then a trade might lose a day of work or wasted time ect. If I'm just doing finish trim for a customer I usually plan a day or two into my bid where I show up to a job and they aren't ready in time due to the homeowner not planning right. Granted there's always something I can do but I still wasted my time that could have been used elsewhere.
 
#63 ·
Do the take off, you'll need to do it anyway. And give him the final end result number.
 
#67 ·
CarpenterSFO said:
I have to deal with a job I looked at today. The owner asked for a labor-only bid, and as part of my bid can I please do all the take-off so that he can know how much the materials will be?

I need to be polite about it - it was a reference from someone good.
Figure the job "all In" labor, material, O&P, then just subtract the materials cost to arrive at your labor price.
 
#71 ·
I stayed up late and sent the owner my proposal last night. All-inclusive price, with a list of allowances, about 4.5X his original stated budget. I've played it completely straight with him; the ball's in his court, to decide if he wants to do the same. I can get back to executing on current jobs.
 
#70 ·
Not my job to teach you my job.

I learned by working FOR experienced tradesmen, starting low on that food chain, then when I provided more value to them, they taught me more because I did more FOR them. Then as I grew in that trade, I went from working FOR them to working WITH them.

I guess I'm old school like that.
 
#72 ·
Getting back to the original point of the post...........I would give them the list of subs and be done with it. They obviously don't want to hire a GC to manage everyone, maybe they've seen TOO many DIY shows, or, if they just act like Mike Holmes, everything will be done in hours (not days, weeks, months, etc)

Sometimes, I think as contractors, we believe that everything is "fixable", when in reality, it isn't. The least fixable thing is people's belief and/or opinion. If you opened a retail store, do you think that everyone walking down the street is going to come in and buy something? The same is true for what you offer as a contractor, not everyone is going to buy what you are selling......regardless of how passionate, reasonable, experienced and knowledgeable you are.
 
#76 ·
CarpenterSFO said:
I stayed up late and sent the owner my proposal last night. All-inclusive price, with a list of allowances, about 4.5X his original stated budget. I've played it completely straight with him; the ball's in his court, to decide if he wants to do the same. I can get back to executing on current jobs.
I love the way you handled this. Honesty is always best.

Bob
 
#78 ·
CO762 said:
Not my job to teach you my job.

I learned by working FOR experienced tradesmen, starting low on that food chain, then when I provided more value to them, they taught me more because I did more FOR them. Then as I grew in that trade, I went from working FOR them to working WITH them.

I guess I'm old school like that.
That didn't answer my question.

I understand you do not want to help a homeowner.
I also know it's not your job to help me.

I'm just curious if you believe in sharing some of your knowledge with other tradesmen.

Judging by your post count I'm guessing you do. Is that correct?

Myself, I'll post my opinion if I think of will be helpful. I'm not going to post all the time or post a lot of "me too's". But if I see something that I have an answer for and no one else already posted the same thought, I may post my answer on that thread.

I used to think knowledge should be earned similar to the way I believe you do. In reality I have learned knowledge from some masters and I feel it's not my knowledge to keep. When I feel the urge I pay it forward.

God Bless

Bob
 
#83 ·
I understand you do not want to help a homeowner...I'm just curious if you believe in sharing some of your knowledge with other tradesmen.

Judging by your post count I'm guessing you do. Is that correct?
One of the problems with internet forums is homeowners/DIY people come here and read things. Sometimes they learn, sometimes they don't, sometimes they just do a single post asking a "how to" question.
So I don't put hardly anything out there for general consumption.

Sometimes I hint at stuff though and people in the trades may may get it, or think of something in a different way. Other times I've sent private messages. If someone says this is the only/best way/product, and I think that's not true, I'll chime in and say "no, not really" in various forms. I like general BSing and politics, so those are my usual interests.

I used to think knowledge should be earned similar to the way I believe you do. In reality I have learned knowledge from some masters and I feel it's not my knowledge to keep.
That's pretty cool to learn that way Bob. I guess it's too ingrained in me, the time and effort I had to put in to work my way up the various ladders, then when (IMO) people don't respect the trade, nor the tradespeople in it enough to put forth any effort on their part before just asking, simple, basic questions that can be found in home depot books, well, really, I have no interest in rewarding that mindset and apathy.
 
#81 ·
I had one the other day, started with "you give free estimates right?

I said we give verbal over the phone free estimates. He was taken back as he was expecting me to come over, make a material list and do a drawing for his basement finish. :laughing::no:

I then pressed for his budget which he stated earlier he didnt have, so I threw out a 50k number for 1000 sq ft basement. He responds "oh thats way too much we only want to spend 10k"

I called him out on trying to play hold em poker with me about his budget and told him we werent interested in working with someone who isnt forth right in regards to his project. He then tells me that he really wanted to see how much he would save doing it himself and has 5 other guys coming by. :blink:

Good luck with your project...:thumbsup:
 
#85 ·
He then tells me that he really wanted to see how much he would save doing it himself and has 5 other guys coming by.
:jester: I've found getting right to business usually works better.....but dang, that was quick.

I went to a jobsite once and as I went in, another contractor was there, along with a older relative. It didn't waste my time at all though because I wanted to see who was in this area, doing what, so turns out as I yakked w/uncle, he was a 'handyman'....and two other, different contractors also came over.

It was funny as the most professional looking guy quickly left and one guy was too fat to fit into the entryway to a crawlspace to see what needed to be done to below to fix the failing structure--but said he would send them an estimate. The guy I think got it was the painter as he was giving the owner and her daughter what they were looking for--the coloring to match the flooring samples they had in their hands.

That was on call worth going to just for the show. :thumbsup:
 
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