Old Quotes

[ptptree]

Hi, haven't posted in a while, but I would like to start again. I am curious about old quotes and what you guys do as a revisit 6 months later and the customer says "go ahead".
This is from dormant to full growing season around here Van, BC. 5% or 10% increase sound reasonable?

 

[MasterBlaster]

I've never been much on having different prices on whether there are leaves on the tree or not.

Good to see you posting again... don't be a stranger!

 

[SkwerI]

If it's just a delay then I usually don't mind much and will still honor the price as long as it still falls within my target hourly rate. On the other hand, people who do this will often do additional things to display their total lack of respect for your time. I'm currently ignoring or blowing off calls from some jerk who called me about a little $300 job back in February. A month ago he finally calls and wants it done, but also wants to specify what days I'm allowed to do it. I'm currently booked solid with my biggest backlog in years and can't work in my best clients in under 2 weeks, but I scheduled this guy and the day before the job he calls to say he won't be home and maybe we can try again the following week? I just said 'sure' and hung up. Now he's calling me once a week looking for another schedule date (still specifying which days are acceptable for him) for his stupid little $300 job. I've thrown away his contact info so he probably won't be getting a return call for a while.

 

[Paul B]

I have a valid for 30 days rider on my estimate sheet but have yet to worry enough to try to enforce it.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Those 300 dollar jobs shouldn't be taken lightly. They can add up...

 

[Paul B]

ha, its on my install jobs too boss, they can add up

 

[Husabud]

If I price in May for a job, it is definitely different than if I do the job in August. I get a lot done in favorable weather. This heat and humidity sucks!

 

[Tucker943]

It depends on the situation. If I lowball something when times are slow, and they turn around 6 months later and say go ahead while I'm smokin busy, then I talk to them. I tell them flat out that I can't honor that price. I explain that the cost of doing business on my end fluctuates over time, mostly upward. Those costs get rolled forward to them. When they bitch and whine, I tell them to go see if they can buy gas or groceries at prices from last year.

Now if I put a good figure on a job, and its work i desire, ill honor the bid for who knows how long. Same if its a good repeat customer that needed time to put funds together.

 

[ptptree]

Yeah, thanks, good to be here, nice to see the usual suspects!
It's a repeat customer so I may just eat it but they're splitting it with a wealthy neighbor and it's a yellow cedar hedge gone wild so I will see. Probably grown about 3 feet in this the time lapsed.
Yes, I sometime write valid for 6 months, it's a good idea.

 

[Stumper]

I tend to honor bids for 6 months to a year....but I throw the pending bids out of my file whenever I get around to it after about 6 months so if they have their copy-fine if not I rebid it.. I also suffer from Skwerl syndrome now that I have been swamped for 2 years. Case in point. January, prop manager asks me to bid a job. around March I get a go ahead from owner...with requests for proof of ins and biz license. I honestly don't remember if I mailed those or not I know I intended to. but in July I get a call back from Prop manager about something else and we discuss that the other job never happened. Owner contacts me and asks for all the info again. I scanned and sent...and rewrote the bid plus a bit. Return call came but I was at work so missed it. Returned from my end and left message . Nothing for 2 weeks. I am NOT going to chase it. I'm booked for 3 months and they want to dink around?