Underbidding idiots

[SteveBullman]

some people have a lower expectation out of life....dont hold much value in money, are happy living in a small house, or maybe trailer, and simply dont need to charge the same rates as others of us to maintain their lifestyle, shouldnt overlook that possibility.
good example, the other week i was getting quotes to have my truck resprayed, 2 quotes both came in at £1200, the 3rd quote £350. I know the guy who quoted the £350 and i have seen many examples of his work, he specializes in restoring vintage cars and does a top notch job. hes simply happy ticking along...hes not out to undercut no-one, just pricing for what he needs to live!

 

[046]

usually plumbers are regulated by the state. here it's against the law to work on plumbing without a journeyman's license. which takes schooling + mandatory 2-3 years of apprentice duties at min wages.

this effectively knocks out most adults from getting a plumber's license. who do you know (adult) that can work for 2-3 years at min wages to achieve a journeyman's license.

this is why plumbers can charge $98 per hour.

I've had people tell me that things like "we had other people bid all three trees for the price you ask for the two!"

I tell them to get a current cert of insurance and go with it. This is too much work for me to do it for a pitiance. I've got to pay my plumber $98 an hour

 

[lxt]

lowballers uhh? their all over the place, handymen that do it all, Ive shown customers my certs, insurance, pics of jobs, reference lists, etc... and some people just dont care about anything but da money$$$$

A guy the other day calls me back after I dropped off a bid proposal, 2 fair size hemlocks co joined at the base one leaning toward house the other a garage i tell him $1550.00.........his reply: if you can do the 2 big silver maples on the other side just drop n leave em Ill pay your price.

MY REPLY..........hahahahaha(literally) & I said when you goto the store and buy a gal. of milk do you get the eggs for free? he didnt like that very much!!

the problem is IMO people have cheapened this trade by lumping it into grass cutting, landscaping, gutter cleaning, etc....I started doing landscaping(which I have done professionally before getting into tree work)just to get back at the bums stealing all the easy work & leaving me with the big, dead ugly hangin over the house trees.

nice thing now is word of mouth about my operation has helped me grow a wonderful tree & landscape outfit(respected & professional).

LXT......................................................

 

[treevet]

I too started planting trees as a side aspect. I can often net as much as a good tree work day w my stump grinder digging the hole and crane setting the plant. I ve found another disconcerting part of the drastic underbidder is the fact that while you may be bidding at industry standards (say 70$ man hr )for your area, when the potential customer or even established customer seeking to check your prices gets a look at the lowball bid and is only going for one comparison and happens to successfully complete the job then you will forever prob be seen as a ripoff artist and get all kinds of bad press around the area. Some lDirty looks and loss of future work work will likely follow no matter how undeserved. Sometimes I just refuse to bid bcs of sensing this scenerio.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

some people are plain stupid,and haven't got a clue how to price a job! some base there pricing on what wage they were getting a few weeks back when working at McDonald's or Wallmart,to this type $400 bucks is like a lottery win!

 

[Ekka]

some people are plain stupid,and haven't got a clue how to price a job! some base there pricing on what wage they were getting a few weeks back when working at McDonald's or Wallmart,to this type $400 bucks is like a lottery win!

TOUCHE'

 

[Soul Assassin]

I've been working referrals now for three years. I don't advertise, I do the job professionally at a fair price. They tell all thier friends and family.

If I'm not getting alot of work, I'll lowball a bid......then my phone starts to ring. Argh.

I've done my share of ???? bids and ate it, I hate those.

 

[Timberhauler]

Had a call to price a job a job today, potential was recommended by a former customer who was very happy with our prior work. This new potential customer wanted 2 trees removed, a pine and and a gum, in front of the house. They have been shopping prices and told me that price was most important detail of job. After looking at trees they both had to be climbed and rigged due to landscaping below, probably a 3-4 hour job climbing, 1/2 that with a bucket. Not a real hard or tricky job, but a lot of material to remove, all trash wood, and just time consuming. I gave a price that I thought was fair and would have paid for my help and disposal cost. My price on this job was $800.00 I am also paying for state and county license and insurance. I also considered that this was recommendation and hoped to get more calls from this client. After giving the price the potential tells me that I am double the lowest price that they have received so far. I told the potential that I would not consider doing the job for the suggested price, and wished them good luck. I told them to call me if the contractor was unable to do the work. Of course I and every one has been underbid before, but by 1/2 ????. I am scratching my head trying to figure out how someone could do a job so cheap and make $$$ Even using a pickup truck and no chipper, this job would take 1-2 hours of climbing and 3 loads or debris to a dump, which would take an additional 3-4 hours of travel time. I have no intention of lowering my price which I consider to be fair and continue to offer quality work, but it is aggravating that people can come in and 1/2 bid a price.
Shame on them. Thanks for letting me blow some steam.

I've also had people tell me that they had another bid that was half of mine just to try and get me to go down on my price.....I bid a job for a guy a few weeks ago,I quoted him 1200 for the work he wanted done.He called me back and said he had found someone to do it for 900 and if I could do it for that price I could have it..I declined,but he called me a week later and wanted me to go ahead with it...I found it funny that he decided to use me anyway and could not remember who the other outfit was who gave him the lower price.

 

[treevet]

I've also had people tell me that they had another bid that was half of mine just to try and get me to go down on my price.....I bid a job for a guy a few weeks ago,I quoted him 1200 for the work he wanted done.He called me back and said he had found someone to do it for 900 and if I could do it for that price I could have it..I declined,but he called me a week later and wanted me to go ahead with it...I found it funny that he decided to use me anyway and could not remember who the other outfit was who gave him the lower price.

That happens to me sometimes, too. On one of the instances after the job was done I had to chase him for a month to collect. When I called he would say he was a visitor in the house. He ignored bills. Eventually I filed theft of services and the city solicitor took the case for me as he knows me and it turned out he was a convicted felon for tax evasion. He finally stuck the check in my mailbox with a note that said "here s your f cking money". Lucky for both of us I wasn t home when he came by.

 

[oldugly]

Hey Clearance, nice to hear from you buddy.
Recently had a customer wanting a price...so I quoted what was a fair deal. He thought he should talk it over with his wife, so in a matter of moments I was selling the job again. The wife asks if I could do a package deal for a hundred dollars less...I just simply said my work wasn't up for auction, but if she wanted a local auctioneer she could call one, but I didn't think he did tree removals.
Later..got a call from someone else who wanted a price on a couple removals. I quoted a good price and got the same response. I used the same line again that there was an auction service in town...but I didn't think they did tree trimming.
When I go to Wally world, or Cub I never get the chance to ask the sales clerk for a better deal...why do they think contractors have to haggle over prices...it has gotten past irritation to degradation scale in some cases. I feel for you Dada, but look up, and have some pride. These guys lowballing bids just to get the work, in the long run won't be able to afford to do the work they get. Short change yourself, and you short change us all.
Redoak

 

[oldugly]

By the way, in both instances I got the jobs at the price I quoted originally.

 

[okietreedude1]

a while back I gave a guy a price on a couple small removals and a couple of trims all in the same yard. He said theyd think it over and get back. Called a week or so later and said go ahead. Then bout 3 wks went by and he called again and said theyd had a change of plans. Well, last week, he called AGAIN and said he'd done the work now wanted a price on cleanup.

This was the real topper - he said he had a new found respect for the job I do and he should have just paid me my original price. BTW, he cleaned it up himself.

 

[hobby climber]

I find that very few people know much about the work we do! I take the time to educate them as to what I'll be doing & why. Its also good for bisness because when I'm up a tree and the neighbours start to gather, the owner is telling them what I just told him!

You always get those characters who will underbid you in the spring. Who cares, a solid reputation will keep a reputable company employed year round. As for the others, once word gets out, they'll be gone as fast as they came!

Besides, even if they are good, eventually they will have to raise there prices or risk starving. Then they'll have a reputation of inconcistant quoting and will not last long in any event! Just my .02
HC

 

[Bermie]

I just bid a job, several different parts to it, some directional felling, some dismantling and felling and a couple of small reductions.
We were walking about the site looking at the work and the client kept saying, well this also needs doing, and this little tree needs so and so...
We settled on I would bid the main work and then cost and charge the extras, bid accepted, cost and charge rate accepted (with minimum).
I felt very relieved, I bid the work at what I needed, gave them options for what they needed and we are all happy.

Mind you, what helped was they have been trying to get the local landscrapers to do the work, but they always had an excuse, need a high lift, didn't bring our saws...NONE of the work needs a high lift and they are mowing experts not tree workers!!

I've had no return calls or emails on some estimates, I reckon they are not used to the prices, but WE are the professionals in this area, and don't bid anything else, not like the 'do everything' landscapers. I reckon these were jobs I didn't need the headaches from anyway!

 

[Ekka]

How do you like the ones who get you, the knowledgeable qualified guy, walk you around their trees one by one milking your brain.

All in the name of a "free bid".

You write down the estimate for all the work to be done, detailed so you yourself don't forget and they cant get more out of you (the ole while ya got ya saw out), some trees need specialised work, the schedule changed greatly from what the prospect originally enquired about.

You don't get the job but drive past to see it done by some-one else, yes the prunes were spiked and some not so good cutting done.

In one chronic instance a woman asked for a bid on removing a large gum tree limb that was coming over the fence from the neibs tree and over her garage. The neib was OK with it. I bid $385 on it, was quite a job and access bad. She said her lawn man quoted only $200 but didn't know how to do it so can I tell her how I'd do it so she could tell him!!!!

The line between advice and free bid is always abused, try getting free advice from your solicitor, I'm constantly amazed by the amount of time we throw away to these ungrateful heathens... to be then undercut. They don't go to the rogues first coz they're just labourers. I've seen perfectly healthy, relatively safe, reasonably located trees removed coz the rogues say things like "jeez love, that's a bad one there, that'll bust ya house and driveway best get rid of it now". etc etc.

 

[hobby climber]

Guys,


No one likes to be under bid on a properly quoted job. But its the customers choice and they are the ones who have to live with there decision (right or wrong)! Its just our passion for proper tree care and quality work that gets most of us upset with the customers poor choices.

As far as the low ballers go...ask yourself this question: How many low ball companies do you know that last more that a couple of years? If your answer is very few or non... then that just means you have pride & passion for proper tree care and are one of the good guys in this bisness! HC

 

[BC_Logger]

Its a fact of life these days people go for the lowest price and they usually pay the price in the form of quality of work

All you can do is quote , shake their hand and say , good luck

you take pride in your work, apparently the other guy does not

 

[SawWitch]

Its a fact of life these days people go for the lowest price and they usually pay the price in the form of quality of work

All you can do is quote , shake their hand and say , good luck

you take pride in your work, apparently the other guy does not

Look away from the price. Thats we are doing. Look for the security, it's very important!

 

[Flubberboy]

Last week I went out to get my mail at my home. A guy in an old rusty pickup pulls in my drive and says he does tree work. He wants to remove a large limb hanging over my house. Just for fun I had him shoot me a price.

After looking the tree over for a while he tells me it'd be $950. (a job I'd charge $300 for). Then he tells me that before he can get started he needs me to advance him $100 so he can get his chainsaw out of pawn. (it gets worse!)

He then explains that he loaned his saw to a friend who pawned it so he first has to go to the bar to find his friend and get the pawn ticket!

There's no rhyme or reason to the way these people do business.

 

[PowersTree]

I get looked down on becuase I dont have a chipper. Alot will call me a lowballer because of this. I am legit with insurance. And the lowballing that i see around here is a few of the "profesional" companies.

Jobs that id put $1800 on and think they are getting a deal, a guy around here is putting $800 on. Yeah he may get it done faster, but the climbing part is what we should be getting paid for.

Even on the takedown onlys, no cleanup, still the same slashing of price.