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DASERVICES

Why is there a need to price low
« on: June 25, 2007, 05:52:41 pm »
Found this document and was very surprised at the price difference between major companies and small companies which is a huge difference :-
http://www.angus.gov.uk/ccmeetings/reports-committee2007/anguscouncil/427.pdf

Why do people put in such low tenders just to try and get the contract, they are going back in time and dragging the market down. Then when they win it they find that they are loosing money and then end up going broke.

There is business and then stupidity ???

Paul Coleman

Re: Why is there a need to price low
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2007, 06:08:16 pm »
Found this document and was very surprised at the price difference between major companies and small companies which is a huge difference :-
http://www.angus.gov.uk/ccmeetings/reports-committee2007/anguscouncil/427.pdf

Why do people put in such low tenders just to try and get the contract, they are going back in time and dragging the market down. Then when they win it they find that they are loosing money and then end up going broke.

There is business and then stupidity ???

Looks like NIC bit off a bit more than they could handle eh?
MITIE are usually noted for quoting low so I reckon ABC must be really pushing their luck but I haven't seen the jobs so who can say for sure?
Often the larger companies get these bigger jobs because they make a small amount per man hour after allowing for all the costs.  A sole trader's required turnover per hour would be rather higher than that because the large company has the benefits of economy of scale.
Not that I'm an expert on this stuff but I've had a few enlightening conversations with certain people and that seems to be the way of it.

shammy davis jnr

  • Posts: 543
Re: Why is there a need to price low
« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2007, 06:23:17 pm »
welcome to scotland  :P
its true surley if you were a manager you would be saying whats going on here  pay peanuts get monkeys  type thing
its like you get two pices for an extention one at twenty grand one at twenty two then one for six 
i would be asking for refrences i think

gordonswindows

  • Posts: 563
Re: Why is there a need to price low
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2007, 08:39:31 pm »
The reason they go in so cheap is to ensure they always get the contract.
Once won they move the goalposts.

If its window cleaning they send two men when the tender promised four then they reduce the cleaning cycle,instead of every four weeks it goes to monthly then miss a month as it was raining the time they came to do yours  They also  clean the window once ie using a very slightly damp applicator they wipe across the glass then blade it ,never, never detailing the edges never mind touching a frame and if there are still dirty marks smears etc they ignore them as they have "cleaned " the window.
I have watched them at Tesco stores, they do not even take a bucket out of the van and never ever clean above head height. It is so embarrasing to call them window cleaners.

When winning cleaning contracts in-store they employ the famous ghosting tactics. Instead of having the agreed amount of workers described at  tender they allow the numbers to dwindle through "natural waste".First week of contract they do an excellent job passing all checks with flying colours, the supermarket boss is satisfied and thats that.

End of second week workforce reduced due to "unacceptable references" this way they get rid of at least two people,end of month they muck up the wages this moves on the next few and on and on. They never replace the staff that have left yet continue to charge for a full workforce, this then leads to the rest having to work twice as hard ,do twice the work and only get paid the normal. No overtime no bonus no thank you payments.

They then get fed up and move on. This is when the real clever bit starts. The cleaning company aggressively advertise for staff, really impress the supermarket how hard they are trying and because everyone in the town knows how horrible they are to work for they only get the wasters applying, allowing the cleaning company to moan that its impossible to find any decent staff in this area so they employ the ragged the hopeless and the ones forced by the job centre to apply,obviously they are hired,fired moved on and round we go again.

But the supermarkets are so impressed with the " we are short staffed but will still get the job done atitude" that they will never lose the contract.

So they win it cheap ,lose half the workforce and rake it in on saved wages still charged at full amounts.

Don't believe me ? why then did the Houses of Parliaments cleaning staff employed by M*"*E go on strike? not for more wages but for the true staffing levels to be filled as they were working too gard too long for nothing extra.

Go and watch the window cleaners see for yourself or look at the state of the windows, now there may be an exception to this rule but normally all Tescos cleaning are supplied via one contract done at head office , but if there are independants out there i apologise and compliment them but watch out those ghosts will get you
Don't Give Up
@askforthemoney

DASERVICES

Re: Why is there a need to price low
« Reply #4 on: June 25, 2007, 11:01:24 pm »
I presume you have on hand knowledge about this and worked for the so called firm. Yes the SLWCN knows ;)

And Houses Of Parliament, thats why a certain report from the SLWCN went straight to the top bosses and action will soon be taken.

Totally agree with you, one thing we have been asked to look at is to beat these companies at their game. How, by having a network of licensed window cleaners up and down the country that would work together on these contracts.

And one thing I have noticed at Tesco's is they do not clean the top windows  ???

mark dew

  • Posts: 2901
Re: Why is there a need to price low
« Reply #5 on: June 26, 2007, 01:32:35 am »
I have watched them at Tesco stores, they do not even take a bucket out of the van and never ever clean above head height. It is so embarrasing to call them window cleaners.

I quoted for 3 tescos around my area for a forum member about 1 year ago. In their defence it was a weekly clean all windows upto 6 feet, and 3 monthly cleaning everything.
You probably watched them on their weekly clean.
I have to say though, that taking into account the timing, traffic and the rest of the environment where they were situated, it was a job i was very happy not to get.
I quoted way too high, but for the hassle involved it didn't seem high enough.
It seems backwards to me that the people who depend on having clean windows the most appear to pay the least. The right domestic job seems the way to go. No exact day, no exact time of day. Just turn up and do.   ;)

NWH

  • Posts: 16952
Re: Why is there a need to price low
« Reply #6 on: June 26, 2007, 06:33:06 pm »
Totally agree with that mark some of that kind of commercial work is a pain in the A***.