[L.J.Thorpe]

been an up and down week for me
ups...not bad weather,good stretch of the round,and a good crop of new prospective custs
downs.....getting the side door totalled on scudo ...and
wasting half an hour of my life to give a quote to the most obnoxious #@?$ i have encountered
i had a message on ansafone from posh sounding bloke in week wanting a quote for gutters
when i ring back i get equally posh sounding wife who gives directions and asks me to quote for windows as well when i go this sounds great ,best bit is when she gives the house name
Saint xxxxxxx hall (aint putting the name up) kerching ((methinks)
went this evening,bottom of a private road a good half mile long,size of a small nursing home
knocked on door,hello etc walked round priced it up
no fascias or soffs just gutter (black) cast on original victorian building plastic on massive new extension
clear guttering only so priced 60 mtrs at a very reasonable (i thought) £140 and windows at £60 for first clean and £45 for reg
windows went ok with the bloke but man was he a *%£$ about the gutters
"i would have thought you could charge an hourly rate,surely 2 or 3 hrs would see it off!!
i could get a jobbing builder to do it for no more than £20 an hour,dont you think you are asking too much for a simple job like this?"
 : : : : anybody want to guess what my reply was
thats a word for word quote from the nob in question btw

[peter holley]

well ...i would have said   "thars my rates" feel free to go elswhere...but if you change your mind ...i need at least a months notice to do the work!

[NBwcs]

Just in case you didnt read this on your last thread, i'll duplicate here...
Hello L.J., Not had the pleasure of meeting you yet, I work in Spalding and dont tend to venture further afield, but occasionally get asked to price for work in your area. One of my custys has relatives who run a pub and have asked me to do it, i said id have a word with someone who might be interested, so if you are, e-mail me  Cheers Nick

[Wayne Thomas]

If the chap had accepted your price for guttering quote then he only has himself to blame. Don't be shamed into feeling bad about your price because customer is just trying to lower your price by comparing you to a builder on an hourly rate for the same job.
I had a potential customer insult my intelligence today and offered to pay me 66% of my quoted price if they paid me cash in hand instead. I told them to find some other mug. Told them I run a legitimate business and was offended being compared to a dole brigade w/c. I won't do discounts for cash and don't need customers who are always on the lookout for a cheaper w/c to replace their existing one.