cost of quote

[chrisbagsy]

Hello.
I have posted this on the Trade talk forum to gauge the thoughts of the professionals.


I had a roofer around today that appeared, at first, very keen to provide me with a quote for what appears tome to be a very large job Circa £15k of work. We spoke for quite a while about how he would do the work along with me asking some pertinent questions along the way to prove I wasn't quite as naive as perhaps he was hoping. He eventually asked me if I was considering asking any other roofers for a quote. To which I told him that I would gather the normal (in my line of business) three quotes. His reply at that point was that he would like £100 for a quote and that anyway he would be more expensive than the others!!!! He didn't know what their quotes would be!!

Thanks

Chris

 

[Thermo]

tell him to poke it. a decent guy shouldnt charge for a quote

 

[Softus]

His reply at that point was that he would like £100 for a quote and that anyway he would be more expensive than the others!!!! He didn't know what their quotes would be!!

He isn't unique, or incompetent, but he should have told you before visiting. I also charge for quoting in those circumstances, but not as much as £100, and I don't assume anything about other people's prices. It's merely good business practice.

 

[alpcon]

I don't charge for quotes and as a customer I wouldn't expect to pay for one but I do charge for the following:

Insurance estimates - as I find that normally I am just being used to get an estimate and the customers mate up the road does the job when the other 2 builders have wasted their time. In other words his estimate is the lowest.

House purchase - people thinking about buying a house that want me to view the property and price for all the defects, as per the surveyors report, so they can put in a lower offer This takes time to do and my argument is that the surveyor got paid, the solicitor will get paid and the estate agent will get their commission so why should I do the same for free and besides they very rarely buy the house anyway and you don't get the job

Just having a winge

 

[chrisbagsy]

Thank you for your replies to my query.
There appear to be three different stances there. I can understand and respect all three stand points so thank you very much for affording me your time to add your posts.

Regards

Chris