Now, I'm big enough, ugly enough and I've been in the game long enough to know that when I go out to give someone a quote I'm not always going to win the job, but I had a strange experience recently which just didn't make any sense...
The call came in out of hours on a Saturday. You'd think the phone ringing out of hours would be an emergency call out, but in this case it was someone who was moving into my street who wanted electrical work done as soon as possible, although not as an emergency.
As it was a neighbour, I took the time out of my weekend to pop by and see what work was needed. The guy said he normally used another firm but they were booked up and he needed it doing sooner than they were able. As it happened, I was also pretty booked up but, being as it was on my doorstep, I found a window in the diary that met with his expectations.
The job was to spur off a new socket outlet, fuse an existing spur in the garage and extend wiring through the wall into the kitchen to sink a socket outlet on a newly tiled wall, install a new light circuit in the garage on its own breaker with its own switch drop and to test & certify the above.
For the garage light I even offered to supply a used fluorescent batten free of charge. I have several that I have pulled out in the past which are in clean condition and have years of life left in them, so using one in this application would be ideal and would save him a few quid on buying new. I'd even put my usual 24 month no-quibble warranty on it which is probably more than you'd get from a manufacturer on a brand new one.
When pushed for a price on the spot, I completely underestimated how long it might take in a "yeah, I can ace this" moment and based it on my rate as listed at the time, plus seeing as it was on my doorstep I negated any significant materials and rounded it down. The ridiculous price I blurted out was a cool hundred quid.
Now, let me tell you, that's a gift of a price. £150 would have been cheap for work that involves a new circuit and cutting into new tiling. As soon as I said it, I realised I'd made a huge mistake and was simply giving away my time and expertise. Hell, why did I just pay him for the bloody job and be done with it?! I could have given a flat day rate of £180 and just thrown in the materials for free if I was really feeling generous, so calling it an even ton was a vocal miscockulation that did me no favours, but... there it was, I had said it out loud....
...so imagine my surprise when the dickhead puffed out his cheeks, shook his head and said he expected it to be cheaper!
Really? So, getting it done within the specified timeframe and risking the job taking all day to do properly, you think an even ton with materials is too expensive??!
I don't know if he noticed how high my eyebrows were hovering when he balked at the price, but I was quite sure I wasn't going to lower it. Quite the opposite, because before he'd even finished whistling through his teeth I had already decided the job was dead in the water and there was no way I was coming back clutching my toolbox at any price. I advised him to shop around if he felt he could get it done to the same standard for less and to his schedule by someone qualified, insured, accredited and who would back it all up with a materials & workmanship warranty and left him to it.
As the gentleman had clearly demonstrated a lack of respect both for my very generous (and quite mistaken) offer and for my right to a weekend uninterrupted by anybody's time-wasting antics, I decided to beat a hasty retreat safe in the knowledge that, neighbour or not, I was never going to lose a second of my time to him again and I'd probably dodged a bullet which was now destined for one of my more desperate non-accredited competitors prepared to work cash-in-hand or for beer.
I don't understand it though. What were his expectations? If he had a figure of £80 or £90 in mind, was he really so cheap that ten or twenty quid made all the difference between a job done properly or risking getting someone non-accredited or even unskilled in? Even if he went out and bought the materials at retail prices from the likes of Homebase, he wouldn't have saved much if he did the work himself!
If he had a figure lower than eighty quid in mind, then did he seriously expect any reputable tradesperson to turn up and provide at least half a day of labour plus materials for that?
One theory is that he had it in his head that a tradesperson was coming and he should reject the first price out of hand, or out of habit, and try to bargain me down like I'm some kind of medieval market trader. If that was the case, he really should have taken a moment to let it sink in and realise that the first price was pretty damn good and it was only ever going to go up from there.
He followed his physical cheek-puffing with the line I always hear from those who want something knocked off the bill - "I have other properties I rent out so... I'm after someone reliable". What that actually translates to is "I also own a filthy overcrowded student flat, so if you do this job for peanuts then you *might* have future work...." ..which he'll no doubt also want doing on the spur of any moment and for more peanuts. That 'other properties' line always sets alarm bells ringing. Besides, it doesn't matter how many properties there may be, I either do the job properly or not at all as I don't offer any half-arsed alternative or any discounts.
All this is not to say I don't mind someone querying a price, wanting a breakdown of the quoted figures or wanting me to attempt to price match another legitimate installer, all so long as it's done before a price is finally agreed and work is booked to take place, but I don't have time for someone who doesn't appreciate me taking a slice out of my weekend to see him, my finding a slot in the diary to accommodate his schedule and my handing him a bargain price that no other proper installer would touch. Honestly, for the effort I'd gone to in jumping through this prick's hoops, I was insulted.
I don't pretend to be the cheapest in town and there are non-accredited operators in this area who can undercut me because they don't bother with things like certificates, qualifications, legal liability, warranty and insurance. What I do offer for the money is the job done, how you want it, when you want it, to a high standard, with a politeness and professionalism on site that many other tradespersons do not present and with aftercare guaranteed. My guide pricing is displayed here to aid with expectations of what a job might cost, and that's more information than most other tradespeople provide up front even if they have a website at all.
In this instance, maybe he found someone who would do it all for a few pints, but personally I wouldn't sleep well at night knowing the safety of myself and my kids depends on my home electrics having been worked on by someone who can be paid off in cans of Carling.
Please, if you want a quote, hold off on shaking your head and/or inflating any cheeks until you've shopped around and checked out the competition.
Update
Needless to say, he either found someone else to perform the above or he did it himself, but one year later I received a text message from this same guy asking for a quote for further work. My response was to decline even considering it as I doubted I would be able to meet his pricing expectations. As for the electrician he named as being his preferred chap who normally does all his work, I notice he's now out of business which perhaps isn't surprising if he was being shortchanged in beer and unsalted nuts.
AFF8