"you just weren't hungry enough" ;)

[brantmacga]

talked to a contractor today about a bid i submitted for a job. i didn't get it, reason was, according to him, "you just weren't hungry enough." we both had a laugh about it, and i congratulated him for being able to take advantage of the market.

anyhow, i bid this one a little cheap just to try and land something to do. 1250 sq. ft. stick framed office w/ 1k' unfinished tenant space next door.

details were:

42 receptacles
13 SP switches
4 3-ways switches
18 2x2 lay-in's
10 2x4 lay-in's
1x 200A service on the finished space, none on the unfinished
12 boxes w/ conduit exiting above ceiling in unfinished space.
a couple of flush-mount fixtures in the bathroom and mech room w/ drywall ceilings

acoustic tiled ceiling, MC cable job.

i was @ $9383.34 plus fixtures came to $11861.15.

high bid was $17,500
another at $15k, $13k, & $10k. low bid was $7k not including fixtures ($2300 lower than me).
______________________

another job i bid w/ a GC was a small municipal renovation job. i just got a chance to talk to him in depth about the other bids. 7 GC's bid the job; 5 reputable companies were within $1k of each other (yes one-thousand dollars) @ $250k, the low bid was an unknown $189k. the high bid was . . . . . .$1.8M < (yes, 1.8 million; not sure what that guy saw on the print). Time to complete was 4 wks. Low bidder has been on it for 10 weeks now and appears half-way through.

[JJWalecka]

Cheaper isn't always better. You get what you pay for.
Best of luck in the future.

JJ

[brantmacga]

Cheaper isn't always better. You get what you pay for.
Best of luck in the future.

JJ

he gave me the name of the contractor that got the job. i was very surprised at the price he gave because i know that EC very well; he subs work out to me on occasion and he does an extremely good, code compliant, job. i know he's always swamped with work; now i may know why. we've discussed prices before on certain jobs and he's usually a little lower than myself, but he also has several low-wage employees to spread it amongst.

[emahler]

7 GC's bid the job; 5 reputable companies were within $1k of each other (yes one-thousand dollars) @ $250k, the low bid was an unknown $189k. the high bid was . . . . . .$1.8M < (yes, 1.8 million; not sure what that guy saw on the print).

that would have been one heck of a sales job:D

[peter d]

The solution to hunger is to eat more hamburgers. Preferably IN n Out or 5 Guys.

[quogueelectric]

another job i bid w/ a GC was a small municipal renovation job. i just got a chance to talk to him in depth about the other bids. 7 GC's bid the job; 5 reputable companies were within $1k of each other (yes one-thousand dollars) @ $250k, the low bid was an unknown $189k. the high bid was . . . . . .$1.8M < (yes, 1.8 million; not sure what that guy saw on the print). Time to complete was 4 wks. Low bidder has been on it for 10 weeks now and appears half-way through.
He had to cover the mr electric sign on his truck.

[peter d]

He had to cover the mr electric sign on his truck.

:confused:

[480sparky]

talked to a contractor today about a bid i submitted for a job. i didn't get it, reason was, according to him, "you just weren't hungry enough." we both had a laugh about it, and i congratulated him for being able to take advantage of the market.
.......

So you're supposed to eat ramen noodles for a month and drive an '82 Mazda pickup held together with duct tape and baling wire while the GC eats steak and drive a new Avalanche?

[peter d]

So you're supposed to eat ramen noodles for a month and drive an '82 Mazda pickup held together with duct tape and baling wire while the GC eats steak and drive a new Avalanche?

Maybe if he got the job he could upgrade to Kraft Mac n Cheese and an '89 E-250 held together with Bondo.

[480sparky]

Maybe if he got the job he could upgrade to Kraft Mac n Cheese and an '89 E-250 held together with Bondo.


Regular Kraft M&C, or EasyMac?

[peter d]

Regular Kraft M&C, or EasyMac?


Oooohhh...good call. Decisions decisions!

[480sparky]

Oooohhh...good call. Decisions decisions!

Sometimes, it's not hard at all. A microwave is needed for EasyMac.:D

[quogueelectric]

The solution to hunger is to eat more hamburgers. Preferably IN n Out or 5 Guys.
The solution is to eat more chicken and turkey!!!!!

[peter d]

Sometimes, it's not hard at all. A microwave is needed for EasyMac.:D

That's assuming he can run the extension cord over to his neighbors house to borrow some power for a while.

[peter d]

The solution is to eat more chicken and turkey!!!!!


Right. Of course. ;)

[480sparky]

The solution is to eat more chicken and turkey!!!!!

Buying Chick-Fil-A (http://www.chick-fil-a.com/#home) stock? :D

[electricmanscott]

The title of this thread should be "How dare you outlowball a lowballer!!!and secrets of a mac and cheese junkie"

[masterinbama]

Good gravy you guys must be getting rich. I have to make my own mac & cheese out of Sams club pasta and the cheese dip I get at the 7-11. (i grab the cheese while the clerk isn't looking, but I do pay for my ice water)
Tomorrows lesson: how many packets of ketchup does it take to make a bowl of tomato soup.

[480sparky]

....Tomorrows lesson: how many packets of ketchup does it take to make a bowl of tomato soup.

Depends on where you get your ketchup......McDonalds or Burger King.:D

[JJWalecka]

Masterinbama “the cheese dip I get at the 7-11.” That’s too expensive try Price Right or by in bulk at Sam’s Club.

JJ

[LarryFine]

Masterinbama “the cheese dip I get at the 7-11.” That’s too expensive try Price Right or by in bulk at Sam’s Club. He didn't say he pays for it. 8-)

[petersonra]

another job i bid w/ a GC was a small municipal renovation job. i just got a chance to talk to him in depth about the other bids. 7 GC's bid the job; 5 reputable companies were within $1k of each other (yes one-thousand dollars) @ $250k, the low bid was an unknown $189k. the high bid was . . . . . .$1.8M < (yes, 1.8 million; not sure what that guy saw on the print). Time to complete was 4 wks. Low bidder has been on it for 10 weeks now and appears half-way through.

Place I used to work had that happen now and then. Sometimes we were the crazy high bid. A lot of municipalities and utilities would take you off the approved bidders list if you did not bid when you were asked to.

And some times the bid was sort of fixed to go to a certain bidder. One thing they would do was have that bidder write the spec, and then not give anywhere near enough time for a proper bid. Of course the bidder that wrote the spec had a slight advantage.

[GilbeSpark]

:confused:

I think he's referring on how much it costs to fully wrap a work van. It's about $5k.

[Greg Swartz]

Place I used to work had that happen now and then. Sometimes we were the crazy high bid. A lot of municipalities and utilities would take you off the approved bidders list if you did not bid when you were asked to.

And some times the bid was sort of fixed to go to a certain bidder. One thing they would do was have that bidder write the spec, and then not give anywhere near enough time for a proper bid. Of course the bidder that wrote the spec had a slight advantage.

I've been getting ITBs quite regularly that are due within 24 hours of me receiving the e-mail.

I'm not bidding a $250k job in that time... even if I had the time!