jeff43222
Senior Member
- Location
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
This happened to me this morning:
I called a HO I just finished a job for and found out the inspector was out today and signed off on the final. All that was left was for me to invoice the HO. The job was a panel upgrade with a few extras, plus some code compliance stuff the city requires. I gave him an estimate of $2040 last year and did most of the work then. He paid me about $1450 at that point, and we agreed to suspend work for a while for a variety of reasons. We recently agreed on plans for me to come back and finish the job, which I did. I figured out the cost of the remainder and came up with $565, which brought the total just a bit under the original estimate. Here's how the phone call went:
Stupid cell phones...
I called a HO I just finished a job for and found out the inspector was out today and signed off on the final. All that was left was for me to invoice the HO. The job was a panel upgrade with a few extras, plus some code compliance stuff the city requires. I gave him an estimate of $2040 last year and did most of the work then. He paid me about $1450 at that point, and we agreed to suspend work for a while for a variety of reasons. We recently agreed on plans for me to come back and finish the job, which I did. I figured out the cost of the remainder and came up with $565, which brought the total just a bit under the original estimate. Here's how the phone call went:
HO: So what's the final tab that I owe you?
Me: With materials and labor, it came to $565.
(pregnant pause)
HO: That's a lot more than I expected. How did you get that figure?
Me: Well, the original estimate was for $2040, and you paid me $1450 last year when I did most of the work. The remainder came to about $565, which puts the total very close to the original estimate.
HO: Did you say five hundred dollars?
Me: Yeah -- $565.00.
HO: I thought you said five thousand dollars!
Me: That would be a very expensive panel upgrade!
(laughter, followed by relieved willingness to pay me right away)
Me: With materials and labor, it came to $565.
(pregnant pause)
HO: That's a lot more than I expected. How did you get that figure?
Me: Well, the original estimate was for $2040, and you paid me $1450 last year when I did most of the work. The remainder came to about $565, which puts the total very close to the original estimate.
HO: Did you say five hundred dollars?
Me: Yeah -- $565.00.
HO: I thought you said five thousand dollars!
Me: That would be a very expensive panel upgrade!
(laughter, followed by relieved willingness to pay me right away)
Stupid cell phones...