Reasons For Not Giving Free Estimates

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weressl said:
It has to do with fair business practices and you are just defending unfair ones. I do have over 35 years of experience with Contracting.
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now you got me ticked....wth is unfair about charging a known dispatch fee to send a qualified electrician, in a fully stocked truck, with all required licenses and insurances, to a persons house to field engineer an installation?

because that's what we do....and your "tax write off" comment indicates your level of understanding.
 
iwire said:
I saw it and the question remains, how does that have to do with free estimates?

Don't try so hard to start trouble.
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The claim was made that PROFESSIONALS don't do free work. So I have responded by clarifying what is the difference between professionals and trades. I ignored the all-knowing remark about what staff engineers know or not. But I see that you do not consider that as troublemaking. Don't you think that you act just a tad bias here?
 
satcom said:
There are many EC's, that don't understand the real cost of doing service work, so do service calls as end of day, or fill work, and have no idea that it is costing them money.

We do a lot of estimates on larger jobs on a will call basis, and no charge, but not on service work, or small jobs.
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Where do you draw the line satcom ($$$ amount?), or do you go with your gut? If someone delivers a plan to me in the $5-10,000 range, even a decent sketch, I'll bid it from the office at no charge because it's quick. If they want to walk me around the basement & point where they want outlets I'm charging a fee. Usually the larger projects like additions that I run into are HOs acting as GCs. You know how time consuming that can be.

You know I'm not a "real" business owner like you. If I get a little time off I don't really care. It's spring & the money is in the bank.

Dave

PS Check your PMs old man.
 
The only time I was forced to call for an electrician I had to pay the truck charge, or whatever they called it. I think it included 1/2 hour of on site time for two guys.

I don't recall how much it was.

I called them because the HVAC guy that came out said it was some kind of electrical problem and recommended the electrical contractor I called. I think the HVAC guy did not charge me, IIRC.
 
weressl said:
It has to do with fair business practices and you are just defending unfair ones. I do have over 35 years of experience with Contracting.
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In the original financial scenario we have 100 calls at $100 each cost (of which we get 50 jobs). In a free estimate situation you throw the $10k into overhead and charge those 50 jobs an average $200 each. So the 50 people who hire you are paying double for bid while the 50 that didn't hire you pay nothing.

That's my idea of an unfair business practice.

Dave
 
weressl said:
I agree. It is not a tad.
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If I was being bias your post would have been removed.

You got to say your view and now I am simply asking you not to try to stir the pot. I know your not an idiot so I don't buy that you posted that without knowing it could cause trouble.

As far as what staff engineers know, it is a safe bet that few of them have much experience with residential electrical service companies. But who knows, maybe you are the exception.

I do service work for commercial and small industrial, we don't charge for estimates for those customers. I bet we would change that if we had to go to every unknown tire kickers home.


Your suggestion that charging for estimates is 'an unfair business practice' is ridiculous.
 
Sparky555 said:
In the original financial scenario we have 100 calls at $100 each cost (of which we get 50 jobs). In a free estimate situation you throw the $10k into overhead and charge those 50 jobs an average $200 each. So the 50 people who hire you are paying double for bid while the 50 that didn't hire you pay nothing.

That's my idea of an unfair business practice.

Dave
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So I have a $600 job and you are going to charge me $100 to let me know? Sorry Dave, but I would just never hire anybody who would try to do that.

I had a screened-in porch to be constructed. I called three different Contractors to bid. They all came and surveyed the location, the bids ranged from $4200 to $7350. I did not go with the low bidder because the offering in the middle just made me more comfortable with the offering.. The lowest bid was from a Contractor 50+ miles away, but after he given me the price, in writing with specifications he called me up and said that he has to raise his price because he had 'mispriced' one of the items. It was $200 and he was still the low bidder, but 'price adjustment' was unacceptable to me.

None of them charged or even mentioned of charging for a 'bid'. Nor would I have paid for one, even if it is deducted from the final price.
 
weressl said:
So I have a $600 job and you are going to charge me $100 to let me know? Sorry Dave, but I would just never hire anybody who would try to do that.
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And that is exactly why it is not an unfair business practice, you don't have to hire Dave.

I had a screened-in porch to be constructed. I called three different Contractors to bid. They all came and surveyed the location, the bids ranged from $4200 to $7350. .....................None of them charged or even mentioned of charging for a 'bid'.
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$4200 to $7350 is not a typical residential electrical service call.
 
weressl said:
Especially since the estimate is part of doing business so it is a tax deductible expense.
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yeah I cant afford to put my self on the payroll yet.
I am a sole properership and cant go on the payroll so I am travelling to the estimates for free cant deduct tax from free.
Putting wear and tear on the van I dont mind if somehow i am getting some overhead costs of that back .
sure the gas is a tax deduction .

Sears charges me 64.95 just for the door knock.
 
I don't see it is unfair. The HO is told of the charge upfront and is free to deal with someone else if he finds the charge offensive.

There is a cost associated with making the estimate. It has to be paid for somehow. If the most palatable way for both parties involved is to charge upfront, so be it.
 
It boils down to how much you value your time. If you put no value on your time, then you give free estimates for small jobs. If you value your time, then you charge accordingly.
 
No customer is actually forced to pay for an estimate, it's their choice, they do have the option to call around until they find a company that offers free estimates.

Many people do choose to pay for an estimate because it's becomming a standard business practrice among the better established companies.

To say the practice is unfair is much like saying that paying for air at a service station is unfair, air was once free but now you normally have to use quarters to get air to pump up a low tire ( around here it's 75 cent to a dollar). If you are willing to drive around enough ( spend $5 in gas ) you can normally find a station with free air. If you buy any gas there the price will be higher to make up for the free air.

A business practice is unfair only if the customer is unaware of the terms and has no choice in the decision.
 
peter d said:
It boils down to how much you value your time. If you put no value on your time, then you give free estimates for small jobs. If you value your time, then you charge accordingly.
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It also boils down to how much your prospective client values your time.

Dave
 
satcom said:
The typical time waster is the call, I am buying a home and i need an estimate for replacing the what ever, (pool wiring, feed to garage, or outbuilding), they want a free estimate, because they just want the estimate to get the money from the seller, they will either do the work themself after they move in or shop for the cheapest area hacker.

If you as for a small dispatch fee, you can filter out most of these calls, if they accept your estimate you will apply it to the work.
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Most of the calls of this type in our area are generated as the result of a home inspection. Typically, we're called by the buyer, seller or RE agent after a home inspection report has listed a number of "problems" (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, etc.). A few years ago we figured out a way to turn these "lemon" calls into lemonade. Since most of the home inspectors with whom we've come in contact have demonstrated a serious lack of knowledge of electrical practices, method, code or safety, (most of the reports I see have "corrections" listed that are not code violations, improper wiring method or safety issues, while missing things that are. When we get these calls, we offer to perform a review of the inspection report, survey of the property and provide a written report of findings with accompanying photos and code citations where appropriate and an estimate of the cost of making these corrections. We charge a reasonable fee for this service. Our experience has been that by the time we've finished the process, educating the customer all the while, the customer is sufficiently convinced of our professionalism and competence (not to mention the necessity of making the recommended corrections for reasons of safety, liability, convenience, etc.) that we, almost without exception, are hired to make the necessary corrections.
 
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