underbid jobs

[clearance]

I love it, Mark and Treelo have angered even the Limeys, culls, the pair of them, but at least Treelo can climb. Mark, you gonna tell us what you do?

 

[kennertree]

I love it, Mark and Treelo have angered even the Limeys, culls, the pair of them, but at least Treelo can climb. Mark, you gonna tell us what you do?

Who cares what he does. I bet he doesnt put spurs on and spike everything he can.

 

[clearance]

Who cares what he does. I bet he doesnt put spurs on and spike everything he can.

Why do you care what I do then? I ask cause the guy beaks off on all subjects, including treework, like he is the Pope, so I ask, what is it you do? Probably just a mouthpiece, weekend warrior type.

 

[jmack]

THAT is one of the silliest statements I've seen on any site.


Nobody gets hurt by press or lawyers?

dont worry about it babe

 

[rubberducky]

When you guys realize that you have underbid a job, what do you do? I gave a price a few weeks ago for this one big oak over a building. I knew what it was worth, but after hearing the competition's price I went down considerably. After some careful thought and consulting with friends who knew the tree I called the customer back and said that I was sorry but I have to retract my bid and proceeded to give the appropriate one which should have been given in the first place. Don't care if I get the job or not, because the competition bid it at a price which one person called red cross pricing... AKA charity work.

What if you get there in the morning to do the tree(s) and realize that you were WAY too low? Walk? Ask for more $?

I'm sorry to say this but, you should stick to your word, that's the way life is.:bang:

 

[Trinity Honoria]

Why do you care what I do then? I ask cause the guy beaks off on all subjects, including treework, like he is the Pope, so I ask, what is it you do? Probably just a mouthpiece, weekend warrior type.

sometimes weekend warriors have better ethics then the hacks who work in a biz all week long...

 

[P_woozel]

This post makes it very clear who one would want to work with. It would NOT be the like sof those who stick by the customer is right crap. Bids get messed up, customers break bids all the time. Its the nature of treework. Its stupid to do a job even after you realize there was a huge error in the amount of work/exposure. Who gets the brunt of this mistake? The crew, Always take care of your crew first. Sending them one an underbid job is WRONG. A good crew will still try to bust their asses to make target. People can get hurt. And often the estimator/owner are breathing down their necks to finish so the can get to the next one. Stop it, pull your heads out of your asses and focus.umpkin2:

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

I'm sorry to say this but, you should stick to your word, that's the way life is.:bang:

What like big corporation's and politicians do,wake-up this is a dog eat dog world..

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

sometimes weekend warriors have better ethics then the hacks who work in a biz all week long...

What would you know about the runnings of a tree bizz??? ,going by your profile, you can't make a success out of any of your business ventures,hence you faffle with 2 businesses and still have an employed job,wow you must have a lot of hours in your day..

 

[clearance]

Just to clarify what I am talking about, if a low bid is made and the tree service cancels the work, ok. If the customer agrees to any bid and then cancels, that is ok as well. Life goes on.

 

[jmack]

Breach of contract is petty? You promise me something and then reneg, and that's petty to you?

I guess we know what YOUR word is worth.





Clearance, you have the brains of a maggot and the morals of an alley cat. You are the kind that give business people a bad name. Come on to my property and make an honest mistake, and we'll work it out. Break your word, and you'll hang as high as I can pull you up.

And that's the right thing to do. Contractors who don't stand by their bids are on the same level as dishonest used car salesmen. If you don't know how to bid, that's YOUR problem. Go work for someone else who does.

mark are the names necessary, we know you own a home and this is a serious subject but if were going to get anywhere with hearing and understanding each other we got to cool out. im guilty of getting hot as well im guilty of it too, but alot you guys went wild on clearance with the personal attacks . treeman 5 pages ago got in over his head and he tried to reachout he got a beat down instead , if we are gonna discuss stuff we cant discourage questions, by trying to level the guy peace j

 

[sawn_penn]

Contractors who don't stand by their bids are on the same level as dishonest used car salesmen.

Yes you should try and stand by your word. There are higher responsibilities though.

Let's use your "used car salesmen" analogy. Say someone is interested in a car you are selling, and you agree to sell for $5,000 as long as you fix a little annoying noise. The $5,000 price is agreed and everyone is happy. Now the mechanic says that the little noise is a big end bearing, and it will cost $2,000 to get fixed. You were only going to make $500 on the car in the first place.

So, what do you do? Do you ask the mechanic to perform a quick and dodgey fix to get rid of the noise for a little while? Do you ring the customer and discuss the situation openly? Or do you just take the $1,500 loss on the deal? (No holidays for your kids this year). If you decide to be open an honest about the car, and the buyer backs out of the deal, what do you do then? Do you tell the next potential buyer about the problem? Do you get the car fixed and try and sell it for $7,000? Or $6,500? Or less?

It is a complex world, and often keeping rigidly to "your word" can be an excuse for less than ethical behaviour.


Let's get back to an example related to trees. Say you agree to remove a seemingly solid tree in a homeowner's backyard for $1,000. Once you have started the work, you discover structural problems (cracks, rot, whatever) that were not apparent from the ground. It is now your professional opinion that further work on the tree without the right heavy equipment risks serious damage to the house. Because of the location of the tree (backyard) getting the right heavy equipment in requires the removal (and hence replacement) of a fence. It's now a $5,000 job.

Do you:

1. Give the tree removal your best shot without extra help? Maybe you'll get lucky and the house won't be damaged, but you will have exposed the homeowner to additional risk that they didn't agree to.

or

2. Discuss the situation with the homeowner, and then do the job properly at a higher price (maybe you get nothing for your time, maybe you charge $4,000?)

or

3. Something else entirely?

The world isn't simple, the world isn't black and white. Try and do the right thing by your customers. Try and do the right thing by your staff. Try and do the right thing by your family. Always standing by the letter of your word is too often an excuse for screwing other customers on other deals.

 

[sawn_penn]

Maybe another way of looking at the problem is "What do you do if you overbid a job?"

Say you bid $5,000 on a job and the customer accepts. Once you do the work, you find that it was only really a $1,000 job.

What do you do? I figure that if you still charge the $5,000 you have less moral right to renegotiate the price on an underbid.

If you only charge $1,000 when you could have taken the full $5,000 then you have more moral right to renegotiate an underbid.

 

[Bermie]

Thus endeth the lesson, two good posts.

 

[Treeman14]

Maybe another way of looking at the problem is "What do you do if you overbid a job?"

Say you bid $5,000 on a job and the customer accepts. Once you do the work, you find that it was only really a $1,000 job.

What do you do? I figure that if you still charge the $5,000 you have less moral right to renegotiate the price on an underbid.

If you only charge $1,000 when you could have taken the full $5,000 then you have more moral right to renegotiate an underbid.

Excellent post sawn penn. As was the one before this. I look at it this way, some jobs are overbid some are underbid, nobody gets it exactly right every time. They all work out in the end, so if you have to eat a job every so often, so be it.

 

[Husky372]

I have found this thread entertaining. Sawn_Penn you make some good points. But lets remember he quoted 1600 but after talking to someone else decided it was a 2,000 dollar job. To me that means it is going to take a little longer than he thought. Not the use of cranes or any such thing. I think in your second post yes re negotiations maybe necessary. But in his case I think it is more a lack of experiance and eagerness to get the job that he bid like he did. $400 is cheap life/business lesson. I personally would eat it (and have) just to keep my reputation where I want it.

 

[treeman82]

When I first saw the tree I said to myself $2,500. Was really shaky about saying $1,600. Had somebody else tell me that it was a $2,500 tree. Retracted my bid of $1,600 and told the guy to get the other contractor for $1,200. I've worked for this guy a bunch of times in the past, and will continue to work for him after this.

 

[Oly's Stump]

I have had jobs where my help made more money then me. Unexpected problems caused more time which cost the boss money! On the other hand I have got jobs where the job was complete in a quarter of the alloted time.

 

[A&Atree]

As a crew leader

as a crew leader even if i think that the sales rep has underbid the job drasticly that is not my problem nor my job to deal with it. My job is to get the work done as safely and as efficently as possible regardless of the price that has been worked out on the contract. People make mistakes and if you arrive at the job site with a negative attitude that will only make things worse for your self and crew, so bottom line "make it look easy and get the job donelike you always do"

 

[Treeman14]

as a crew leader even if i think that the sales rep has underbid the job drasticly that is not my problem nor my job to deal with it. My job is to get the work done as safely and as efficently as possible regardless of the price that has been worked out on the contract. People make mistakes and if you arrive at the job site with a negative attitude that will only make things worse for your self and crew, so bottom line "make it look easy and get the job donelike you always do"

Well said, A&A! I was hoping someone would see it that way.