Ever change prices mid-job?

[Slvrmple72]

I don't. I just can't afford to screw up any quotes. Any of the time. I see other guys around here locally do it frequently. A while back this jackass that is out of business now starts to question me as to why I bid a dead tree at a certain property so high ($1,675). I told him not to worry about what I bid on anything. This jackass comes back with "Well we bid $700 and I thought that was high but I got the job." I know the guy lost his ass on it as he did on many jobs before he went belly up.

They just don't have a clue after years of scraping by with beat up, broke down bodies and equipment. If you are still putting up with the same type of customers and price range you first started out with then I feel really sorry for you. Quality service warrants a premium price, you don't like it then go Craigslist Yourself!

 

[jefflovstrom]

The only circumstances where I think it would be acceptable to raise the price is if you have to bring specialized equipment on the job (like a crane) due to unforeseeable circumstance (like an unforeseen defect in the tree that would make it unsafe to climb) or if something doesn't go according to plan on the haul off that has been agreed upon (like when the customer says his son in law will pick up the wood.

I also had to go up on a price a couple of months back.

Just asking, What is unforseeable that you did not forsee? A defect in the tree? Did you go up and look at it or did you tell your client that you will charge this much from the ground, but it may go up later when I am up in the tree and see something that changes everything. Maybe I am confused,
Jeff

 

[treevet]

I have done trees much taller than the buckets I was using....!!

LXT..................

Hell yeah....and besides getting out and climbing you can just butt hitch a limb or small lead and either drop it into a block or just hang it on a lanyard and then carve it up (much faster).....20....30...feet or more.

 

[jefflovstrom]

Wasn't addressing that to you bud. Just thinking out loud.

Hop you don't 'type' what you are thinking about know!! eeww!
Jeff

 

[tree md]

The only circumstances where I think it would be acceptable to raise the price is if you have to bring specialized equipment on the job (like a crane) due to unforeseeable circumstance (like an unforeseen defect in the tree that would make it unsafe to climb) or if something doesn't go according to plan on the haul off that has been agreed upon (like when the customer says his son in law will pick up the wood.

I also had to go up on a price a couple of months back.

Just asking, What is unforseeable that you did not forsee? A defect in the tree? Did you go up and look at it or did you tell your client that you will charge this much from the ground, but it may go up later when I am up in the tree and see something that changes everything. Maybe I am confused,
Jeff

Client told me that the cheapest bid he had got on the tree was $3200 with a crane. I told him I thought I could do it without a crane and save him a little money. I got 60' in the tree on a leader that had a hollow in 8" wood that i could stick my fist in and there was wet, rotten wood inside. I needed to go another 15" out on the leader to clear phase three lines, no rigging, just drop. I was concerned about the tension that would be put on the leader (Silver maple) when I dropped the limb. I was concerned that it would fail underneath me. If I could have tied into another leader that would not of swung me into the lines I would have still done it but I had a bad feeling on that one and backed out. I still climbed up to the point I would have cut the limb to hook the choker for the crane. I felt that it would hold my weight but I didn't think it would handle the stress from dropping a 20' tip of the leader. I walk a fine line when I climb Jeff. I like to think that I can take it to the nth degree when I estimate what stress a limb or a spar can take. Believe me when I tell you that I really push the envelope in those situations a lot of the time. I've got 20 years experience in bad trees and I like to think that I am one of the best. I erred on the side of caution that day and the HO agreed with me and appreciated my attempt.

 

[jefflovstrom]

ever used a bucket truck......YES, over 20yrs of experience...& NO I have never underestimated what I can & cannot reach, especially a stone cold dead ELM, I have done trees much taller than the buckets I was using.....what then you ask? I use the bucket as an elevator & jump out & climb!!!!!!!

And I am being Honest......maybe when I was in my early 20`s & all gung ho did I underbid or work harder than I should have (young, dumb & full of cum)....but underestimating bucket height or over center reach......cant say I have done that in the last 18+ years!!!

would I have changed my bid though......NO! I would have made the Home owner aware that if I could not reach it then I would need specialty equipment at their cost!! up front before jumping in, $400 in 97 was it? you think that was alot back then.......most think thats alot today probably more so than back then!!!!

check out my thread titled ameriquip old but good......there you will see what I was able to do with a bucket no where near tall enough!!

LXT..................

Good post man, but you should lay off the 'Red Bull', . It is obvious you know what you are doing, so quit trying to intimidate these guy's. Or, do you wanna be like me?
Jeff

 

[lxt]

Easy Jeff, LMFAO

no, not trying to start a squabble or intimidate.....I just run into this alot...joe schmoe bids the job at xxx & then when he starts he realizes, ooops I didnt see that when I bid it, dam tree grew I cant reach it...or the real good one: lets take off all the limbs over the house & then remove the central leader while leaving the big section over the 3 phase with no place to rope too.

I understand if you run into honey bee`s, or the customer built something in your path.......but if access & hazards are the same from when you bid it....then why now all of a sudden change the price? I just dont get it.

I did a job this past friday, simple elevation & dead wood job....but found out the one leader was seriously in need of removal.........2 red headed woodpeckers had worked this lead so bad & bored 3/4 of the way through in so many spots I woulda felt bad not telling the HO, we removed that lead, made it safe & for no additional charge!!!!



LXT.................

 

[imagineero]

There's a great scene in the grapes of wrath where the rich white landowners gather all the negro workers together for some amusement (no TV in those days). The depression is on, the workers have no money and they know their families are at home starving and havent eaten for days... They blindfold them, and push them together to make them fight. They throw coins at them, on the ground... the workers are desperately scrambling on the ground for the coins, knowing that a few precious dollars might make the difference between life and death for their kids. While they crawl around, the landowners kick and punch them, push them into each other, whip them into a fury until they are blindly punching each other. Jolly good fun.

reading through threads like this it always shocks me how much crap some guys are willing to put up with by their customers.... Guys go through all kinds of nonsense; rude/abusive customers, liars, cheats, non-payers, people who make you compete against others to drop your price to the point you cant cover your costs etc etc....

Why is it people are so willing to compromise themselves when running a business, but wouldn't even dream of putting up with half as much if they were working for someone who treated them the same way? If you were working for a boss who short changed you, wouldn't pay you for the hours you worked, stopped paying you if the job took longer than he thought it would, expected you to cover all your own mistakes and equipment out of your pocket, was rude and abusive and called you in to work just to have a look at a job then sent you home and said he might call you next week to do it, you'd tell him where to put that job ;-)

I've never changed price mid-job, and I've taken it up the rear 2 or 3 times in a pretty big way. Not on tree work, but on other things (mostly commercial renovations). Honesty and ethics, sure. but if the situation were reversed, how would you treat the other person? I expect the same treatment from my customers, as I give to them. Before it gets to the point that I'm crawling round on hands and knees for a few dollars, I'll become a farmer. At least I'll eat.

Shaun