Interesting encounter today...

[sac-climber]

This is a first for me. I was out bidding a job in a 55+ neighborhood and was walking back to my truck when a guy asked if I could give him a price on a pretty simple removal. I gave him a price he agreed to and as we were walking out another tree guy is walking up. He tells me he'd still like to hear this guys price and I say of course. Walk back to my truck and drive to the guys house to drop off a card. He says the other guy gave the same price but since he's a Mexican and so was the competitor he was gonna go with him. I was absolutely stunned.

I'm sure it happens all the time but this was the first time anyone straight up said it to my face. Honestly.....

 

[rtsims]

Wait, your white?

 

[sac-climber]

My ass is white, the rest is a nice beige.

 

[jefflovstrom]

This is a first for me. I was absolutely stunned. Honestly.....

I bet you were not really that stunned,,,
Jeff

 

[mckeetree]

This is a first for me. I was out bidding a job in a 55+ neighborhood and was walking back to my truck when a guy asked if I could give him a price on a pretty simple removal. I gave him a price he agreed to and as we were walking out another tree guy is walking up. He tells me he'd still like to hear this guys price and I say of course. Walk back to my truck and drive to the guys house to drop off a card. He says the other guy gave the same price but since he's a Mexican and so was the competitor he was gonna go with him. I was absolutely stunned.

I'm sure it happens all the time but this was the first time anyone straight up said it to my face. Honestly.....

That's where you hit the guy in the mouth as hard as you can and run.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Reverse discrimination

 

[Oak Savanna]

They probably discussed your price and then the other guy went $50-$100 less! I never take a customers word for it anyway. They lie so much and make s#it up to try and get a deal. For example I will say $850 for a tree and the customer says ohh well I had another price of $600! Can you match it?! Well why would I match it? Wouldn't you want me to beat it? The other guy is already $600! I ask to see it in writing and they say ohh well it was just a verbal agreement. That's when I walk away and say I think the other guy is the right man for the job! Next week buddy is calling back cause his $600 guy couldn't make it!! Half the time the other guy didn't even exsist! It was just a bunch of BS! You didnt wanna work for that guy anyway! Piss on him!

 

[sac-climber]

I bet you were not really that stunned,,,
Jeff

It was more of an initial shock.....it is a little different than SD County up here so this is certainly not the norm. I know what you mean though.

 

[rtsims]

If it makes you feel any better, I get a ton of work and compliments because I have an all white crew. That being said, one of the best climbers I know is Mexican, and he is welcome on my crew any time.

 

[sac-climber]

They probably discussed your price and then the other guy went $50-$100 less! I never take a customers word for it anyway. They lie so much and make s#it up to try and get a deal. For example I will say $850 for a tree and the customer says ohh well I had another price of $600! Can you match it?! Well why would I match it? Wouldn't you want me to beat it? The other guy is already $600! I ask to see it in writing and they say ohh well it was just a verbal agreement. That's when I walk away and say I think the other guy is the right man for the job! Next week buddy is calling back cause his $600 guy couldn't make it!! Half the time the other guy didn't even exsist! It was just a bunch of BS! You didnt wanna work for that guy anyway! Piss on him!

It was a half hour job at best. 15' Bradford pear between the house and fence, gate access, no stump grinding, easy peasy. He said he had a quote for $125 and I said take it, he wanted my price I said $200. Whatever, not worth the headache of him ******** that there's some leaves on the roof. He did me a favor.

 

[mckeetree]

They probably discussed your price and then the other guy went $50-$100 less! I never take a customers word for it anyway. They lie so much and make s#it up to try and get a deal. For example I will say $850 for a tree and the customer says ohh well I had another price of $600! Can you match it?! Well why would I match it? Wouldn't you want me to beat it? The other guy is already $600! I ask to see it in writing and they say ohh well it was just a verbal agreement. That's when I walk away and say I think the other guy is the right man for the job! Next week buddy is calling back cause his $600 guy couldn't make it!! Half the time the other guy didn't even exsist! It was just a bunch of BS! You didnt wanna work for that guy anyway! Piss on him!

Piss on him with the four barrel kicked in. We have clowns like that try crap with us on an almost daily basis. We had a local landscaper talk us into going to this old ass clown's house last week to give a quote. He claimed it was a sorta hardship deal...hardship deal, the guy lived in a $400,000 house. Anyway, I quoted the job $2,800. Should have been more like $3,500. He was extremely hard to understand but I understood something about "Wetbacks rude you out...wetbacks rude..wetbacks rude $900.00" (rule?) Anyway, I told him I realized I had made a terrible mistake and was obviously at the wrong house and promptly left.

 

[Zale]

Life is too short. Move on.

 

[chevybob]

3 jobs I bid on recently got beat by quite a bit. I don't know if I'm pricing my jobs too high or everyone out there doesn't care about making a profit.....

 

[DR. P. Proteus]

By the time yer typical person is 55+ they have had a lot of experience in haggling and just throw things out there regardless if they make are pertinent or even make sense all the while running through the great pre-exististing and ever growing labrynical flow chart which they have construed in their own minds to be viable and struggle to make it viable in reality. Actually, its no so much a struggle for them as it is for us.

 

[HuskStihl]

About once or twice a year I get somebody who picked me "cause your name sounded white."
I don't have the heart to tell them that I'm really an albino Somali Muslim, and I just changed my name from Mohammed al shaktar sharia last week to get more business

 

[sac-climber]

Thinking back now I've had one other person say that they wouldn't go with our company because they felt sorry for "the Mexicans". Still having this guy tell me to basically "pound sand whitey" was just bizarre.

HuskStihl, glad the name change is getting you jobs

 

[mckeetree]

Thinking back now I've had one other person say that they wouldn't go with our company because they felt sorry for "the Mexicans". Still having this guy tell me to basically "pound sand whitey" was just bizarre.

HuskStihl, glad the name change is getting you jobs

Felt sorry for the Mexicans, huh? I told one dumb old bastard a few years ago "You like getting your social security don't you? Well, I'm paying plenty into that for you. Plenty. The mojados for the most part don't pay a dime into it. So when you check your direct deposit and there was no SS deposit, don't blame me, blame your own old dumb ass."

 

[Wolfking42084]

These are great! I thought this stuff only happened to me. I recently lost a bid on 1 of 7 condos in a development over $15. The total for all 7 condos was like $6,200. I couldn't believe it. I think the guy realized he made a mistake when my trucks and chipper are there, along with the other company hauling brush in an 86' ranger. People are funny

 

[Hobo Hilton]

Birds of a feather............

 

[DR. P. Proteus]

This is a first for me. I was out bidding a job in a 55+ neighborhood and was walking back to my truck when a guy asked if I could give him a price on a pretty simple removal. I gave him a price he agreed to and as we were walking out another tree guy is walking up. He tells me he'd still like to hear this guys price and I say of course. Walk back to my truck and drive to the guys house to drop off a card. He says the other guy gave the same price but since he's a Mexican and so was the competitor he was gonna go with him. I was absolutely stunned.

I'm sure it happens all the time but this was the first time anyone straight up said it to my face. Honestly.....

That's why its so important to be yourself, speak the truth, walk tall and always have as much fun as you can in life, especially when giving estimates to new people. If you can do that then everything else is just not that important.