will beat any written estimate

[2112]

we always advertise in the local newspaper today I looked in the business section to see this add

***** tree service trimming and removal will beat any written estimate.
If these companys have to under bid every estimate to get work than to me they are nothing more than a bunch of fly by nights .
Im tired of guys like this cutting everyones throuts to make aa buck. If they were a legit business they would have their own pricing system and would not have to rely on the proffesional arborists to set the price and then beat it.
I know they will eventually fall but at the present time Im really furious.

 

[treeclimber165]

You will find people like that in virtually any business. And there are plenty of people that WANT the lowest price, regardless of what they get. I have found it better to avoid this type of customer. If they want the CHEAPEST work, they will get it. If they want the job done properly, I'll be happy to talk to them. If I find a customer badgering me for a cheap price, I just add on 10% or so and walk away without wasting any more time than necessary. Share your knowledge with the people that want and appreciate it. :angel:

 

[Kevin]

You could always add to your add ...

Don`t let wana bees inhabit your trees!

 

[2112]

thanks for the advice treeclimber165 I know thats the way I should look at the sittuation.
Kevin thats a heck of an idea

 

[Kevin]

Eric, you`ll probably be inundated with phone calls wanting to know what a wana bee looks like?

 

[treeclimber165]

Looks like a honey bee, only more 'yellow'

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I ve always done the bump up too when people infer they are looking for "value/cost".

I also done it when the job was one I did not want. Jack it up high to give the other guys a break. I might even call a few reputable riggers and let them know the work is there to bid on.

 

[active]

Write out the next 10 bids ,that you don't wan't, for 70 percent less than you would otherwise charge and submit them to the customer along with a copy of the add.LOL

Let's see how long Mr. Undercut stays in buissness after doing those jobs!

Jim L

 

[Deere John]

Hi Guys!! Long-time-no-visit. Darin sent me an email and sparked me abit. I'm am typing one handed as I hold my 19 lb chuck of a son in my lap.

I ususally told people that I'm not the cheapest, and I'll tell you the reasons. 10 minutes of PR and I could smooze 80 percent of them. The other 20 percent were the ones that I did not really want anyway.

I thought, along the lines of Kevin's suggestion, that you do not wanta let wanna bees INHIBIT your trees. I'm in a punny mood.

 

[Darin]

The ones that want it done the cheapest are the ones that ***** about things the most anyway. It seems to always happen.
Good to see you back in for a post John.

 

[KirbysLawn]

Here is a landscape company that states "Guaranteed to Beat any Competitor's Price!". So, I emailed him a while back and gave the scenaro of what happens if they have a LOW bid, he said he would not bid on the job and just wouldn't do it if it was too low. So much for the "Guarantee"

http://www.kenslandscaping.com/

 

[Darin]

This is like that part in the movie, Tommy Boy, where he tells the guy that a guarantee is as good as the paper its written on. Stupid movies are educational, you know.

 

[tree md]

I just had a guy back out of a 2200 dollar tree on me today. this is about a hundred year old oak, all over his house and swimming pool. Some crack head that has been working the same neighborhood as me and creeped in on me this weekend told the guy he would do it for 500, he has no gear and fell out of another tree sat, then told the guy that he needed the 500 hundred up front to go to the hospitol the guy told him to get lost and decided not to take down the tree which I had scheduled for today. sad thing is I had already rented a bobcat and had it on the job for today.

 

[The Climber]

Hey TreeMD,
That sure sounds familiar. There are way to many of those tards around. I especially hate the ones who get in the tree long enough to make one cut than claim their saw broke down and they need their undercut fee so they can take it to the shop,then they dissapear. It never fails when the coustomer decides to then go ahead and pay the price to get someone with experiance to do the job, you get there and the first thing you see is that the one cut they did make was the limb that should have been last. That can make some jobs much more difficult and time consuming so that your origanal bid no longer covers it.
There has been rumor that my city might begin requiring a licence to practice. they say there would be a test but that it wouldnt be too big of a deal, just enough too keep the total zeros out. You would be required to cary your card when working and if you fail to produce one when asked all work would be stoped until you aquired one.
normaly I'm not into the government making more laws and expecting us to jump through even more hoops, but this one I could live with.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Hey my borther-in-law has to have a home improvement license, I dont see why a person doing landscape improvements should not have to have a similar requirment.

 

[tree md]

I would definitly go for a licensing requirement. Here in Atlanta you are supposed to have a bussiness license but they are pretty lax on that. but I agree with you climber I would welcom some sort of licensing procedure or manditory certification.

 

[The Climber]

Maybe we should do a petition on line, How many members are on this site?

 

[sgreanbeans]

hi, all its been a while!
we have a guy that does the same thing here[iowa]. he also says he is a certified california forest fire fighter! is there such a cetification!
he also claims to be the exclusive "tree man" for 2 really big real estate companies, in wich he is not! he underbids all of us by a long shot, thousands at a time. i wonder if he knows how much money he is losing! oh well, forced me to lower my price to get some work. anybody got a mack truck!

 

[The Climber]

How about a Mack Nine

 

[sonny]

we use to hire Cal. certified forest fighters. Its a state run program. Im sure at 1 time or buissness card was on their buillten board. (aka state prisons)