You Couldn't Make it Up........

[Rolfe 2]

Had a nice little job this morning.......really simple to do. Place a ladder up to fascia board level, remove the end board, clean out an old starlings nest, quick blast of Ficam D in the void to kill off any creepy-crawlies, replace the stop-end and fit a piece of wire netting under the tile to stop the birds getting back in.........Job Done..!

I was there and back in less than an hour and charged the customer fifty quid.......she was well pleased, especially when she told me she had been quoted.........WAIT FOR IT............£700.00.........YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT.....£700.00 for the same job. The company that quoted was one of the biggest in the country (you all know which one)......their surveyor had deemed it nescessary to use access equipment due to the location (cherry picker) and would take two men all day to complete. :wallbash: :thumbdown:

 

WHAT A CHUFFING RIP-OFF.........YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT UP COULD YOU :doh:

[Malt 379]

Doesn't surprise me Rolfe mate, some of these big firms are so tied up by health & safety. My brother & I plastered a large stairwell for a big firm a few years back. The foreman told us that if he followed all the relevant red tape, there was no legal way that the very top of the stairwell could be plastered.

[stubby 175]

best thing about that rolfe, just imagine the amount of people the customer will tell that story too

[andybrock 2]

Had a nice little job this morning.......really simple to do. Place a ladder up to fascia board level, remove the end board, clean out an old starlings nest, quick blast of Ficam D in the void to kill off any creepy-crawlies, replace the stop-end and fit a piece of wire netting under the tile to stop the birds getting back in.........Job Done..!

I was there and back in less than an hour and charged the customer fifty quid.......she was well pleased, especially when she told me she had been quoted.........WAIT FOR IT............£700.00.........YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT.....£700.00 for the same job. The company that quoted was one of the biggest in the country (you all know which one)......their surveyor had deemed it nescessary to use access equipment due to the location (cherry picker) and would take two men all day to complete. :wallbash: :thumbdown:

 

WHAT A CHUFFING RIP-OFF.........YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT UP COULD YOU :doh:

 

I had a mole job in a garden last week and i'm guessing we are talking about the same very large company who had quoted £375 to gas the moles (which incidentley was working only 6' from the house). This chap was so pleased when I told him it would be £ he gave me an extra £20 to get myself a pint or two.

[Foxy09 3]

Had a nice little job this morning.......really simple to do. Place a ladder up to fascia board level, remove the end board, clean out an old starlings nest, quick blast of Ficam D in the void to kill off any creepy-crawlies, replace the stop-end and fit a piece of wire netting under the tile to stop the birds getting back in.........Job Done..!

I was there and back in less than an hour and charged the customer fifty quid.......she was well pleased, especially when she told me she had been quoted.........WAIT FOR IT............£700.00.........YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT.....£700.00 for the same job. The company that quoted was one of the biggest in the country (you all know which one)......their surveyor had deemed it nescessary to use access equipment due to the location (cherry picker) and would take two men all day to complete. :wallbash: :thumbdown:

 

WHAT A CHUFFING RIP-OFF.........YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT UP COULD YOU :doh:

 

I had a mole job in a garden last week and i'm guessing we are talking about the same very large company who had quoted £375 to gas the moles (which incidentley was working only 6' from the house). This chap was so pleased when I told him it would be £ he gave me an extra £20 to get myself a pint or two.

 

Although i definitely agree with what you are saying about some of the prices (and dodgy surveying) from the big companys i cant help but think that some guys are selling themselvs short still? yes the big companys can charge crazy prices and the reason they can is that people pay them. So for a customer who had been quoted £375 for a job you could have charged him £150 and still more than halfed his quote giving yourself an extra few bob, at the end of the day your in it to make a living and if your good at it the customer has to pay for it just like calling out a sparky or a plumber etc.

 

all the best

Foxy

[Fat-Ferret 857]

Had a nice little job this morning.......really simple to do. Place a ladder up to fascia board level, remove the end board, clean out an old starlings nest, quick blast of Ficam D in the void to kill off any creepy-crawlies, replace the stop-end and fit a piece of wire netting under the tile to stop the birds getting back in.........Job Done..!

I was there and back in less than an hour and charged the customer fifty quid.......she was well pleased, especially when she told me she had been quoted.........WAIT FOR IT............£700.00.........YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT.....£700.00 for the same job. The company that quoted was one of the biggest in the country (you all know which one)......their surveyor had deemed it nescessary to use access equipment due to the location (cherry picker) and would take two men all day to complete. :wallbash: :thumbdown:

 

WHAT A CHUFFING RIP-OFF.........YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT UP COULD YOU :doh:

 

I had a mole job in a garden last week and i'm guessing we are talking about the same very large company who had quoted £375 to gas the moles (which incidentley was working only 6' from the house). This chap was so pleased when I told him it would be £ he gave me an extra £20 to get myself a pint or two.

 

Although i definitely agree with what you are saying about some of the prices (and dodgy surveying) from the big companys i cant help but think that some guys are selling themselvs short still? yes the big companys can charge crazy prices and the reason they can is that people pay them. So for a customer who had been quoted £375 for a job you could have charged him £150 and still more than halfed his quote giving yourself an extra few bob, at the end of the day your in it to make a living and if your good at it the customer has to pay for it just like calling out a sparky or a plumber etc.

 

all the best

Foxy

 

 

I have to agree there...You dont want to go too low either

[badgeroy 3]

A small plumbing firm i used to work for the dad used to say you know when you've charged the right price when the customer says "HOW MUCH" When i was doing my own work i'd give a customer a price and they'd say thats cheap and i'd kick myself for not giving a higher price.

[RatSnatcher 0]

What ever way you look at it £375 for an hrs works is taking the pi55

[trappa 517]

That is a lot of money, the robbing gits, but then i would have charged more than £50 so your a smidge on the cheap side!

[stephen58 1]

Sorry Trapper , I have got to dis~agree with you mate , you have got to look at the " bigger picture " did a mouse job last year for a lady on a Friday night , charged her only £70 for two visit,s , then done the proofing for £50 , since then she has had a Wasp nest and has reccommended to numerous of her friends for various pest control jobs etc , now here is the punch~line , the lady who called me out on Friday night phoned the big " RIPOFKIL " the nearist technician was 2 hours away ( yeah right ) 1hours work , plus 2 hours traveling back all at £70 an hour , total bill £ 350 , plus V.A.T , the money i,ve have earned from this one job and word of mouth and the ladies associates makes RIPOFKIL price look like pea~nuts , best regards STEVE

[Steve Albano 21]

We have the same type of rip off artists here in the states. I set up a mole and gopher job yesterday in a small garden, where a prior company had charged $695 for a "start up" fee on a yearly contract, plus $100 per month. 2 months into this, the customer said there was no improvement whatsoever in the amount of mole and gopher damage occurring in her garden, so she canceled the contract. We quoted her $125 to trap the animals out of her small lawn, and we set up yesterday, and today removed 2 gophers and 1 mole from her lawn, and 3 additional gophers from a hillside behind her property. $800 expended with this other company, and they had made about 6 or 7 service calls to the property, and they had accomplished nothing at all.

 

I did some checking, and as suspected, the company was nowhere to be found in the state's list of licensed pest control companies, and I put a call into the appropriate authorities to report these illegal, unethical, thieving b*****ds. Hopefully they'll get shut down.

 

Did I mention the customer was 82years old? Can you imaging the utter lack of business ethics that it takes to rip off an older gentleman who may not have the mental clarity to make good decisions on these types of things?

[trappa 517]

Sorry Trapper , I have got to dis~agree with you mate , you have got to look at the " bigger picture " did a mouse job last year for a lady on a Friday night , charged her only £70 for two visit,s , then done the proofing for £50 , since then she has had a Wasp nest and has reccommended to numerous of her friends for various pest control jobs etc , now here is the punch~line , the lady who called me out on Friday night phoned the big " RIPOFKIL " the nearist technician was 2 hours away ( yeah right ) 1hours work , plus 2 hours traveling back all at £70 an hour , total bill £ 350 , plus V.A.T , the money i,ve have earned from this one job and word of mouth and the ladies associates makes RIPOFKIL price look like pea~nuts , best regards STEVE

Know exactly where you are coming from but i would have charged a bit more thats all. I get a lot of jobs through word of mouth, neighbours etc too.

[camies 1]

Just down the road, garden job, moles, old guy, (well, older than me anyway), so OAP rates which turned out to be £300 less than a big franchise had quoted.

Two days, two moles, two hours work, cash on results, lovely!

What I didn't know was the guy was some sort of retired local horticultural thingy expert.

Hadn't got home before the wiff (boss) called with 7 more local jobs.

(OAP Lady) Did I do wasps? (No, couldn't help her) and a mole job. (done)

(OAP Lady) Can I do something about the sparrows in the gazebo? (Old CD's on strings)

(OAP Gent) Please scare off starlings from the elderberry bushes? (I do love my old CD's and tin foil strips)

(OAP Lady) Can I stop the cats pooing on flower beds? (Cat Repellant and a bottle of pee!)

(OAP Gent) Hedgehog poo prevention (fixed fence) and moles. (done)

(OAP Gent) Rats (actually mice) eating bird table food? (Trapped as I don't use poisons)

and one from a lovely little old lady who wanted to feed only the little birds and not the squirrel? (squirrel proof feeder)

 

OK, not all moley and pest jobs but all as a direct result of that one little mole job and that one because I was cheaper than the big guys. I do love these big firms!

Edited August 7, 2009 by camies

[RatSnatcher 0]

thats what I like to hear camies, the little guy sticking a big sized 10 up the jacksy of the big guys

 

The word is spreading, that is why the big R have to go to the Libya to get there work

Edited August 7, 2009 by RatSnatcher

[camies 1]

Won't be a problem for the local guys in Libya either as they'll be too expensive there!