Need to rant!!

[AliGage]

Just been out to quote for a small bathroom floor. Customer wants 4 sqm of cream quartz laying.

Floor is boards, but all over the place. Had about 10 minutes discussion on what needs to be done before she asks, "so how much are you going to charge"
I never like giving figures on quotes. Prefer to go away, work on it accurately and come back to them. So i kept avoiding it saying i'll measure up etc go away and call her the following day with a price.

The bathroom is a champagne suit, mahogany wc seat and panels and 1970's tiles on the wall. So i tried leading her down knocking the quartz on the head and buying a cheaper product and getting the walls jazzed up a bit. So i try leading into the "what's your budget?" question.

I'll skip out the rest of the conversation until a few of you have guessed her budget and how much someone else has "quoted". Oh and she wants an extraction fan, recessed in the ceiling supplyied and fitted.

After a few of you have had a guess i'll post the rest of the conversation.

 

[Fliselege]

Out of touch on UK pricing, all I can say is work out your price, and treble it to make sure she uses someone else. Sounds like you've already got a headache coming on.

 

[Ian]

I bet it's ridiculous, I'll guess at 80 quid.


Sent via Tapatalk for iPhone

 

[White Room]

£200 quid.....

 

[macten]

£130

 

[John Benton]

I'd guess she wants it all in for a ton as someone has already quoted around that price

 

[Tony73]

£69.99 ? :lol: less 20% tax?

 

[judge]

ill go for £175:smilewinkgrin:

 

[AliGage]

John B's got it spot on. She eventually gave me a budget of £300.00 that was to supply and fit tiles on the wall as well. I couldn't help but let out a little laugh.
When i told her she wouldn't even get the floor done for that i got, "what if i brought the tiles?" (The quartz at £75.00 a metre!!) My response was still no chance.

But yeah, she then went on to say she had another guy in quoting £100.00. So, politely as i could, which prehaps wasn't that polite to be honest, i told her to get him in then. Thanked her for wasting my time and apologised for wasting hers and saw myself out.

£100!!!!! What a joke.

 

[White Room]

My patience is wearing thin with these kind of people, last few jobs they seem to think that 18m2 of tiles will fit into 20m2 of floor space and these are project managers.

 

[Spud]

John B's got it spot on. She eventually gave me a budget of £300.00 that was to supply and fit tiles on the wall as well. I couldn't help but let out a little laugh.
When i told her she wouldn't even get the floor done for that i got, "what if i brought the tiles?" (The quartz at £75.00 a metre!!) My response was still no chance.

But yeah, she then went on to say she had another guy in quoting £100.00. So, politely as i could, which prehaps wasn't that polite to be honest, i told her to get him in then. Thanked her for wasting my time and apologised for wasting hers and saw myself out.

£100!!!!! What a joke.

you will always get loonies phoning you up expecting you to work for nothing or give them materiels for free I try and ask a few details before giving up the time and diesel money going round to quote them,first thing I ask is how did you get my number ,if its a recommendation then its a good sign that they have spoken to someone you have already worked for and they will have some idea of what the work will cost,secondly i ask have you had any other quotes ,sensible people get 3 qoutes and choose the person they had the best feeling from,if the customer replies 5 or 6 they are looking for the cheapest price only,where did you buy your tiles,internet buyers tend to be the most price sensitive and spend hours looking for the cheapest stuff they can find and pick price over quality everytime and often dont even get samples before spending their money so i also tend to avoid these types aswell lastly I always ask when would you like it done if its too short notice I dont really have the time to fit them in so i dont waste their time or more importantly my own pricing up work I know I will never get ,Dont let it get you down there will always be customers who havent got any idea about what the real costs of tiling work will be

 

[John Benton]

John B's got it spot on. She eventually gave me a budget of £300.00 that was to supply and fit tiles on the wall as well. I couldn't help but let out a little laugh.
When i told her she wouldn't even get the floor done for that i got, "what if i brought the tiles?" (The quartz at £75.00 a metre!!) My response was still no chance.

But yeah, she then went on to say she had another guy in quoting £100.00. So, politely as i could, which prehaps wasn't that polite to be honest, i told her to get him in then. Thanked her for wasting my time and apologised for wasting hers and saw myself out.

£100!!!!! What a joke.

It's just ridiculous that somebody thinks that they can get this level of work done for such a paltry sum.

If they were asked by their boss to go to work and provide materials to carry out their own job i.e. bring your own computer, desk, pens etc what do you think their response would be!!

Jokers and chancers these customers!!

 

[AliGage]

It is ridiculous, but i think i'm going to treat these people the same way when i come across them. Blunt and honest, and then walk out. They'll all learn eventually.
You know the real surprising thing though. The marble they've had laid in the hall that i saw on the way in looked a right state. Grout popped out all over the place. Maybe that's the finish they're looking for!?

 

[John Benton]

It is ridiculous, but i think i'm going to treat these people the same way when i come across them. Blunt and honest, and then walk out. They'll all learn eventually.
You know the real surprising thing though. The marble they've had laid in the hall that i saw on the way in looked a right state. Grout popped out all over the place. Maybe that's the finish they're looking for!?

This is what I said in the thread about £8 a metre wideboys. Do customers expect a £50 a metre quality from the £8 cowboys. I don't think they do. My guess is, look at the state of the rest of the house and that is the level of quality they expect. If it looks like they've had a decorator in or maybe they've done it themselves, and there's the wall colour on the ceiling and vice versa you know what your up against!!!

 

[AliGage]

If it was floor tiles at £10 a box i could almost forgive it. But £75.00 a metre quartz? It's nuts. In fact it's a real insult. Happy to spend that on the tiles but wants to pay less than minimum wage to have it fitted.

 

[John Benton]

If it was floor tiles at £10 a box i could almost forgive it. But £75.00 a metre quartz? It's nuts. In fact it's a real insult. Happy to spend that on the tiles but wants to pay less than minimum wage to have it fitted.

A mate of mine, his boss wanted me to fit £100 a metre porcelain tiles on a floating floor with wired UFH. Told him I would only do it if he ripped up floating floor and either he could prepare floor or I would with a suitable substrate to tile to. He wouldn't budge as the builder had fitted the floor and said it was ok. He got in 3 guys to tile 30m and it took them 5 days. Everything on that job was ticking the boxes for failure. My mate told me they had to buy 6 extra bags of addy to make it level!!!

Why spend that much on tiles and scrimp on prep and fitting, it's beyond me.

 

[AliGage]

Exactly JB

 

[Dan]

Just another one that'll have corners cut and fail sooner rather than later. It'll come back around soon enough don't worry about it too much.

It's a shame they waste so many tilers time through quoting it though.

 

[AliGage]

Bumped into this lady in my local topps a few days ago. She clearly recognised me but didn't say anything. Topps had just sold her £476's worth of tiles and adhesive.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

you will always get loonies phoning you up expecting you to work for nothing or give them materiels for free I try and ask a few details before giving up the time and diesel money going round to quote them,first thing I ask is how did you get my number ,if its a recommendation then its a good sign that they have spoken to someone you have already worked for and they will have some idea of what the work will cost,secondly i ask have you had any other quotes ,sensible people get 3 qoutes and choose the person they had the best feeling from,if the customer replies 5 or 6 they are looking for the cheapest price only,where did you buy your tiles,internet buyers tend to be the most price sensitive and spend hours looking for the cheapest stuff they can find and pick price over quality everytime and often dont even get samples before spending their money so i also tend to avoid these types aswell lastly I always ask when would you like it done if its too short notice I dont really have the time to fit them in so i dont waste their time or more importantly my own pricing up work I know I will never get ,Dont let it get you down there will always be customers who havent got any idea about what the real costs of tiling work will be

Best post I've read for a long while! Should be in it's own 'bible' section.