House wash bid

See now here's the thing, I got a call from a home owner on Monday to give her a price on a house wash. Since the crew was working in the same town today I ran over and checked it out. Two story on three sides one story back. Nice little place, about 2160 sq. ft. total vinyl siding. Told her husband $245. She calls me back this afternoon and asks me "How much if you don't clean the gutters and windows? Cause I got a price from a guy of $100." I explained the insurance, water behind siding, and experience issues to her. I gave her education in stead of information. Then gave her the name of another guy in the area who does good work and encouraged her to look around some more and that it doesn't matter if she hires us or not but get a REPUTABLE & INSURED contractor. The short end of this is.... this is the third time this season I've bid against this guy, I've never met him but I am ready to get his number and give him a call and talk this over. It's tough enough these days let alone some hack that cuts a low rate that much lower. Sorry just venting and rambling.

Welcome to most of our worlds with these low ball hacks. You could try calling him but if it was me I wouldn't bother. He's obviously running around with no insturance and unlicensed if its needed in your area to charge those low ball prices. You calling him tells him that he is getting to you and he's going to think he's doing pretty good to get under the skin of a guy who is reputable such as yourself. I mean you could try but in this dog eat dog world Do you really think he's going to care to do the right thing??

I would never say this in the past and I don't know if I would do this today since I really don't have the time to see who is legit or not in my area because these guys come and go but in my area to advertise you must have at the very least Insurance. You also need a Home Improvement license by me. What you could do is call your local Consumers affairs office if you think this guy is advertising without a Lic/ins. By me once again if your caught the first time it use to be a $1000 fine. The second time you could be charge with a criminal Violation. So if he is circumventing the law by you maybe that phone call to Consumers affairs would be best. You never know because if you call him he could say your harassing him then that can open up a whole other can of worms. Actually the more I think about it I would advise you to not call him.
Either way....Good luck and let us know what you ended up doing.

its simple ...... my dad says "it is what it is" .................... keep doing things according to your business model and dont focus on him. He will either fail or change his pricing structure soon enough.

Now that my pity party is over..... The home owner called and told me that after talking to her husband about everything I explained to her they have decided to go with us because I took the time to explain the work that would be done, what we won't do, and why there was such a big difference in price. So I get to beat myself up with the EDUCATE DON'T JUST SELL STICK. Thanks for letting me get it all off chest though.

Hey Russ, a buddy of mine and a former p/w contractor used to tell me all the time "It is what it is kid". He was a great guy. RIP Bradley, we miss ya man.

Dont you just love a happy ending ?

RandyB said:

Got this e-mail from the home owner that I started this thread about:
My husband and I needed to get our house ready to rent and one of the things that needed to be done was to powerwash the siding and I called Panther Outdoor Maintenance to get an estimate for it. I talked with Randy, the owner and he was incredibly helpful with getting the estimate and also advised to have the windows and gutters done to complete the job. His men came out to our house and completely went above and beyond my expectations!! They did a terrific job cleaning the siding, windows and gutters -- they even cleaned the cement driveway and deck and it looks like BRAND NEW!! I'm SO HAPPY that I chose to go with Panther Outdoor Maintenance because it really was money well spent!


Thanks
Kelly Wilson

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Now thats a Happy ending and you got paid to:wink: Way to go Randy

You know this ending was just made for a Lifetime movie. And to make it even better.....Or HERO'S got bin-laden. It's gonna be a great week.