can you just.

[clewlowm]

hi . why is that when you are on a tight time limit on a large job, that the client says can you just overboard 120 sq metres of flooring? and wonder why you class this as an extra. am i missing something

 

[Steve (Correze)]

Was fitting out a hotel in the UK (and staying in the hotel at the same time).

We clocked-off at 6pm as the restaurant had to open for the evening. 7:30 pm the manager rings my room and asks if I can just pop down to reception and repair the door to access behind the reception desk... and why hadn't I answered the phone half an hour ago?

 

[Night Train]

On a similar thought.

Why is it that you agree a budget with a client, spend many days designing the piece to the clients satisfaction and then offer your best price, the client thinks it is ok to ask for a random 25-30% discount straight off with no consideration to what that means to the maker?

Also, why is it that the clients who do that are usually earning near £1m+ pa where as the poorest clients don't argue the price and just save up a bit longer?

 

[Dalboy]

I think the term

"The more you've got the more you want"

comes to mind. They all want something for nothing

 

[clewlowm]

i think your right. the job is on a 2 million house in putney, extras come to nearly 2.5k so far. thankgod i got written v o off main contractor. it annoys me that they think my time is not important.

 

[miles_hot]

i think your right. the job is on a 2 million house in putney, extras come to nearly 2.5k so far. thankgod i got written v o off main contractor. it annoys me that they think my time is not important.

What's a "VO"?

 

[clewlowm]

variation order, tech term from my days as a shoppfitting site agent.
covers you when you put your final account in :lol:

 

[9fingers]

In my day job, electronics research & development, I always used to quote fixed price terms and would only reduce the price if the specification was reduced. Once you get a reputation for giving a discount for no compromise by the client, then they will expect x% to be built in and ask for it everytime.

I also used to do work for government departments who have the right to send auditors in before contract award to crawl all over the estimate and challenge your pricing. I would spend a great deal of time defending prices to these costing officers again because once they spot a weakness they keep prodding.

However as a consumer, I always ask about a discount - in a pleasant way - just in case a supplier has got a negotiating margin in there price.
If you don't ask - you don't get.

It can be a real problem dealing with requirements creep once the contract is placed and I would normally build in extra time to allow for the inevitable extras. I found that when the odd customer that did stick to the originally agreed requirement, we might finish early and get a very happy customer.

Now I'm retired from all that (since 1st April) and just doing little wood and metal machining jobs as and when they come up! Woopee!

Bob

 

[TheTiddles]

On a similar thought.

Why is it that you agree a budget with a client, spend many days designing the piece to the clients satisfaction and then offer your best price, the client thinks it is ok to ask for a random 25-30% discount straight off with no consideration to what that means to the maker?

Also, why is it that the clients who do that are usually earning near £1m+ pa where as the poorest clients don't argue the price and just save up a bit longer?

So, why do people want the best price possible? Really, you're seriously asking that?

Aidan

 

[BradNaylor]

On a similar thought.

Why is it that you agree a budget with a client, spend many days designing the piece to the clients satisfaction and then offer your best price, the client thinks it is ok to ask for a random 25-30% discount straight off with no consideration to what that means to the maker?

Also, why is it that the clients who do that are usually earning near £1m+ pa where as the poorest clients don't argue the price and just save up a bit longer?

Which is one of the many reasons why I much prefer doing work for nice people in 3-bedroomed houses in Eccles or Hazel Grove than for millionnaire footballers in Alderley Edge!

 

[Doctor]

No, I prefer the rich ones

 

[matt]

Just tell customers that discount is an extra and if they're happy to pay for extras they can have discount.

 

[Grinding One]

I just tell then to buy the material and bring it to me and I will put it together....usually they just say," Oh you can do that" once they check prices for themselves....never bring prices back up to me.

 

[clewlowm]

i always work to a fixed quote. if its not on the quote its an extra! don't mind doing a little teeny weeny free extra. but i think 40 sheets of 18mm wbp fixed to a concrete subfloor is classed as an extra.

 

[Night Train]

So, why do people want the best price possible? Really, you're seriously asking that?

Aidan

The client usually asks for the 'best price' I can do it for and also give me a budget that they don't want it to go over. I work out the cost of materials and the hours required for the job and then, if it is acceptable, I do the work for that price. Sometimes I am out by a little and if I have underpriced I tell the client but don't increase the price as it is my fault. If I find that materials ended up cheaper or the time was less thus reducing the price of the work slightly then I will tell the client and pass on the saving.

What I find really annoying is when I have been given a budget of £4,000 and I show the breakdown of materials and labour and say 'The total based on this estimate and schedule is £1,850.20 for the materials and £920.00 for the workshop time' the client, without even considering what is on the schedule, says 'Can you do it for £2,000 or less?'.
That's when I grit my teeth and refer them to Ikea for something in MDF rather then Walnut.

I wouldn't mind if a client said that their budget had changed and asked if I could find a cheaper material or make a simpler piece. That would be understandable. But just a random 'I want it for less then you can afford to make it for' really bugs me.

My poorer clients will ask 'How much will it cost to make a cupboard to fit that space and looks like this?' I tell them and they either say it is too costly and ask me to find something they can afford or they say they will save for it. Honest and fair.

 

[head clansman]

Hi

With my quotation system that i developed my clients had to sign to accept my quoted price first, then pay for all materials up front first, before any work commenced , on the day of completion they then had to pay the outstanding balance as in the agreement not some six to eight weeks later or never as they had signed to except this agreement .

My clients always trusted me as i did them.


I always worked on a price what you see is what you pay which was written into the agreement so if i missed out some materials then that was down to me to buy at my expense and not them as we had agreed a price . but any thing outside the original quote was then to be understood to them as extra time which meant extra money.

nobody minds doing a little extra. but, that how many clients got to be millionaires by screwing people like us. quite simply if they didn't sign then no work commenced i view them then as a customer i didn't want . hc

 

[clewlowm]

some good advice there, i always work with stage payments. just the extra work puts me behind. suppose i should be grateful that i have 3 months work on the books.