Dismayed by lowballing/undercutting

[Mack]

I'm a freelance climber and looking to get more of my own work.  I am asking myself if its really worth the hassle though?  I earn a decent rate and have absolutely no stress but i appreciate its not really sustainable long term.

 

Heres an example of what I am up against.  Last week I went to price a tree for a customer.  A Sycamore approximately 2ft diameter and 60ft high.  Just about every shrub known to man planted below leaving quite a small drop one, ideally everything needs rigging.  All timber to be logged on site but stacked around the other side of the house which is a good distance away, lots of wheel barrowing.  Chips to leave site.

 

I quoted £400 for 2 men for a day which I think is a more than reasonable price, allowing us to take our time and not damage anything.

 

2 hours of my time it took, plus 2 minutes back in the office writing out the quote, checking for conservation areas etc.

Today she calls and tells me she liked me and my quote but has just been quoted £200 by another company she assures me are a professional outfit.

 

I asked for the company name out of curiosity and sure enough they are a well established company in my area and from what I see generally work to a pretty high standard.

So how and why would an established company work for nothing, I don't see the reasoning.  Even if work is slow, they are surely working at a loss on those rates!

 

How common do you guys find situations like this, and is it really worth it?  

 

 

[Stubby]

 Did you see the quote ? if not maybe she is blagging it to try and get you down ?

[Jaarkeal]

Maybe they thought they could do it quickly. Maybe they messed up the quote. Maybe they pay peanuts. There will always be somebody cheaper. Do you get most of the work you quote for? If so, don’t be concerned about winning every job.

[Mack]

17 minutes ago, Stubby said:

 Did you see the quote ? if not maybe she is blagging it to try and get you down ?

I didn't get the impression thats what she was doing.  She made no attempt to barter and was very apologetic.

[Mack]

8 minutes ago, Jaarkeal said:

Maybe they thought they could do it quickly. Maybe they messed up the quote. Maybe they pay peanuts. There will always be somebody cheaper. Do you get most of the work you quote for? If so, don’t be concerned about winning every job.

I don't get many quotes at all to do yet.  I supposed I get 60% of what I quote.  I don't mind losing jobs but not by those margins

[Mick Dempsey]

Don't worry about it, can't win them all.

 

I've just spent the entire day driving round the countryside, pricing 7 jobs. Unpaid Saturday with my truck (unless they accept the quote of course) 

 

"Thats life in the big city"

 

[Mick Dempsey]

Ps. Where's the Robocop remake now? Disappeared into nowhere, that's where!

 

 

The original and best.

[TIMON]

Genuine quote? Perhaps but no firm could stay afloat for long on that kind of income. Did you ask her if she asked to see their climbing tickets, insurance and LOLER certificates? If it is a genuine price then that tells you something about the competition....

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Easier said than done, forget it, move on. Choose your customer.

You’d have bettered my quote by some considerable margin.

I lost a decent local job recently, other party came in at 1/3 my price. I laughed everyday for a week watching them frag themselves as I dropped the nipper to school!

Comedy!

Funniest part was asking the customer if their ‘expert’ had considered hedgerow regs and felling licence. There was an unexpected 2 week delay from published start time....

[Mark Bolam]

£400 for 2 men for a day, you won't get much sympathy on here whinging about lowballers.
Maybe the other outfit could see a straight fell option after lifting a couple of shrubs.
£200 for a 60', 2'dbh tree is mental though.
Put it behind you and chase better customers.