Most of the major equipment vendors on a high ticket item will offer
try and buy schemes. Obviously a price can be quoted up front for
jus tthe product, there is not a lot of cost in that. However, if
consulting services are required in order to define the project
because the customer can't or hasn't done it, or if specific work is
needed in order for the customer to trial something, then it is not
unusual for the customer to be asked to commit to purchase under a
defined set of conditions or to be asked to pay something to cover
costs if the requirements are met but they decide not to proceed.
Since the deliverable is goods and services, it may be possible to
quote for the goods but not the services until the project has been
scoped out. In these instances, the customer may be quoted on a time
basis for the consulting.

Mmm... OK, but what you're talking about there isn't exactly the 'usual
scenario' and for the above to happen the following is probably true.
Either:-

a) The customer already has a trading relationship with the supplier

or

b) The supplier is offering such a unique product or solution that there is
very little competition, which gets back to my original point of NO
COMPETITION = BAD.

The T&M situation is certainly valid, but again the customer would expect to
have had a vague indication of costs before agreeing to this. Normally a
very basic quotation will be put together FOC on the basis of extra work
being required to carry out the final quote, which can either be carried out
by the customer or the supplier at a charge of £x per hour or whatever...
depending on the scenario obviously.

Generally though, in the IT industry especially, suppliers are queuing up at
the doors to win customer's business. I know of suppliers who have spent
well in excess of quarter of a million pounds in expenses and man hours
alone, in an attempt to win a single particular contract. Most customers
see the expense involved in preparing quotations as the price you pay for
winning new business. Believe me, I'd love it if it didn't work like that.

In any case, this has nothing to do with me being unable to get someone to
attend to my soil pipe, so to speak. :-)

Andy