John Stumbles wrote:

I get alarm bells ringing whenever a punter opines on how long a job might
take or tries to haggle on a price.

A friend of mine went to quote on a minor roofing job...

Custard: How much will it cost?
Friend: £150
Custard: How about £110
Friend: £160
Custard: ok £120
Friend: £180
Custard: No mate you don't understand, you are supposed to be coming
down in price!
Friend: No, *you* don't understand, I have told you the price, your the
one who wants to mess about.
Custard: Oh, ok then you can have £150
Friend: But the price is £180 now
Custard: But the price was only £150 a minute ago!
Friend: You are the one who wanted to haggle...


--
Cheers,

John.

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John Rumm wrote:
John Stumbles wrote:

I get alarm bells ringing whenever a punter opines on how long a job
might
take or tries to haggle on a price.

A friend of mine went to quote on a minor roofing job...

Custard: How much will it cost?
Friend: £150
Custard: How about £110
Friend: £160
Custard: ok £120
Friend: £180
Custard: No mate you don't understand, you are supposed to be coming
down in price!
Friend: No, *you* don't understand, I have told you the price, your the
one who wants to mess about.
Custard: Oh, ok then you can have £150
Friend: But the price is £180 now
Custard: But the price was only £150 a minute ago!
Friend: You are the one who wanted to haggle...



So he didn't get the job. Very smart.

On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:29:39 +0000, Stuart Noble wrote:

So he didn't get the job. Very smart.

I assume you said that sarcastically but it probably was very smart: that
sort of customer is more trouble than the job's worth.


--
John Stumbles

Procrastinate now!

On 30 Nov, 15:29, Stuart Noble
wrote:

So he didn't get the job. Very smart.

That's rather the point. It's winter, any half-competent roofer
already has more work than there are literally hours in the day
(daylight hours at least). The last thing he needs is to find himself
working for someone like this.

Andy Dingley wrote:
On 30 Nov, 15:29, Stuart Noble
wrote:

So he didn't get the job. Very smart.

That's rather the point. It's winter, any half-competent roofer
already has more work than there are literally hours in the day
(daylight hours at least). The last thing he needs is to find himself
working for someone like this.

Then you just tell the customer the price is not negotiable. No need to
go into a smart arse comedy routine.

Stuart Noble wrote:
Andy Dingley wrote:
On 30 Nov, 15:29, Stuart Noble
wrote:

So he didn't get the job. Very smart.

That's rather the point. It's winter, any half-competent roofer
already has more work than there are literally hours in the day
(daylight hours at least). The last thing he needs is to find himself
working for someone like this.

Then you just tell the customer the price is not negotiable. No need to
go into a smart arse comedy routine.

Actually I think he quite enjoyed it... and he didn't care whether he
got the work or not, since it may have required an extra days travel to
London. (friend is a general builder rather than a specialised roofer,
and was working at some distance from home on another job nearby).

The custard, had already opened his gambit by saying that several
specialist firms had already quoted over £400 for the job. So both of
them knew the price was very reasonable.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Nov 30, 6:00 pm, Stuart Noble
wrote:
Andy Dingley wrote:
On 30 Nov, 15:29, Stuart Noble
wrote:

So he didn't get the job. Very smart.

That's rather the point. It's winter, any half-competent roofer
already has more work than there are literally hours in the day
(daylight hours at least). The last thing he needs is to find himself
working for someone like this.

Then you just tell the customer the price is not negotiable. No need to
go into a smart arse comedy routine.

I would let the man go with the idea that he was getting the job done
at rock bottom prices first thing in the morning but on the condition
that he gets everything ready first.

Then not turn up.

Then if he phones to complain say I was just going to phone him and
tell him that I had an emergency call out that was just finishing off
and would be there a little later.

And so on.

I might even turn up about 6 o'clock at night -if I was going that way
to the pub or wherever, just to see if he was still cooking.

Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Nov 30, 6:00 pm, Stuart Noble
wrote:
Andy Dingley wrote:
On 30 Nov, 15:29, Stuart Noble
wrote:
So he didn't get the job. Very smart.
That's rather the point. It's winter, any half-competent roofer
already has more work than there are literally hours in the day
(daylight hours at least). The last thing he needs is to find himself
working for someone like this.
Then you just tell the customer the price is not negotiable. No need to
go into a smart arse comedy routine.

I would let the man go with the idea that he was getting the job done
at rock bottom prices first thing in the morning but on the condition
that he gets everything ready first.

Then not turn up.

Then if he phones to complain say I was just going to phone him and
tell him that I had an emergency call out that was just finishing off
and would be there a little later.

And so on.

I might even turn up about 6 o'clock at night -if I was going that way
to the pub or wherever, just to see if he was still cooking.

Nice

On 2007-11-30 14:52:59 +0000, John Rumm said:

John Stumbles wrote:

I get alarm bells ringing whenever a punter opines on how long a job might
take or tries to haggle on a price.

A friend of mine went to quote on a minor roofing job...

Custard: How much will it cost?
Friend: £150
Custard: How about £110
Friend: £160
Custard: ok £120
Friend: £180
Custard: No mate you don't understand, you are supposed to be coming
down in price!
Friend: No, *you* don't understand, I have told you the price, your the
one who wants to mess about.
Custard: Oh, ok then you can have £150
Friend: But the price is £180 now
Custard: But the price was only £150 a minute ago!
Friend: You are the one who wanted to haggle...

All of which demonstrates very well the principle of never selling on price.

In message , John Rumm
writes
John Stumbles wrote:

I get alarm bells ringing whenever a punter opines on how long a job might
take or tries to haggle on a price.

A friend of mine went to quote on a minor roofing job...

Custard: How much will it cost?
Friend: £150
Custard: How about £110
Friend: £160
Custard: ok £120
Friend: £180
Custard: No mate you don't understand, you are supposed to be coming
down in price!
Friend: No, *you* don't understand, I have told you the price, your the
one who wants to mess about.
Custard: Oh, ok then you can have £150
Friend: But the price is £180 now
Custard: But the price was only £150 a minute ago!
Friend: You are the one who wanted to haggle...


Yes, I do that occasionally

--
geoff