Just been to look at a garden that requires renovation of two wildly overgrown shrubs beds that are full of weeds.
The job is straight forward however the garden is covered in broken sofas and chairs, but more importantly COVERED in dogs mess to the point where you are tip toeing through it.
Despite the fact that I am a new start up and I don't like turning work away, this is a job that I don't wish to quote for as I don't think anyone should have to work in those conditions.
Although I cover 'Dogs Mess' in my terms and conditions - I don't want the hassle of the inevitable problems that may arise.
So I left it with the owner that I would be in touch. I intend to write a letter to let him know that I will not be able to quote as that is the right thing to do, however my question to you is do I be honest and say the reason I wont be quoting, or just save hassle and say I wont be quoting due to being too busy with work?
Your thoughts would be appreciated.
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I think gut feel takes over in these situations....
Apart from being unpleasant there is a serious health risk to 'vaporised dog poo :-)'. not to mention all the washing down, etc.
I would just decline to quote. Often people who do not look after their property are "price tarts" and go for the lowest priced Mug Gardener.
No point in beating yourself up over it...
^^^^^^ this.
I wouldn't even write, quick telephone call to explain if you feel obliged to.
In a couple of years time you'll look back on this type of enquiry, and how you felt at the time, and then smile wryly to yourself.
I'd avoid it Simon.
Thanks guys. I am definitely going to avoid it no doubt about that, it was just a case of how to put it to them. It wasn't something I felt I could mention in person during the meeting for fear of the conversation taking a turn for the worse! (That means he was much bigger than me!)
I know what you are saying Simon, best to keep things professional and objective. If you feel inclined to correspond, a simple email stating that you are fully booked for the foreseeable future should do it. If you want to be a git, recommend another individual in your area who has taken work away from you in the past!
"I'll work out a price and email it to you this evening".
Works for me when the client is large and threatening, and the site is covered in dog mess!
Price it acordingly! £5 a dog mess and £250 a couch - put them on the quote :)
I would not go into that much detail Simon, what I would do is still quote for the job but increase the quote to cover the added hassle of Dog Poo removal and then some. Your quote would then be way over your normal rate but would be worth doing because of the extra 70% margin.
So quote as normal plus 70% if you get it happy days we all shovel s**t for the right money.
If you don't get it who cares you didn't want it anyway and you don't lose credibility as a company for not quoting.
I once quoted over 10k above normal rate because of private road, delivery hassle, storage, access etc because i did not really want the job, client could not get anybody to do the job we had a good reputation, he went with us.
With good planning the job turned out to be a lot simpler than first envisaged he was happy got his job done I was alot happier due to nice pay day.
All pricing should be a fair price for the job. Adding on a large percentage because you don't fancy it for any reason is unprofessional and could damage your reputation and as you are a new start up that wouldn't be a great start.
As has been mentioned above, it should have been mentioned on site, but as it wasn't, I'd either send in a quote with a rider that certain 'articles' are removed prior to starting or decline to quote.
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