# Unbelievable..need help from FELLOW TRADESMAN



## chuckymaldinado (Apr 22, 2011)

I'm sorry,im not like you big guys.

I am a small fry business,after having been out of the loop for awhile,with a family,and unlike you big guys,have no capital to waste.

money wasted is money that's taken away from taking care of my wife,kids and bills.

I am not the "Donald TRUMP" of construction.


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## BamBamm5144 (Jul 12, 2008)

Pretty sure it's nationwide for the 3 day right to rescind law. I actually give 10 days. After 10 days, you owe me 40% of the contract price.

My advice, don't drive 150 miles just to LOWBALL an estimate. 150 miles one way will be a tank of gas a day. My tank cost $95 to fill up now. How many days out there?

Now materials, where were you planning on getting tile and paint and everything else for that cheap?


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## Paulie (Feb 11, 2009)

What's a Italian doing in the swamps of GA.? :laughing:

Just kidding, hey we aren't all fat cats here but whats the point in beating yourself up when work goes south. It happens. 

I'd see what went wrong, if it's possible to get a smaller piece of the pie maybe. But don't burn bridges. If your in such a rural area word gets around, but you already know that.


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## chuckymaldinado (Apr 22, 2011)

my wife was suggesting I at least recoup the gas and mileage for them breaching the contract.


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## chuckymaldinado (Apr 22, 2011)

I'm a bargaineer..i look on craigslist...places...other GC lwftovers..thats how I do so cheap...i never overcharge HOs for materials,provide transparancy and receipts to prove costs.


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## CookeCarpentry (Feb 26, 2009)

If you calculate the time spent driving there and back, plus the time spent on the estimate, then time spent registering here to ***** about it, I'd say you severly underpriced yourself before you even came here....:laughing:


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## CookeCarpentry (Feb 26, 2009)

chuckymaldinado said:


> I'm sorry,im not like you big guys.
> 
> I am a small fry business,after having been out of the loop for awhile,with a family,and unlike you big guys,have no capital to waste.
> 
> ...


And you weren't wasting money by driving 150 miles to put together some low ball bid?

Now, that right there, sounds like the ultimate waste of capital.


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## katoman (Apr 26, 2009)

Chuck, this is yet another reason you need to be charging more. Sh!t happens. And when it does there should be monies to cover it.

There are tons of things that can happen on a job. You need to have money to cover these things. It's called overhead.

We as contractors don't land every job we quote. So the costs of quoting the jobs we don't get are covered in the markup on the jobs we do get.

You can use the search engine on this forum to find lots of great information on what you should be charging. But IMO you NEED to raise your rates and just get out there and find new work.

Let this one go buddy. Oh, and at least there is no fee on CT for letting you rant. Feel better now? Good, go get 'em. :thumbsup:


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## Kevin M. (Feb 28, 2010)

chuckymaldinado said:


> my wife was suggesting I at least recoup the gas and mileage for them breaching the contract.


Well, your wife may be on to something. Get a couple hundred out of them and take your wife out to a nice dinner. You may be on the verge of a romantic interlude! :thumbup:


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## smuhhh (Dec 30, 2010)

Shhhh.


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## chuckymaldinado (Apr 22, 2011)

hell yeah,will do.


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## BC Carpenter (Dec 28, 2010)

is it really worth taking them to court over a tank of gas and an afternoon of your time?

I understand that your pissed, I would be too, however this stuff happens, and you have to know that when your willing to drive 150 miles to give a free estimate, it is what it is, it's business and doesn't always work out like we'd like it too.

I'd leave it alone, maybe politely ask them for some gas money, personally I wouldn't bother though. I wouldn't try to hold them to the contract, just leave it probably better for your reputation.

Hope work picks up for you, I would have to be really hard up to drive that far for an estimate. Besides if your a "bargaineer" you will be driving out to meet people who are looking for the best bargain, and may drop you on a dime if they find someone cheaper, they won't care if you seemed more professional or qualified.


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## chuckymaldinado (Apr 22, 2011)

I was out of work for five years,had life threatening illness,and then recovered and back in the game...i had many good experiences,and then,i have had a run of bad luck.anyone got stuff for a poor ass here in ga? Gotta eay man...


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## MikeGC (Dec 6, 2008)

time to let it go :thumbsup:


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## chuckymaldinado (Apr 22, 2011)

yeah,yeah,yeah..i know..how bout it? Can anyone fix an old poor ass skillled in GA practically do any kind of GC work?


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## Jaws (Dec 20, 2010)

Chuck, your killing me bud. 150 miles is insane! While I agree its messed up to screw you like that, those people aren't going to pay you anything. You are better off putting your energy into something else. 

BTW my old lady thinks most of the prospective clients who want to meet at their lake home on saturday and then go with someone cheaper owe me money. But that's contracting, and it beats working for the man. I wouldn't do anything else, I'd rather dig a ditch for myself than work as a super for someone else. I'd rather keep my crew though and stay out of the ditch though
JAW


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## detroit687 (Sep 4, 2008)

Here they have 3 days to back out, before the start of any work. So siding companys back when everyone was putting up alluminum would spike the job. Meaning at the time of sale they would carry tester pieces and a couple nails, tack up a couple pieces to show the HO what it would look like. This would count as comencing work and they cant back out of the deal. Now its called "spiking the job" and its illeagal.


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## chuckymaldinado (Apr 22, 2011)

I don't do that,thank you very much.


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## Bone Saw (Feb 13, 2006)

if I understand correctly, you're upset that a ho reneged on bunk contract (rightfully so) that you would have practically bought anyway, he did you a favor:blink:


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## Rio (Oct 13, 2009)

Isn't the three day right of rescission a federal law? 

I'm guessing you had an in with this people to be driving so far and it's too bad it didn't work out but you'll get another one. Think about getting a gas fee for looking at work past a certain radius.


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## cexcavation (Apr 17, 2008)

I understand and can relate to your frustration, but as everyone else on here states, it is part of the "game". Using the "game" anology brings to light the fact that every game has rules, and it sounds to me like these HO's may have stepped out of bounds and don't want to be called on it. If they basically said you had the job and you made them aware that it would only be worth your time to drive that far if and only if they were 95% sure, then the they need to be called on that. If they did not know your situation prior, then they are not at fault for simply "wasting your time". Point being, if they knowingly allowed you to drive 150miles, then they are morally obligated to pay you for your fuel at a minimum. Just my opinion and good luck.:thumbsup:


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## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

Don't know how accurate the information is *HERE*, but since they sell contracts and forms, I imagine it's fairly correct.

Worth reading, Chuck. Sounds like you, yourself might be in violation with your contracts.

Everyone could do themselves a favor and download the free 'White Paper' this company offers.


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

Come to think of it, would be cheaper for you to catch a flight... 2000 miles to Florida you pay $160 round trip from here...so whats 150 miles for you, chatter plane for about $60 round trip... Out of Atlantic City you fly out for $10, I'm not sure if you gonna land, but I know you can fly :laughing:


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## Mike's Plumbing (Jul 19, 2010)

We reap what we sow

Hopefully this experience made you smarter.


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## AFOREMA1 (Jun 25, 2009)

chuckymaldinado said:


> I'm a bargaineer..i look on craigslist...places...other GC lwftovers..thats how I do so cheap...i never overcharge HOs for materials,provide transparancy and receipts to prove costs.


Your not a bargainer your a future bigger. What you call not over charging and transparency is really ignorance to how you need to price to cover all your overhead such as unbillable hours and gas and to allow for a profit. Cheap is not being a contractor realistic pricing is.


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## Mike's Plumbing (Jul 19, 2010)

AFOREMA1 said:


> Your not a bargainer your a future bigger. What you call not over charging and transparency is really ignorance to how you need to price to cover all your overhead such as unbillable hours and gas and to allow for a profit. Cheap is not being a contractor realistic pricing is.


:laughing: Has anybody here actually over charged in the last 30 years? I mean lets be honest. The viewpoint that others over charge gets my blood boiling and that's why I've been quiet on this thread. That mentality can't be changed unless the owner discovers one day that he is flat broke and busted........and then realizes through experience that the competition was't actually over charging all these years...... they were just trying to make a living.

Mike


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## mmconllc (Mar 18, 2011)

katoman said:


> Thank you for that. Could you also post your location in your avatar. It helps members answer questions if they know where one is located.
> 
> As a side bar - I would have been double that price. Just sayin.


:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## skyhook (Mar 17, 2007)

chuckymaldinado said:


> TRAVELED 150 to do an estimate that I bid extremely low and the HO signed


If the HO wants out, it could be a blessing in disguise.


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## AFOREMA1 (Jun 25, 2009)

Mike's Plumbing said:


> :laughing: Has anybody here actually over charged in the last 30 years? I mean lets be honest. The viewpoint that others over charge gets my blood boiling and that's why I've been quiet on this thread. That mentality can't be changed unless the owner discovers one day that he is flat broke and busted........and then realizes through experience that the competition was't actually over charging all these years...... they were just trying to make a living.
> 
> Mike


I'be been told I over charge a time or two but how do you compete with unlicensed illegals? Anything you charge will be too much.

I charge what I need too meet my expenses and a profit if they don't like my price I move on, you can't work at a loss.


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## AFOREMA1 (Jun 25, 2009)

Double post


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## RhodesHardwood (Jun 28, 2010)

Contract is a contract.


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## BDiamond (Nov 2, 2009)

I had a customer back out of a $20K project 2 weeks after she signed the contract. She wanted a state energy loan and her banker and I were trying to get it put together. We get it done and then she sends me the cancellation. 

I call and ask what's up and she states her friend did a similar job cheaper and she was going to go with that company. I couldn't flip her back so I said, "Where would you like me to send the 40% cancellation fee and how would you like to pay for that?" She refused. So just to see what would happen I took her to court. 

The judge threw it out because I had not performed any work. I argued that just as the HO is protected shouldn't the company be protected as we had a ton of human capital costs wrapped up in processing her project, loss of work, etc?! Judge threw it out anyway.

So in my mind there is NO recession standard for HO's. They can cancel as long as work has not begun.....period.

3 things Chuck...

1. Trip charge for estimates over 50 miles from home.
2. DP in phases
3. Charge what you're worth....people will pay it and if they don't they probably aren't the type of customer you want anyway.


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## katoman (Apr 26, 2009)

Mike's Plumbing said:


> :laughing: Has anybody here actually over charged in the last 30 years? I mean lets be honest. The viewpoint that others over charge gets my blood boiling and that's why I've been quiet on this thread. That mentality can't be changed unless the owner discovers one day that he is flat broke and busted........and then realizes through experience that the competition was't actually over charging all these years...... they were just trying to make a living.
> 
> Mike


I had a customer call me a thief once. He made out the cheque anyway.:whistling


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