# odd thing happened today



## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

faxed proposal for a manhole replacement job to a contractor i thought i had a good working relationship with last saturday afternoon. (i'd be a sub, came under a paving contract...lion's share of the job was resurfacing)...thought i'd stop in this morning, see if he had any questions. his receptionist told me to go on into his office. i saw a new young competitor's of mine pickup in the parking lot. i walk in the office, they saw me, and they got a real funny look on their face. competitor had his laptop there, excel spreadsheet on the screen, and my proposal was sitting right along side of it. i'm not the brightest light bulb, but was apparent what was going on. i walked over, grabbed my proposal, wrote VOID on it, my signature, time and date...they were so befuddled, they didn't say a thing...i walked out and left...maybe i shot myself in the foot, who knows.


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## Blas (Jan 29, 2008)

I think that was very classy considering. I would say that that happens to me more often than not, but I have never had the satisfaction of catching a GC in the act. I want to believe that is what I would have done as well. But I have a tendency to get very angry very fast when it comes that crap. I vote that you handled that situation with dignity and class.:thumbup:


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

i hope i didn't blow it....there's only 2 kinds of work out here right now....none, and none.


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

dayexco said:


> faxed proposal for a manhole replacement job to a contractor i thought i had a good working relationship with last saturday afternoon. (i'd be a sub, came under a paving contract...lion's share of the job was resurfacing)...thought i'd stop in this morning, see if he had any questions. his receptionist told me to go on into his office. i saw a new young competitor's of mine pickup in the parking lot. i walk in the office, they saw me, and they got a real funny look on their face. competitor had his laptop there, excel spreadsheet on the screen, and my proposal was sitting right along side of it. i'm not the brightest light bulb, but was apparent what was going on. i walked over, grabbed my proposal, wrote VOID on it, my signature, time and date...they were so befuddled, they didn't say a thing...i walked out and left...maybe i shot myself in the foot, who knows.


Maybe you over reacted a little by doing that...you don't know if the guy came in better then you or what...maybe GC likes you and your work better and knows you reliable and he would stick with you, even if the guys numbers were better. Not a good thing to burn bridges behind you. But whats done is done...give a few days and see if you hear back from him...if not you did what you had to do...and if you want, give the guy a call, tell him you had a bad day and sorry for what happened. Tell him you be interested doing work for him in the future if the other guy got the job and things don't work out. This way its the right thing to do on your part and the guy will respect that and who knows what will happen after that.

Good luck :thumbsup:


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

i don't think i explained myself very well there....my competitor was VIEWING my proposal.....before the bid letting this afternoon. he can look at it all he wants after the fact...i have zero problems with that...i'm of the opinion the GC was allowing him to "adjust" his numbers to come in lower than mine. i feel the GC was doing worse than price shopping.


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## pce (Apr 12, 2009)

:clap:I am happy you did what you did ! Stop in his office tomorrow unanouched to catch him off guard, have him explain himself and if you can do that back to him. Give him one last chance, does it again tell everyone in your area as to what he is doing. Did that to someone in my area now he can't get a bid from anyone. Dan


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## nlgutters (Dec 18, 2007)

dayexco said:


> i don't think i explained myself very well there....my competitor was VIEWING my proposal.....before the bid letting this afternoon. he can look at it all he wants after the fact...i have zero problems with that...i'm of the opinion the GC was allowing him to "adjust" his numbers to come in lower than mine. i feel the GC was doing worse than price shopping.



Seems a little odd the receptionist would just send you in his office when he has another person in their. Especially if he was bidding on the same job.


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## dayexco (Mar 4, 2006)

nlgutters said:


> Seems a little odd the receptionist would just send you in his office when he has another person in their. Especially if he was bidding on the same job.


i thought the same thing, be interesting to hear the convo the GC might have had w/her after everybody left?


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## fireguy (Oct 29, 2006)

nlgutters said:


> Seems a little odd the receptionist would just send you in his office when he has another person in their. Especially if he was bidding on the same job.


 
I'll bet the receptionist knew what was happening in the office and thought is was crooked. 

You have a friend in the office and did not know it. A small flower arrrangement would be in order.


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

You should have wiped your ass with it before leaving.


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## greg24k (May 19, 2007)

If this is up for bidding...you might have a legal case there. It is against the law to reveal competitor's bids, at least here it is. Check if its worth your while to take this further.

Good luck


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## boman47k (Oct 13, 2006)

I thought of a possible legal issue too. But, good luck documenting or getting proof.


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## Upchuck (Apr 7, 2009)

Nothing good could've been going on if the GC was letting the competitor look at your bid before the bid opening.


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## nlgutters (Dec 18, 2007)

dayexco said:


> i thought the same thing, be interesting to hear the convo the GC might have had w/her after everybody left?



MAYBE IT WASN'T WHAT YOU THOUGHT? i DOUBT IT BUT WHY WOULD HE HAVE TOO COME IN AND LOOK AT IT? YOU WOULD THINK THE GC WOULD JUST SAY KEEP IT UNDER 25K AND ITS YOURS LIKE THEY USUALLY DO?


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## J F (Dec 3, 2005)

Hindsight's 20/20, but ya shoulda said (in an outta breath/flustered voice)...

_"Thank god you didn't use my bid, some of my numbers didn't make it into the total, I woulda lost my a$$ !!."_

Then grab your proposal and run out mumbling about how you'll get it back to him after you fix your #'s :laughing:


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

I don't think I would have left my paperwork behind for them to continue to copy information off of.

I might have asked him if he had gotten everything he needed before I turned it into confetti.

But seriously WTF? I would ask the prime contractor how much the guy had to undercut you to get the job. :no:

Just despicable behavior. :furious:


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## Upchuck (Apr 7, 2009)

The real sad part is that you aren't only pissed that the GC is showing the competitor the price but also pissed you may have cost yourself the job.
Really shows how bad things are right now.


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## cexcavation (Apr 17, 2008)

Beyond losing the job due to crooked practices, you also had a lot of time wasted and that is not very professional. 

What burns me more than losing a job is knowing that I put in a lot of face time, on site evaluation, vendor pricing, etc. when I never had a chance in the first place. 

My advice would be to figure up your time spent on the bid and bill it to the GC just for kicks. At the very least, he'll think twice about wasting everyone's time. At the most, he will explain, apologize, and move forward. 

At least now you know right???:thumbsup:


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

cexcavation said:


> Beyond losing the job due to crooked practices, you also had a lot of time wasted and that is not very professional.
> 
> What burns me more than losing a job is knowing that I put in a lot of face time, on site evaluation, vendor pricing, etc. when I never had a chance in the first place.
> 
> ...


I was thinking the same thing. Pay yourself well and give yourself a bonus too. :clap:


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## pdmcgowan (Feb 27, 2010)

Just say what ifs but what happens if the contractor is explaining bids to him. I've seen alot of the take to the side treatment good or bad.


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