....and that is why ALL my estimates and quotes list what is included and what IS NOT
ive had more than enough sleepless nights hoping I will break even, or worse still that I will get paid!!
so I only work for people I know OR on recommendation from someone who has done a lot of work for them and got paid promptly
I remember a good few years ago I was a qs for a firm and ended up running the place while the owner had a holiday, he'd only been in business for a couple of years and hadn't had a holiday. Anyway, we'd got this big job on in Chester, and the lads were going mental, the lady of the house kept changing socket positions. Now originally we'd been provided with a drawing by them stating how many sockets in each room and their position. The trouble was, after they'd been second fixed the lady kept changing her mind, for example, originally there was a socket 300mm from a doorway, this was to allow a lamp to be plugged in and placed on the wall unit that was going there. However, she'd now seen a unit that was slightly smaller and wanted the socket 500 mm from the doorway, so we moved it, and so it went on.
The walls were plastered with pink plaster, and they were peppered with white squares where sockets had been moved, I think in the living room alone, the original quote had been for 15 twins, it was a big house!
When it was finally finished, several weeks late due to all the changes, they started getting all funny about the bill, why was the bill so high when they'd still only got the original number of sockets was one question.When we explained to them that each time we moved a socket, it was an extra, she wasn't happy, she seriously thought that we should just keep moving them until she stopped changing her mind!
Most customers are ok, but the minute people start saying things like, "could we have an extra socket over there" or "would it be possible to have 6 downlights instead of 4" I politely point out that, yes it can be done, but it will be an extra.
The one thing that amazes me is how some clients think that additions are free, but reductions make the price cheaper, e.g, " you mean you want to charge £60 extra for 3 more sockets on the rewire", but when they suddenly decide they want a pendant fitting rather than downlights, it's" so, we're having one light instead of 6, so how much cheaper does that work out at?" Surely if you know that having one pendant instead of a ceiling full of downlights, is going to be cheaper, then you should also know that adding stuff is going to add extra costs!
