How much does it Cost?

We had a guy call into the office indicating that he had a roof leak and wanted to know how much a repair would cost. Simple enough question. We all want to know the cost before we agree to purchase an item or service. Grocery stores tell us that every Sunday in the newspaper. Coke 12 packs cost $2.99. How frustrating is it though really, when you check out and the nice person tells you they really cost $4.50 because you don't have a card, or you didn't buy the secret item, or you missed the fine print?

Back to the guy with the leak. He didn't want us to look at the leak. He didn't want us to diagnose the problem and implement a solution. He wanted to know the cost. We wanted to look at the problem area to give a thorough proposal with an unambiguous price that he would pay us for our service. By not allowing us to do our job he was setting the table for us to be like the grocery store. "we know we told you this price, but it is going to cost more because..."

There is nothing wrong with requesting a free estimate. Certainly know the cost before you agree to have any work done. Get it in writing. Get it in writing, please. Be assured that the work was done to agreement. Then pay the contractor. This should make the experience pleasant.

That guy

Last night I was sitting around with friends. One of them asked if I had a recommendation for a carpet guy. Before I told who I would suggest, I wound up telling who I wouldn't. I told of a guy who substituted inferior products from the ones shown. I related how he would quote one price and invoice another, higher price. I said how the workmanship was second rate. As I was about to go on, another friend related an experience with the same guy. He knew who I was talking about and I hadn't mentioned a name yet.

Two themes were present. We don't want our friends, or anyone else, to get less than they pay for. We also don't want this guy to get a sale since the more sales he gets the longer he stays in business. The longer he stays in business the more people he shorts through his poor service. Every job he gets, keeps a legitimate company from giving a customer a good experience. The less revenue legitimate companies earn, the tougher it is on them. In the marketplace we reward companies by giving them our money. Let's stop rewarding the bad ones.

I'll give you a name of a good carpet company, if you ask. If you need a name for a good mechanic, I've got one of those too. I know a restaurant with a pretty-good chicken sandwich; but you probably love them already.

Is it the Shoes?

Here it is. My first blog. Apparently, you wont be a somebody until you blog. I don't really want to be a somebody. I just want people in the Athens area to not make mistakes when they have work done on their home. Boring blog. Interesting thought.

I've been doing this (roofing and remodeling) about 20 years now. I must have started at 19 because I will forever be 39. My hairline and belly say 39 was many years ago. So do my kids.

Ok, so I ask "why does having work done on your home need to be such a pain"? Is it because we, as consumers, choose the cheapest? The easiest? Prettiest? Is it the shoes? Do we secretly want the adventure? I know I don't. Life has enough adventure included without having to add some. I once read where a homeowner gave a guy a $50,000 deposit. $50,000 real dollars. As a deposit! Guess who never showed back up?

There are roofers flocking into town because a little hail fell. Whoa! Hail, for real? Guess I need a new "free" roof, right? That's what the guy with the out-of-town tags says; "you can get a free roof, just sign here". Will he do it right? Will he ever service it? Will he warrant it? Who cares, right? It's a free roof. Yea, that's right.

I want my adventure at the theme park, not on my roof.