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Message
re: Fee for an HVAC quote?
Posted on 11/9/23 at 10:01 am to jazzybee
Posted on 11/9/23 at 10:01 am to jazzybee
quote:
Hi,
I am in market in BR to replace my HVAC unit and called Climate Control which seems to have good reviews on this board. I was told they would charge $95 to come out and give a quote. Would deduct if I go with them. Is this normal for HVAC quotes these days?
Any recommendations for HVAC companies?
Thanks!
Charging for quotes is getting pretty common. To be honest I never understood why most contractors didn't do it....they all recover the costs of quotes by charging paying customers anyway. My company did residential service work and provided free quotes and I bid on multi million dollar projects and every paying customer either way paid for my time doing quotes and bids...
0
Posted on 11/9/23 at 10:03 am to Klondikekajun
quote:
Blame the a$$holes that insisted college was a must and effectively neutered the skilled labor force…
One can also blame the trades and the employers in the trades for stagnant wages and piss poor benefits and working conditions which have made the trades less attractive than they once were. Wages have not kept up with demand and it ain't close. What employers charge for labor has kept up but what they pay labor has not. Most tradesmen today are making less when adjusted for inflation than they ever have made....
Posted on 11/9/23 at 10:05 am to elprez00
quote:
quote:
Blame the a$$holes that insisted college was a must and effectively neutered the skilled labor force…
Preach brother. I’m afraid in a few years hiring an electrician, plumber, or HVAC company will be like hiring a doctor.
Laugh all you want at the absurdity of that statement. It’s true.
Its not true. They will not even experience an increase in wages relative to the cost of living in most areas of the country...they will actually lose wages relative to inflation like they have since at least the early 1970s.
Posted on 11/9/23 at 10:10 am to baldona
quote:
There's a huge profit margin already on installs, its laughable a company would want to charge for a quote when others don't. They must be marking it up extra high and rarely installing new units at competitive prices in order to charge for a quote.
ALL companies charge for quotes....some simply claim not to and others admit it...but they charge for everything and their revenues must exceed their expenses. If they incur an expense to prepare a quote or a bid (they do) they MUST re-coupe the costs of that expense by charging paying customers. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If a contractor claims they charge nothing for quotes what they are doing is passing along the costs of ALL quotes they prepare to their paying customers. I owned an electrical contracting company for 14 years and bid millions of dollars of work a year and did service work and prepared quotes for customers. Never billed for either but my paying customers were my only source of revenue and my revenue had to exceed my expenses. There is not now nor has there ever been a free lunch...someone is paying and that someone is almost always the paying customer.
Posted on 11/9/23 at 10:40 am to doubleb
quote:
or they have more business than they can handle already.
I have zero problem with companies being selective when they are busy. I love me some Free Enterprise. But be honest and say it up front. Don't do some BS dance and charge for a quote.
I was doing a kitchen and bath reno on my house a couple of years ago in the middle of the building boom. I know building costs and it was about a $250k job. I expected to pay $300 given the market. Contractors would come out, walk around and then throw ridiculous (and I mean fricking ridiculous) quotes like $750k or $900k. I would call them on it and they would say "Well I have more business than I can handle but I would do it for that amount." In other words, if I was a fricking idiot they would take the job. Just say, "I am too busy right now but here is the name of a guy who could do it." Or say, "I am too busy, call back in 6 months." Don't insult me and waste both of our time.
Posted on 11/9/23 at 10:46 am to fr33manator
quote:
Avoid dream team like the plague
They are a nightmare and crooks
This!
Posted on 11/9/23 at 10:52 am to AwgustaDawg
quote:
Most tradesmen today are making less when adjusted for inflation than they ever have made....
Most EVERYBODY today is making less when adjusted for inflation than they ever have made....
FIFY
Posted on 11/9/23 at 10:59 am to AwgustaDawg
quote:
They will not even experience an increase in wages relative to the cost of living in most areas of the country...they will actually lose wages relative to inflation like they have since at least the early 1970s.
Well that’s simply false. Skilled contract labor in industrial settings in the NOLA area has already increased almost 20% in the last three years. Companies all over the south are offering incentives to attract labor for shutdowns and outages, and it’s a significant amount of money.
Posted on 11/9/23 at 11:41 am to jazzybee
Blame the assholes who call for quotes and have no plan to do business with the company. It happens all. The. Time. I have no problem with someone doing this as long as they are up front about it. Don’t want to pay for a quote, move on to the next. Easy.
Posted on 11/9/23 at 12:02 pm to jazzybee
And honestly why even need to “come out”.
Posted on 11/9/23 at 12:17 pm to jazzybee
A fee for any kind of quote is insanity unless it includes a service call to make the determination
This post was edited on 11/9/23 at 12:18 pm
Posted on 11/9/23 at 12:52 pm to MikeAV8s
quote:
Blame the assholes who call for quotes and have no plan to do business with the company.
Yep, most would be absolutely shocked at how many people will schedule a time for a quote then no show it.
Posted on 11/9/23 at 1:50 pm to MikeAV8s
quote:
Blame the assholes who call for quotes and have no plan to do business with the company. It happens all. The. Time. I have no problem with someone doing this as long as they are up front about it. Don’t want to pay for a quote, move on to the next. Easy.
This happens to us less than 5% of the time.
Don’t let the minority affect your mindset for the majority.
Posted on 11/9/23 at 1:54 pm to jazzybee
If they’re charging to quote something, odds are they won’t be around for a warranty repair. Quality isn’t cheap, and let’s be honest, you’re still paying for the quote on the back end, but if I company needs $95 to come take a look, they’re pressed for money and/or help.
Posted on 11/9/23 at 1:55 pm to jazzybee
I don't know about normal, but its not unheard of. It likely means they are busy and don't want to waste their time unless you are serious about getting a new unit.
Posted on 11/9/23 at 6:29 pm to fr33manator
Thanks for recommending Scotty. His guy came out today -- free of charge -- and was more keen to fix the system than sell me an upgrade! He will be coming back again to do more calculations -- free of charge!!
(Everyone understands that there is no free lunch. But if a serious buyer needs to replace an HVAC unit, a consultation fee of 100+ is too much, especially when one should be taking 4-5 quotes).
(Everyone understands that there is no free lunch. But if a serious buyer needs to replace an HVAC unit, a consultation fee of 100+ is too much, especially when one should be taking 4-5 quotes).
This post was edited on 11/9/23 at 6:32 pm
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