To think if this firm goes bust they only have themselves to blame.

[Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost]

Back story.. Was looking to get my new cooker fitted, anyway was phoning around to get the best deal as you do. I phoned one particular company and they asked for my address, and I got told wait a minute, so I wsited. Next second she comes back to the phone, and says, sorry "He said it's too far".
It's not too far at all. It's about a 30 minute drive away, and I assume as a business man he must have a car. He keeps turning away business, they'll have no business
I just said to the women. I know it's not your fault, you're only passing on the message, but I've never someone to turn away custom.
Anyway got someone else now,

Maybe they're fantastically successful and don't need to take jobs more than 20 minutes away?

Were you offering to pay for an extra hour of time i.e. the 1 hour round trip?

That is quite normal where I live. All sorts of companies will only do really local jobs. It is very irritating as you don't get as much choice, especially in rural areas, but if that is their policy fine and they lose out on my business.

Maybe he's can't afford to use up an hour of time travelling when he could be using it to do jobs that are closer?

How much were you expecting to pay to have it fitted?

I have no idea, so probably talking out of my arse, but if the 'normal' cost to fit would be £30 per hour, someone local to you could fit it for that price and be away.
Someone travelling a distance would have to factor in travelling costs and time, so would probably be a waste of his time quoting.

I would assume if I was getting a quote for an expensive job (extension/kitchen fitting) it would be much easier to get people to travel a fair distance.

Wow, petrol and an hour's drive are significant factors.

I sometimes turn down business - I'm not going bust

I've done this when self-employed. As PP have said, its an hour travelling and petrol/diesel costs. Depending on the hourly rate, that could be a lot of money to lose.

Of course people turn down business. I also used to do tutoring and the attitude of some people was that I should be grateful that they honoured me with their business - as "the customer is always right" etc. Yet ask them to actually pay you and it is a different matter.

I would spend hours "quoting" and discussing needs and possible timetables over the phone and by e-mail and what might have started as 4 hours once a week became 1 hour twice a week - and "could we share it with another student?" with zero understanding of how that might affect the workload/preparation time/travel time etc.

Sometimes a job in the middle of Wednesday will affect another bigger job and unless it is really "pop in and out" the opportunity cost is bigger than the payoff.

Not saying that you think any of these things OP; you asked a genuine question, I just find that the lack of understanding about small businesses is surprising. (Many cafe/ builders/tradesmen threads)

I turn down people's business all the time because I can, I'm not going bust.

Get over yourself OP.

I think it's quite a long way to go just to fit a cooker. How much do you pay? Maybe they are successful and can pick and chose their work at the moment.

They may also fo most of their business the other side of the company headquarters.

When dm did tutoring she turned down a fair number on distance. However she would go nearly twice as far in one direction as the opposite ones because my grandparents were in a nursing home on the direction so she would visit them at the same time.
She did once take on someone who was further than usual when he mentioned that there were three or four interested in his set, so she said she'd do it if there were two in the area for the same night. She got two more phone calls that evening from his friends so was happy to.

But she wouldn't have got 30 miles for a one off lesson unless there was a very special reason. She always had more people asking than she could fit in so could happily turn down any that weren't convenient.

Sorry, misread there. Not 30 miles. 30 minutes. Her limit was 20 minutes drive as a standard thing. Alternatively she'd offer for them to come yo us, which obviously wasn't an option for you.

I just find that the lack of understanding about small businesses is surprising

Absolutely. My business is carried out via email/Internet. Sometimes people ask to meet up in person to arrange things, and they're always a bit when I point out that travel expenses and an hourly meeting rate will apply in that case. Maybe they think that I can magic myself there in my petrol-free car and have unlimited access to free parking at the destination of their choice, not to mention the time spent travelling to/from them, which is 'dead' time in terms of work.

It's a common attitude that people in business, whether large or small, are acting immorally by trying to leverage a healthy profit margin on any work someone is generous enough to throw your way.

Yabu. Not every business needs I take any custom. And sometimes its leaves you out of pocket.

'Too far' is an opinion and your opinion differs to his, however it's his business and his opinion that matters. If he thinks it's too far to be cost effective for his business then that's it.

I assume this was the best deal for the cooker? Why not offer to arrange transport for it, if you are so upset you can't get it from him?

Tamara 100% agree. I charged someone for a half day for and hours meeting because they were 2.5 hours late. They rang and told me after being 30 mins late and were surprised when I said I would wait but it was chargeable or we could rearrange and I would charge them for the time and travel I had taken so far.

There is plenty of work I have refused because I won't travel that far. It ends up with me being able to do less work over the week/month.

Oh and I used to own a restaurant and we didn't take bookings for over 12 people. Because of the shape a table for 12 used to take up so much space we couldn't fit many more in (small restaurant). Also larger parties spent less per head 95% of the time. So at the end of the night we would be worse off.

Lots of people would get shirty and tell me I should be grateful for any business, but I was there to make money. If I couldn't pay the bills and/or staff I would have had to close. Their bookings would not have helped.

Lots of people would get shirty and tell me I should be grateful for any business, but I was there to make money

The concept of being in business in order to make money does seem to be one that some people struggle to grasp. Perhaps they happily turn up to work each day for no wage and assume that others should do so too

The need for restaurants to turn a profit does seem to baffle some of the thicker segment of society:

'Why is this steak £12.95? I could buy one from Tesco for a few quid.'

Premises rent and upkeep, staff wages (from the head chef to the kitchen porter), kitchen equipment purchase and maintenance, insurance, gas, electricity, purchase and replacement of crockery/cutlery, cleaners' wages, and the fact that you're not actually standing at the stove using your own time to cook it. Oh, and then the restaurant owner would like to draw a wage at the end of all that too, because they didn't open a restaurant purely on the basis that saving you from the washing-up on the occasional night gives them a happy feeling inside.

Some people simply aren't bright enough to factor in anything that isn't tangibly in front of them and assume that all the other stuff happens magically, and for free.

There were several "teashop" threads over the summer with posters being indignant that four people sharing a two cups of tea was fine. Managers were seen to be unpleasant when they refused. There was no idea that the table, chairs, space, electricity, cleaning, loo roll etc all had to be costed into the equation.

Those who think like this are either in receipt of a salary which they get paid regardless or not dependent on earning money so don't have to think about it. I don't think they are necessarily stupid, they just haven't thought about it.

(There is also a mindset that whilst we are happy to pay for a product, something tangible, services and others' skills and time should just be given free)

I don't think that's unreasonable as its a small job.

I did reject a local window company on the basis that they did not offer evening or weekend appointments. I was looking to have all windows and doors replaced, so it wasn't a small job. I rang their main competitor who were more than happy to oblige.

I also declined to list my house with an agent who only opened on Saturday mornings, and didn't do any Accompanied viewings at all at the weekend.

Couldn't agree more tamara and bluejug.

Sorry - X posted a bit there. I meant the attitude of resentment about paying for advice as if someone is "secretly" witholding information.