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AIBU?

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Original poster

Paying to get a quote from Handyman

61 replies

ClaymationHeartsStillBeat · 24/02/2022 15:06

Is it normal to have to pay for someone to come out and quote for a job? If so how much do you get charged??

OP posts:
Sausagedogsarethebest · 24/02/2022 16:16

Booper42
Do you know how much work it takes to produce a quote? Its a lot of work! A visit to look at the work and measure up, getting the costs together, prepare the quote and send it, then deal with the questions that the client forgot to ask before - and once you have done all of that, you might be lucky enough to get a 'thank you, we will think about it!' These quotes are generally done when you get home at night, or at the weekend when everyone else is relaxing.

There are a lot of people out there getting quotes just to see how much a job would cost, without any firm plan of doing the work. I can understand why this tradesmen wants to charge.

But this is the same in a lot of industries. I'm a funeral arranger for instance. The times every week I have people call up or visit for pricing. I will carefully price up a quote and sometimes the needs are complex and it can take ages. If the person decides to go with a different funeral director then I'm lucky if they even take the time to say "sorry, we're going with XYZ". It's frustrating but quoting is part of the job, and when you set your prices you incorporate time spent on things like quoting/admin etc.

Heytheredemons · 24/02/2022 16:18

Wow how cheeky, that would be one handyman on my blacklist.

SNUG2022 · 24/02/2022 16:20

Lol

NameChangeCity123 · 24/02/2022 16:20

Quotes are normally free, I'd be inclined to look elsewhere

sasparilla1 · 24/02/2022 16:24

DH is a roofer and will do this for particularly large and/or complicated jobs. They're rarely local, can take up a whole morning that he can't spend on an actual job and require the use of his equipment. It then takes a lot of planning and getting in touch with suppliers for prices, then actually putting the quote together. It takes a lot of time! Probably a good day. He does always take it off the total if the job goes ahead. It has saved him from a few time wasters.

For smaller jobs he doesn't. I think it's becoming much more popular to do this as there are a lot of people out there who say they want a job done, when what they actually want is an idea of how much they need to save. In which case, people should just say that.

newbathroom · 24/02/2022 16:29

My husband is a joiner and never in his life has charged for a quote Shock

BonnyandPoppy · 24/02/2022 16:30

I had to pay £35 plus vat for a quote from a Marschalls approved installer for him to come and quote for taking away our front gardens and building a retaining wall/building steps/laying a driveway and for a new patio. He said we would get the money back if we went ahead with the job. His waiting time was 14 months! We eventually went with someone else and didn't get the money back. We did at least get a quote and he turned up when he said he would.

arethereanyleftatall · 24/02/2022 16:32

It's entirely up to them if they charge for a quote. It's their business. And, entirely up to you whether you accept it or not. Remembering of course that those who don't charge obviously need higher prices to recoup the time cost involved with quoting people for free.,

Imyourvenus · 24/02/2022 16:32

No

dontsufferfools · 24/02/2022 16:34

@Ludo19

Nope. I once had a handyman mainly joinery work, came our to price the job then asked me for a deposit......I said no and showed him the door. You pay when the job is done to your satisfaction not before.
Why would you not consider a deposit?

Never charged for a quote ever, although the amount of time wasters is increasing so I can understand why people would.

I always ask for a deposit if materials are needed. As a small business I can't afford not to. Fir me its just to cover the materials. No deposit if not but they're usually small jobs with not much financial loss if the customer doesn't pay. And they dont always.

A deposit shows your commitment too. So even if materials arent needed its a reasonable ask. Trades have to trust their customers to pay at the end, and thats a big ask as most customers are strangers. Its a two way street.

I've never had a customer question a payment up front either.

Guiltypleasures001 · 24/02/2022 16:35

My parents had to pay to get a quote for new carpets £20
Then it gets knocked off the order

SamphiretheStickerist · 24/02/2022 16:36

At the moment there is so much work being asked for that many trades are inundated with requests for quotes.

Quite a few have reverted to the old 'call out charge' to cover their time, petrol etc.

Our neighbour is a proper carpenter. He got sick and tired of going, giving a quote and getting the 😯 reaction from someone who expected to pay twenty quid for 'knocking some shelves together'. So now he too charges for his first visit, the chat that leads to a quote.

User76745333 · 24/02/2022 16:37

No

TellMeMoreHellebore · 24/02/2022 16:39

what do you need done?

Lindy2 · 24/02/2022 16:46

No. I work for a gas engineer and we don't charge for a quote.

We will only do a site visit for a potentially large job though like a new boiler. Smaller jobs are quoted after a phone chat and perhaps photos of what's required being sent.

We're too busy doing the actual work to spend ages quoting. It's also surprising how many people are just trying to get advice on how to do things themselves rather than actually genuinely wanting a quote for work they are prepared to pay for.

Satingreenshutters · 24/02/2022 16:51

Personally I have never heard of it before now.

LittleGwyneth · 24/02/2022 17:02

I think they do it to offset against just being asked to do insurance quotes, but you are not BU to say no to it.

arethereanyleftatall · 24/02/2022 17:08

Rather obviously, like any industry, it's supply and demand. If they are charging for a quote, it's quite obvious that's because there is more demand for their work, than they have time to do it. If they needed the work, they wouldn't charge for a quote. obviously

Makes me laugh when people say 'well they've lost me as a customer then' as if they give a shit! They don't want you as a customer obviously

hibbledibble · 24/02/2022 17:10

I had this once with a company (for Windows). I stupidly agreed, and then their quote was rediculous high (5x the next quote I got, which they didn't charge for). Lesson learnt. Don't pay for quotes!

ILoveAllRainbowsx · 24/02/2022 17:13

I think it is fair if he has been getting a lot of time wasters. Hopefully he will deduct it from his bill if you use him.

I think it will become the norm soon as the is such a shortage of trades people.

ILoveAllRainbowsx · 24/02/2022 17:14

@arethereanyleftatall

Rather obviously, like any industry, it's supply and demand. If they are charging for a quote, it's quite obvious that's because there is more demand for their work, than they have time to do it. If they needed the work, they wouldn't charge for a quote. obviously

Makes me laugh when people say 'well they've lost me as a customer then' as if they give a shit! They don't want you as a customer obviously

Exactly this. If they couldn't get any work then they wouldn't charge anything.
RedPanda17 · 24/02/2022 17:14

We give a rough quote (the client needs to send sizes) if that is accepted we arrange a date to properly measure up (no charge). We can't be wasting time going out quoting or we'd never get any actual making of things done.

Kite22 · 24/02/2022 17:19

No, not usual at all.
Trades factor it into the overall charge for the project - the fact they spend time giving quotes for free is an "expense" to them, like sick days and holiday days are an "expense" as is time to do paperwork etc. It is why 'hourly rates' sometimes seem expensive to customers because they are forgetting that trades have to factor all these unpaid hours in.

NoNameNoGane · 24/02/2022 17:19

We try to estimate costs over email with photos etc and then do a site visit and quite free of charge if people are happy with the estimate.
For larger jobs we'll charge for a site survey, report, quote and drawings. Then the cost is deducted from the bill if the client chooses to commission us.
We always take a deposit and sometimes for larger jobs that take several months will agree a stage payment plan before works start.
People generally seem happy with our service and we're kept busy.

Original poster
ClaymationHeartsStillBeat · 24/02/2022 17:38

It is just a £30 quote and he is saying that he would be working for nothing if he were working out quotes all day. The job he has quoted is £900. It is basically just refurbing a shed!

I am wondering whether he made the charge when I declined the quote - knowing I could buy a whole new shed for a grand.
It's just a little irritating.

OP posts: