mickeyd
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
My 30 year old fence was in need of replacement as I had re-repaired it to death during the last 5 years or so. I did not feel like doing it myself so I decided to get several bids from local companies.
All of the bids were around $4000 for a red cedar fence w/ two gates that is 210' long and to tear down/haul away my old one. There would be a great need for drilling post holes, as I have much limestone that sits about 8/12 inches below the surface.
The company that I selected for the job only required that I sign the proposal sheet which basically said that I would pay for it or they can come back in 30 days and tear it down. No down-payment required. I faxed them the signed form to start the ball rolling. About a month later the company rep left a message on my phone that they would be by on Wednesday to do the job. The crew showed up, worked their a** off in the South TX heat and pulled away on Thursday PM without asking for a payment.
About a week later I an invoice arrived in the mail that announced the quoted price. I scratched a note on the invoice to put it on my CC and stuck it in the mail. A few days later it showed up on my CC account. Done deal.
The thing that I appreciated most was that I only spoke to one person on one occasion, told him what kind of fence I wanted, he measured it, emailed me his bid, and completed the job as agreed on. No money was due until the job was properly done. All of the other bidders required a 50% down payment.
It was not exactly a hand-shake deal, but it was pretty close. This is the way that business should always be conducted these days, like back in the 50's.
All of the bids were around $4000 for a red cedar fence w/ two gates that is 210' long and to tear down/haul away my old one. There would be a great need for drilling post holes, as I have much limestone that sits about 8/12 inches below the surface.
The company that I selected for the job only required that I sign the proposal sheet which basically said that I would pay for it or they can come back in 30 days and tear it down. No down-payment required. I faxed them the signed form to start the ball rolling. About a month later the company rep left a message on my phone that they would be by on Wednesday to do the job. The crew showed up, worked their a** off in the South TX heat and pulled away on Thursday PM without asking for a payment.
About a week later I an invoice arrived in the mail that announced the quoted price. I scratched a note on the invoice to put it on my CC and stuck it in the mail. A few days later it showed up on my CC account. Done deal.
The thing that I appreciated most was that I only spoke to one person on one occasion, told him what kind of fence I wanted, he measured it, emailed me his bid, and completed the job as agreed on. No money was due until the job was properly done. All of the other bidders required a 50% down payment.
It was not exactly a hand-shake deal, but it was pretty close. This is the way that business should always be conducted these days, like back in the 50's.