Do You guys think I'm out of line?

I just summited a bid for a 20' X 10 filters hood and 3' fan that hasn't been cleaned for over a year and they have a very high volume cooking the duct is very short about 4'.
Not to mention char grill, they have got so much grease buildup its scary and the duct up to the fan just makes me wonder what the heck they expect. and so much grease around the fan that I told them that I would use a wash pit and pump it off the roof rather than on it! Well the cook looked very surprised at the bid and I felt I was out of line. and would get with the owner to call me.
475.00 1st and 375.00 every 3 months is what I recommended. You just have to see it to belive it, this one would be great for those pics you see were this is the worst case!

If $375.00 is your quarterly price than your first service price of $475.00 sounds low for a system that has not been maintained. If he were maintaining it properly at $375.00 per quarter he would have spent $1500.00 over the last year. $475.00 is a DEAL! Sounds like the type of customer that wants one time service every 12 - 18 months. Your sticker will be on his hood when the place burns...Price him high!

Sometimes you have to ask the hard question and that is why have you let this go for a year? His response would be the key-change of management-forgot-fire Marshall came by-last guy changed to much and so on. My starting price would be $575 to start and the answer remark on the top of that. WHO-WHAT-WHEN & WHY!!!!!!

David

I agree, if it has gone a year they have saved money already, don't cut him a break now. I think your price is low for the initial cleanup. You really need to find out why it has been so long, if you get any indication that they are only going to occasionally clean it, then I would even charge more, or give him graduated reservice prices, X amount if cleaned in 3 months, X amount for 4, 6 and so on, if they don't clean it reasonably regular, I just don't deal with them, I don't want my hood tag on it when it burns down, If you don't get it he will find someone else to do it cheaper, a newbie perhaps.
I just went to look at a Chinese restaurant, I only went because it was local. I bid it at $700, she thought I was crazy and showed me a bid from some guy I had never heard of before, and he had bid it at $250, and she's shopping for something cheaper! I told her she will never get another bid that low and she should take it. She called back a few days later because the other guy got an hour and a half into the job and packed up and left. I guess he didn't know what he was getting into. She says ok I can pay you $400. No thanks!

In a case like this where it has been so long since the system has been cleaned I would propose a written contract -or- clean and attempt to reschedule and if the client will not reschedule I would send a notice as a release of liability by certfied mail with a return receipt.

I think your price is a bargain, my clean-up fee would be at least double my cleaning price.

we always charge a "first in " charge which is double the regular service charge....So our first charge would be $750.00 then with a written service agreement with servicing at every 12 weeks....... regular service price would be 375.00

Oriental Restaurants

Bryan, Dont ya just love the "Swap Meet" mentality of some of these restaurant owners? Next time you go eat try and negotsiate a price. LOL


Michael T / Centex Pressure Washing Serv.

Quote from Michael


"Next time you go eat try and negotsiate a price. LOL :


Funny, I have often thought the same thing. I did have a guy while pulling out his checkbook to pay me say "I don't think I should pay you what you are charging, it didn't take long enough". I asked if he was happy with the work, he said yeah beautiful job. the other guy never did all that. I then asked him if I had gotten into the job and found it worse than I had expected, and gave him a bill higher than we had agreed on, would he have paid that? He said no. I guess he thought about his answers because he shut up and wrote the check.
I had another guy who owns a handful oh IHOP's send $375 for a $450 an initial service, (that's a steal for them), bill with a note saying that is what he thought it was worth. I called to talk to him and got the store manager, who apologized paid me cash for the remainder, and told me only deal with him and he would take care of it from now on. That worked for a year, until they had an inspection coming up and needed work done on a day’s notice. The exhaust for $400 (our normal price for that) and a concrete pad that was full of grease from people who can't hit the barrel. We had to shovel it up, and it filled a 55 gallon barrel 3/4 of the way, we then pressure washed it, collected and disposed of the waste water, for the agreed upon price of $200. It took longer than cleaning the exhaust. The guy paid for the exhaust cleaning, and sent a separate check of $125 for the pad. Again with a note stating that he had called other pressure washer contractors and they told him that $200 was way to much for that size pad, I think it worked out to about .30 a square foot with what I charged, he paid about .17.
I called him and he told me I was robbing him. I tried to explain to him what I had explained to his manager when we talked about price. The heavy grease, the fact that I was cleaning on no notice meaning that I had to inconvenience other customers, but he didn't care. So I just said have a nice day, hung up the phone and mailed all of his stores and him a certified notice that I was no longer servicing the exhausts systems. The manager of the local store told me they are paying $275 to someone who they have to call back at least twice to get the a decent job done. He asked me what it would take for me to come back and clean the stores, and I told him $450 cash paid the night of the job. He said he would work on it, we'll see, it doesn't matter to me one way or the other.