# lost a bid to a cut throat!



## bama boy (Jan 31, 2014)

I've been bidding on several bids recently. It has been exciting. But now it has been very discouraging. 
I had a home owner call me today to inform me that he had chosen a different contractor to replace his roof. I replied ok, thank you for letting me know about this. I then asked what my competition's price was " I couldn't help myself ". He then told me it was more than HALF the price I gave him. So I did the math really fast, and couldn't believe what this other roofer was doing this job for. If came out as $140.00 a square!! He said he is using OC 30 Year, architectural. So I'm thinking to myself, damn how can I compete with another roofer that is replacing entire roofs for $40 a square. I can't lie. This really bothers me!!! I tried to warn the guy that he probably shouldn't choose this guy, but he didn't want to listen, and from the tone in this guy's voice, I felt like he thought I was full of s**t and I was trying to rip him off with my very competitive price I presented to him. Well I thought it was a competitive price, lol.:blink:


----------



## Carter1 (Mar 18, 2014)

Sorry to hear that, Bama Boy. It seems like in these tough economic times, it's all about more more more for less and less, even if it'll end up costing twice the price at the end. :whistling: Oh well. Some things have to be learned the hard way.


----------



## 1985gt (Dec 21, 2010)

Been that way for years. Damn half wits doing it for might be cost...


----------



## roofermann (Jul 7, 2012)

Bama, you might want to suggest that these customers research the low bidders insurance status. Liability and WC. Good luck!:thumbup:


----------



## Wislon Roofing (Nov 10, 2013)

roofermann said:


> Bama, you might want to suggest that these customers research the low bidders insurance status. Liability and WC. Good luck!:thumbup:


wow... I had the same thing happen to me. People are to cheap now a days to pay for quality, Good luck!

Roofing Vancouver


----------



## JakeD (Mar 30, 2014)

In Seattle, I have had Labor and Industries stop by randomly on two jobs I was working on to check my license and insurance info. Wait till the guy is working on the roof and make a request that someone swing by...


----------



## bama boy (Jan 31, 2014)

JakeD said:


> In Seattle, I have had Labor and Industries stop by randomly on two jobs I was working on to check my license and insurance info. Wait till the guy is working on the roof and make a request that someone swing by...


Oh I would, I thought about having OSHA, The city, and I'm sure immigration as well, but honestly I don't have time for that. Oh well, you win some and loose some.


----------



## bama boy (Jan 31, 2014)

The home owner will know he didn't make a very educated decision as soon as the roof starts leaking and he can't get anybody out there to fix it. Or as soon as a gust of wind blows some shingles off because they nailed high, and nailed right through the shingles. Unfortunately he will know he made a bad decision one day in the near future.


----------



## roofsmith (Oct 21, 2013)

I see local adds all the time where they post adds saying they will beat any quote by a certain % . pisses me off because you go out there and do all the work and some guy just sends an email without even seeing the place and uses your numbers. Once I even caught one of my labourers that I was just starting to teach how to shingle posting an add like this and he couldnt even shingle a 6 bundle porch properly let alone a whole roof. Even asked to use my nailer for the weekend to do side jobs. Home owners get what they pay for I guess. Gives us more work fixing amateurs work


----------



## bama boy (Jan 31, 2014)

Yea it's causing me to want to start charging for comp roof estimates. Because every Tom, Dick, & Harry crawls out from underneath a rock and bids on it for gas & beer money. In the last 3 weeks I've bid on two Metal roofs. I got both of them! Didn't even have anybody else bid what so ever. I've learned that there isn't as much competition here in Colorado, as there was on the Gulf Coast in the metal market. So I'm going to start really advertising for standing seam, R-panel, copper, & stone coated steel aggressively. There's much more money in it & I really enjoy installing these systems as well. I've bid on 8 shingle jobs in the last 3 weeks and have only won 2 bids. That's a lot of wasted time.


----------



## FrankFarm (Apr 7, 2014)

that's no good mate but you're better off without those cheapo customers. will only cause you headaches in the end


----------



## OldPro (Nov 11, 2013)

Don't get discouraged - that guy will be out of business in no time if he's going around cutting bids in half.


____________
roofing fort worth


----------



## eliteroofing (Apr 15, 2014)

*Next Time Try This*

Never easy to lose to a low baller that is not doing a quality job. It is really not possible to stop all this but if you are going to stop it, it is not after the bids are in and the customer has selected. Almost impossible at that point.

What I suggest is that you educate the customer up front as to what needs to be done to put on a roof the right way including licensing and other things. Give them a detailed proposal and suggest they get the same from all other bidders. Provide a competitive comparison checklist for the customer to use to evaluate competitors.

You'll never fix the homeowner who is broke and needs to cross their fingers and go with the cheapest, but if the homeowner wants a good job they can feel good about, then this might help you.


----------

