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Had a customer on the phone before
‘Do we repair Smeg integrated washing machines and how much would it be to replace the motor’
When queried on why she thinks it’s the motor she said
‘We had an engineer out to it yesterday’She got a stock reply of ‘ We don’t do third party repairs and if an engineer has given you a quote then we won’t try to undercut anyone else’
I know a lot of my competitors wouldn’t think twice about it and it probably isn’t very business like 😥 , but I just think that as a trade it’s difficult enough already without snidey customers doing that to others.Views!!!
Tony CRe: Am I doing it wrong?
Personally I don’t think it’s beneficial to anyone in this trade working in the same areas to try and undercut each other.
Look what happened to the price of appliances when the sheds starting doing it 😉
Dave.
Re: Am I doing it wrong?
cornwell40 wrote:‘We had an engineer out to it yesterday’
That really gets my goat!!!
Re: Am I doing it wrong?
Knowing some of the local ‘competitors’ (although they are very few in number these days) , I would advise the customer that I would be prepared to visit and give an estimate based on my own judgement. I would never commit to a quote for a motor on the phone. The number of motors ‘allegedly’ fitted when customers have paid out £100 for a pair of cheapo SD19’s that I have seen is frightening.
If the customer named the previous engineer I would, nine times out of ten know if it was a genuine quote.
Re: Am I doing it wrong?
I make sure my prices are about the same as my competitors. If we start under-cutting each other our already devalued (due to the price of new appliances) trade will become even more so. Ultimately driving ourselves out of bussiness! 😥
Re: Am I doing it wrong?
Are all you guys running a business or counselling for the samaritans I wonder? If a customer phones up for a quote for fitting a thingamibob ugamiflip and it’s the type of work you normally undertake, why the reluctance to give an appraisal based on your own pricing?
If I phone my local garage and ask how much to change the cam belt on my motor, they’re not going to ask me “How come you want a cam belt?” are they ❓
“Third party repairs?”…”Undercutting your local competitors?” smacks of the moral high ground of the perfect world, not the real one 🙄Re: Am I doing it wrong?
I agree with the sentiment, but I wouldn’t turn work down on such a principle even if it is admirable. Can you imagine Curry’s showing a customer the door if a customer had been to Comet first? I know it’s different in the sense that the “other†engineer has apparently been “used†but a sales person at Comet may have been “used” too .
We shouldn’t necessarily assume that the guy didn’t get paid a call out for his visit. And if not, that’s surely the risk involved in giving free estimates. Also, the other guy could be a cowboy, or could have quoted an extortionate price and therefore doesn’t deserve the business. They may have fully intended to have the first guy fix the machine but didn’t get on with or like the engineer or maybe just didn’t trust them.
Having said that, I would certainly be cautious of customers who’ve had someone else out, and their diagnosis. But I would quote them, and explain how much it would cost if you subsequently found it wasn’t the motor and they didn’t accept the true repair cost.
Re: Am I doing it wrong?
I agree, if a customer were to phone and simply ask for a price for works to be carried out then I would just quote them accordingly, that isn’t an issue. We would of course treat it as a new call even if the customer had indicated that they had already had a diagnosis by someone else.
It’s also extremely unlikely that if the first engineer had charged a call fee on his first visit that the customer would even bother to phone around.
The word in question is undercut.
I believe Tony’s view was for instance, if the customer told him how much she had already been quoted that he would deliberately undercut his competitor. This in effect will have the effect of a price war (albeit a small one) in his local area where everyone is trying to be cheaper than the next guy. Consequence, all the engineers charging a very low rate in an effort to get all the work they possibly can, not only driving themselves out of business by not making any profit but everyone else around them as well.
That’s way I saw it anyway 😉
Dave.
Re: Am I doing it wrong?
Yes me too. 🙂 But isn’t it idealistic? It’s impossible to prevent people competing on price. I agree that the only people that benefit from that are the customers – but it’s them that drive everything. Undercutting or competing on price? They are exactly the same thing, it just depends which way you want to look at it. My point is I agree, but ultimatey is it worth losing money for an idealistic principle when times are so tough?
In the original post though it implies that cornwell40 didn’t even quote his price – not that he refused to undercut someone elses. I got the impression he rejected the customer as soon as he found out they’d had someone else.
Re: Am I doing it wrong?
Both right really. I just don’t see the point in undercutting someone just to get the job whemn we’re not talking fortunes anyway in most cases.
I forgot to mention that this one started off by asking if we have a call out charge as well!
Call it moralistic but thats me. If others do that, fine. I prefer to do the jobs on my own merit rather than the back of someone else. Mind you if they then cock it up and the customer comes back (happened quite a few times) I don’t mind at all then 😉Tony C
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