customer asking for other quotes

[Iron Giant]

As we get older we can also become senile. Pensioners often lose the ability to realise that running a business is getting more and more expensive because their own economic world shrinks.

Many could be on the edges of dementia but are at the point they can still seem normal. They begin to have a skewed perception of the reality. They usually also start to become more aggressive. It's a disease that changes their personality. It's not their fault.

They could well start to see the whole world as their enemy because of the prices being charged for more and more of the services they need to pay for.

And unfortunately, there are some tradesmen who do over charge.

Kwikfit wanted £330 for replacing the centre and rear exhaust sections on the wife's car this week. The parts cost £116 from our local motor factors as a retail customer. How do they justify that difference for a 30 minute job?
I could go onto social media and tell everyone what a ripoff Kwikfit is, but I won't. They just won't get my business this time. But there will be some who would feel they owe it to society to inform everyone.

Years back we lost a customer because she believed we were ripping her off for the price we charged to clean 3 windows. We cleaned them for about 6 months before this criticism arose. She told everyone locally that we were a couple of ripoff merchants. We never lost any of our surrounding customers because they were happy with the job we did and the price we charged. I even greeted her on occasion when cleaning the next door neighbour's windows. It all came to nothing.

Then my son in law took over that section of the round and she asked him to clean her 3 windows. He thought she was a new customer. The same thing happened to him. He was also accused of ripping her off.

As has been said, we must just become teflon coated on not take these things personally.

Seems like a page from your dairy almost

You are probably more switched on than me and my memory is failing quite a bit, a misspent youth is to blame for mine as I'm not in old age yet but going senile,

I think that people's economic world/ outlook is void of the true cost business owners across all industries have and are facing, I spoke to an elderly customer yesterday who was telling me how they had to rely on their children and one grandson more as they couldn't afford in particular a gardener anymore due to his price increase's

This morning I spoke to another customer and fellow business owner who fits kitchens and bathrooms he said supply and demand is mad and an average bathroom is 6-7k now compared to 12 months when it was 3k or so, he said some people think he is trying to rip them off.

 

[Iron Giant]

Some people are strange and perceive things differently when it comes to the passing of time(eg inflation),money and services.ive lost customers in the past for a quid price rise after years of keeping their price the same.ive had others who just think I'm ripping them off charging them £40 for their new,large house that requires a 40ft pole to clean some of their windows...

Most haven't a clue about overheads,costs and running a business(and/or don't care)....

I think there is more people with pressure on their finances these days from higher interest rates,inflation and the constant doom and gloom talked about in the media and TV.i forget because I'm very comfortable financially and ive not had any money problems for many years now....

It doesn't help when you tell your customers your off on holiday again.even though I only go abroad 2 or 3 times a year my customers think I'm 'always off on holiday!'

In our game, we have shot ourselves in the foot I think with sometimes underpricing jobs and being too kind to some and not raising their prices as often as we should,

Up until around 16 years ago when I switched to wfp and the slow progression of the internet and forums and so on along with the sharing of information and ideas with people across the UK, we and I speak for me and other sole traders as well maybe we were in the dark, but slowly like the evolution of man we progressed, we became savvy business owners and our pricing has increased as it should,

But we still have those stuck part way through the evolution that are way behind with their prices which has a negative impact on those that have evolved, but I also know some are underpricing just to gain work or because they ain't legit and not declaring all their earnings,

All the above means some customers are thinking that we are potentially ripping them off with our 2024 prices!!

 

[Bell Pallisey]

if a custy starts playing up i say to the custy , "have you seen my helper ? god help us the big scissors are missing ,,,, hes got the scissors he knows he shouldnt have scissors

 

[Iron Giant]

if a custy starts playing up i say to the custy , "have you seen my helper ? god help us the big scissors are missing ,,,, hes got the scissors he knows he shouldnt have scissors

Is that what mother used to say