Shocked by peoples reluctance to spend relatively small amounts on a bike.

[Cuchilo]

I went to a 2 million plus house in Highgate London to price for an extension to a CCTV system and intruder alarm system, the price was reasonable. He then argued about the price for 15 minutes, I explained that if I did not make a 15% margin (the price he wanted to pay was at a 7% margin) I would not be paid my commission, he then said ".don't care about your commission to which I replied.

"If I don't get my commission I don't give a flying f*** about your security systems" he signed the paperwork without another word.

Ive just had a customer with the same type of property . Decided he was going to rearrange my price by £800 in his favour and tell me my time frame to do the job . I laughed , said ok and hung the phone up . He called a week later and asked when I was fitting the work
His wife is now in charge

 

[sabian92]

You should work in I.T., you can spend hours trying of get a virus off a PC to save their data that they haven't backed up but don't want to lose it, and then they offer you a four pack of beer or a cheap bottle of supermarket wine. I've stopped doing favours unless it is close family and friend and I price myself high for others so they will not bother me again.

I get this all the time because people say "Oh, Andrew does computers, go and ask him!"

I have no issue sorting things out within my own home because I live there rent free with people who aren't my parents so I do everything I can to help until I can afford to pay them - I've said in the past I don't mind a quick job for free but it gets to the point where people take the mickey and I have spent literally DAYS sorting stuff out for people after they've said "Oh, it'll only take 10 minutes" for me to actually find the root of the problem and most of the time it's just infested with spyware and viruses.

I tell them it's going to involve backing up their data and reformatting their PC (I did this for my fiancee's friend and her mum) and it took me 4 days, between eating, sleeping, finishing off my IT BTEC, revising for my English and Maths GCSE resits... you get the picture. I ended up giving it back half finished because they were moaning it was taking too long and now they moan it doesn't work because I didn't install half of the drivers. Guess what - not my problem.

If somebody does something for free and when they're already busy, don't moan at them. I should start charging for this crap.

 

[Saluki]

I am occiasionly asked when I quote a price, lets say £150.00 for example "is that your best price?" My reply is always, " no I have a better price, it's £175.00. Whatever I quote it's always £25.00 more than the original quote if they ask for a better price.

Shuts them up quick.

I get a lot of that, but at lower prices. I say £30, they say £25 so I say £32 etc. I tell that time is money and they are wasting my time and costing me money.

 

[Saluki]

So at least you guys are getting my point, people do not buy on price alone.

I would also imagine some of you may never have had total control of running a business.

People don't buy on price alone, or at least not twice.

I had a customer who paid a groomer £15 to groom their English Cocker Spaniel. The same customer then paid me £35 to sort it all out. £35 is my going rate and she had initially contacted me and decided that I was too expensive. I am at the higher end of local groomers to be fair. That Cocker was a right old mess. It was sh1t and it wasn't even sugared.

I tell customers repeatedly, A cheap groom is never good and a good groom is never cheap.

 

[chriss2.0]

my sympathy's mate, i will often do free favors for people in my close by doing some basic maintenance and repairs on their bikes.
and they still look at me like im deranged when i say that i need some money for a new part, like a pedal or a break lever or something, only £5.
people often want something for nothing

 

[crazyjoe101]

Yeah, I recently spent 4 hours showing my friend how to completely clean and service all the important and relatively simple parts on his bike, whilst actually doing it at the same time. I was happy to do this as we could then go for bike rides. All the time his (much) younger brother was moaning that I wasn't fixing his bike... That's fair enough for a younger brother who feels left out I suppose.
My friend and I were out a week later when he told me his Dad was interested in me doing the same on my friend's brothers' bikes which have minor problems with brakes, punctures and rust etc. I asked if it was for free and he said yes, I politely informed him that I wasn't going to spend the best part of two days fixing the family's bikes for nothing; it gets boring and I only have so much time, degreaser and TF2...

 

[screenman]

People who do jobs for free are devaluing their trade, so if that is you do not blame anyone else when your chosen skill offers little monetary reward.

 

[Cycleops]

I think we are getting away from the point here. Cycling has always had the stigma of a poor mans hobby or means of transport. If that same person with a mini went to BMW garage and were quoted at what must now be about £120 an hour for labour plus parts they couldn't get their visa card out quick enough.

 

[screenman]

Most people think they can repair a bike themselves, much the same as they can clean their car do their own decorating etc, as such prices for these skills are always low. In truth most people cannot do those things anywhere near as well as a professional should, note the word should.

 

[lukesdad]

Most people think they can repair a bike themselves, much the same as they can clean their car do their own decorating etc, as such prices for these skills are always low. In truth most people cannot do those things anywhere near as well as a professional should, note the word should.

Do you mean repair or do you mean maintain ? There is a big difference.

 

[screenman]

Much the same thing surely, adjusting a slack gear cable is not much different from replacing one. Can you make your point a bit clearer as I am not getting it.

 

[lukesdad]

maintain ,adjust replace. repair, fix something thats broke ( cracked frame for example )

 

[Andrew_Culture]

You should work in I.T., you can spend hours trying of get a virus off a PC to save their data that they haven't backed up but don't want to lose it, and then they offer you a four pack of beer or a cheap bottle of supermarket wine. I've stopped doing favours unless it is close family and friend and I price myself high for others so they will not bother me again.

Part of the reason I quit IT. I remember one business client dropping round a dead laptop to my house at 8.30pm with almost no notice wanting it repaired ready for pickup at 8am the next morning. I told him it would take two or three hours, to which his reply was 'well I hope it's not chargeable.' My wife shut herself in the kitchen to stop herself chucking said client out on his arse. His reasoning was that because I installed MS Office on the same laptop six months previously so the catastrophic hardware failure must be my fault.

I'd never say never, but I would take a lot of convincing to fix another PC.

 

[screenman]

maintain ,adjust replace. repair, fix something thats broke ( cracked frame for example )

I think that is a bit extreme, very few Cytec mechanics could or would fix a cracked frame, however most competent DIY people could change components from one frame to another.

 

[Linford]

I can see where you're coming from, but I can also understand their point of view. I'm a cheapskate myself, I refuse to pay labour charges so that's why I do my own repairs as much as possible, both on my bike and even on my car, I reckon I've saved a few hundreds of pounds worth of labour over the years both on the bike and on the car.

Businesses cannot survive by charging mates rates all the time. I put in a lot more hours than what I do when just making the stuff I sell.

You have to look at the costs of the whole business when settingthe rate, and not just the time spinning the spanners...I do as much works as possible also on bikes cars and motorbike, but appreciate there are many who don't have the nouseor inclination to get their hands dirty.