Need Opinions Please

Conversation
1

Please tell me I did the right thing!
Got an email from a company in San Diego that maintains 3 large homes in La Jolla, an upper scale area on the beach, that said this:

message: Hello,
I am interested in receiving a quote for window cleaning at 3 properties. We currently have a provider, but are conducting our annual rebidding process to search for competitive service contracts w/the same regularity.
Please see details below for the work our current vendor provides. If you need further information on which to base your quote, feel free to contact me & we can set up a site visit. Thank you! Susan

HH – La Jolla
8 beds
10.5 bath
18,000 sqft

A. All interior & exterior windows
All interior & exterior skylights
All interior & exterior wind walls
All interior & exterior of tennis court
All glass railings on interior of house (both sides)
All relight windows on interior of house (both sides)
All mirrors on interior of house as needed

Current Vendor’s Price: $1,300

B. All exterior windows
All exterior skylights
All interior & exterior wind walls
All interior & exterior of tennis court

Current Vendor’s Price: $900

BH – La Jolla
4 beds
5.0 bath
3,744 sqft

A. All interior & exterior windows
All interior & exterior skylights
All interior & exterior windwalls
All glass railings on interior of house (both sides)
All relight windows on interior of house (both sides)
All mirrors on interior of house as needed

Current Vendor’s Price: $450

B. All exterior windows
All exterior skylights
All interior & exterior windwalls

Current Vendor’s Price: $350

CBH - Coronado
4 beds
8.0 bath
6,451 sqft

A.All interior & exterior windows
All interior & exterior skylights
All interior & exterior windwalls
All glass railings on interior of house (both sides)
All relight windows on interior of house (both sides)
All mirrors on interior of house as needed

Current Vendor’s Price: $1,400

B. All exterior windows
All exterior skylights
All interior & exterior windwalls

Current Vendor’s Price: $750

*All 3 properties have numerous bay windows & sliding doors
*Current vendor’s prices based on combination of window details and time required to complete service
*Current frequency is once every other month.
*Current vendor has a 5 day rain guarantee

[SIZE=“3”]Here is what I did:[/SIZE]
I called several other window cleaners in my area that I know, and googled 5 day rain guarantee and asked them all if this was theirs…they all ssaid no.
When I got to the first place after I talked with the site manager…where he said that there was no comlplaints at all with their work, (I looked at the windows, they did great work)…after I spoke with him, I talked to the grounds keeper and asked who the company was that does the windows and he told me. He also said that they were just trying to get a better price, and that they DID NOT TELL the other company.

So, I called this company and asked the guy if the properties were his, and if he was aware that they were re bidding…he said no he wasnt and that he has only been cleaning the windows there for only 8 months! The email said they re bid every YEAR!

So I told this guy he dont have anything to worry about from me and I refused to go to the next estimate and do any type of contract with this company.

Did I screw up? I know its just business, but I really feel that it just aint right!
If they wouldve told the WC that they were gonna re bid I think it would be okay…but I would not like it very much if it happened to me…plus if they did it to him, why wouldnt they do it to me?
Shouldnt there be loyalty? If the service is good, and trust me THAT PRICE IS GREAT…why change?

2

I provide a GREAT service but some of my large contracts have gotten bids behind my back…the end result was I fired some of those customers. People who care about price are loyal to price, NOT YOU.

I personally would have bid them all and if my price was lower, then so be it. But I won’t cut my teeth. I’ve been in some nasty bid wars, I don’t bother anymore…

3

You’re asking for people to tell you that you did the right thing? In this instance I don’t think you did. You violated a trust that the property management company placed in you by contacting the current vendor. That’s not very professional IMO.

Philosophically speaking it is the right and even the responsibility of the property management company to make sure they are getting the best price for a service they use. It’s possible that they do award the contract each year and at 8 months start soliciting new bids. They have a right to do that. It is your responsibility to gather all the information about what they offer as a customer before deciding whether to bid. They are under no obligation to be “loyal” to any window cleaning company.

I applaud your loyalty to a fellow window cleaner, but why? In this case there was no injustice to him, at least as I see it. I think you just unnecessarily turned down some good coin and by the uncertainty in your first post, I think you think that too.

4

I agree with Steve. I think it was unnecessary. In fact, the company even provided you with prices … I’ve rarely been given that information willingly. Nevertheless, I don’t think I would want to pick it up for less than the current bid.

5

Wow, okay. Well next time I know. Thanks for your feedback, much appreciated. I guess this is normal? Every customer that I have contracts with that have went into re bidding always let me know and let me participate in those bids. Okay, well now I know this is just another way of doing business.
I really just think its dirty. Yes, it wouldve been good money but oh well. Next time I may do things differently.

6

I agree with Steve also about notifying the other WC’er. The property management giving you the up front pricing is a dead giveaway of them dropping you in the future for lower $$. In the next round of bidding (if you would have went lower and recieved the initial bid) your head would be on the chopping block most likely. Im totally into growing my business with repeat and loyal customers. If you got the job for lower price-they will drop you for a lower price.

7

I would bid on the work. If my price is higher than so be it. If not then give him Your price not the one he gave you. Cheap ars contractors are everywhere and they get what they pay for. Stick to Your price and don’t let them give you their guidelines. You will sleep better knowing you are the honest one in the deal.

8

Oh hell no.

9

I wouldn’t like it if my customers went around giving my prices to my competitors. Some gov. contracts are public information, so anyone can look up what the current vendor is charging. But for privately owned companies to pass out numbers before the bidding? They are trying to start a bidding war. They aren’t the kind of people I would want to do business with.

10

Well, I seen the future when they showed me what they are all about. I KNOW I would be next to go. I refused to take the job…and really, I feel pretty good about it.

11

You did good Thor

12

Man, I wouldve at least put my bid in. business is business. Maybe if I knew the other company and had a friendly relationship with them I’d hold off. Well I suppose we all have different views on things so fair play to you for holding back. But what if some other company comes in and takes the job from the original company anyways??

13

Good question. I know most of the window cleaners in my area…the good ones anyway except for Olympique and Doug and Mike from Streakfree and Squeeky Clean, and I still wouldnt do it against them either. Yes it is just business, but San Diego is very big, there are enough windows for everyone to clean and make really good money doing it. What they did by giving me the prices and not telling A New View what they were doing was just dirty…if someone else wants to underbid them (it was already underbid, I wouldve charged more for all three) fine, but they all should be aware that when Pablo from accross the border comes and gives them a bid for pennies on the dollar the same thing will happen to them too.

Everyone I know here in San Diego likes to have regular clients that stick to a contract, the company has one for a year and yet they are looking to start work with me or someone else by next month? This company did great work, didnt cut corners at all, I looked at some of the windows where really you could get away with not doing them every other month where nobody would see them and they were done and done well.

Its okay if someone else grabs it, it just wont be me or any of my friends. I am bidding against one of my friends right now on a construction clean that will be about 9,000 bucks. The deal between us, is if one gets the construction clean the other gets the final. (the guy called me first and was asking if I knew of any other contractors that could handle this type of work)
If I get the chance to, and they ask me for my opinion on who else is qualified to handle the job for competitive bids I will send them to where they need to go. I feel that I am good at what I do, and even if they dont go with me on the outset, eventually they will. Of course I want business, but I am content where I am to the point that I dont need to take it from other people. Fish window cleaning in my area is the enemy as well as 2 others that I would not give the same respect or courtesy to because they kicked it off with me by taking my work out from under me. If it was 10 years ago, I wouldnt be typing on the internet about it and they would either be working for me or not walking…but that aint me anymore. I am a different man, and I firmly believe that good things come to good people and I surround myself with good people. After all, what is wrong with helping someone out if it dont put you on the street?

Even if I was going to bid on it, I would still call up the other guys and let them know what I was doing because it is theirs. I know it may be unprofessional, but screw it…I just dont like it when its done to me.

14

I actually would have done it the same way. I know the “business is business” philosophy out there. It’s usually accompanied by the “all wcers are my competition” philosophy. To me there is too much glass for just me alone. I prefer to work w/ the guys in my area. If I can’t get to the job one of them can and vice versa.
Some guys in my area only do commercial and I only do residential. We send each other work all the time. Other resi guys here have all the work they want and they send more challenging jobs to me. I send them the smaller simpler jobs that are closer to them. Others don’t do storm windows. They call me or give the client my number.
Try to develop a good re pore w/ other companies in your area and turn your competitors into referral sources.:slight_smile:

15

Tony,
Well said.
I agree with you 100%.

Al. E Roper:)

16

I agree with you Tony but I don’t think it’s an either or proposition. In this case, I would have looked at the properties and if my REGULAR price was lower, I would have bid. If not, I simply would have said I’m sorry, I can’t beat that. I would not have notified the other wc company that the customer was shopping prices around.

Where I disagree with others here is whether the property mgmt. company is acting in an unethical manner. I say they are not. I see it as them not wanting to waste time with bidders by asking up front “can you beat this price or not?” I worked in the purchasing dept. of a factory for a while and on certain goods or services, that was the standard practice. No harm, no foul.

17

I actually saw this as an attempt by the client to start a bidding war among the local wcers. That was anything but ethical in my book. It’s not them wasting time on the bidding process it’s the companies that don’t get the bid after spending time on the quote. I don’t see the harm by giving the current wcer a heads up. It’s a kindness to a fellow wcer. The client wasn’t harmed.

18

I’m gonna say pass. Sounds to low to even bother bidding on.

19

They might be trying to start a bidding war but I doubt it. People like this usually have better things to do especially where there is not that much money involved to begin with. By sending the prices out on e-mail, they weed out anyone not interested, so no one wastes time bidding a job they have no chance at anyway.

20

I had a call from a restaurant chain in a neighboring town, about 45 miles away and I usually refer those estimates to a window cleaner friend of mine in that area. I told him the name of the restaurant to see if he would be interested…it was already his account…:o I told him that they were looking for a lower bid as they told me and he was already doing them at a way lower price than I would have even estimated for a commercial job, so i didnt bid on it. He appreciated the heads up and the loyalty that I wouldnt be bidding on it. ive given him more jobs in that area and hes also passed some along to me…BTW…I’d love the opportunity to know the current bid ahead of time…that doesnt usually happen…