this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2024
1589 points (100.0% liked)
ADHD memes
10263 readers
688 users here now
ADHD Memes
The lighter side of ADHD
Rules
Other ND communities
- [email protected] - Generic discussion
- [email protected]
- [email protected]
- !autisticandadhd
- [email protected]
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Yes. It infuriates me that members of my species keep these places in business. They should all be out of business since absolutely no one should be buying their unpriced shit.
Short of custom work, but even still, give me a "starting at" price so I know whether it's worth my time to investigate.
Yeah. Like a $1,900-$4,800. I've seen that a lot because even w/o custom work there's a lot of options or additional features/drawers they can add in. Sizes, etc.
That happens at my job, we're instructed to not give prices cause it depends on a number of factors but I do give starting prices and make sure to repeat at least three times that's they're the minimums and there is no upper limit cause it depends on those factors. It's free to have one of my licensed inspectors go out and do his thing to provide an exact number anyways. The number includes taxes too so there's no surprises.
I wanted to get a quote on a mini split, or ductless A/C, the HVAC company said they can send someone over to review the location and give me an estimate.
I'm not asking for a full system, I literally just need an A/C drilled into my wall, there is no need for someone actually visit my home to give a guess.
When somebody doesn't want to give me a price, I've started asking them for an order of magnitude. Sometimes they still don't want to say a number, but when I ask "is it 2$, 20$, 200$, 2k$, 20k$?" they will usually give me a ballpark, along with the factors that'll make the price vary.
Sometimes you have to shame a person by insulting the number. Starting out at $2 and going up to an absurd 200k really just illustrates how wide of a range they leave open. Just give me a jumping off point. If you can't, someone else can.
say you want the condenser unit placed on your roof or backyard. the routing would be completely different. Say you have an unfinished basement vs they have to remove and replace a shit ton of drywall. completely different. the unit itself is a static price. the conditions of installing the unit are a huge factor. is it on a drywall wall or are your walls all poured concrete?
Understandable, but really unless the price difference is going to be triple the minimum, I just want a general guess.
There is a lot of info they need that frankly you can't trust the average client to accurately give over the phone. They need to know what your walls are made of, are they concrete, brick, wood or metal stud? Are they going to need masonry tools? What is the interior wall material; asbestos reinforced plaster is still not uncommon in older houses and if they're working with that the the price goes up dramatically? Is there electricity run to that location already or will they need a new circuit? If there is electricity run to that location does the existing circuit have capacity to handle the load? Is there even available space to mount the new unit? Is it in a neighborhood where it will need a cage around it to deter theives? And that's only some of the info they need.
About the only accurate price they could give you over the phone is the cost of the unit itself which you could also just find via a google search. The actual labor and other costs will vary by orders of magnitude depending on certain conditions.
I mean you are talking about stuff where someone hires someone to make something that does not exist yet? totally get that. you are not buying so much as hiring someone in that case. if it exists and does not need to be modified though it should be able to be priced.
That exactly what I was thinking.