What is it with welders

[Welder Dave]

And THATS WHY u find out about the service AFTER the sale BEFORE committing to buying a piece of equipment..
I’ve seen that written on the web a million times, when trying to decide between Equipment brands..

Willie: I do the exact same thing.!!
I charge an hr to take off a pump and an hour to put it back on.. I can do it in 20 minutes on a good day..
Then the customer wants to TALK.!! I haven’t done 1 in 2 hrs IN YEARS.!!!
But still quote it like that.. lol

That is perfectly acceptable when the person/shop doing the work has extensive experience to be able to do the job quicker. Good mechanics can make more money when they do jobs quicker than book rates too. You have to make a living and won't make much charging for only 20 minutes. Your experience alone is worth an hour wage. I have an issue with shops not telling you they have a minimum charge and then getting a surprise when you go to pay.

 

[Blue-Fox]

Kinda more context I guess but

Yeah I operate a machine / repair shop for 30 years now and been involved in this heavy equipment contracting (3rd generation shop rat) my whole life. I’m 51 soon.

I rarely give a “quote” for anything, unless I know exactly what I’m doing like replace a muffler etc, because I know how things go. I use an estimate with an agreed value, and typically get 50% down unless it’s a regular I consider them to have credit account.
But I ALWAYS call the customer when things change or it looks like we are going over the agreed value.

Of course he can’t meet in person cause he’s got covid now. So this was my response.

If I was working on your rig Friday and told you 12-15 hours to fix it “tops” and done by Monday…. ? THEN 2 weeks later and several excuses for not showing up still not completed and gave you a bill for 30 hours
What would you think?

Oh and your car will only go half way to town - but pay me for 30 hours.

So get me a bill together that you and I both agree is respectable knowing you welded it together backward a few times and had to cut things apart re-fit and try again.

and we'll get that paid

 

[Welder Dave]

There's a difference between a quote and an estimate. If someone is confident, in their abilities and the time it will take to do something, and gives a quote they should stick to the quote price. If there's any chance there could be be extras or unforseen things that would make the job take longer, then an estimate with a disclaimer would be much better. As soon as an issue comes up the customer should be notified. If it's something that's reasonable the customer should be understanding and not get upset if everything was done properly. I had to pay for some autobody work one time and an inner panel was missed in the estimate. It was an honest mistake and I didn't mind paying an extra $60 or so. When it was almost 3 times the estimate I had issues.