Cost for quote - £55?

SeaVixen

Hi all,

We're in the process of buying a house - the survey has flagged some work that needs to be done - and we have been struggling to get people to come out and quote.

One builder has said he'll come out and give a quote, but it will cost us £55 as we don't own the house yet. He was quite honest in saying that he charges this because he's had several pre-purchase quote jobs fall through. If we decide to go with him we get the money off the cost of the job.

I'm a bit annoyed about having to pay for a quote, but I do understand the reason for it being there. We've been struggling to get quotes so much that I think we're just going to pay it.

Does anyone know if this is a common thing when searching for quotes during the house buying process?

papaface

Time is money at the end of the day. Personally I got a plumber to go around to my house before I purchased it and he didn't charge me, but of course they're within their rights to charge and it will ultimately be down to their individual stance on the matter.

comeandgo

You say you've been struggling to get quotes, if you told them you would pay for a quote you would get more. Well done that trades man I say. He obviously has had to send in many quotes for no jobs, why should he take a financial hit just because your house purchase falls through, something he has no control over.

phill99

I am a builder and have had a number of calls from people who are 'looking at a house' and want quotes for work.


Sorry, but I wont quote. It costs me too much time and the fact that you don't even own the property means you are just going to waste my time. I would possibly come out and give a written quote if you paid me, but £55 isn't enough. A quote can easily be 3 - 4 hours work so it's more like £120 plus vat.


Sorry but that is the reality of business.

SeaVixen

Thanks all.

Like I said, I absolutely understand why a self-employed person would be hesitant to give up their time to quote for a job that in their eyes may not come to fruition.

Just wanted to check that this was normal practice, as I've never heard of anyone actually doing this before.

Thanks all!

garrysibbald

This raises a good point!
We are often in the same situation where we are asked to check something a surveyor has indicated in his report.
Whilst we find house buyers more than happy to pay for surveyors to visit and produce a report but when the surveyor advises that a building expert should visit and provide expertise on a course of action and the cost to do so they often find it surprising if there is a charge.
We always provide free quotes for homeowners but as we find that most buyers only want a detailed report for use as a bargaining tool with the seller and rarely go ahead with the work we feel also necessary to charge for the quote/report and but make it deductible if they go ahead which seems perfectly reasonable.

I find the mindset with many customers is that they have an absolute right to a "free quote" but haven't a clue how much it costs companies in time and money to provide the quote. The higher our ratio of accepted quotes the lower the cost for the customers who say yes, therefore it pays to factor in if there is a likelihood of getting the work in the first place before quoting.

greenface

A charge of £50 is reasonable . Its similar to a call out charge . Knocking it off the price of a potential job is more than reasonable .