Electrical contractor (or any house repair for that matter)...

[nw6675]

We live in a house built in the 40s and plan to have all of the electrical redone. Contractor came Tuesday to get the info for estimate and said he would email it by the end of the week. He and I set up the appointment via email so I know he has our info, but nothing came.

I'm inclined to give the benefit of the doubt and follow up Monday, but it is bothering me that I have to do that - if you want my business you'd get me the estimate and if you don't meet your own quote deadline, what will execution of the work be like?

It just seems like fewer people are doing what they say they'll do these days.

 

[fla4fun]

I would follow up. It is a hectic time of year and they could have marked it as sent when it wasn’t.

I had a similar issue with a roof repair earlier this month. The company came highly recommended and did a good job on the repair, but their office staff is all working from home, and one person thought the other had forwarded the estimate and no one had. They apologized profusely when I called to inquire.

 

[chattadisser]

We live in a house built in the 40s and plan to have all of the electrical redone. Contractor came Tuesday to get the info for estimate and said he would email it by the end of the week. He and I set up the appointment via email so I know he has our info, but nothing came.

I'm inclined to give the benefit of the doubt and follow up Monday, but it is bothering me that I have to do that - if you want my business you'd get me the estimate and if you don't meet your own quote deadline, what will execution of the work be like?

It just seems like fewer people are doing what they say they'll do these days.

This has been my experience with just about any home repair. Very rarely do they get back to you when they say they will. If they get back to you at all. Its very frustrating but seems par for the course around here.

 

[fly girl]

I don't like it either, but sadly it does seem to be the norm. Annoying. You really do feel as if they don't really value your time or want your business.

I would follow up on Monday if you know this is a reputable contractor that is highly recommended. It is worth the little nuisances if he is going to do the job right.

 

[amcnj]

Check your junk folder too. I sometimes have things placed there even from entities I have emailed with before.

Like you I would be contacting them on Monday. Hope it all works out well for you.

 

[ronandannette]

I don't like it either, but sadly it does seem to be the norm. Annoying. You really do feel as if they don't really value your time or want your business.

I would follow up on Monday if you know this is a reputable contractor that is highly recommended. It is worth the little nuisances if he is going to do the job right.

Supply and demand for building trades is such a regionally-specific thing. Knowing what the conditions are in your local market can make a difference to your perceptions. One thing I would say to the OP is that contracting work is stressful for most people especially if they don't have much expertise in the particular scope so if (for whatever reason) you're not completely happy with the company, DON'T hire them. It's extremely unlikely you'll get more satisfied as the process goes on if you already start out mildly disgruntled.

 

[disneychrista]

For what it is worth I was just quoted 15k to rewire my 1953 1,100 sq ft house.

Wiring is so bad he won't even replace the light fixtures in my living room with the current wiring. But 15k is way out of my price range after having to spending nearly 20k on a bathroom remodel/dry rot fix.

 

[nw6675]

For what it is worth I was just quoted 15k to rewire my 1953 1,100 sq ft house.

Wiring is so bad he won't even replace the light fixtures in my living room with the current wiring. But 15k is way out of my price range after having to spending nearly 20k on a bathroom remodel/dry rot fix.

Ok, so now I'm happy I don't have it back yet!!

 

[_19disnA]

For any large home repair job, you should get 3 quotes from known/reputable or recommended companies. Part of deciding who you choose is the professionalism/quality/timeliness of their quote. Don't just pick the one with the lowest price. If 2 of them quote but one does not, clearly they will have lost this job. Having 3 quotes also lets you compare the details to see what all is being included to avoid anything being overlooked.

 

[Deb]

I requested three quotes for a job recently
#1 gave me a verbal but never sent the email. The verbal was really high which is why I didn't pursue
#2 sent an email in about 2 to 3 times the amount of time he had quoted. About half of quote #1
#3 never sent to quote, even after I got back in touch and asked

Fortunately it's a job I can put off for the time being

 

[nw6675]

Thanks for all of the replies! This has been really helpful. My area seems to have a lot of issues based on what I'm seeing on the Next Door app. We had a new tankless water heater and windows put in recently and had outstanding service for those jobs. I will just lower my expectations a bit and find some patience!

 

[smokeyblue]

I've been contracting vendors for a decade. A contractors follow-up time is proportional to how much they need the work and the potential for future projects. I wouldn't get bent out of shape at this point.

 

[tvguy]

For any large home repair job, you should get 3 quotes from known/reputable or recommended companies. Part of deciding who you choose is the professionalism/quality/timeliness of their quote. Don't just pick the one with the lowest price. If 2 of them quote but one does not, clearly they will have lost this job. Having 3 quotes also lets you compare the details to see what all is being included to avoid anything being overlooked.

I agree on three quotes. And probably with something as straightforward as what the OP wants to do, it should be easy. Unfortunately that is just when your work begins because you do have to compare details which can vary wildly. When we added a bedroom on our house, the low bidder did not include the cost of the building permits in his bid, and his floor covering allowance was $15 a square foot, the bid we accepted was turn key, no additional costs, all permits, and a $30 a square foot floor covering allowance.
When we remodeled our kitchen/bathrooms/all new flooring throughout the house, doors, one contractor insisted on bidding even though he knew we wanted Corian in the kitchen and the master bath and he for some reason did not use Corian (or more correctly sub it out).

 

[Planogirl]

One of the last contractors I dealt with was very efficient but sent me a ridiculously high estimate. I sent him a decline due to the price and he emailed me that he accidentally quoted me the wrong price and gave me another much lower price. OK he was either shady or sloppy and I had already gone with someone else anyway but at least he was efficient!

 

[sam_gordon]

I would give the guy the benefit of the doubt. You don't know what happened in his life/work. I would send an email on Monday with a "Just checking on the status of the quote." If he doesn't send any reply (at least a "yes, I'm working on it, sorry, get it to your shortly"), by Tuesday or Wednesday, I'd mark him off the list.

It's possible he hasn't gotten quotes from his vendors that he needs to do yours. Yes, the "right" thing to do would be to send an email explaining that, but I'm willing to give people a pass, at least for one business day.

 

[mikehn]

Where I live, home contractors have more work than they can handle. Even if you get a quote back, you might still be waiting in line for a while.

 

[mjkacmom]

This has been my experience with just about any home repair. Very rarely do they get back to you when they say they will. If they get back to you at all. Its very frustrating but seems par for the course around here.

Same here, for a lot of them you need to chase them down especially now. Our plumber is our neighbor, he has so much work right now. We are on our painters list to have the house painted, put on it in June, still waiting (an $8000 job).

 

[disneychrista]

Where I live, home contractors have more work than they can handle. Even if you get a quote back, you might still be waiting in line for a while.

Took more than two months from first look to starting the work on my bathroom and that was with him fitting me in due to my bathroom being an “emergency.” Took several weeks for the quote. Several more weeks to be given a start date.

 

[MillauFr]

For what it is worth I was just quoted 15k to rewire my 1953 1,100 sq ft house.

Wiring is so bad he won't even replace the light fixtures in my living room with the current wiring. But 15k is way out of my price range after having to spending nearly 20k on a bathroom remodel/dry rot fix.

I was figuring the price to rewire half of my house would be outrageous so I am just doing it myself. I need to get rid of the rest of our knob and tube wiring. I didn't even bother getting an estimate. Most Contractors don't want to deal with patching our lath and plaster walls.

I couldn't believe a Contractor quoted us $180k to redo our 12'x16' kitchen with no major structural changes.

 

[disneychrista]

I couldn't believe a Contractor quoted us $180k to redo our 12'x16' kitchen with no major structural changes.

My 5 x 7 bathroom is costing close to $20k (completely gut job down to the studs, with new plumbing.) I expect my kitchen will be $75k+, so that won't be happening probably ever.