When it rains it pours, this is a motto of a salt
manufacturer and it is also an old saying meaning that when things go wrong
they go really wrong! Well it is POURING at the Greenstein house!
I have a leak in my basement which may or may not be being
caused by the fact that the cracks in my driveway are getting wider and
starting to get uneven.
So not only is it pouring but the water is running through
my basement.
OK, so that was the lead up to today’s post. I have had to
get estimates from companies to do the work needed to solve my problems. First
a company that can stop the leaking basement and then a concrete company to
demo and remove the old driveway and re-pour a new one.
I have had several companies out to give me estimates and as
I expected, the professionalism of the sales reps has been extremely diverse.
Each sales rep gave me the facts I needed about the work
that needed to be done and they each had their own solution that they knew was
the absolute best. I have no problems so far, if they didn’t think their
solution was best why would I want to do business with them.
For the most part they have all been pretty ethical about
measuring and providing me an estimate. However one company was all but
dishonest about it. After the rep measured my basement and gave me his
explanation of his solution and why I should use it, he got out his calculator
and started figuring his price. He wrote out everything on his quote sheet and
in BOLD numbers at the bottom he gave me his price to do the needed work.
His price was almost $1000.00 higher than the next nearest
estimate I had gotten. I was about to say something about how high he was, but
before I could he started talking. He said that he had a crew that really
needed the work and that if I was ready to sign he would discount the price
$500.00. (Still $500.00 higher than the next estimate) I was looking at the
paper when he started talking again, this time he told me about a credit he had
with his concrete supplier and if I would say yes RIGHT NOW he would use the
credit on my job which would save me another $500.00. (Now he was the same price
as the next estimate) As all the infomercials say, WAIT THERES MORE! I hadn’t
said a word yet and he started talking again, this time he said he would
rewrite the estimate so it would show 60 feet less drain, and he would charge
me... you guessed it..$500.00 less.
At this point I was just sitting back waiting to hear his next
price drop. I hadn’t said yes or no and I have already saved $1500.00 off the
original estimate.
I just sat there looking at him and he must have known I was
waiting for something because he said with a big question, “Is that enough to
get your business”?
I just sat and waited to see if he would cut his price
again. He did, he said he had forgotten the $200.00 discount form Angie’s List
and he would honor that also. I thought it was funny he actually used the word
honor because he surely didn’t have any.
I was getting tired of the game especially because I had
decided I wouldn’t do business with him at any price. If he is that unethical
and willing to spew any lie he thought of I didn’t want to know what he had
lied about in reference to my work needing to be done.
I thanked him and brought the “sales pitch” to an end. He
asked again if I was ready to sign and I said I didn’t think so. He asked why
and I just said I am not sure who I want to do business with yet, but I was
sure it wasn’t him.
I love bargains, and I love saving money, and I really love saving
a lot of money! What I don’t love is being lied to, cheating, and stealing. The
rep may have had a crew that needed the work, I will give him that one and I
may have done business at that point, but to then to throw in a $500.00 credit
was a stretch, but even that could have been true and I still may have done
business with him. However, stealing and making me a part of it was too much
for me. To be dishonest enough to under estimate a job to get the price down is
over the line.
I am having my basement waterproofed Thursday by a company
that gave me the next highest estimate. Not because I believe high price means
quality, but because the sales rep didn’t tell me what I wanted to hear rather
he told me what I needed to hear to solve my water problem.
Lorin
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