Good contractor, good guy; pay attention
Jeremy is a terrific contractor. He gets the work done — major and minor tasks of all types and makes sure it’s quality.
Suggestions:
• keep a video record of when workers arrive and leave. Is it time on site or travel time and time at suppliers?
• If you take charge of and do the work on of some
aspect of your job and don’t need Jeremy, don’t let
him show up to watch the half-hour quotes.
I did the research and met with window suppliers who were all outside different parts of Toronto. I inspected all of the options. They sent out quoters to
confirm my measurements. Jeremy asked to be preset at the quotes. He basically observed the quotes.
I went for Marvin fibreglass, the best, most expensive windows — 40 grand installed (by them, not Jeremy).
Jeremy billed me a percentage of their fee. If I’d realized he would do that, I’d have said, “I’ve done
the research, checked out the options and made the deal”.
That would have saved me a few thousand dollars for days of work I did.
The rest of it, all good. As I’ve said, good , good guy
company. You do good work. You’re busy. Just be fair
and both sides benefit.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $100,000.00
- Company Response
I went through my notes for your project in 2015. I confirmed I passed on to you my exclusive 10% contractor discount from the window manufacturer. I did charge you my standard 8% markup which I charge for all windows on all of my projects. That means the net amount that you paid for your windows was still $400 less than what you would have paid if you dealt directly with the manufacturer. Most contractors would have kept the trade price to themselves, added 10% (or higher) markup, and charged you the total. I prefer to do this in a transparent way so you can see where your money goes. Please keep in mind charging a markup is essential to cover the multitude of operating expenses required when running a construction company.