Contractor: Show me your other bid (?)

[valvashon]

I recently solicited and received a quote for some work on my house to be provided by a contractor who did a job for me when I moved in. The price was not out of line for what I was expecting to pay, but they are busy and can’t do the work until early December.
I then inquired about the work from a contractor whose name you might see in one of the boxes to the right or left of this forum. I first made a general inquiry about the nature of the work and if they could do it any sooner than December. They requested a copy of the bid, specifically requesting the “quote”. I replied with a detailed description of the work, but no price. They replied specifically requesting the price of the other bid.
I don’t feel like this is information that I should share with the contractor I am requesting the second bid from. If you want the job, come out and bid it yourself. Your quote should be what you charge, not $100 less than a competitors so you can steal the work. Is this how bidding is done these days?

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[Your thoughts]

I feel the same as you, if the company can’t come out and look at what you’re wanting done and give you “their” bid then what sort of work and timeliness will they give you if chosen???

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[Ponderosa]

I called to have a project bid out with a local WS company, possibly the same one by the sounds of it, back in 2018. Instead of coming out for a bid for free, they wanted to charge me at least a hundred dollars for a bid, that could be applied if I chose them. I declined because I never heard of that. I went with a company based out of South Park (which we were unhappy with), they did not charge a bid fee, nor did the 3rd company we contacted. Everyone came onsite for a bid. The company we chose only asked about the other bids after presenting theirs on-site and our verbal indication we were likely to select them.

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[Gebus]

To be honest they might not even be interested in underbidding your first quote.
It is possible they want to see what you are willing to spend to see if it is worth their time as so many contractors good and bad are backlogged with work right now they can pick and choose their next jobs.
I called one of the companies listed here on the site and they were only interested in how much money I wanted to spend on the project which made me uncomfortable too. I’d rather see how much you are going to charge me for the basic work and then add improvements if my budget can afford them, not give you my budget and have your quote match my spending capabilities.

Good luck finding someone sooner but it might be better to wait!

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[mark47n]

I used to be a PM for a large electrical contractor and I drove a service truck for many years, wrote scopes of work, proposals, estimates, etc, and I’ve been a licensed electrician for 19 years and a Master for 12 of them.

I would never request the quote from a competitor and, as a customer for subs I would’ve blacklisted a contractor for requesting the bid info from other contractors I had solicited a bid from.

Don’t use this contractor. Find another.

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[Vanessa]

Dear Mark47n, are you still doing electrical work? While we’re all here, I thought I’d ask.

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[mark47n]

@Vanessa,

I am certainly still doing electrical work! What are you looking for? You can reach me at (206) two nine three – zero one six five

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