Joe's thread about fill dirt etiquette has me thinking about the ethics of charging for fill dirt. Any further comments about that thread should be posted there, but I want to ask a specific question, and I'll post a poll so your opinions can remain anonymous if you like. The situation is this: The customer has agreed to a price that includes an amount for the "purchase" of fill. You are able to find some suitable fill at no cost. How would you handle this?
I would say charge the price that they agreed to. If you are able to find free fill, then to me that is part of doing business (reducing your costs). If you found a way to operate your machine that costs less, you would make more profit not charge less right? Unless your location is super competitive, I wouldn't charge less.
I don't no where you guys are from but getting rid of dirt is one hardest things there is for me !!! 99% of the time you have to pay to dump somewhere, even places that are filling in run a cash dump.
well on one job i had filling in a yard i got some fill for free from a foundation i dug out and gave them the fill for free well almost free some one has to pay for trucking and equipment rental. But most of the time if you have fill that is so-so i would not think twice as it will cost you to get ride of it but if you have gold so to speak i would charge for it because it's worth something. I'm sure you guys know what I mean
I also have a problem getting rid of fill material and I swear it gets harder every day to get rid of it. In this particular situation, I'd charge full price and pocket the additional money. I'm also one of those that will charge a customer to take material off their place and turn around and sell it to anyone that will take it. Some folks consider this unethical, but I don't understand why. It becomes my property when I put it in my truck, so why can't I sell something that I own? Load once, dump once, paid twice.
That's common practice around here too DK. It's not often an opportunity to make a few bucks above the norm comes along, so why not grab it? You're providing a service to both parties, bill accordingly.
Absolutely charge for fill! Charge for asphalt millings and anything else you might be able to make money on! It's nobody's business but yours whether it cost you anything. Anybody want to buy a few loads of sailboat fuel???
I just dug a pool today in the best dirt I have seen in a long time. A nice sandy loamy soil without one single rock. Not even a tiny one. The stuff will compact if you want and if you get it too wet, it is still good to work with - doesn't get sticky. This is the stuff landscapers dream about. It is nice having a dump truck and enough property to store this stuff on. It will bring good money from some of the landscapers I do work for and I got paid to haul it away from the job today. Actually, I have to finish hauling it tomorrow. Sometimes you really get lucky with a job. It makes up for the ones that don't exactly go as planned.
We do the same. Fill is like gold around here. There is always places to take it. If this guy isn't willing to pay the price, then I'll sell it to the next guy.
charge, charge, charge. If the material is good we will either haul it to another job and stockpile it for later. Doesnt happen all that often with the xxxxy soil types we have around here though
I just got myself into the middle of a "learning experience" on this one: make SURE you know the dirt is suitable for the purpose your customer intends and is clean and safe, or you could LOSE YOUR ASS!!! I learned my company only sells materials purchased from a real pit with proper testing and plenty of lawyers so that we don't get blamed for any problems with the material. We lost $22K by not doing so once before (but that was before my time).
Fill- I'm in Massachusetts and could use some fill If you have fill you need to get rid of email me at [email protected] . I will pay the trucking fee.
Having read this thread it brings to mind an incident with a muck shifter I was aligned too a few years back ,the contract was to import fill to a 3 h/acre site and raise the site by 1.5 meters . The fill was to be of good quality compacted 2C capped with 500mm min of compacted 1C.the site was located close to a metropolitan area but a dump permit would not be issued to allow the dumping of spoil (they reckoned the fill would not be of consistent quality ) so where to get the required fill and cost of haulage. Close to this site was a quarry owned by a semi state company who had the volume and the quality of fill in both categories but no amount of coaxing would make them give or sell the material.The job was for a municipal council so every thing had to be above board with all material tested for quality, nuclear density and CBR ,with the quality samples being randomly selected. All these constraints were making this job impossible from a cost point of view as traffic ,haulage with trucks road maintenance/ cleaning, storm water drains etc etc,were outside the price submitted for the job,so the decision was made to walk away from the contract.In the government tenders a tender appeared for the removal of spoil from the afore mentioned quarry ,so we held off giving up our contract and submitted our price agreeing to meet the required permits with every load having to be documented to show it was tipped legally. We stalled the fill job as the weather was exceptionally inclement.We approached the land owners between both jobs gained permission to put in a haul road and waited for the tenders to be opened.We were successful and, a week later we started laying a haul and ran the A25b's down to the site moving the 45000m /3. Wound up getting paid to lift it ,shift it dump it ,place it compact it and test it.
I'd pay the place where you got the fill a few bucks (25%) to build up good will and at the end of the job if everything went smooth, I'd say to the customer "look, I got the fill a bit cheaper than expected here is a bit of a discount (25%)" but pocket the remainder (50%) to pay for those unexpected things. Everybody is happy. And there is no option on the poll for spreading the joy, so I didn't vote.
To be sure, to be sure, to be sure and you had a few Guinness's to celebrate a job well doone. Although I prefer Murphy's stout.
That sounds fair. I think you should definitely charge something, as long as it's not more than the customer agreed to. You have to make money too, to survive. If you feel bad you could give the customer a discount like Hendrik suggested but I would charge something. Save the money, then you have something in reserve if you lose money on a job.
The customer is paying to load and truck away the extra material. On the dump site end, if it's our own site, we have already estimated a fee to spread the fill. So nobody is loosing out and we aren't double billing for the trucking. When most guys are looking for dump sites and I'm have someone who is in need of fill, for the purpose of good will, they can have the material for free. If I had to share one more story of the home builder charging the home buyer for fill they needed to get trucked out or trucked in and the sour taste it left them with for the extra charge, fill is free around Milwaukee. I'm in the grading and landscaping business, not the broker service for fill. Years of connections allow me to make 2 or 3 calls and someone will bring you the material.
Out here on the farm we had a guy come up one day offering dump truck loads of dirt for $10 a load. Turns out he was the grading contractor on a car dealership job, he bid the job to haul out the dirt, he got paid for hauling it out, we got a deal because at the time fill dirt was going for $80 a load. This was before I got my dump truck or loader, but I had the Boss's EX200 out here clearing some land. We ended up buying 280 loads, they would dump it and I would spread it out with the excavator, ending up taking two days to have that many loads delivered but we were happy to get the dirt to fill in behind the farm house. We ended up writing the check to the guy and not his company, if you know what I mean. But now that I have a dump truck and a loader, any time I can "double dip" I will. I go to great extremes to be fair with people I do work for, but how often does these opportunites present themselves and besides everyone with heavy equipment could always use extra money for something. But I will add that if I had a relationship with the end customer that meant I would get more work later or had done a lot of work for them then I would probably cut a deal. There is no wrong answer to handing this situation.
Like I've always said,the best job an excavator can get is getting paid taking the fill out and then selling it.I keep a list of clients who need it and I'm not shy of making as much money as possible.Integrity and honesty is paramount of course but if a client agrees to a price,why would anyone consider giving some sort of ''deal''?
The problem is if people find out that you cheated them, they paid you in good faith on the basis that you had to buy the fill. It may not be illegal but will leave a sour taste in the mouth of both the person you got the fill for and the person you got the fill from. At least if you give both of them a cut then they are less likely to kick up a stink. However everyone is entitled to run their business in whichever fashion they like but if the phone stops ringing because you are seen as being less than completley honest..........
NO ONE is being cheated here at all,not even close.Price was discussed,it's{hopefully} in writing,it's what's being charged--product is delivered.Everyone should be happy.If the client is bitchin that you were'nt entitled to making so much ''easy'' profit,just remind them that if it was turned the other way---say you now had to pay more from a gravel bank for whatever reason---would they now be willing to pay for that extra cost???
I would say alot depends on the customer. If it's one youve done work for in the past and has not been a hassle cut them a break. If the customer is a PITA... well see how things go. The thing to remember especially in smaller areas/towns word gets around both good and bad.
Alright let's say the fill cost quoted is $2000, customer agrees to this and you end up getting the fill for nothing, Customer finds out that you charged him/her 2k for something you got for free. How is he/she going to feel? Cheated? Happy for you? Especially if you knew at the time of putting the contract together that you could get free fill. However if you don't itemize the contract it is another story, you budget 2K for fill but end up getting it cheaper, then good for you. Far as I know if material costs go up that is carried by the customer if you stipulated so on the contract, how do you think all the cost blow outs happen on public works projects. Or do you reckon the contractor sucks up any rise in inputs.
I would like to make the point that the 2k of dirt isn't free. First off, somebody has to take the time to find the "free" fill. Then, someone has to pay to put it in a truck. And finally, someone has to pay to get trucked into a convenient hole in the ground. Now who pays for what part varies depending on the situation. For example my family has had many free ponds built, b/c we sit on a big pile of good clay and are strategically placed for most of the large building that has happened in the last 20 years. We own parts of both the Wal-Mart and Target parking lots. Each time the jobs were bid with a much higher trucking cost and then they called us. Its too bad the second Wal-Mart had to export dirt, since I am now smart enough to bring along a camera. Its not like everyone gets their ponds built by a 365 and 6 axle belly dumps! Here are my thoughts: Any dirt that has to be moved off site is the excavators, since he paid for all of the factors i listed. Dirt that has to be located, loaded, and trucked, the customer eats the "loss" Dirt that has be located and trucked, the customer still eats the "loss". On the rare chance the excavator finds someone to load and truck the dirt to his job, some deal making is required. Most cost is being eaten by someone else, and if the other guy needs it gone that bad he is probably the one looking for a convenient hole in the ground. On the even rarer chance the customer finds the fill dirt, uh, it better before the contract is written. On the flipside, exporting dirt, if the cost of trucking to a preferred location is cost-prohibitive the excavator might have to sell the dirt for a "loss", give it away, or if in a real bind pay to dump it. It works both ways, the bid might be too high if the customer has to eat the extra cost. Especially if another excavator has a cheaper way to export the dirt. As for the customer's perceived loss, if another excavator did the same job there is no guarantee the other guy would be able to procure the same "free" fill. Its the same principle as the excavator using dirt he had stockpiled from another job. Just b/c the excavator didn't pay for the actual dirt, doesn't make the dirt worth any less. If nothing else, the excavator might owe the source of the dirt a favor. Say, bringing over some scrapers to turn a big hole in the ground into a pond. Thats just my take on Excavator's Business Ethics 101. BTW: did you know engineers have to take Ethics classes? I can't wait.:bash
Very well said 1ton.Here's a similiar analogy--in our business,we are right out there--large fill piles,big trucks-loaders---it's hard not to notice us.Take any other business--jewelry,supermarket,dentistry,auto parts---do you honestly think any of them would tell the customer/client if they came across free or cheaper parts/supplies that now you'll get a siscount?I don't think so.
Ooooh the old everybody rips me off and this gives me the right to rip others off. Anyway as I said, everyone is entitled to run their business anyway they see fit but I do know if I was after some fill and rang up an earthmover and he/she says to me "look I have to buy the fill for X amount" and then I later find out they got it for free I am going to be thinking that operator is a crook who is out to rip people off. Sure I can pass the cost of fill along but I will still think that I have been cheated. That earthmoving contractor might think he/she is pretty smart for doing me over but I may well never give them any business again. Bottom line is that we all determine the future of our society, we all have to instill values in our children and we all have to live in the mess we create.
No Hendrik,I never said anyone's ripping anybody off here--not even close.It's unbelievable that you interpret my post that way.Once again,as long as the product or service was delivered according to either the verbal or written contract,it's NO ONE'S business how much or how little was the cost of goods provided.If you want to give away or discount any fill that comes your way,go ahead--me--in my mind I know there's nothing unethical or immoral about charging the full agreed upon price for the fill.
So that's what you are going to tell the customer when he/she comes along and says to you that they know you got the fill for free and yet you still charged me for it? So in theory if a mechanic fixes your machine with sub-standard parts and it only lasts another 200 hours before breaking down again, the mechanic has done nothing wrong because he fulfilled the verbal contract of repairing the machine?
Unless it is a cost plus project the only numbers my customer sees are his/her cost, not mine. If I can negotiate a better deal on my cost that simply improves my profit. I dont see how that is ripping your customer off. Just my 2cents
I dont think you are comparing apples to apples here. I dont think anyone is saying they are going to use substandard materials to save money. If that mechanic put a brand new part on your machine that he somehow got for free why should he give it to free?
That's right but the original question was in regards to the customer being told that the fill would cost $X to buy.
Hendrik, you've made your point, it's time to move on. I've known Tuney for a few years now and his business here is reputable, he hasn't stayed in business this long ripping off his customers. I don't see anything wrong with charging a customer market value for fill whether you've paid anything for it or not.
Not trying to compare apples with apples but I am trying to understand the thinking behind what makes a contract fair. What the mechanic has done may not be illegal but it would sure leave a bad taste in your mouth. Obviously there are fair trading laws in place that aim to stop this sort of thing but it still happens, particularly in the auto repair industry. And everybody seems top be side stepping my question about how YOU would feel if it was you being charged for fill that was obtained free of charge. Obviously the people saying that it is A OK to charge for free fill would have no problem if they where charged for free fill. After all that is what capitalism is all about. Anyway I'll stick to my original answer, that way I am technically buying the fill and can have a mark up on it of whatever I like and if everything goes smooth I can give the customer a discount at the end. If the customer is a PITA I can always choose not to but the fact remains that I paid for the fill as opposed to getting it for nothing because a mark up of 200% on nothing is still nothing
Client approaches you with a job to quote for. Client also approaches two of your opposition. Tender is open ,your successful. Deal is made to both your satisfaction. Third party asks you to excavate and remove a similar amount of Material off site. A price is negotiated that you are both happy with. You move material from one site to another and in doing so fulfill both clients expectations. Do you then try to renegotiate contract one. NOT!. All I will say is if you do a deal , a tender or a contract where both parties are happy and you fulfill all your requirements, the client is obliged to pay the agreed price. How many of us have done work where the client tries to renege on the price ,do you consider that right? In the heel of the hunt we are in business to have a wage/ profit at the end of the day/week /year,to give a good service and do the job we are paid for. I dont advocate ripping anyone off but neither do I want to be ripped off by a client so if terms are agreed by both parties then that is all that counts, If you do a job that you priced and the client tell you to do additional work but then refuses to pay you afterwards saying it was part of the scope of works would you be happy .NOT I think. So in conclusion price a job so as you can do it properly give the client what he wants and try and wind up with a "WIN WIN " contract.:IMO: :my2c If you want to go broke do it at home its cheaper and less stressful. Stock
Yeah OK but I am still puzzled somewhat but I guess it all depends on the wording of the contract. Because it works both ways, what if the price of Diesel spiked 50% the day before you start the contract? If there is no provision in the contract for that then the contractor has to wear that, same with fill cost. What if you put in a low ball figure and all of a sudden the fill supplier says that the price has gone up 50%? Anyway I am not saying anyone is ripping anyone off but am trying to contribute to what is a fairly relevant topic of discussion. Just so happens the other day I was helping a friend of the missus prepare a site for his garden shed. I get it all cleared and figure that I need 3 cubic meters of fill to bring it to level. So he gets on the phone to some earthmovers and there is not much going in the area but they suggest we try a new housing development that is being done nearby, of course when we get there the site supervisor has gone for the day and the workers are reluctant to give the OK for a few ute loads of dirt. So I says to him, look I probably got enough back home that I could scratch up (well I got a fair bit but..), he is most happy that I am willing to give him some dirt and yeah I could have charged him 10 or 20 bucks per load and there would have been nothing he could have done about it but he gave me some petrol money and a carton of beer so I didn't lose out completley. However as i am just getting off the ground I need all the good will I can find, word of mouth is a big part of my advertising strategy. And yes, if this fella was living in a big flash house with an expensive car and looked down on me like I was the dirt that I was shifting, I would have charged for every last grain of dirt even though I was getting it for free from my place.
Sorry to beat a dead horse, but I just have to say that is the wrong attitude. You should treat everyone the same.
Mmmm---who's calling the kettle black here? Your preaching isn't quite the same as your thinking.
I don't preach, I leave that to the religious types, but am making the point that while I aim to treat everyone fairly (and hope to get the same back:lmao), I am only human and some people do rub me up the wrong way. Anyway Steve has asked nicely that I move on from this topic and he is right, I made my point.
It all works out in the end Some jobs you quote on don't work out the way you planned and due to circumstances such as weather, unexpected rock, damage/breakdown etc you don't make much profit on the job at all. But you want to retain the the customers business and trust and therefore your reputation, so you don't hit him up for the additional cost. The free fill argument is the counterbalance to the above. Sometimes you get a job which unexpectedly works out to your financial benefit better than you quoted, so you take the profit and these good jobs balance out the bad. So overall it evens out and no-one loses and all benefit. Keep in mind in the retail trade you don't get the retailer telling you he got a product for nothing because he bought a bulk number of products to get a few free thrown in. He's just counterbalancing the unpopular product he got stuck with and had to sell at a loss. After all if you let one of your customers know you got the fill for free, the word will get around and everyone will expect the fill is free. They won't believe you when you say you had to pay for this lot of fill when Fred up the road got his free. The customer just wants to be happy with the job at a fair and competitive price and likes to deal with someone who is friendly, trustworthy and does what was promised. He doesn't need to know the details of how you run your finances and business. Regards Dave
So true, just remember that "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished". This is the way that I look at this issue. Excavation, trucking, grading and disposal has value to people in the market or we wouldn't have a profession. When I say value, that means people are willing to spend their hard earned money to hire our services. The finished product, be it cutting out a basement, building a pond, demoing a house, filling a lot etc - is the finished product they are willing to pay for. It is our job to pull our resources together to give them a price that you can competetively complete the task at hand. The price needs to reflect "market value" for all of your services, regardless of whether you are being paid to haul fill off one job and this one needs fill imported. If someone needs fill, they need it and are willing to pay someone to obtain it - in order to achieve their desired finished product. Same way with removing fill from a job. Irregardless of whether you can actually make these two incidences above line up in your favor (remember Murphy's Law), import and export out should be charged accordingly.
I think it comes down to the individual situation, and the wording of the agreement between the contractor and the customer. If you are doing a negotiated price project, and you have told the customer " dirt is going to cost X, trucking is Y, and handeling it when I get it here is Z" then later you find free fill, then a reduction is in order, though not all of it, as there is still costs in time, paperwork, and hassle in setting up this "free" dirt. However, if it is a bid job, and you have contracted to complete the work for X, the owner was happy with that number, or you would not be doing the job in the first place, and if you do not want a bad name, do not tell what the dirt costs. Free dirt is figured into many bids, if it is known about in advance. It may be the cost reduction that gets you the job if you know of it, and your competition does not. I would say that most of us that take the time to post on this forum have good intentions, but we are all in business to make money. If we don't, we will not get to stay in this business, or any other endeavor either.
Wow this has been an interesting, long running thread. I am not in the business, but I gotta say since purchasing a property that needed fill for a road .... I have learned the value of dirt.............it's like GOLD. I have begun to stockpile my own GOLD now. Taking FREE clean dirt, shale, concrete, asphalt grindings fellas ......PM me............lol Auburn, PA...
The customer should always understand that the contractor is the front office. Prices are agreed upon between the contractor and the client. The contractor should be up front about what he is going to charge the client. The contractor should NEVER disclose what he has to pay. All that matters is that the client agrees to the price. If the client doesn´t like the price, the contractor doesn´t get the job. No ethics violations in either case. None of this should be confused with lying to the customer about what your costs are. I think it´s a ridiculous practice. It´s none of the clients concern what the operating costs of the contractor are. The client shouldn´t pay extra if my machine needs an oil change while it´s running on their job today and they shouldn´t get a discount because I´m getting free fill tomorrow. My costs are my business. Their costs are their business.
And if the average consumer knew the actual real cost of many of their consumer items, such as mobile phones etc...they'd have a heart attack.
If you give free fill to #1 customer, does the next customer not have the right to ask you for free fill? Keep the price at fair market value regardless if you got %100 savings. #1 customer agreed to purchase the fill.
Thats just wrong, treat everyone the same or get out of business. We have been called to several 'higher end' jobs. We bid it and the customer is amazed; because everyone else was charging 200% more, Just because the customer was in a good neighborhood.
So you are saying I should charge the same rate for a battler who has to have a tree stump removed because the council ordered him/her to as opposed to a toff living in a three storey mansion who wants to install a lap pool for his dogs? In a perfect world perhaps but........... Basically I figure that the rich person can afford to pay a bit more for my time, how do you think they got their money? By feeding off the poor as usual. Don't get me wrong you are entitled to charge whatever you want, if a flat rate works for you then fine. Although the funny thing is a battler is more likely to pay a higher rate than a wealthy person.
Yea, Hendrik, thats what I am saying. Its all in how your brought up and your morals... You go ahead and charge what ever you want, whenever you want. I'll agree to disagree.
Howdy guys, If I ask you for a price for backfill and we agree on a price, I don't care what you paid or didn't pay as long as it's what we made the deal on and it meets specs. I don't think that is so strange.
So, are businesses wrong to offer things like the "senior citizen discount"? That cheats the rest of us, doesn't it? :cool2 :stirthepot (Yes, I'm just stirring the pot.) My point is though, that it's all in how you look at it--the rich guy gets to pay retail price, and the less well off get a discount. Does looking at it that way make it more palatable?
Well Said! How do you some of you guys feel if someone think just because you have some spendy equipment you must be rich and therefore should pay more for something. BTW, I always considered a "senior discount" marketing
And what do you think dealers do when they know you need a part that only they can supply? Put the same mark up on it as stuff that is readily available? I do actually think a big time operator should pay more for something than a little guy trying to make it against the big boys but that is not how it works. I don't consider pensioner discounts a marketing gimmick but rather an acknowledgement of the fact that they are on a fixed 'wage' and don't buy dog food because they have a dog.
Why do you want to punish success? It is easy to do if you are not the successful one, but does that make it right? It is better to strive to be more successful than to wish ill on the successful to make you feel better. Do you think every successful business man or woman out there just walked into it. Most work more hours and risk more than anyone can dream of. If they have worked their tale off to get to a point where they can negotiate a better deal for goods and services who are you or anyone else to take that from them. It should give you incentive to go work your tale off to be more successful. Not complaining about the big guy getting a better deal!
I am making the point a bigger operation is better able to absorb higher input costs as an example that in the world things are not always equal. I have nothing against success that is earned with hard work but often that is not the case, sometimes you need to know how to shake a hand the right way. Anyway if you are happy to charge an 80 year old Lady who needs her sewer line replaced and comes out every half hour with drinks and snacks and keeps telling you how sorry she is to bother you, the same rate as a pair of yuppies who want their investment property landscaped to maximize their profit on sale and spend their time looking over your shoulder and telling you how to do your job, then you do that. I can give you a nice little example, my mother had her septic tank overflow and called a couple of plumbers out to have a look. Both these professionals where able to tell without investigation that her septic needed replacement at a cost of ~$11,000. So I said to her that I'd have a look because she is a pensioner and does not have a job and she is my mum. Sure she could have got money from the bank because she has a nice house and back then banks where still handing out money. Anyway I start digging around and find that the overflow pipe was blocked with dirt. Half an hour with a hand shovel and the problem would have been fixed back to a workable state. I like to do things well, so I put in a proper trench and gravel and so forth and being a soft so and so, I only charged her for my costs. Which worked out at 500 bucks. No I would not do that for anyone else except the person who gave birth to me but by the same token I would not charge someone 11 grand without fully exploring all alternatives. Taking your view into consideration I should have charged my mother ~$2300 to properly fix her septic and no there is no cash discount.
Are you joking? I'll admit some get to the top by taking advantage of others; but your getting quite sterotypical, don't you think? There are plently of big companies out there that started as a one man band, and in several generations have worked their way up to a 100 employee or better company. Whats the problem with that? They worked just as hard and harder than the little guy to get where they are. Everything should be equal, thats the way I see just about everything. Again its how I have been brought up. And again I will say, you are entitled to your opinion...and I agree to disagree.
You have got to be kidding me. I wouldnt even charge my own mom the materials. You are twisting what the original point was, charging someone more just because they live in a nice house. My point of senior discount as a marketing program was just to put it in perspective. It is no different than striving to have a reputation for treating people fair and honest. Everything we do in business revolves around marketing our goods and services. For me if your mom would have hired me to tackle her septic problem she would have been pleasantly surprised to find it was a simple fix and a small cost. It is called being honest. It is hard to do too much troubleshooting on a free estimate. You kind of have to take what you can see, prepare for the worst and hope for the best. JMHO.
Another point I was going to make, but didn't want to stir the pot, I agree I wouldn't have charged my mother anything either.
Hendrik, you charged your mother?:beatsme
Didn't someone tell me earlier that if I don't charge EVERYONE a flat rate I should not be in the industry? Ooooh there are exceptions to this golden rule, see I have so much to learn. Now lets see, Mothers and Fathers don't get charged, what about siblings and other family members? How about the next door neighbour or your best mate? I am so confused, what about if you are helping out a bunch of volunteers clear some weeds from a riverbank? Far as my Mum's septic tank goes, it is kinda expected that a plumber investigate what the problem is and then charge for that diagnoses. Would you be happy if you took a machine to a workshop because the hydraulics feel sluggish. Mechanic tells you that you need a new hydraulic pump when in reality all it needs is a new filter.
She insisted that she pay me for the material used, it was either that or she was going to take the money to the casino. Actually originally she was going to pay me a grand but that got revised down after she didn't have a good night at the casino. Evil places those casinos and are best avoided.
Well, one thing's for sure--they certainly don't make any distinction between taking a rich man's money or a poor man's money...
fill dirt I factor closest haul to price to dump to possible sale of dirt and always ask people in the area perferably before the job starts maybe make money maybe not. keep your eys open to the surronding area kind of like deer hunting
here is how we do it here. If i am digging and you need fill and it is within the turn time i have quoted i will haul it to you all day , trucking included. that we i save on the dump fee and help my friends out. when i am backfilling and need fill , i get it hauled to me for free. of course we are charging for the export and import, but saving on dump fees. now there are a few guy's who can't get anyone to take their material and have to haul it to the dump. so they have a higher cost on export and have to self provide or buy import