Bryson Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 So, here's a very wierd quote for some staging I'm looking to rent. I genuinely don't understand the logic here - perhaps one of you can explain what is going on? I'm renting 6 4x8 decks for 32 days. The quote says: 6 of 4x8 Deck for 32 days = 192 days @ Unit price $2.75ea Fine so far. + trucking $150 Fine + Month charge, $250 What's a month charge? Who charges 50% extra to take stuff for a month? Surely you should get a discount for taking stuff for a month? Shouldn't you? The lighting package for the same period carries a 60% discount off list, for example. Don't get me wrong - I don't actually have an issue with the final price. I just think the unit cost should be higher (much higher, probably) and then I should get a good discount for monthly rental. Don't you think? So, shall I just pay it as the Total is fine by me, or should I mention that charging extra for a month is a bit odd? Or is there some reason why charging extra for long rentals is logical that I can't think of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Mention it to the company it may be a mistake maybe its mean to be something like 25% discount, its easy to not press shift and make 25% into 250. If its not a mistake and they do charge extra they may be able to tell you why and then you can enlighten the rest of us Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisD Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Bryson, you're (as always) correct. I fail to see any business sense in what they've done, why punish people who want to rent stuff for long periods of time? Bizzare! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w/robe Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 That sounds very odd. How about asking for a quote to hire the decks for 16 days followed by another 16 days. Even with 2 lots of trucking you save $100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 Well, it's even weirder... Apparently, the "normal" price is $5 per deck, but he discounts it to $2.75, and then adds the "month charge". I'm confused, but at the end of the day the bottom line is perfectly reasonable, so I won't get too excited about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w/robe Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 So for taking the decks for a month rather than a day he gives only an 18% discount. I suppose that if the bottom line is OK then your only concern is if they have any other strange/disorganised buisness practices that you have not come across yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 Let's be honest, even $5 a day (About 3UKP) is perfectly reasonable for an 8x4 deck... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete McCrea Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Why discount your rate, then bump it back up? Weird. If I wasn't happy, I'd bump the 'List Rate' up, then set the discount as usual to get to the price you want to charge them. Then that way the client isn't looking at a quote asking why you've increased the rate. As you say though about £3 a deck is a very good price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 I just spoke to the guy and I get the feeling that math* isn't his strong suit. I think it's a "I don't feel like I'm making enough money on this job" fee... He said; "well, we charge extra because it ties all of the decks up for a month". It ties them up...earning money... Oh well. He can run his business as he pleases, I guess. * = That's right, no "s". I'm all Canadian now, see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lee Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Good grief, how dare you take them from the nice stack in the warehouse.... Very odd kinda quote. Almost worth rejecting it just for the hell of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete McCrea Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 You get some people like that. You ask for kit for a month and then they get all funny because it ties it up for a month. Well if you'd rather have the decks sitting in the warehouse, don't quote the job! in my mind, if someone wants the kit for a month - Great! If you then need to get the same kit in, price the additional job so you make some money on the subhire to fulfil the new job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Ross Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 We used to have a tongue in cheek saying when I used to work in stores on base that went along the lines of, “Can I have some XXXXX we need it for an op” “No you can’t have XXXXX as we only have 2 in stock and someone else might need them” “But I need them” “Yes but someone else might” And so on. As someone once told me a good store room /warehouse is an empty one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biskit Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Why discount your rate, then bump it back up? I'm not familiar with the rules and regs in the US, but could this be a tax/insurance/whatever dodge of some kind? Ie. if one rate of tax is payable on hire income, but a much lower rate on anything written down as admin fees, (ie. his 'month charge') for example... Or maybe he has some kind of insurance policy with a premium based on the 'value' of his hires, again excluding any admin fees? Just a thought. Ben. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Theres an alternative explanation - if the rental house does lots of short term packages of which decking is just a part then having all the steeldeck out for a month might mean they have to either lose the work or subhire in, which has a cost associated, especially as they appear to be renting their stock out for virtually free. So its effectively an insurance policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadhippy Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Why not send them an invoice for one months storage the of decking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.