# Time Management vs. Compensation for time



## Craigslist Hack (Jun 14, 2012)

We have been slow in the field yet we are still receiving multiple calls and emails each day with one particular national. They are requiring a cost estimator for any bid over their standard rate or over the allowable. They are also requiring everything to be bid out two or three ways.

Example: Go to property and supply 2nd bid for roof 14 sq. 

You go take the pics and bid out the entire roof plus any debris and damages at the property. The ceiling is messed up from the roof leaks so you bid the drywall and repairs needed. This takes roughly an hour. Then the order is put on hold because they want a Cost Estimator even though the work order did not specify that one was required.

So the $35.00 order pays out as follows.

Gas to property 90mins from office $40.00
Time spent processing $10.00 an hour
Cost for Cost Estimator $10.00

I'm currently $25.00 in the hole for a job I don't even want to do. We don't replace roofs in the middle of nowhere unless we can hit a home run. I have a conference call with the bosses scheduled for Monday and I believe Monday may in fact be our last day.


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## STARBABY (Apr 12, 2012)

Craigslist Hack said:


> We have been slow in the field yet we are still receiving multiple calls and emails each day with one particular national. They are requiring a cost estimator for any bid over their standard rate or over the allowable. They are also requiring everything to be bid out two or three ways.
> 
> Example: Go to property and supply 2nd bid for roof 14 sq.
> 
> ...


sounds like 5 Brothers or NFR!


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## Craigslist Hack (Jun 14, 2012)

STARBABY said:


> sounds like 5 Brothers or NFR!


Neither of those. We told both of those companies to take a hike a while back.

MSI called today and asked why we left the network and what it would take to get us to come back. I explained that they would have to pay us in 30 days, let us bid every job before we performed the work, and we don't accept package deals. Apparently they don't have what I want on the menu.:furious:


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## Zuse (Nov 17, 2012)

Lps...


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## Craigslist Hack (Jun 14, 2012)

​


Zuse said:


> Lps...


How is this new pricing and guidelines working out for you and your office?

I know there is serious kickback from the contractors just from what the people there are telling me. We are also experiencing high kickbacks on orders due to the offshore team. Only two months ago we had good status. Now we are no where near gold.


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## Zuse (Nov 17, 2012)

Craigslist Hack said:


> How is this new pricing and guidelines working out for you and your office?
> 
> I know there is serious kickback from the contractors just from what the people there are telling me. We are also experiencing high kickbacks on orders due to the offshore team. Only two months ago we had good status. Now we are no where near gold.



The prices are a Goat f**k, they are a reflection of the CE. The whole purpose of doing away with penalty dept is to move as many contractors to a 25% discount, which they've done. Even if your good you still stay at 25% rate, no way around it.

Im finding it better to the work threw the cut bid dept than i am threw the standard P&P office, No CE threw them is why.

Remember a CE delay is pushing back the pay to almost 45 days instead of the 30.The new system is so screwed up their asking me for CE's on work that Ive never done, work from other contractors. Its a mess.

Now that NFR has WF im doing twice as much for them as i was for LPS, one thing about NFR is their CE is in-house so you never have to submit one, and if you don't like the prices you can send it back. 

I don't think im going to stay with LPS much longer.


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## Craigslist Hack (Jun 14, 2012)

Zuse said:


> The prices are a Goat f**k, they are a reflection of the CE. The whole purpose of doing away with penalty dept is to move as many contractors to a 25% discount, which they've done. Even if your good you still stay at 25% rate, no way around it.
> 
> Im finding it better to the work threw the cut bid dept than i am threw the standard P&P office, No CE threw them is why.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the feedback. I value your opinion and it's good to feel justified in my frustrations. I don't want to just be a national hater I would really like to find a solution but at this time it's not working out.

We just did a cut bid for Tim and it went smooth but now that order is held up for a missing CE. Keep in mind it was a cut bid but apparently we bid something over an allowable and did not provide a CE. I called my liaison to resolve this and he cannot identify what bid they are requesting or who is requesting it. He can only tell me it was returned by the offshore team. Now my contractor who needs the money is going to have to wait longer for his payout or like usual I will pay him out of my pocket and wait.


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## BamaPPC (May 7, 2012)

Craigslist Hack said:


> . I have a conference call with the bosses scheduled for Monday and I believe Monday may in fact be our last day.


Well, how did the call go? Any resolution?


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## Craigslist Hack (Jun 14, 2012)

BamaPPC said:


> Well, how did the call go? Any resolution?


The overall tone of the call was good and they say they are trying to institute client driven initiatives. Our Manager there is a good guy and he did a site visit with us last year I really liked him. 

We are going to email him specific instances of mindless mistakes by their processors. He wants specifics so he can go after the individuals responsible. 

He did inform me that as a company they are looking to move away from regionals and order mills. I thought that was good news. 

The bad news is this cost estimator thing seems to be here to stay.


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## Cleanupman (Nov 23, 2012)

Craigslist Hack said:


> The overall tone of the call was good and they say they are trying to institute client driven initiatives. Our Manager there is a good guy and he did a site visit with us last year I really liked him.
> 
> We are going to email him specific instances of mindless mistakes by their processors. He wants specifics so he can go after the individuals responsible.
> 
> ...


We have been successfully able to argue the CE does not take into account for our logistics...
BEWARE...if you use this to negotiate with you better be ready to back it up...
We have been able to show that many times the CE does not account for 65 miles one way to pick up materials or have them delivered.
If the CE is not working for your business model then you may want to start documenting things a little closer so you can spit it out when negotiating....:whistling2:


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## Trey9007 (Nov 20, 2013)

Cleanupman said:


> We have been successfully able to argue the CE does not take into account for our logistics...
> *BEWARE...if you use this to negotiate with you better be ready to back it up...*
> We have been able to show that many times the CE does not account for 65 miles one way to pick up materials or have them delivered.
> If the CE is not working for your business model then you may want to start documenting things a little closer so you can spit it out when negotiating....:whistling2:


As skeptical as I am of companies, I think if more people properly documented many of their issues, things have a much better chance of improving. I think you win either way if you document problems and present them to the appropriate people. Either they listen and make the changes needed. Or they listen to you, and your documentation backs them into a corner and they show their 'true' colors. Either way, you conclude the process having a better idea of exactly what kind of company you're dealing with, and can take the proper precautions going forward.


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