kmjt1021
Member
sometimes you just want to UHHHHHH
Forgive me if this runs long
I have driven by a this super market everyday and for years and have watched as the exhaust fans have gotten dirtier and dirtier, I have approached the manager many times and am always told they have someone doing it and they are not interested in a bid.
Forward to now. I get a voice mail, sounding almost frantic, from the head maintenance guy for this chain of supermarkets, that I will not name here, (GIANT FOODS). Whoops it just slipped out. 36 stores in the mid Atlantic area, I go to look at a few and they are horrible, each store has three hood, duct work is not straight, all three systems in different area's of the store, (set up and tear down three time, what a pain).
I figure 5/6 hr jobs easy the first time, I am also told by one manager that as far as he know they have never been cleaned, some of them as old as 13 yr.’s.
Now I figure I need to investigate further before I place a bid on these things. I talk to the maintenance guy who had originally told me they had been cleaned, but he had always had some one from the Midwest come and do them. (Don’t ask me, that is what he said).
Now when I confront him he tells me that some may actually have never been cleaned, (yeah no kidding!) I explain the importance of having it done regularly, I figure once a year would do for them, but explain that the states these store are in require two times a year, even if it is obviously not enforced. He tells me that he doesn't know if they will do it regularly or not, he actually said we have never had a fire I think we will be ok. I don't know about the rest of you but that attitude sends up a red flag to me. I generally don't want my hood tags anywhere near a place like this.
I am thinking I will just bid it high, he will look at it say thanks but no thanks and that will be the end of it. I bid them at $500 for the first cleaning, I wanted to put $600 but didn't, faxed it and didn't think much about it.
He called back this morning, left a message that he needed to talk to me ASAP, we spent the rest of this day playing phone tag. He finally got me this evening, I'm thinking he may want to negotiate something and we may actually get these things, (not really sure at the time if that's a good thing)
Well this guy gets me on the phone and calls me a crook, along with several other names I won't repeat here, says I'm just like all the other guys he has had to deal with who clean hoods, and the job is only worth $200 at best. (Hell I get $200 for the simplest jobs, and only then if they work with me so I can get to something else the same night) I let him rant for a minute, tried really hard to stay professional through the whole thing. I explained that the reason for the high bid was actually because I got the feeling he would not have them cleaned again in a timely manner. And I have actually been sued because I was told by a customer that he had someone cheaper and didn't need my services, he never actually got it cleaned again and the store burnt to the ground a year later, and that I thought the price was fair for something that had been neglected for 13 years and that the next service if done at a reasonable interval would only be $300. He started off on another rant, I just managed to call him an (A hole) and hang up on him.
I have already emailed people who I believe are over his head, and I have phone numbers for them which I can't wait to use tomorrow.
I have never turned anyone in for not getting the exhaust cleaned, even though I have seen many times where it would have been justified. This guy may already have someone on his back to get the store's cleaned, which is the only reason he called in the first place I guess.
I don't have a question here, just thought some of you may find it amusing.
Maybe the next time I get that feeling I should just walk away and not bid at all, oh no this is to fun and besides refusing to bid at all will piss people off too.
Forgive me if this runs long
I have driven by a this super market everyday and for years and have watched as the exhaust fans have gotten dirtier and dirtier, I have approached the manager many times and am always told they have someone doing it and they are not interested in a bid.
Forward to now. I get a voice mail, sounding almost frantic, from the head maintenance guy for this chain of supermarkets, that I will not name here, (GIANT FOODS). Whoops it just slipped out. 36 stores in the mid Atlantic area, I go to look at a few and they are horrible, each store has three hood, duct work is not straight, all three systems in different area's of the store, (set up and tear down three time, what a pain).
I figure 5/6 hr jobs easy the first time, I am also told by one manager that as far as he know they have never been cleaned, some of them as old as 13 yr.’s.
Now I figure I need to investigate further before I place a bid on these things. I talk to the maintenance guy who had originally told me they had been cleaned, but he had always had some one from the Midwest come and do them. (Don’t ask me, that is what he said).
Now when I confront him he tells me that some may actually have never been cleaned, (yeah no kidding!) I explain the importance of having it done regularly, I figure once a year would do for them, but explain that the states these store are in require two times a year, even if it is obviously not enforced. He tells me that he doesn't know if they will do it regularly or not, he actually said we have never had a fire I think we will be ok. I don't know about the rest of you but that attitude sends up a red flag to me. I generally don't want my hood tags anywhere near a place like this.
I am thinking I will just bid it high, he will look at it say thanks but no thanks and that will be the end of it. I bid them at $500 for the first cleaning, I wanted to put $600 but didn't, faxed it and didn't think much about it.
He called back this morning, left a message that he needed to talk to me ASAP, we spent the rest of this day playing phone tag. He finally got me this evening, I'm thinking he may want to negotiate something and we may actually get these things, (not really sure at the time if that's a good thing)
Well this guy gets me on the phone and calls me a crook, along with several other names I won't repeat here, says I'm just like all the other guys he has had to deal with who clean hoods, and the job is only worth $200 at best. (Hell I get $200 for the simplest jobs, and only then if they work with me so I can get to something else the same night) I let him rant for a minute, tried really hard to stay professional through the whole thing. I explained that the reason for the high bid was actually because I got the feeling he would not have them cleaned again in a timely manner. And I have actually been sued because I was told by a customer that he had someone cheaper and didn't need my services, he never actually got it cleaned again and the store burnt to the ground a year later, and that I thought the price was fair for something that had been neglected for 13 years and that the next service if done at a reasonable interval would only be $300. He started off on another rant, I just managed to call him an (A hole) and hang up on him.
I have already emailed people who I believe are over his head, and I have phone numbers for them which I can't wait to use tomorrow.
I have never turned anyone in for not getting the exhaust cleaned, even though I have seen many times where it would have been justified. This guy may already have someone on his back to get the store's cleaned, which is the only reason he called in the first place I guess.
I don't have a question here, just thought some of you may find it amusing.
Maybe the next time I get that feeling I should just walk away and not bid at all, oh no this is to fun and besides refusing to bid at all will piss people off too.
