Something Stinks in this Septic Estimate

Plenty of people will pay the higher fee, so the big company doesn't really care who won't pay it.

If they feel that you do not know what you are doing than you will be taken advantage of in most cases. Having a realtor there will help get an honest appraisal of the job becasue the realtor knows other people and may have experience in the matter.

The smaller company most likely really wants the business and knows they are under-bidding the larger company, who probably doesn't care if they get the job or not, otherwise they would have been more competitive in their pricing.

It always pays to shop. There must be issues with the septic because that seems pretty sporty for an inspection.

Jeffrey, that sounds like some steep estimates but at least your buyer will have peace of mind knowing that you helped have the seller repair before they close and move forward. Have a beautiful day my friend.

You may think you're receiving the same identical service - only time will tell.

Consumers think Real Estate Agents are the same too, performing identical services, so they price shop also.  If they select the Agent with the lowest commission, thinking the services are the same, they'll soon find out if they got a bargain - or not.

This is a good reminder of why it is a good idea to get 2 if not 3 estimates.  One is important thing verify is whether your are compariing apples with apples... I found with roofers, when I went into more detail, there was a reason for the difference.. eg. quality and life of shingles, warranties, expected life span, weather guard etc. etc.  It is good to ask each one for specifics.

Price does not determine a better or worse job.

The smaller company has much lower overhead and should be able to charge less.  The larger company is taking advantage of it's name recognition and charging way more.

Sometimes it is the opposite.  References help. Not sure what I would do.

It sounds like the larger company is just trying to make sure they can pay their payroll for a larger staff.

Jeffrey, as a city girl, I don't get too many homes with septic systems among my transaction.  Once I did and had to call Lenn Harley for a crash course!  And it can get stinky.  The company Lenn recommended did a great job.

There is definetly a huge differences between companies. I agree it pays to get estimates. Having to pass the state inspection would ease my mind that the smaller company could do the same job.

love anf1Get good estimates! That's  a given

Tesing my blogs comments. The last may not havve registared. :)

I always advise people who get very different #'s to get a 3rd estimate.  Usually for larger jobs, 3 estimates is standard anyway.  I hope this one works out well.  It can swing either way when you have such a steep difference.

Hopefully both companies provide a detailed list of what they are going to repair? Maybe the health dept should inspect it first? We have several differnet types of systems here, and some systems require certifications above and beyond a basic conventional septic sytem knowledge.

Jeffery, a very good reason why you should get more than one estimate from various companies.

I had a scenario like this one and I asked the higher price guy...lots of questions. He broke it down into math, time and materials and stated...cant be done for less PROPERLY...I hired him

Where we are $10,000 or less for the front end drilled well, plenty of H20 and a thousand gallon concrete septic system with leachfield for the er, other end.