So a second painting company came to visit me today to give me a quote. The gentleman was very punctual and polite. We went through my apartment and showed him what I wanted done.
Then he asked me what my ballpark budget was. When the first guy was here, he reversed it. He gave me the quote first and then asked if that was in my budget. This second guy wanted to hear my number first. I actually have never thought about a budget. Maybe that isn’t smart but I honestly don’t know how much a decent paint job should go for. I know I don’t want to spend $10k to get a one-bedroom apartment painted but that’s all I know.
So this second guy wants me to give him a budget, so I blurt out a number which is basically the first guy’s quote I received. He looks at me briefly, pauses, and gathers his thoughts. He proceeds to tell me for what I want to get done, it’ll cost me almost four times what I was quoted by the other company. Wild.
He also tells me that my paint job will take at least a week, possibly a week and a half. The other company said they could get it done in about three days.
I didn’t let on I already had another quote. I just told him I had no baseline for what a paint job would cost and if this was the quote, I am thankful for him setting my expectations properly.
After he agreed to draft a formal quote later so he could send it via e-mail, he left my apartment.
As shocking as his quote was, this is why you shop around when you want stuff done. So now I have a decision to make but it seems like a pretty easy one.