Watched a roofing crew next door switch from hourly to flat rate halfway through the job

The foreman told me they bid $3,500 for a full tear-off after losing $200 in the first 2 hours on hourly, and I saw how much faster they moved once they had a fixed price to beat.

2 comments

2 Comments

faithpatel7d ago

Oh come on, you really think that was about them working harder? That foreman probably realized halfway through he lowballed the hourly rate and needed to lock you into a flat price before you saw how slow their "normal" pace really was. I'd bet money they still padded that flat rate to cover the rest of the job plus a bonus for themselves. When I've seen crews switch like that, it's always because they figured out the customer was watching too closely and wanted to stop the clock on your scrutiny, not speed up their work. Honestly, if they lost $200 in two hours, that just means their hourly rate was way too low to begin with, not that they're some kind of efficiency wizards.

paige_bell817d ago

Ngl you hit the nail right on the head. I had a guy last summer doing my driveway, and he did the exact same thing. I caught him on his phone while his crew was dragging their feet, then suddenly he swears he's losing money and wants to switch to flat rate. I told him no thanks and he literally packed up and left. That foreman in the post knew exactly what he was doing. It's always a scam when they panic like that.