Aug

Close Call: A Valuable Reminder to Shop Around (and How I Saved $675)

R on August 24th, 2008

I had a close call last week. Despite the fact that I consider myself a frugal person and a savvy consumer, I almost overspent $675 on a service last week. And I don’t know what would have been worse - the loss of money or the beating I would have given myself!

When I make even a small purchase, I am aware of the cost and I usually do some sort of comparison shopping. This ranges anywhere from keeping track of grocery prices and stocking up on sales to waiting for a sale on a pair of shoes, to checking Craiglist for a piece of new-to-me furniture, to doing intense research when buying a car. I try to keep the amount of energy I expend equivalent to the purchase - I spent many hours researching online before narrowing down choices for my last car purchase, but spend only a few minute perusing the grocery sale flyers each week to identify the sales. Also, in this day and age, I am mindful of the cost of gas and that it usually does not make sense to drive from shop to shop to compare prices for a modestly priced item.

So, what was the big blunder I narrowly avoided? I discovered that a large tree in my side yard had grown precariously close to both my home and my neighbor’s home. So close, in fact, that it was resting on part of my roof and a large branch was pressing into their siding. After carefully considering the situation, I made a phone call to the local tree service I had used several time in the past few years. I felt fortunate to have a service I had a relationship with - they’ve done major work on large trees on my property several times over the past 10 years or so.

They came out the day after I called but I noticed something different. In the past, it has always been the owner who came out to give the estimate. This time it was someone else; he was courteous and knowledgeable, and did instill confidence in me. We discussed the possibilities and he went off to determine an estimate for the two options. The estimates were much higher than I expected, so I thanked him and said I’d be in touch. I went back and pulled out my last couple of estimates from them, which included pruning and removing equally large trees, and my suspicion was correct: this estimate was much, much higher than anything I had been given in the past.

I spent a day or so ~~moping~~ mulling over which option to choose and how I wasn’t expecting to have to spend this money. I’m a little embarassed to admit this, but it actually took 2 days before it dawned on me: I really needed to get another estimate. I felt a little guilty at first; this was a company that had always been prompt, reliable, and competent. Nevertheless, I needed to see if my gut feeling was correct, or if perhaps costs for tree services had skyrocketed in the past few years.

Well, you know where this is headed. I found another small, family-owned company to come out the next day. They had done business in my neighborhood and gave me a reference right down the street. Not only did I get an estimate that was $675 less than the first, he brought his crew and said they had an open slot that afternoon. Their work was top-notch and I feel relieved to have saved the money and found another good contractor.

The moral of the story for me is to remain vigilant when shopping for goods and services. As much as I prefer to give repeat business to good companies, I cannot become complacent. I don’t like to nickel and dime a contractor, and honestly think I would have remained with the first company even if their estimate was a bit higher. But the difference was huge, and I could not justify that. Because in the end, it’s not personal. It’s business.