Jan 29, 2012 – Prices and Flexibility

QUESTION:

I want to have a set price for carpenter ant work and sell them over the phone to potential customers. I am just wondering if it is necessary to do an inspection first. I am afraid if I sell them over the phone I might be in violation of some state law. Can you find out?

ANSWER:

I'll answer this on several levels, and the first is whether or not you are allowed to quote prices over the phone. My answer, as always, comes from experience with this in California, but I suspect most states would be fairly similar in their interpretation of the law. You definitely can quote a price over the phone if it comes from a standard company price list for the work. BUT, and I capitalize that for a reason, quoting a firm price over the phone is going to lead to trouble for you at times. First, you really cannot take a homeowner's word for it regarding what pest they have. They may call you up and tell you they have carpenter ants when really they have subterranean termites, and now they want to hold your feet to the fire for that price you quoted to take care of their pest problem. It is definitely good policy always to have someone go to the site and verify the pest that is present there with that inspection. 

This also can get you into trouble when you quote a price but do not know the actual extent of the problem. What the person on the phone tells you is just some standard size house could turn out to be 6000 square feet, with carpenter ants billowing out of cracks in every room. Not every job for a particular pest is going to require the same amount of work to manage the problem. Yes, definitely inspect first, verify the pest and the level of the problem, and then you can give a better estimate of the time you will need to resolve it. 

But, you can have a price list for your work that is, perhaps, a minimum charge, and given on the condition that it is subject to an inspector visiting the property to provide the final quote. You might say that our minimum charge for carpenter ant work will be $200, based on your history with carpenter ants that it normally takes about 2 hours of technician time to do the work on an average property. If you leave it at this all the customer hears over the phone is "it will be $200", and there is no room to increase it if the work ends up requiring 6 hours and 2 return visits. 

This issue has come up, as I say, in California, where a license is required to do "pest control", and pest control is defined as, among other things, identifying pests and quoting prices for the work. The regulatory agency was asked if office personnel could offer prices over the phone, and their answer was essentially what I suggested above - quote from a price list as a basic price schedule, but subject to the final quote by the technician who visits the property. The same answer was given for door to door sales people who were selling pest control service but were not licensed. They could do so as long as they did not identify specific pests on the property or do anything other than quote a standard but flexible price. 

As always, because regulations vary so much from state to state, it is important to check with your local regulatory agency to get their opinion on this. 


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