backsplashes,tile installers and timelines

 Just the other day I had the experience of meeting someone who had a local tile man(to remain unnamed Who I know personally) replace 6 tiles in their kitchen. The homeowner  had already removed the old tile, then supplied the new tile. And even then this tile guy charged them $500 for the repair. Now I hear this all the time and understand that all folks value their time differently. But fair is fair and real is real And in my real world If I charged this kind of price for what I could do in one hour I really would have a hard time sleeping at night. Now I know that in this economy some guys need to get as much as they can for their work and it works for them
  In another instance  a customer from Peabody called me about his 30 sq ft glass back splash , I asked him a few questions gave him a list of materials and a $350 labor quote  right on the phone. He was immediately skeptical asked about my experience and checked my web site as we spoke. He booked the job with me on the spot after we agreed on the price and the day I could get there.After we had made the deal he shared with me the following;      The cheapest price he had gotten so far was $750
and everyone had said it would take 3 days. I had already committed to a day to complete his job and
to the $350 price and was very happy with the terms. When the day came to do his job the actual job took me the day to complete and now his customer referral is on my web site and a picture of his backslash as well.The short time it took me to do the job was in some ways due to 34 years of  tile experience  and also the quotes he received were based on time lines of  the installers involved. The value and time lines of all installers vary and they all have different ideas of how to do business. So your best bet when looking to get tile installed is to shop installers carefully and consider all factors before making a commitment .