19th June 2007, 02:04 PM
When i was in the position of giving on-spec quotes to people who phone up randomly I would invariably be a bit evasive and probably quote an approximate figure (a bit higher often). However, any contractor worth their salt would also try and get a potential client to then send over a brief or allow them to speak to the DC archaeologist/consultant about working up a brief. So, given that sucessful units (unless they are deliberately loss-leading) will often be around the same price, I cant necessarily see that a rival contractor phoning up for a price would actually help them that much. A unit knows the minimum it can charge (based on a variety of factors e.g. amount of work on, professional integrity, morals, client development etc etc) so I would say dont worry too much about someone doing the dirty like this. It is probably a sign that they are being unsucessful in the way they go about their business at the moment.
Impersonating a client is probably against the law though, although i remember getting a 'consultants' phoning up once in a similar way. It was only after the phone call that i realised that Mr. J. Smith from ABC consultants was probably a work of fiction!
Impersonating a client is probably against the law though, although i remember getting a 'consultants' phoning up once in a similar way. It was only after the phone call that i realised that Mr. J. Smith from ABC consultants was probably a work of fiction!