[TowerTalk] US Tower price increase

[Lee]

I can tell you horror stories about why what you say is BS.  I was a 
sales guy for a very large company.  My company was the market leader in 
our field.  I eventually retired in this job and had a very successful 
career.  After a time I no longer wanted to waste my time dealing with 
the government.  They were a waste of my time.  They would have no 
knowledge, pick my brain, have me layout what was needed and then bid.  
They then would go to others to bid after I did all the layout work for 
them.  (They did this because I worked for the market leader.)  In most 
cases they would then pick the lowest bidder or pick a minority vendor.  
They would send this stuff around the world never being concerned if 
there was any support after the purchase from these other companies.  My 
company had world wide support but that meant nothing.  One time the Air 
Force didn't buy my product, a leak detector, because I had convinced 
them the product really worked and they did not want their contamination 
discovered.  Another time the Navy didn't buy my product because my bid 
came in lower then anyone else and it was too low a bid.  Their rules 
somehow said the price of the purchase had to be over some minimum 
amount.  (Never mind I had the market leader product that was better 
then anyone else s product.  One time the Feds asked me what temperature 
the paint would burn off my cabinet.  Nobody in the world ever concerned 
themselves with this before.  $400 hammers?  After dealing with all 
their crap the price of the hammer should really have been $800.  The 
government buyers on the whole were ignorant and could never make it in 
the real world.  After I started just throwing their bid requests in the 
trash I started getting them calling me almost begging me to bid.  No 
thanks, I made a nice living dealing with non government companies who 
viewed me as a friend and valued partner.  The bottom line was the 
government wastes a vendors time so much because of their ignorance and 
goofy requirements, you have to bid higher then normal to cover all 
these extra costs if you ever want to make any money off of them.  Then 
the final straw, the government can break you while you wait forever to 
get them to pay you for their purchase.  They are notorious for not 
paying on a timely manner.  One time I called on a Fed buyer in another 
town on a Friday.  He wanted to see me at 1 PM.  I got there at 11 AM,  
(Long story why) and checked in.  The minority secretary told me he 
would be with me shortly.  I asked "pardon me" every hour.  By 4 PM they 
finally realized he left early morning as he was not feeling very well.  
He wasn't even there! Then I had to spend another 4 hours getting home.  
Don't get me started!  I could tell you stories like this for a long 
time.  No, my respect for Government buyers is not too high!  However, 
dealing with large private companies was a blessing.  I loved dealing 
with them as they were all fair, honest, bright, and considerate.

Lee, w0vt


On 1/3/2017 11:33 PM, Richard Solomon wrote:
> As one who spent almost 40 years
> working on Government Contracts
> (on the Management side), I can
> tell you that the $500 Hammer is
> a figment of someones vivid
> imagination.
>
> Cost Proposals, even for Fixed Price
> contracts are carefully scrutinized and
> must be fully documented. Even then,
> the Government will ask for a "Best and
> Final" Proposal.
>
> However, this is starting to stray from
> this forums charter, I will say no more.
>
> 73, Dick, W1KSZ
>
> On Tue, Jan 3, 2017 at 10:11 PM, Jim Thomson <jim.thom at telus.net> wrote:
>
>> Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2017 18:43:43 -0700
>> From: Richard Solomon <dickw1ksz at gmail.com>
>> To: towertalk <TowerTalk at contesting.com>
>> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] US Tower price increase
>>
>> You chaps are looking under the
>> wrong rock here.
>>
>> With the potential of a large increase
>> in orders for use on the "Wall", this
>> is just the precursor to justify the
>> prices that will be charged to the
>> government.
>>
>> 73, Dick, W1KSZ
>>
>> ##  Bingo,  u just nailed it.   Trumps  10 billion dollar wall, will
>> no doubt consist of a lot of security cameras  etc, on tower
>> platforms.   This is no different than the $500.00  hammers
>> from the 70s.   Funny how business can make a killing, on
>> govt  contracts.
>>
>> ##  somebody should notify the GOP folks..that they are about
>> to be ripped off big time.   No wonder the F-35 costs so much.
>> I found it amusing that as soon as trump said he wont pay huge
>> $$  for the F-35, the price dropped.   Ditto with air force 1 and boeing.
>>
>> ##  Its all a scam....and a real bad deal for the taxpayer.  Extend that
>> for everything else, like roads, bridges, etc, etc.
>>
>> Jim   VE7RF
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> TowerTalk mailing list
>> TowerTalk at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk