What a firm quote includes, and what it cannot

The estimator on this site gives you a figure in about four seconds. The coordinator gives you one in about four hours. This is what happens in between, and why the second number is the one that counts.

What the site figure is

Indicative. It is the rate applied to your dates. It is a genuinely useful number for deciding whether a plan is roughly affordable, and we put it in front of you for exactly that reason.

It is not a quote, because it has not looked at your site, your dates against the yard, or the machine's actual availability. It cannot. It is arithmetic.

What a coordinator adds

1. 01
   Availability, confirmedNot "the database says available" — actually free on your dates, allowing for the unit that is due back the day before.
2. 02
   FitWhether the machine you asked for suits the job you described. Sometimes the answer is a cheaper machine.
3. 03
   DeliveryYour address, your access, and the route. This is where a quote stops being a rate.
4. 04
   The commercial termsPeriod, waiver, what happens if the job runs long. In writing.

What a quote will not pretend to know

We will not quote a firm number on something we have not seen. Site conditions we have only heard described, a part we have not confirmed is on the shelf, a warranty term we have not read for that model — those get a real answer, not a fast one.

Where a figure is uncertain, it is marked indicative. That word is not a hedge. It is the difference between a number you can plan with and a number you can commit to.

How to get a better one, faster

• Dates, even approximate. "Mid-May, about three weeks" is enough to start.
• The site address, or at least the municipality. Delivery is half the variables.
• What the machine is doing, not just which one you want.
• The tightest point on the access route. It decides more than people expect.
• A phone number. We need it so the coordinator can reach you.

Before noon

Requests in before noon usually go back out the same working day, Monday to Friday. A request at four on a Friday is a Monday answer, and we would rather say that than let you wait for it.