I had a contractor just complete a new deck and enclosed breezeway project.
I started first week of January calling contractors. Contractor after contractor would say they would come out for an estimate but not show. Wasted my time as I would give the contractor a week or two after they said they would come out to give me a price. Only had one guy show up. Looked at the job and said he would get back to me with a price. (Knew that was bull because he did not ask what decking I wanted or style of rail) Never heard from him again.
Long story short. after 5 months I found a guy who came out, gave me a price, when he could do it ( later than I wanted) and stayed on that time line. All I wanted, Someone to be upfront with me on what they could do and when. Just like someone above said, Would have liked to got 3 bids but that was impossible.
I understand contractors spending a lot of time on a bid only to not get the job. I even talked to my contractor about that exact thing as he did not ask for a estimate fee.
If he would have asked for much of a fee for an estimate I would have moved on. My opinion a great way for a contractor to make a buck knowing in his mind he did not want the job in the first place. Bid it high and collect the fee. I ran a retail Garden Center for almost 25 years. I knew talking to customers they were just going to go home and order it online. It was part of the job of making a sale.
"Remember back in the day, when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work?"
- Rick Dale