Cheap Crane Inspection: Why the Lowest Price Can Cost You More

00:00 Why Cheap Crane Inspections Cost More

— Remember Spirit Airlines, that ticket is so incredibly cheap. What a great deal, right? Then you need to pay for your carry-on. Better make sure it’s the perfect size or you’re going to have to gate check it. That’ll cost you extra. Don’t forget to consolidate your personal items one per person. Oh, you didn’t want a middle seat right next to the bathroom? Extra. By the time you get to where you’re going, that cheap ticket might not feel so cheap anymore. So ask yourself, why do you think a super cheap inspection would be any different? What do you need to know before you waste your time, or make a decision you’re going to regret? Today we’re going to tell you. So Shawn, the cheapest inspection is not always the best decision because…

—You get what you pay for.

—Well, what does that mean?

My name is Ben. This is the Lifting & Rigging Channel. Today I’m joined by Shawn Whitney and he’s going to help you avoid getting nickel and dimed on your crane inspection.

01:02 Inspection Quote Fine Print & Exclusions

So Shawn, why is the lowest price crane inspection not always the best deal?

— When I think price you know, I immediately think, well, what are you factoring into that? Maybe the company that was lowest priced doesn’t include a lift in their quote. Maybe there’s some verbiage down at the bottom that basically states, hey, this is only to a specific type, you know, item. Some of our competitors out there, they give you a list of, you know, what they’re inspecting, but does that put you in compliance? You know, there’s exclusions in every quote.

01:44 Crane Inspection Total Cost of Ownership

— So if you’re a maintenance leader in the company, beyond the inspection price itself, what else, what other variables do you need to be looking at? How do you evaluate if that’s a good deal or not?

— As a maintenance manager, I would want to understand total cost of doing business with that, you know, company. Your inspection’s, you know, $500, but what’s it going to cost me after? How long is it going to take me to get that repair quote from you? How long is it going to take me to get parts? Often mom and pop service providers don’t have those relationships with those vendors, like say Mazzella does, right? We may have parts on the shelf readily available to service you. When you talk about total cost of ownership, can they be a good service provider from inspection to repair?

02:31 Why Some Inspections Are Cheaper

— So are there legitimate reasons why some inspection providers are going to be able to provide you with a lower price?

— There’s times where, you know, they have customers maybe that are close by and their technicians are often in that area and they’re able to go from one place to the next and, and save that travel time. Maybe they provide you a lift during their inspections that they don’t have to otherwise charge for.

03:00 Low-Price Inspection Warning Signs

— So if I’m the customer, is there a way that I can kind of weed out between these inspection companies what is a good deal and then maybe are there warning signs that I need to be looking out for if this low price might catch me later?

— I think you got to go back to how they’re going to service you. What happens when you call for a breakdown in the middle of the night? Do they have technician availability? Oftentimes they’re filling schedules up for inspections and that’s what they do. But after the fact, they can’t respond to you, right? They can’t come out and take care of that emergency breakdown. They can’t come out and take care of that repair. It takes them a while to get the parts in, takes them a while to get the quote out.

You ask those questions on the front side, right? Like what’s your turnaround time on an inspection report? What’s your turnaround time on a repair quote? What branch support locally do you have? All of those things are considered when making a decision in my mind on who to move forward with. When we talk about continuously having to go out and address the same thing, well, what led to that, right? You got to go back to the inspection that we performed. And maybe it was missed. You went with lowest price and that provider wasn’t thorough enough. Maybe they didn’t even get off the ground to do your inspection. That’s where price can really bite you.

04:20 Inspector-Only vs. Full-Service Shops

— So then do all companies support inspections, repairs, maintenance?

— You do have some companies out there in the market that are just inspectors. That’s all they want to do. And you have some companies that we do business with or our competitors do business with that they want someone different to come out and do the repairs. Those are good fits for those type or inspection companies because they’re not interested in repairs. They just want to come out and do your inspections. They may be the lowest price because that’s what they do. Where that comes into play though, Ben, is when you’re really looking at a partnership, you’re just relying on somebody else’s inspection, you got to trust that they did the job, right? They went through and did a thorough job because I’m not going to want to come behind somebody and repair something that I’m not sure of.

05:18 Real Help or Repair Upsell

— So Shawn, how do you know if the inspection provider’s actually helping or if they’re just trying to generate repair work?

— You look at how, you know, essentially they’re prioritizing things. Is everything a failure or do they dive in? A lot of times they’ll write the urgency, you know, to solicit a response from you to act fast. Are they trying to solicit something from you to, to, to force you to make that repair now? Or is it, you know, that they went through that report with you and identified those critical items?

05:48 Understanding the Scope of Your Inspection

— Do you have any examples maybe of a time when there was a big difference in price between our price, the other guy’s price?

— Something that comes to mind to me as a tire manufacturer that I once called on, I was always the, the highest priced. I was never the middle. I was never the lowest. I was always the highest. He gave me, you know, what he was looking for. He never wrote a scope of work. He always just, you know, went down the quote and looked at the price. I finally got the opportunity to truly sit down with him and, look and compare my quote to my competitor’s quote. And then I said, “You know, if I was to quote this inspection, I would be significantly cheaper.” When we really dove into what he wanted versus what he was getting, he apologized to me. And it was not a question of, you know, who was going to win that inspection. It was, “When can you be out here?”

06:45 Three Questions Before You Book

— What are three questions you can ask as a maintenance manager to kind of figure out, is this price low because it’s a good deal or is this price low because I’m paying for it somewhere else?

— Question one, I would say as, as a maintenance manager, how fast can you get my inspection report turned around? When are you going to schedule that consultation to come review it with me and how soon after am I going to get a repair quote in hand to make a decision to move forward with repairs? Question two would be, what’s your parts availability? Do you have inventory? You know, and, and if not, how quick can we get the parts? And then question three, do you understand my equipment and are your technicians competent enough to work on it?

07:33 What Happens After the Inspection

— So what’s one thing that everyone should consider before choosing an inspection company based on price alone?

— The execution after the inspection. It’s unreasonable to think that every customer out there can make a repair on every piece of equipment that we write up. But if we identify what’s critical in the moment, you know, and, and we look at taking care of those deficiencies first and then work through that list, then we are now being a partner to our customer and taking care of them.

08:04 Compare the Full Inspection Cost

— A low price isn’t always a bad deal. It might be a good deal, but before you book the lowest cost inspection, make sure you know what happens after the inspection. Ask how repairs are priced, whether parts are available, how quickly the provider can respond, and what support is included. Compare the complete cost, not just the number on the quote. A cheap inspection shouldn’t come with more baggage than a budget airline. And if you need some help, contact us through the link below.

If you found this video useful, informative, entertaining, or you just feel like being friendly, hit that like button so we can get this information out to everyone who needs it. Subscribe so you never miss a video. Remember, safe rigging is smart rigging. My name is Ben. Stay safe out there.