Getting three quotes means fifteen phone calls, and the phone is where the whole trade lives. ren makes the calls: it describes the job, collects real ballparks, pins down visit windows, and follows up when Tuesday turns out to be aspirational.
why quotes never arrive
Good contractors are busy, and busy trades answer the phone selectively. The homeowner’s job is mostly persistence.
- Calls go to voicemail, voicemails go nowhere, and the callback comes while you are in a meeting.
- ‘We’ll come take a look’ floats free of any actual date.
- Quotes arrive in different shapes: one includes materials, one does not, one is a number said out loud.
- The window was 8 to 12, and it is 1:40.
how ren gets the numbers
ren does the phone work like a general contractor of phone calls: one clear brief, many patient follow-ups.
- Calls the list: the companies you name, plus reputable options you approve adding.
- Describes the job once, clearly, with the photos and details you provide.
- Collects ballparks in comparable shape: what is included, what is extra, when they could start.
- Pins ‘sometime this week’ down to a day and a window, and confirms the day before.
- Follows up on the no-shows and the silent quotes, so you are never the nag.
- Brings you a clean comparison; you pick who gets the job.
ren never hires anyone, schedules final work, or agrees to a price without you. Quotes and callbacks first; your decision always.
what ren needs from you
The job in a sentence or two, photos if you have them, your zip code, and when visits could happen.
questions, answered
Can ren really get quotes over the phone?
Ballparks, yes. Some jobs only price after a visit, and then ren’s job is pinning the visit. Either way you end up with numbers and dates instead of voicemails.
What if the contractor does not show?
ren calls, reschedules, and moves them down your list. No-shows are information. The day-before confirmation call also cuts most of them off before they happen.
How many quotes should I get?
Three comparable ones is the classic answer, and comparable is the hard part. ren collects them in the same shape: scope, materials, timing, so the comparison is real.
Does ren pick the contractor?
No. It brings you the board: prices, dates, and how each office behaved on the phone. Hiring is a judgment call, and it is yours.
How do I get ren?
ren is in private beta on iOS. Leave your email on this page and invitations go out in the order requests arrive.
ren is a personal concierge that does the hard things, and this letter is one of them. See also the support case, the daycare waitlist, and the waiting on hold. For what ren is and what governs it, read about ren and the constitution.
The fifteenth voicemail is not your problem. ren is in private beta on iOS, and invitations go out in the order requests arrive.