Bill’s Portable Welding Service

GF Watson Construction used Bill to fix a stair in El Sobrante. Most welders charge higher hourly rates, some even charge a 4 hour minimum. He has 45 years experience and instead of racking up the hours to repair the stair he got me a brand new one for $ 36 and came back same day to fix it for a nominal trip fee that didnt even cover his gas. Thanks Bill– You are our new welder!

I had a bad crack on the frame of my vintage 1963 Red Dale trailer, a very integral part of the structure not to mention a big safety issue. I could not find anyone to do this job who was less than an hour away as I didn’t want to drive far on a cracked trailer frame. I found Billy through Albany Steel who they highly recommended. Billy came over, assessed the problem and knew just what to do. He clearly detailed what needed to be done and for what reasons and then here is your estimate: $ 6 – 700. I was glad someone could do it. That was a reasonable price seeing as it took him a day and I thought he’s just not a kid with an arc welder but has a wealth of knowledge about trailer safety and welding and using the correct materials. He made it safer than the original because of the extra bracing he put in. And he didn’t charge for materials. A very nice funny guy and if I ever need anything welded he’d be the guy I’d go to.

I can’t vouch for Billy’s work cause I never got to use him but I can vouch for the way he he haggles…
I had an emergency Sunday repair needed on a piece of my music studio furniture-(just a quick bolt that needed welding-​a five minute job).
When I called his cell phone, Billy quoted $ 220.00 to come to me. I was like, «no way, can’t afford that, its a simple bolt that’ll take five minutes but he said „well if you want, you can come to me at my shop in Richmond, it will be less, I will call you when I finish eating breakfast, stand by“ and then hung up.
So, about and hour and a half later Billy calls me back and says it’ll be an hour labor. I asked how much an hour labor was and he said „$ 110“. I was like, whoa, its a five minute job (I weld too but since it was Sunday I wasn’t at work and had no access to my welder and wanted this done quickly and cost effectively).
I said to Billy» well, I can’t afford that right now, but thanks anyway… I will just wait until tomorrow and do it myself at work, it isn’t a major big deal– I just thought I could get it done here locally in Richmond today (since I want to finish getting my studio setup on my day off) and since Billy was local too, (five minutes from my house) I thought he could do it. I said «Sorry to bother you, but thanks anyway, «.
We hung up. Hey, no problem– its a free country –you can charge what you want. I was glad that I gotten a quote beforehand anyway, before I met him down to his shop for if he asked that of me there, I would have had ‘sticker shock’ for sho… but…
About but a minute after hanging up the phone with, Billy, he immediately calls me back… twice… Now, at this point, I am no longer interested,(reason below) but he leaves me a voice mail saying «hey, maybe I can do it cheaper now, but you’re not answering your phone.» Of course I am not answering my phone, I am no longer interested, no matter what the price… I am thinking to myself «what is with this guy? I thought we agreed the price too high, now he wants to negotiate?» Come on»…
I’m not calling back cause I don’t get the warm and fuzzies from this kind of wheeling and dealing… what if he does a changeup on the price on me once I am down there… I want to do business with someone that is fair from the get go… I don’t want to play money games just quote fairly or walk… I balked and walked…
Bottom line: If ya quote a fair price from from the start, then we don;‘t have to go round and round on stuff like this… I don’t like being highballed when I know that 55 bucks for a quick job like this is the most I would consider charging someone if I were to do it and would expect the same from someone else, unless they have to drive a great distance but Billy didn’t make mention of any of that…
I will give Billy the benefit of the doubt — perhaps he has to drive from Oakland to Richmond (his phone number read Oakland on the caller ID) and i live in Richmond, so yeah, maybe his time is worth a hunderd and ten bucks on a Sunday at 2:30 PM… and it is his prerogative to ask what he wants… but it would have been easier if he just spelled it all out during the first phone call, rather than make me wait for him to finish breakfast, call me, then highball me. It was a BIG waste of time. I am not here to haggle and negotiate. this ain’t a swap meet… I just want to be offered a fair price from the start so we don’t have to go round and round.
Billy, seemed like a nice guy, and I think if he were just straight up fair on his upfront quotes he would save everyone time and and get more ‘on the spot’ jobs which will add up to more at the end of the day for him.

I needed some support brackets added to my trailer hitch. It was a small job for someone with Billy’s skills, but he took the time to do it right. The welding he did is nicer than the factory work. I’m very happy with it!