I was at a family barbecue a while back and someone asked my carpenter friend for a rough idea on how much he would charge to build a deck with an unusual shape to accommodate a hot tub. My friend took a look at the area and tub and said, “I would need to calculate a quote, but probably about $x.”

My friend worked up the quote later that week, realized that the odd shape required a lot more material than expected and lumber prices had gone up a bit, so the actual quote was more than his casual estimate. The potential customer thinks this is unreasonable, my friend should honor the casual number thrown out at a barbecue.

This puzzles me greatly. When you ask someone for a rough estimate, do you expect that it will be precise?