Since when is it dishonest to "hide" overhead in your price??? What if I told the customer that the other guys are "hiding" their price of gas in their "service charge"?
'But we are up front and honest and will do this and that and the other guy won't'??? Well if you ask me, unless you know specifically who this other guy is, and specifically what he will and won't do and what he is charging, your approach sounds less honest to me. I'm hearing a spin that sounds a lot more shady than "free estimate".
The implied understanding of free estimate is that it will be free if they decide not to have the work done, it says nothing about figuring or not figuring it into the cost.
Don't get me wrong, I hate the free estimate to the tire kicker too, but to all you "no free estimate" guys, where do you draw the line between "free estimate" and "competative bid" which is usaully just as free, is it not?
