Rant about contractors that don't show up. Must be millionaires that don't need work!

[KSouth]

I got a buddy your way that does kitchens and such. But you won’t like his price either. Plus your area dictates a lot of the cost. I can’t charge what I do in Atlanta where I live now but there’s a reason for that. F that area.

 

[Blue bio balls]

doing a whole kitchen is not a "simple task around the house" you've got to be kidding right 🤣 got me!

No, it's another day in the office... do your little computer job during the day but when you get home....nevermind.

 

[joel2000]

I don’t know why these contractors charge so damn much…being licensed by the state, keeping up with continuing education , business insurance, workman’s comp, quality tools and equipment, trucks ,trailers , office space whether in a business park or at home, paying architects and engineers when needed, unreal hours and trips to the counties or cities for a measly unneeded permit just so some jerkoff inspector can turn you down because you didn’t do it his way, slowing the job down… to hell with code.
Juan and Hosea can do it without all the BS…

A good contractor whether he works from home or an office and keeps up with code and outfits himself with quality tools and equipment to do a professional job won’t be cheap…he also won’t ask for a deposit because he won’t need it to fund the job and knows he will get paid for the job because he will give the people exactly what they ask for.

Always ask for supplier references and make those calls if in doubt.

 

[Fatal_Bert]

I don’t know why these contractors charge so damn much…being licensed by the state, keeping up with continuing education , business insurance, workman’s comp, quality tools and equipment, trucks ,trailers , office space whether in a business park or at home, paying architects and engineers when needed, unreal hours and trips to the counties or cities for a measly unneeded permit just so some jerkoff inspector can turn you down because you didn’t do it his way, slowing the job down… to hell with code.
Juan and Hosea can do it without all the BS…

A good contractor whether he works from home or an office and keeps up with code and outfits himself with quality tools and equipment to do a professional job won’t be cheap…he also won’t ask for a deposit because he won’t need it to fund the job and knows he will get paid for the job because he will give the people exactly what they ask for.

Always ask for supplier references and make those calls if in doubt.

This^

People who have never owned a business think that if someone shows up at there house and charges $800 for something that only takes an hour to do, that person is literally making $800 and hour and is ripping people off.

They have no clue.

 

[lostchild]

Your wife will leave you if you cannot do simple task around the house.

Not if you can afford to pay someone else to do them.

 

[Fatal_Bert]

Not if you can afford to pay a real man to do them.

Fixed

 

[lostchild]

Fixed

So, you agree....

 

[GFB]

This^

People who have never owned a business think that if someone shows up at there house and charges $800 for something that only takes an hour to do, that person is literally making $800 and hour and is ripping people off.

They have no clue.

I heard some anecdote. It was along the lines of this:

A woman stops along the river and an artist offers to sketch her face. In 10 minutes, he is done and shows her. She loves it! How much? $50, says the artist. The lady is surprised and says “$50 for 10 minutes of work?!” The artist answers, yes, $50 for 10 minutes and 30 years. I probably butchered that.

People with a lot of experience can make a lot of jobs look easy and they can command a higher price for it. It’s better than paying less for a guy who makes the same job look very difficult because he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

 

[dhal22]

Simple job, replacing wooden steps to front porch. Got estimates, settled on one guy, set up job.
Appointed day.... no show, didn't answer phone.
Called another another guy, came out, did job.
Couple days later, first guy calls, says he'll start next day. Told him F U, and don't give me as a reference unless you never want to work again.

As I said, communication..

 

[dhal22]

I went on another forum looking for someone to do work on my car. I needed a vvt solenoid, the throttle body cleaned and brakes installed. A guy contacted me back saying he would do the brakes for $120 and the rotors for $80. What? I explained I had the parts. I did the brake job myself. I had to take the old rotors off to install the brake pads. What do some people think their time is worth? Remove rotors out of a box and put them on the car after installing brake pads = $80? If I can't find someone to do the other two jobs at a reasonable rate, who knows?? I might become an aged mechanic.

And let's talk wages. There is a guy on tv trying to sell people a tub to shower conversion. I went to Home Depot. At that time ALL the parts including the incidentals down to even a few tubes of caulk came to $1700. The guy on tv says he can do the job in one day. His price? $16,000 - Oh he's going to demo the old tub and go all the way to the studs. What's behind the tub, if anything, except sheetrock or maybe plywood in rare instances? One day job and - well wow! I can watch Youtube videos for a week, buy the tools and get the job done adequately. What do you think makes a good customer?

A couple of decades ago an attorney friend of mine was liquidating his office. He was cashing in his law books and a lot of his office equipment. During the Thanksgiving holidays he had gotten a plumber to unstop a toilet. After getting the bill, the attorney friend saw what they get an hour. He sold out, bought a plumbing company and retired less than ten years later. Plumbers charge more than surgeons and way more than attorneys. The average charge is about $900 + per hour.

Once you put this stuff into perspective, an educated consumer knows what they're getting. A fair wage is a fair wage, but most service industries are out of touch with reality for most. Guys work out of the back of a truck or van and try to charge what a big box operation charges for commercial work. It's really out of hand.

Plumbers do not charge $900 an hour. Maybe with a backhoe and a helper but even that’s high.