This is why the ecomony is bad...
 

I sent a half dozen emails yesterday to companies around my area to have someone go on my roof and install christmas lights. I did them on the first story and don't want to kill myself, plus I dont have a huge ladder.

Of the emails I sent 3 replied and 1 phone call. The phone call was someone only interested if they go out and buy the lights and then take them down.

The three emails, two asked "whats your budget?" to which I replied "can you just give me a quote to install lights across my roof?" No response.

So I called all the places, minus the one I spoke to earlier. Two of them gave me some absurd prices. Another one said he would do it, but he wants to see if he has any other jobs today if not he'll call later.

Left a message for another one (who didn't even have a custom message on his cell phone, wtf?) and the last actually gave me a decent price. I said ok great, when can you be out here and he said "I schedule times a week out" so I'm thinking hes booked. I asked "can you be out here sooner" and he said "yeah, I have nothing going on, but I will have to charge you an extra $100 as a rush fee."

WTF? This is something I never understood. Why are you advertising if you don't want business? And if you are hurting for money (as the last guy told me) why would you try and nickle and dime someone? Instead of him just doing the job, instead he now lost out on an easy $200.

In short... the economy is bad because everyone is lazy and looking for a hand out. No one will get up and work, but rather just complain about it. sheesh!

:2 cents:

I'm busy right now watching TV but if you pay an extra $100 I'll come out right now since I've already seen this episode of Oprah.

So you can't afford it, and that's why the economy is bad?

Tell us what the "absurd" prices are, and let us judge if they are absurd.

You are asking someone to, by your own admission, risk their life to hang your lights. A trained professional who needs insurance and proper equipment.

How much were the absurd quotes?

i completely agree, my experience is similar. i won't go into the whole story or else i'd get pissed off about it again! :1orglaugh

Well obviously, you need more illegal Mexican immigrants where you live...

there are Jobs.. But people dont want them. They dont want to take a job at Mc D's until they can find something better.

they would rather complain about it.

post what you want done on craigslist. some odd jobs guy will be on it in no time.

Need cliffnotes

I agree that there are jobs out there but using mcdonalds as an example is pretty useless.. mcdonalds doesn't hire 45 year old ex union workers.. they hire kids and older ladies for the most part... and even when you get the job the hours are so low that nobody could live off that income... That goes for most fast food places i would imagine.

When I couldn't find work years ago I just worked for industrial temp agencies, was some of the hardest backbreaking work i have done in my life, but it got me by and was consistent for a while, until i figured out how to make some dollars with my pc anyway ;)

Quotes from other places were around $50 to $80/hr. The one company changed $210/hr because they were a "licensed electrician" and another was $175/hr with a $25/hr ladder rental.

I don't care if you have a medical degree, that doesn't mean you get paid 2x more to hang lights.

And a ladder rental? WTF, isn't that part of renting your services? Its not that I can't afford that, its not a question but the prices

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh true true

Im glad I managed to knock some sence into you. Now all you have left to do is watch me die... :disgust

$50 an hour sounds fair to me. Especially since it'll probably end up being at least two guys so that's $25/hr for each. The ladder fees sounds like bullshit unless we're talking 10 stories up or something like that. What do you consider fair per hour?

yeah I picked up on that too. That has to be the most ridiculous BS I have heard in awhile. He just told the potential customer that he is not working and then tries to slap a 'rush' fee. Damn that is some nuggets right there :1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

How's $50-$80 per hour a ridiculous price? Yes the real electrician is expensive but your paying for a trade rather than just a random odd-job man.

Either you made a mess of asking for the quote and they thought you were a time-waster or nobody actually wanted to be falling off of your roof when they could be safely indoors mending a washing machine instead.

lolz so many people were thinking this exact thing, those guys work HARD and are thankful for the money

read... $50/$80/hr is fair... $200/hr is NOT.

I was finally able to get a hold of a company that will send out 2 guys at $50/hr if I pay cash (gee, wonder why lol). That is actually below what I thought as I figured $50/hr for one man was pretty fair, but whatever.. I'll give them a nicer tip :thumbsup

people just don't want to work, it's gotten ridiculous, no wonder we can't get out of this economic depression

hanging xmas lights is a trade?

as long as they don't take 3 or 4 hours to do it...

Well it sounds a bit like you called the wrong people to be honest. Isn't there a handyman service in your area you can call?

$50 to $80 plus equipment rental is fair. Under the table $25/hr is fair as well lol. Blame the government for that.

I read all you said and think that if I was looking for an electrician I would probably call them not email

PS Electricians are not the only ones who don't reply, I think I need to start a thread about your fellow webmasters hehe

An electrician is a trade, like a plumber and a carpenter.

Just because they are hanging lights doesn't mean they suddenly woke up that morning and became cheap unqualified labour.

some people are just lazy.

Just the opposite around here, people are hurting. I ask a local handyman how much to replace my front door. I have the new door and frame.

Total job 15 bucks. And no I did not forget to type a zero there...

I don't understand what you are complaining about.

You are asking people to do a potentially dangerous job that you don't want to do, for a price you don't want to pay, at the busiest season of the year for this job. Shouldn't they be complaining about you?

agree with 1st post

it's the busiest time of year for them?

The prices some contractors charge for things is crazy. A few winters ago we had a real heave snow and the carport on my house collapsed. The next day I had a guy drive by and stop to bid on the job to clean it up. He actually tells me to my face that we can work out a deal to charge the insurance company more than needed and we can split the difference. He bid $750 to clean it up and another guy bit $550 to clean it up. It took my brother and I about 2 hours to have the whole things tore down and stacked then took it all to the dump the next day.

When it came time to rebuild it I got quotes that ran from $4,000 up to $9,000. It was crazy.

why would you try to hire an electrician to hang xmas lights?

I feel your pain! My girlfriend and I bought a new house when we moved to Canada 5 months ago, the basement was unfinished but that didn't bother me since I got a great deal on the house and the basement was HUGE and just what I wanted.

I've had 6 people out to give me quotes to finish from top to bottom, probably looking at spending $25,000 by the time all is said and done... 1 person gave me a quote but only after 4 weeks of me hassling them and then quoted waaaaaaaay too much, another guy who seemed cool and was actually a referral from someone in our office promised to email me a quote but 2 weeks later still hasn't. Other people have just blew me off too... it's not a big job for a professional company, but it seems no one needs the work!

I think I might have finally found someone by accident who lives round the corner from me, he built his own house and I can reference that when checking his work. Here is hoping anyway.

Spot on. That's why I tell people no matter what if you're a hard worker then you'll succeed in business. The idea isn't as important as the hard work because so many others don't put in the work.

Fuck knows, ask bossku69.

i see, he left that out in the op.

America is just becoming more like Europe. Do you have any experience with the service industry there?

I'm working for a client and asked him about his choice of a hosting company. He told me he contacted ten companies via email. Seven of the never replied. Two of them replied with a spam email with a list of prices. One company called him, and thus got the business. (And I know this looks like a bullshit spam because of my sig file, but it's a true story.)

I don't understand this either. The economy is so bad, but yet people are turning down work left and right. At the same time I drove past the mall today - the one that is half burnt down - and there was not a parking space in sight.

Sounds like you neeed to look up this guy.


http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...eh-awesum1.jpg

what are you guys smoking? I have no idea how big the house is, but assuming an average house... it's a few hours of work tops for a single person... if you know where to look, it's a $50-$100 job... anything more than that is overpriced...

hey ross...if you are in the to area...the guy who did my basememnt is awesome.
hes the guy a contractor will try to get to go in and do all the work.

if you want to know about him hit me up...i made him a website..lol
anyway, to save money he will do things like have you bring down all the drywall and wood etc...flooring...and then just let him go...he did my whole basement in two weeks.
its been awesome for 2 years now