BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs

Subject: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: gnu
Date: 10 Sep 16 - 12:33 PM

I just read of one on the "Cats" thread.

Yesterday, I called several exterminator companies just after 8:30 and got answering services. My situation was "urgent" because people put things in my mail box located just below the wasp next in the eave. The day before, a mason did some mortar repairs on the cap and brickwork. As soon as he started, so did the wasps. He located the entrance and, after the wasps settled down, sprayed 450 grams of contact poison into it. In short order, none were coming out, including those going in. I paid the invoice and slipped him an extra $20. Contact poison doesn't last very long. I noticed a cloud of wasps when I delivered supper to mum. I figured they were returning wasps which would simply go elsewhere by, at most, the next morning. Not so. The mason didn't plug the entrance. Thus, exterminator time.

The first call return was just after 12:30. $125, but, when I explained the location of the nest, $175. He asked if I had vinyl soffit. I told him it was aluminum over plywood. Could be "hundreds of dollars... hundreds of dollars". He said, "The nest has to be removed and I have seen wasp nests over twenty feet long. I booked the appointment for today with full intention of telling him to spray the crap out of it through the entrance and collect $125 or leave.

At 4:15, The Orkin Man arrived with no prior notice. $125 and if any survived, he'd be back at no charge. He also said he'd be back on Monday morning to check things out. I told him what the other guy said over the phone. He nodded slightly, looked at me with that 'I know who that was' look and said, "I am not in business to rip anyone off. The nest doesn't have to be removed." I paid the $125 and gave him three jars of hard-to-get hot-spiced pickled 1) eggs 2) asparagus 3) fiddleheads. Sure as hell beats paying over a grand and all the noise and mess.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: maeve
Date: 10 Sep 16 - 12:57 PM

Very nice handling on your part, g.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: gnu
Date: 10 Sep 16 - 01:34 PM

Thanks, m. As soon as buddy said the nest had to be removed from the eave, I knew he was a ripoff artist but I knew I also had to get it resolved ASAP.

I also called the mason before that and asked him to call me back to give me the name of the spray he used. Hasn't called back but, when he does, I will tell him I had Orkin take care of the wasps and say, "Sometime in the next month, before freeze-up, when you are in town, drop by and seal the entrance... that's what I paid you to do."

I forgot, in the OP, to ask others to share their stories for the benefit of all.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: Senoufou
Date: 10 Sep 16 - 02:52 PM

You did the right thing there gnu.
We asked a man we found in the Yellow Pages to give us a quote for wallpapering our small kitchen He quoted £600, which seemed a bit steep. I asked our lovely elderly friend across the road if she knew of anyone, and she recommended a super young bloke, who said it would be £160. He struggled a bit to get the old paper off, but when finished it all looked excellent. We gave him £200 (and lots of cake, tea and slices of pie!) He was absolutely delightful.
Last week a strange chap came to the door offering to cut and prune our large apple tree for £200. He was very 'pushy' and I felt a bit ill-at-ease. I turned him down as we didn't know him and hadn't asked him to come. Our fantastic neighbour next door said he'd do it for £80, and take away all the branches. He'll do it when the leaves have fallen. As he has a woodburner, he'll probably be able to use the larger branches for firewood.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: Rapparee
Date: 10 Sep 16 - 10:01 PM

If I need work done (and I do!) I call a contractor. I've dealt with one "handyman" from the paper and he was good on things like fixing a rolling screen door on a patio door but when we had to have a handrail put on a concrete wall he was...not there. He said he could do it, but he couldn't handle the job. We finally got our (very good!) electrician to recommend someone and the guy had it done in jig time (he also installed four new doors at the same time).

"Contact poison" is probably the stuff that is essentially nerve gas to wasps and yellow jackets as their higher metabolism and body makes it work. DON'T get it around bees and enough of it will kill a human, but you need a LOT of it for that. Hmm...gnu...don't you have a neighbour George?

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Sep 16 - 10:11 PM

I have a friend who does a lot of odd jobs - as a result of a workplace injury about 15 years ago he was disabled for a long time, still gets some disability insurance medical, but can do any number of tasks well (alas, it seems impossible to get a "regular" job after you've been chronically unemployed). A few years ago he told me he was looking for more odd jobs, so I referred him to a few people, and now I think every single person on my block and the next has him on their speed dial. My across-the-street neighbor also worked on making those referrals. The two of us have the wonderful benefit of his help pretty promptly when we need it - but we also ask him what he will charge and pay the asking price.

He's going to help me with a simple plumbing job in a month or two - with the understanding that if it is too much for the two of us, I'll call a regular plumber. (Replacing a commode.)

Friends like that are priceless.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: Senoufou
Date: 11 Sep 16 - 03:33 AM

I agree Acme. Having good friends and neighbours puts you in touch with excellent workmen, who are usually glad of the work. I like to get in someone local. It means their reputation is good and they can hardly rip you off if they live nearby.
We're so lucky in this little village - there's always someone who can help with recommendations or suggestions. Our excellent neighbour is very handy, and has loads of the right tools and equipment. He's our first thought when something needs doing, and he advises us about maintenance and so on. Pure gold!

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Sep 16 - 08:59 AM

Both our electrician and builder are small local companies. Unfortunately, they are very good and in high demand, even in communities 75 miles away. Thus our back deck/porch, which needs to be rebuilt, won't have the work started until early October even though the builder was here to look at it and meet with the architect in late July.

But we know that it will be done correctly and well. Given the problems of the deck (and for some more immediate problems) we had an engineer check things out first. Then we found an architect who is very good (don't ask me how -- it was quite accidental), and when we got the architect and the builder together it turned out they'd already worked together!

More expensive that way, but good people in the services and repair industry know the other good people. I must admit, however, that it helps when your insurance investigator is in your wife's quilting group and the daughter of a good friend...you can "pick her Rolodex" for insurance-preferred companies.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 Sep 16 - 11:17 AM

my plumber went to school with one of my friends!

I can't remember how I found my original electrician decades ago, but he was an old-fashioned tradie & he was fantastic. Eventually he retired & I had to find another one.

My next electrician was recommended by a friend. The new bloke had handed his business over to his son & did the bookings & we had many a great chat. The bloke he sent around was semi-retired & did a good job & I recommended them to friends.

Unfortunately the company had closed when I last needed them, & I just looked in the local paper. I chose the company with older bloke & sons (2 of them!) the son seems ok, but it is a bit odd after all these years to have a young bloke fixing electrical stuff ... Anyone under 40 looks young to me.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: gnu
Date: 11 Sep 16 - 01:49 PM

"Then we found an architect who is very good..."

Architect : A person who draws fancy and expensive concepts (and charges way too much) that engineers build and wait a long time to get paid.

Been there, done that.

engineergnu

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Sep 16 - 09:15 PM

So very sorry engineergnu, but we had a PE look it all over before we started anything at all. We wanted to know about the pillars we had to replace out front (he said they needn't be load bearing unless we wanted those), made excellent suggestions about the deck, determined that the sub-deck joists and the rest of the skeleton is just fine, determined that the stairs to the basement and both walls are concrete and made suggestions on how to deal with that, and a lot of other things.

Then he sent his bill, which was less than we expected, but which we would have gladly paid had it been more.

No, we didn't just go get an arkytekt and start right in. We had the engineer out a couple years ago. We've been planning all this for quite some time and we want it done once and done right. So a good engineer, a good architect (who has worked with the engineer), and a good contractor (who has worked with the architect).

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: Senoufou
Date: 12 Sep 16 - 04:29 AM

Architects can be a Very Good Thing. My sis was planning a wall demolition in her house, to make a huge kitchen-diner. A builder came along and said she'd need an RSJ as the wall was a supporting one. It would cost over £1000, not including the cost of demolition and making good. She was a bit doubtful, and a friend where she works recommended a retired architect. He arrived and said he knew the folk who lived opposite, and promptly knocked on their door! Their house is identical, and they'd had the same work done, no RSJ needed. My sis doesn't know them at all, so hadn't thought of knocking on their door. She was very very pleased with the architect, and he didn't charge her a penny for his time! (He left with several bottles of excellent wine, as my sis is a bit of a wine buff.)

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: Stu
Date: 12 Sep 16 - 04:39 AM

I know this is OT, but what are "fiddleheads"?

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: Senoufou
Date: 12 Sep 16 - 04:46 AM

I believe they're the young fronds of a type of fern. You cook them lightly and add butter. Yum!

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: Stu
Date: 12 Sep 16 - 05:03 AM

Right... "hot-spiced"? Is this a secret recipe?

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Sep 16 - 08:40 AM

Probably. I'd love to have some fresh young fiddleheads in the Spring, but I'm in high desert country and the floral greenhouses don't care for folks picking their young ferns. They are delicious.

Subject: RE: BS: Ripoffs : services and repairs
From: gnu
Date: 12 Sep 16 - 02:33 PM

Stu... "Right... "hot-spiced"? Is this a secret recipe?" I would expect so since Scotties Hotties just started their business in Springfield, New Brunswick, Canada.

As for fiddleheads, I even tried Beer's recipe and chucked 'em out. They just don't sit well with my palate, which is unfortunate because we are ass deep in them here in the spring. T'ain't nuthin' fer a man ta just go up alongside a brook and pick pound after pound.

Say... I have spinach. And butter. SNACK TIME!