My SO is a service plumber. Or put more nicely, a toilet guy. Big blue collar guy.
Old rich people take advantage of him all the time and yesterday and today he was at the absolute of breaking points. He goes down to some estate and they’re like omg it really cost 500 to get that depends out of there. imma gonna call my son right now. Oh in my day it would cost like 80. Yeah well your day was like 1975 so no one cares about your “fixed income” spiel as you’re in a 5m house on some country club.
Then the plumbing actually fell apart in his hands because they’d gotten it put together with caulk. Elmers. Toothpaste. He has to go over there again presumably for free and fix all of this to try to get what now amounts to five bucks an hour.
I told him to tell them that the job is gonna cost more. If they don’t like it, here’s the manager. It is unbelievable how much these elders try to use people who are blue collar. Unbelievable.
Whenever a call comes into the plumbing shop, the person who answers the phone should explain there is a fee for coming out to the house, and if parts are needed that will cost, plus labor for time over the visiting fee. Could be the elders aren't paying full time and attention, they are just worried about the plumbing problem.
It is a Ponzi scam for sure, and it is absolutely unacceptable when it does happen with anyone, but old people are among the worst when it comes to paying skilled trades. The whining. The oh, I may have known your mom in high school. Whatever they have to say to not pay.
You see it here too with these entitled elders and their heirs too. Like there are people who have the gall to post publicly about how they need tree work for a paid off house, and then ppl chiming in that there some Boy Scout troop or church or whatever to do it for free. It’s not everyone else’s burden to fix that or your water heater or pool for free.
The times are a changin. A good fencer, a good roofer, a good mechanic, a good tile setter. Truly worth their weight in gold, and to get one it is down on the knees, and beg, and you better be willing to pay.
You gave me a tickle. We oldsters DO have a hard time; add in inflation and we are kinda reeling. And I can imagine his supplies right now-- hopefully he can GET them as we can't find a faucet airater or whatever they call them anywhere--must be going up just like that can of 14 oz tomatoes which was 97cents a few months ago and is now 2.19 on a sale. But I for one sure do love my plumber(s).
So anyway, SO came home after fixing their plumbing and going down to some private elementary that complained of, get this, an injured cat in the pipes. Well considering what huge rooting snakes and jets do, no animal would survive this, but the tech who started the job quoted them four hours of plumbing labor, so 1200. They put a camera in the line and no cat, so therefore they still got the 1200. My SO has a hard time being that mercenary for himself, and he would try to be fair, which makes him poorer for it.
He came home and then there was a manager call. The old people had called back hysterical claiming that he had left leaking pipes. Well once manager got them calmed down, the issue is that there’s a gap between a plate and the drywall. There is literally no way to make it flush, which he observed prior. Well now the old bats are saying that a mouse could crawl into it. So it’s gonna be another call to spray some caulk around the gap. Which I agree he should have done beforehand but these old people were so hostile he just wanted to get out.
The plumbing job costs what it costs; if the elderly client wants the toilet fixed, the price is X and shouldn't be padded for the client's attitude. By the same token, the client has a right to call around for a better 'deal' if she thinks your SO is trying to hose her. If she wants the toilet fixed, cough up the $$$! Services have gone way up these days in price. "In my day", cigarettes were $.35 cents in the machine at the grocery store and gas was $.49 a gallon if that. Houses were $15,000 which today wouldn't get you a window replaced in that same house.
People in general are cheap and looking for a deal. There are con-artists out there, too, however, so it's important to call reputable service companies to do jobs. That's not to say your SO is a con man or trying to hose this client. But in today's world, we all have to be skeptical and careful about EVERYTHING.
Blue collar folks (like I've been my whole life and my family) have always been looked down upon by some of the white collar folks. It's funny though that when these folks NEED the blue collar workers of the world, then they're changing their tune, huh? :)
Me, when it comes to my toilet, I'll pay whatever I HAVE to pay to keep it runnin' properly! But then again, my blue collar hubby does the vast majority of our plumbing here at the house, thankfully! He just replaced our sump pump by himself which saved us A LOT, I'm sure.
My SO has a heart for old people that remind him of his parents. Who do the same sponging off him. They had this big job that would have made him three grand but decided to pay that all to another company. Their right for sure, but about a month later they’re calling him to root out some line that had a rat in it. You would think they would pay him at least the commission but nah they’re just too entitled.
FYI your SO is not under any obligation or pressure (or gun pointed at head) to continue to do business with such people. As a small business owner myself, I strongly recommend he have a minimum trip charge, and get paid only with credit cards (no invoicing) immediately after he completes the work. This is what literally every service person does that I've ever hired recently. If your SO doesn't change his basic practices and continues to get screwed, then that's on him.
People that feel the better to barter and negotiate price are kinda annoying to me personally. Shop around elsewhere if you want but do not try to haggle with someone. Respect their price and them, just my two cents.
I talked to a plumber that wanted 2,500.00 to jet my moms pipes. Uh, really? Didn't you even learn that you can't jet 75 year old cast iron pipes? He would have torn all of the pipes to bits, at our expense and nightmare, I mean inconvenience.
PS: I got the job done for less then 500.00 and nobody blasted her pipes to bits.
One of the challenges that elders have is living above their means. That house they could easily afford when working, is now a drain on their fixed income. Many never plan for emergencies and any maintenance or repair bill does create financial chaos.
If people would actually look at what it costs to live in and maintain a big fancy home, they would probably down size sooner then later. I see it in my neighborhood all the time, they can no longer do the things needed and never considered this added expense when they couldn't do it. So, houses start getting rundown and exterior maintenance goes to naught.
It is actually a very sad situation to see. I can't imagine the fear these poor souls live in.
Not all seniors are in the above. Some do think that ALL of their assets should be preserved for??? and everyone should contribute to their well-being at others expense. I hate getting a call for a free ride to an expensive home. I feel like they could sell their expensive home and leave the free services for those that actually have the need.
People are funny critters.
He did tell them it would have been 1700 but he was giving them a break. They called his shop manager instead. So now he’s gotta go back there.
I lived in a wealthy community for a number of years. What was surprising is that a pecentage of people who live in the million dollar houses and mansions are not millionaires or even have a ready cash on hand to pay a large bill! Some of these people are renting. Others may be living there under some strange arrangement with the owners. Some may have several or more people living in the property who are sharing a portion of the property expenses. These people look rich but are not! Same with luxury car owners.
Really though, in my expereince, the people in that community mostly had integrity and paid their service bills without negotiating, unless something was off or it was something customary to be negotiated.
It came to 560, about, and the oldsters were braying and crying about how they were ripped off even after so politely pointed out he’d just saved them about 1200. The old mans hands were literally shaking with rage to the point it took him 10 minutes to write out a check. It only took them 2 hours to call his manager and complain about the latest thing, which is that a cosmetic plate wasn’t affixed to the wall. It had never been as the joint makes it physically impossible. There are no leaks around it but missus now thinks mice will get into it. The manager was super apologetic to so and they negotiated that he would go back out there one more time to basically caulk around it. Now that they got the manager, the manager is all on his side, but the after tax income for him is gonna be maybe seven bucks an hour.
oh, these peeps were not renting. They regaled him stories of the business they built to get this retirement. He may have gone by there in his local childhood, but whatever.
First, a house may be worth a lot of money, but unless you know some way to get money to come out of those taps, that home value means nothing when it comes to paying for things. It isn't a liquid asset, so no, it doesn't pay the bills.
Second, if they have lived in that house for a while it’s entirely possible that they bought it for much much less than what it’s worth now. My own parents bought their house for $45,000 in 1968 (paying their $250 mortgage payment for 30 years) and it’s worth $2 million now. That didn't happen because they were rich but because real estate in California went nuts. That house also still has the "newly remodeled" kitchen from 1968 (my dad updated the original 1930 one -- by himself, I might add), and until four years ago when we had to remodel so my parents could stay in the house, the bathrooms were also circa 1930. The entire time I lived in that house growing up we had no heat in the upstairs, because the furnace went out and we couldn’t afford to replace it. It went out in 1970, and it wasn’t replaced until 1987. The roof leaked and was original until 2007 when the plaster ceiling finally fell in in the front room. This house is a tear-down.
In short, a lot of elderly people are almost trapped in their homes because it's too difficult to move, property taxes would be higher in a new property, and the expense of a move is significant. Repairs, too, are often prohibitive, so yes, things are often fixed with spit and toothpaste if necessary to just keep things running, because they may be living on a fixed income like every other old person.
The financial situation of "rich" people isn't always what you think. Perhaps your husband needs to work on his "bedside manner" to do a better job of explaining charges and what they're for.
It is hilarious given that I live in a neighborhood that was solid blue collar until maybe 2015. All us blue collars genuinely chuckle at the apple engineers driving our house prices up while we’re all swapping labor that’s mostly freelance. But you still have to pay and we all know that.
Mj, these guys’ whole house was in a state of deferred maintenance. If I had that chunk of change and a helpful son I’d get him to invest in getting the house Airbnb ready while I moved to Sacramento or the Valley as it preserves sons prop 13 rights. Or I would do it myself or pay for it.
These cats literally live in the same small town where the best creme de la creme ccrc is already! I’m serious, nice condos plus guest quarters plus guest lecturers from Stanford plus three real prepared chef meals plus plus plus, If I could just sign my house over right now in exchange for that level of care, maybe I would!
My so needs to work on his manner to thrive in his position, that’s for sure. But not in the way you think. He needs to tell ppl that he can try to fix something in an hour, it often happens, but it could be three, and if they choose to dismiss him after an hour, they still owe him for it finished or not.
People of every income bracket are going to try to pay the least amount possible, including you and your SO. The issue is that SO has not stuck to his guns and you’re blaming the customer.
The size of their house is immaterial. The job should cost what it costs. If they don’t accept the bid, that’s not your SO’s problem. It is his problem when he gives too low a bid and people still expect quality work.
I would also suggest that this is not an appropriate question for this forum. You expect your SO to make more money than is currently happening. That is not the elderly population’s problem or fault. SO needs to change. People are allowed to negotiate. Your SO being a poor negotiator does not make his customers bad people.
Rationally this makes no sense: after all, the reason why they called the plumber is because you either don't know how to do it or for some other reason are unable to do the work themselves. Nonetheless, that's a rock-bottom basic of human psychology.
Therefore, woe be unto the plumber who charges $1200. labor and $8.43 in parts for repairs: for this sort of bill will , in practically all customers, generate purple-faced, spittle-flecked RAGE.
In order for a service business to survive they simply must sell things along with the labor, and these things must be the sort of things that can be profitably marked up without arousing suspicion.
Most customers will be delighted that you only charged $200. to install a $900. toilet, but they'll be furious if you charge them $900. to install a $200. toilet. Even if it's the identical toilet and an identical installation. That's just the way most customers are.
So, that's 90% of the secret of operating a successful service business: not that you should sell materials that are not needed, but that you should offer to include a new toilet (or faucet, or sink) in the work, not by insisting the old can't be made to work but by offering the new as an upgrade, something nicer that they'd really like to have.
And, yes, it's unfortunate that one must be at least a little bit devious here. But, the alternative is a failed business. Customers don't know (and don't want to know) all the things a business must pay for- such as vehicles, a stock of common parts, advertising, etc., etc. But they do know how to scatter one-star reviews everywhere and, really, in the end you'll either have satisfied customers and a successful business, or unhappy customers and a failing business.
I use to build custom PC's back in college. Would use the engineering lab custom CNC stuff. Use to laugh my ass off when people would ask me to build a PC with 10k worth of parts then ask me if they can pay my labor in installments.
The incident reminds me of when I lived in sf. Next door neighbor was an old lady who had locked herself out. The locksmith came quickly and she went home but then my bell rung again with the two of them at the door and she claiming he had senior swindled her. I looked at the bill and it was in line with what I paid another company when I got locked out. I persuaded her to just pay him rather than call the cops. She insisted I take the extra key so she wouldn’t get ripped off, and next day showed up angry about how I had the spare key.
These types of seniors are angry. Really really angry. Even if they trust you one moment, they may not the next, and sometimes those feelings coexist.
I think the question you need to be figuring out together is WHY is it so easy for these "old rich people" to guilt trip your SO into doing things for them which leave the 2 of you in a financial bind?
Maybe he could benefit from some therapy or life coaching to get him out of this mind frame. Until he does, however, I think you're going to be dealing with the same situation over and over again. Because it seems to me that he has a really hard time standing up for himself and telling people "no", especially when money is a consideration. And I don't really see that changing without some outside intervention.
For instance, right after this call yesterday, he got sent to some small private elementary school for an injured cat stuck in a pipe. If there was their main equipment is a gigantic metal motorized snake with fangs to gobble everything, and a machine that compresses water to fire hose proportions.
Someone who isn’t so talked this school into approving four hours of work for two people for this cat. Which it took nowhere near. SO couldn’t negotiate that himself as it would feel too wrong. But that same quality means he’s going to get shortchanged when he shouldn’t be.
I’ve been telling him that it is better to overestimate than not because his overestimates have been realistic. And to do it to everyone including old people. You are supposed to feel sorry for them but my god the aggressive needy demandy behavior in true senior brat style is unfortunately triggering in both of us.
I know of no 'poor plumbers' first of all, and second of all, Envy is one of the 7 Deadly Sins.
I really hate it when I hear people bad mouthing 'rich people' as if they're all horrible people who aren't even entitled to the money they have, or didn't work for it, probably just 'found it' or inherited it, even worse. Same as calling poor folks 'white trash' simply b/c they don't have all the money 'rich folks' do.
Labels hurt.