PEOPLE

[rod anode]

PLEASE ,IF IM NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO WORK FOR YOU DURING THE DAY THEN DONT CALL ME AT NIGHT OR WEEKENDS ,CALL THE WEEKEND WORRIOR WHO NORMALLY DOES YOUR STUFF ,I WILL GLADLY COME OUT FOR THE PEOPLE THAT HIRE ME DURING THE DAY THANK YOU

[Barbara]

And I highly recommend that you call this man during the day!  I am very happy to have Ed in my 'rolodex' as my plumber. 
He has saved me money and grief through his skills and knowledge.  He may not be the cheapest quote but if you want
the job done right the first time (and to have a plumber to call on the off hours) he is the one to hire.

[nhibbard]

I'm much happier when you come during the day Ed. We love the work you did on the dishwasher. Also when you came out to fix the broken valve. Hopefully well have you back in the Spring to fix some more of the laundry list of plumbing.

[rod anode]

thank you both very much,,there are a bunch of people that take business away from me and do side jobs and donot pay tax or any of the other asso.costs of doing business  then when they screw up and need someone at night or weekends they call me .well sorry to say no more .I getting tired of being 2nd string

[avbball]

Ed, could you please tell me who you are?  We were looking for a plumber not long ago and not knowing anyone such as yourself we ended up calling our original building contractor for a recommendation. I would really like to be able to give our business to a fellow Fairfax resident, though.  Can you please post your business card information?  Thanks! I promise to call during the day.

[Corm]

Chalk me up as another happy customer of Ed! I had a water pump die on me a couple of years ago, about in the middle of the day. I called Jeff at J&L Hardware, and asked him if he could recommend a good plumber. He suggested Ed. I called Ed, described to him what happened and what I had, he showed up about an hour later with everything he needed to do the job. I couldn't have been happier with his service or his work.

Corm

[tfence]

Ed, Call VT. Dept of Labor on the handymen that are not doing business properly. I get beat out a lot by these unregistered/uninsured companies that do not pay income taxes. When I call VTDL on them, it is funny, the women from the VTDL walks up to them with a badge and shuts them down and the fines are pretty big (more than doing it the right way). She is a tough one. As a consumer I would not put my family or property in that kind of danger. If something bad happens. What are they going to do about it? Walk away. People should know that if an uninsured contractor gets hurt on your property. You are responsible for their hospital bills and more. You are also responsible for any damage they do to any public utilities and your property. They may seem cheaper in the beginning but in the long run with the risk involved to you that could potentialy ruin you financially. I, along with any legitamate contractor will have $2 million in liability coverage with another million dollor umbrella. and workers compenation insurance (required by law).

[rod anode]

i know thats what i mean how can i compete with that kind of biding on jobs ,low man gets the work and i cant afford to bid that low but these fly by nights dont have any overhead and can bid 10 dollarsd an hour ,i lost 3 houses this year because of that reason

[tfence]

quality always prevails. You don't want those customers anyhow. It's a matter of time when a boiler blows up on them or something. And you are right not to go back a night or to fix their mess. Tell them to call the other one. Something similar happened to me. I went back and the customer wanted me to fix another guys mess. I said, I will take the fence down throw it out and start from scratch. He said, can't you fix it. I said no it is all junk and thier is no way I am putting my name on it. He said ok do it. I did. This was a 25K fence job that ended up costing him over 35K in the end. I have lost a lot of jobs to these undesirables. I just walk away and move on. I have never been out of work. All of my customers are more than happy to pay me after the job is complete and my work beats thier expectations. I ask everyone. If you know anyone not doing business legit. Please report them. Before something bad happens. In addition, the more of these not paying thier share of taxes is as bad as the ones that abuse the welfare system. It cost the rest of us more to sustain a country.
Here is a facebook quote I found a while back:
  "when half the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them: and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work, because somebody else is going to get what they work for: that is the beginning of the end for any nation."

[tfence]

another thing I don't understand is how they survive billing $10 an hour and not billing estimate and travel time. That doesn't even cover the fuel/vehicle costs. another saying is: "Good stuff isn't cheap and cheap stuff isn't good" 

[rod anode]

tom i just used that figure out of my head,but now i got a lady in westford pissed at me ,she didnt pay her bill from 1.5 years ago so i put a lean on her house well they finally went to refinance and found out about it ,actually i forgot about it  until the lawyer called now she is threating to ruin me ,im tellin you sometimes business is not all its cracked up to be

[tfence]

Ed, don’t give up. Think about all the customers that like you and your business, you will always have dirt bag customers with entitlement issues (think the world owes them our services). That is why this lien process is in place. There is no way this women can ruin you for putting a lien on her house. Most people see through that shi... Again, quality always prevails. What I have heard and experienced about the service you provide to the community is definitely an asset. People can sleep at night knowing that their boiler/plumbing is done right. I have seen what an improper plumbing can do to a house.

It has never made sense to me to take every job. I have in the past refused to do work from people that are known to not pay their bills. I have told them that is the reason. Why would I take that risk? One was a previous restaurant owner in town. He was mad.

I have similar issues with our daycare. We have had a few parents leave this year without paying up to date. They are to give a 2 week notice for terminating our services. So they do the duck and hide dropping their kids off for the last week without paying. Then they just stop coming. This has cost us over 5k this year. I don't understand where principle went. You ask for a service make an agreement that is well spelled out. Then you don't fulfill your obligation. Remember these are parents guiding the next generation. I want to point out these are just a few parents not the majority. My point is that for a business, these loses have to be recovered and put on the back of the honest people. Just like in your company, you have to add the loses of this women in Westford along with the cost/fees of the lien process on to your good paying customers.

Not to mention the illegally run daycares (similar to the fly by night contractors) in town that are braking all the rules. They are not registered businesses with the attorney general, not registered daycares with the state, not insured as businesses, do not have proper zoning requirements and don't pay taxes. Doing it for less than 60% of the legit ones. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of good and legal ones in town. I am just talking about a couple of them.

Do they want quaility or not?   

 

[rod anode]

thanks for the encouraging words .by the way i did get payed with interest thats why she is so mad ,it was only couple hundred bucks.if she had paid when she should have it was much less,I just dont understand people sometimes

[Sue W.]

Many thanks to the two self employed persons in this conversation.  You brought up some very valid points I never considered.  Thank you.

[tfence]

Your welcome Sue. People should know all the risks they are getting into when they hire these people. When you hire someone ask for their insurance certificate after they give you the quote and watch how fast they run. If they give you one, make sure you call their agent to confirm. If they a presenting you with a fake one. Call the police. they are braking mis-representation laws.