The new world order

[Scouter]

Had to have a plumber come in to repair a gas line leak from the meter into the house (<3 ft of pipe). It took 6 tries to find a plumber, and the cost was far higher that I had expected. Spoke with the guy, he said that, just like other fields, plumbers are not coming back to work because the government is paying them enough to stay home and not work. Because of that the remaining companies have more than enough work so they are charging premium rates because, well, because they can. He said his pay hasn't gone up, but he has noticed that the company is charging more for the same work.

[EightFingers]

I thought plumbers made a lot more than $15/hour?

[RichK]

I wouldn't want to hire a plumber who makes more from govt handouts than from providing plumbing services.

[Phil Thien]

I will attest to paying plumbers a little more than I had expected, as of late.

Still.  Worth.  Every.  Penny.

[jteneyck]

Had to have a plumber come in to repair a gas line leak from the meter into the house (<3 ft of pipe). It took 6 tries to find a plumber, and the cost was far higher that I had expected. Spoke with the guy, he said that, just like other fields, plumbers are not coming back to work because the government is paying them enough to stay home and not work. Because of that the remaining companies have more than enough work so they are charging premium rates because, well, because they can. He said his pay hasn't gone up, but he has noticed that the company is charging more for the same work.

There are likely valid reasons why some companies have to charge more now than before the pandemic.  The ones that are scalping will likely be rewarded with less business when things get back to normal and people remember who treated them well and who did not.  

My friend just had a small electrical problem.  Several companies said no thank you, same as Scouter reported. An independent guy came out within a day, spent an hour finding and fixing the problem, and refused any money.  He said it was no big deal; just remember him when you need some work done.  There are still some good guys out there.  I've got his name/number.

John

[cams2705]

We've had 2 gutter contractors out to look at an issue where the flow coming from valleys at three different places are overshooting the gutter.  Neither wanted to even bid.

We also just had a fencing contractor look at putting sections of fence across ~500' of the back of our wooded property.  We wanted to put up a length of ~ 50' and leave a section or two open and then another 50', and so on.  This will define the line while allowing wildlife to walk through.  There are sometime encroaching hunters who are being forced out because of developments going in behind us.  Again, we've decided not to bid on this.

[daddo]

Some companies go into business for the wrong reasons.