One bad thing about living in a bigger city.... getting estimates to have work done. In GC, there were only a few choices, and they were usually quite competitive with each other. Or, you knew by reputation who overcharged. Or, you knew one or more of the service providers personally so you chose them to do the work. Or, you could have three service providers give you estimates, and you knew you'd gotten the best price because there were only three providers total. In any case, it was less complicated.
We have a plumbing leak in the basement, so we called the company we'd used before. But, since the situation is somewhat complicated (pipe coming into the cement wall from underground and the leak possibly coming from buried pipe in the front yard), the potential charge is quite large (either $650 or $1100 depending on which option from this plumber). So, of course, we need to get multiple opinions and estimates. But whenever I have someone come out to the house to tell me how much the work would cost, I then feel personally obligated to them. I hate wasting their time to give me an estimate, and then not using their services. Last year, when we got estimates for a repair/rebuild of our deck, we had one person who kept calling and calling and calling... Until I finally had to literally tell him not to call me again. If we decided we wanted to do something, we would call him.
However, this time I must shop around, so I turn to the yellow pages, and...There are 18 pages of plumbers, including the ads! How does one choose three or more to give estimates from this list?!? Well, my method was to read the ads and call those who mentioned the service we needed or gave some other piece of information about their business that made them stand out. I'm sure that's a horrible method, but I was overwhelmed.
I've called eight different places now, and we'll have four on-site estimates and three over-the-phone "ballpark" estimates when we are done. Somehow I'm still not sure I've done the right things.
Makes me want to put up with the damp cement and the extra $10 on my water bill for a few more months....
Or in GC you could call the only four people avaliable and get two return calls, Only one person will actually get back to you with an estimate. This happened last month to us on our sprinkler system repairs that need to be done. Maybe Lowell will get promotion and will be off to Iowa soon and just forget about the repairs and drag the hose a few more weeks.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess there are down sides to getting work done in a smaller city, too. I conveniently forget those things now that I am here. :-) You'd think people would want your money enough to get on the ball with estimates...
ReplyDeletei know what you mean about feeling obligated. hope you find someone fast and reliable. no fun dealing with a leak!
ReplyDeletewish i had an answer. on one hand, don't do something you're uncomfortable with. On the other hand the problem isn't likely going away. You might feel better over time, but likely out of a calloused 'thinking about it.'
ReplyDeleteI hate the yellow pages.
Give yourself 3 days and go with the nicest and cheapest people. (cheapest and not nice will land you working with someone who will feel comfortable lying to you). You are keen enough that you should trust your instinct.
Wish i knew a plumber i could recommend.