2 ms·

Don't get me started on HVAC and plumbing. Two things that save me is I'm cheap and I don't mind a bit of suffering. My HVAC went out a couple of months ago. I

Don't get me started on HVAC and plumbing. Two things that save me is I'm cheap and I don't mind a bit of suffering. My HVAC went out a couple of months ago. I diagnosed it like I would any other problem and settled on the blower fan probably went out. I call a place and guy comes out. He tested it and sure enough, broken fan. Now we get on the phone with his boss - they could do a new system on Monday (it was Friday) for $12-$13k or replace the fan next Friday because it would have to be ordered and would cost $1200. And to top it off, the guy on the phone said they needed to know now for their schedule. First off I'm stubborn so pushing me is going to get them nowhere. Second, no way a standard Carrier fan was going to take a week. HVACs are made to be modular. Called my neighbor who is in the trades and has wholesale accounts all around town. Found a fan for $250, and swapped it out. Gave my neighbor a gift certificate to a nice restaurant in town as thanks for the help. If the original guy hadn't tried to push me, I would have happily paid the $1200. But, he made it so unreasonable I was like f'that. I'll go buy a window unit for the bedroom if I have to. I had a similar thing happen with my hot water heater a few years ago. Offered a ~$4k to replace. I call around find one better than the existing one for $1100 and drop it in in all of 30 minutes. If the guy had said $2k I would have said yes on the spot. I can only think that there are so many people who have zero clue about fixing things nowadays that they get fleeced.

charlie0 2y ago
Part of the problem is that in the US, everything cost about 2x+ as much as you would think and the reason why is taxes. Being self-employed means you pay almost 40% of all earnings in taxes. When I hear a quote, I take ~10% and estimate that's the cost of the parts and I can fix it myself. One problem with this though is that some thing require specialized tools to fix. Unless you can borrower them, it's not worth buying them for a one off repair.
- mindslight 2y ago
  Government taxes are at least just a multiple. Private taxes (aka insurance) is a huge fixed sum overhead every year, regardless of how many customers someone has. This keeps new entrants out of the market, and makes small time operations to close up shop. From what I understand those rates have been skyrocketing lately, but nobody is really talking about it except out of very some narrow contexts like consumer facing house+auto insurance. I suspect frustration with this is a big part driving support for the populist reactionary movement to rip down society, despite it being set to make the problem even worse.

charlie0 2y ago

Part of the problem is that in the US, everything cost about 2x+ as much as you would think and the reason why is taxes. Being self-employed means you pay almost 40% of all earnings in taxes. When I hear a quote, I take ~10% and estimate that's the cost of the parts and I can fix it myself. One problem with this though is that some thing require specialized tools to fix. Unless you can borrower them, it's not worth buying them for a one off repair.

mindslight 2y ago
Government taxes are at least just a multiple. Private taxes (aka insurance) is a huge fixed sum overhead every year, regardless of how many customers someone has. This keeps new entrants out of the market, and makes small time operations to close up shop. From what I understand those rates have been skyrocketing lately, but nobody is really talking about it except out of very some narrow contexts like consumer facing house+auto insurance. I suspect frustration with this is a big part driving support for the populist reactionary movement to rip down society, despite it being set to make the problem even worse.