3 ms·

This reminds me of my first "paid" job. I was contracted with a friend to fix the decaying IT infrastructure of a mid-sized local business. We were 18, early 90

This reminds me of my first "paid" job. I was contracted with a friend to fix the decaying IT infrastructure of a mid-sized local business. We were 18, early 90s. The contract was through a friend of my friend and was a shady affair from the start: nothing in writing or signed. We agreed upfront to get about 600$ each, which was woefully little for the ordeal we had to go through. The place was a mess of DOS PCs, AIX workstations and ancient early macs. The backups were a cardboard box of unlabeled 5 1/4 inch floppies. We even had to solder our own cables to get some ancient serial printers to work and get the new IP network talking to stuff that wasn't built for it at all. The owner was paranoid about security so we passworded everything that could be and compiled a long list of passwords. When everything was working we sat with him to get our money, and then he said he had understood that the deal was $600 shared between us. He didn't budge, so we got nothing and he didn't get the password list.

ProllyInfamous 1y ago
>$600 shared between us. Same thing, although in my career as an electrician: sidework realtor had both me and a random plumber (i.e. unrelated to me) out to make repairs on her properties. End of day arrives, my work is completed. Realtor: "I will pay you when the plumber is done with that bathroom." Me: "But I am done in that bathroom [installed GFCI outlet], so here is your total for electric work." Realtor: [feigned?] "I thought the estimate you gave me was for ALL the work, electric AND plumbing..!" Me: "That doesn't make any sense — you called me for electric work, and this other guy for plumbing work." Realtor: "That seems unfair." Me: "Cool well here's the total [again]; if you don't want to pay it I can just throw a lien on the property and mess up the entire sale." Realtor: [writes me a check, sourpuss] "I guess that makes sense." She actually called me again for work, but I was never ~hurtin~for~honest~clients... so I declined.
- apercu 1y ago
  I have an excellent electrician contact, a good electrician (or plumber) is rarely (never?) without work. I have an excellent tree guy. I have an amazing handyman contact. If you find a good vendor, pay them early and often.
  - ProllyInfamous 1y ago
    Thanks for not making (the worthwhile among) us chase you for long-overdue money. Towards the end of my electrical contracting career, my few clients were all on retainer. The initial months of pandemic helped me to confidently fire everybody else. But early in my career I was too afraid to use liens/small-claims; I'd only give a single warning, at this point in my life.

ProllyInfamous 1y ago

>$600 shared between us. Same thing, although in my career as an electrician: sidework realtor had both me and a random plumber (i.e. unrelated to me) out to make repairs on her properties. End of day arrives, my work is completed. Realtor: "I will pay you when the plumber is done with that bathroom." Me: "But I am done in that bathroom [installed GFCI outlet], so here is your total for electric work." Realtor: [feigned?] "I thought the estimate you gave me was for ALL the work, electric AND plumbing..!" Me: "That doesn't make any sense — you called me for electric work, and this other guy for plumbing work." Realtor: "That seems unfair." Me: "Cool well here's the total [again]; if you don't want to pay it I can just throw a lien on the property and mess up the entire sale." Realtor: [writes me a check, sourpuss] "I guess that makes sense." She actually called me again for work, but I was never ~hurtin~for~honest~clients... so I declined.

apercu 1y ago
I have an excellent electrician contact, a good electrician (or plumber) is rarely (never?) without work. I have an excellent tree guy. I have an amazing handyman contact. If you find a good vendor, pay them early and often.
- ProllyInfamous 1y ago
  Thanks for not making (the worthwhile among) us chase you for long-overdue money. Towards the end of my electrical contracting career, my few clients were all on retainer. The initial months of pandemic helped me to confidently fire everybody else. But early in my career I was too afraid to use liens/small-claims; I'd only give a single warning, at this point in my life.