Reply to Thread

These days are differrent due to the needs of the population. Trades man used to be well respected, they and we are the ones erecting buildings, giving light, supplying a unit that supplies comfort air - people have just taken the basic needs for granted. If you can fix someones 70 in TV they'll surely pay the 800 bucks so they don't miss wheel of fortune that night or people will gladly pay 200 a month for cable,internet,n phone with the bells and whistles.. I think many individuals have lost sight of the necessities needed to survive.

Originally Posted by Snapperhead

I dont covet the rich at all , and honestly couldnt care less about someones wealth , but I do have plenty of friends who are well off.

I learned quickly that having all the money in the world doesnt necessarily make you happy , after reading of the many Rich folk who suffer from depression. Weird huh.

What I said was ..... I READ an article about Donald and what he does to contractors

I've grown to expect being jewed down by the indians and asians when I hand them a bill , but Donald ?? Really ??

Having all the money in the world doesnt make you happy, but being poor won't make you happy either

Originally Posted by George2

You have done work for Donald Trump? Or are you just throwing him into a catagory of "rich people" that you covet?

I dont covet the rich at all , and honestly couldnt care less about someones wealth , but I do have plenty of friends who are well off.

I learned quickly that having all the money in the world doesnt necessarily make you happy , after reading of the many Rich folk who suffer from depression. Weird huh.

What I said was ..... I READ an article about Donald and what he does to contractors

I've grown to expect being jewed down by the indians and asians when I hand them a bill , but Donald ?? Really ??

Originally Posted by George2

You have done work for Donald Trump? Or are you just throwing him into a catagory of "rich people" that you covet?

I'm very happy for the rich people in this great country of ours. Remember......"a rising tide lifts all boats". I have found "bad apples" in all economic classes.

Don't lump the rich (only) as the people trying to get something for nothing

My friend lost a million dollars on one of his jobs! Not as bad as it sounds,he does over 50 million a year.

If I did work for Trump, or someone like him, I would then negotiate with him for long term gain for me and my company.

Some people do have the money and are dinks about it ...but im guessing that guy is just leased to the tits and wants everyone to think he has money especially if they go out of their way to tell you about new purchases and stuff. I could care less how crappy or how nice a place is as long as my bill gets paid lol

Originally Posted by Snapperhead

And thats why the 500lb man has money , he beats everyone down with his sad eyes , then turns around and laughs all the way to the bank

Thats one thing pissed me off I read about Donald Trump. He will agree to have you come fix something for xxxx amount of dollars , and when work is completed he will try and find something wrong to jew you down !!

You have done work for Donald Trump? Or are you just throwing him into a catagory of "rich people" that you covet?

I'm very happy for the rich people in this great country of ours. Remember......"a rising tide lifts all boats". I have found "bad apples" in all economic classes.

Don't lump the rich (only) as the people trying to get something for nothing

My personal experience with this topic used to be what the starter of this thread was about 15 years ago, when I worked for someone else, not long ago it seems I started working for myself, and man did things change. I used to be the the most productive technician everywhere I worked, customers would call for me to come out personally, and I am a good technician, but that isnt why they asked for me, there are many good technicians, its because I talked to them, made them feel like they were important and mattered, listened to stories about their personal lives and shared my own. Kept them informed! It gave me an idea to start my own business, I sold a toy (Harley) I saved forever to buy, which was hard, and used the proceeds to buy a truck, I already had almost every tool needed to become not just my own refrigeration company, but handyman company. There are alot of easy jobs that people will pay to have done around their house, and it adds up. Especially when you set your own rate, I make alot, im not gonna elaborate, but I now drive the car I always wanted, have owned every motorcycle I ever wanted and am now worn out on bikes. I also own the house I always wanted, that has a large shop I can work out of, that was key really now having a shop area to work from, not to mention a supportive spouse. I dont even have to advertise, I am always working for someone that knew someone, or was a neighbor of someone, or relative of someone. I even get specialty work on equipment from companies I've worked for that im good at troubleshooting and repairing. I will even take customers (homeowners) shopping to buy their own materials if needed and they pay me only gas and labor. Its not hard to get started, I used to have an ebay side business too when I was an employee, now I dont need it. The best thing I ever did was invest in myself and my own personal level of mechanical aptitude and personality, in this business that goes a long way, and there will always be cheap people that dont want to pay you, but imagine if after the first time your commission was cut for their wanting a discounted bill and you losing money, then the next time they call for service being able to say "im sorry we arent interested in your business" or " we are too busy at the moment to accomodate you" or flat out saying, "im not coming, call someone else", thats what you can do working for yourself, although I've never had that issue yet, but I have refused work that I did not want to do, another important trait is to come off as someone that commands respect, and you will never be in that situation of non payment, they will just pay you and probably call someone else the next time they want cheaper service, and we all know how cheap services operate, CHEAP, then they will be calling you back and gratefully paying the full amount for service! This wasn't as far out of reach as I used to think it was.

if you see one of these things?
get the cash out of there!



Attachment 328221

bars should have plenty of cash in the drawer??????????

you'd think????????

Bar's are payment upfront on spec minimum 2 hrs then we will configure a price based on whats needed. Runs away the rip offs cause they have to pony yp a 2 hrs minimum just to get a green light to go to the call.

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but i do not know what the heck you are talking about!
and we dont have any poker machines!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by supertek65

Gt

Dont forget bar owner!!!

Oh I didn't "forget" the bar owner...

I just didn't mention them because most of their business is cash and they're taxed on what they claim..... just sayin.

GT

Originally Posted by mason

Don't let appearances fool you, I learned my first year in the trade that often times the guy with brand new cars, parked in his brand new garage, attached to his brand new house, where he has the biggest t.v, etc, is up to his eyes in debt because he spends every ounce of his money on stuff. This person has no money left out of what he takes in so even one $250 service throws off his world.

Then you get the little old lady who's husband worked at the tire plant for 60 years, he's dead now so she gets is his social security and his retirement package, they paid their plain small house off 30 years ago, there's an '84 cadillac sitting in the driveway and the interior of the house hasn't changed since the day the bought it, she's got $500,000 sitting in the bank.

There are certainly exceptions but a lot of people 40 and under have everything they're bringing in tied up in bills and toys.

Take my brother for example , he is a Car Service Writer , making maybe 40 a year.

New house , always has new cars , new gadgets in cars , newest phone , all kinds of toys. He and the wife FIGHT all of the time over the pile of credit cards they owe , and find ways to bundle them up to another card with lower interest and hope they didnt overspend and can make the mortgage ..... Me , Im a simple man with 15 year old cars and no fancy gadgets , but I can tell you this , how was paid off long ago

Originally Posted by durussel78

Heya ALL!!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I have or am wondering why on gods green earth 2 of my wonderful neighbors and a boss of mine make the wage they do?
My 2 neighbors work from home, make 60k + I think the one makes 75k+ plus bonus, one works in the hunting industry and the other plastics.
Yah pretty nuts, I had to get a degree,state licensing, and state certifications to make the 43k I make, I agree that I need cheese with my wine but dang man! I just as in general see people view trades people as second class up to the sitution when they need us at 2 am to fix there broken crap! And they give us a super hard time when we give them the bill, WTF!!!! That is what I think drives us all nuts, trying to squeeze cider from a turnip! Just ranting
I had a guy who had a newer utica 80% boiler in his basement, if you could picture his house, nice house, you had to go through the heated garage past two 72-76 restored chevy trucks and a couple of newer arctic cat sleds to a door that led you to the basement which stored or was completely full of r/c trucks,boats,and planes, I will never forget it. The home owner was over on his work bench working on a boat or something, this guy had a full set of snap on tools downstairs and upstairs! The 500 lb a-hole barely says hello to me, more like hurry up and get the boiler going, I found the draft damper was not making the switch and needed replacement, I think the bill totaled 250 for parts,trip,and labor. I walk over to him and hand him the bill, He drops everything, says wow really, did it have to be this much? I dont know if I could do it? He is nearly in tears over the bill, saying this would break him, would absolutly crumble his world, he may have to sell his home! I called my boss and he knocks 15 bucks off, which came off my parts commission, he says ok go see his wife upstairs-she'll pay you, I go upstairs away from DB and go into this room full of Lionel crap I mean full of Lionel crap to a beautiful dinning room probably worth more than my own house!She hands me 3 100 dollar bills and says to send her a check for the balance! WTF!!!! she walks me out to the van and makes the comment of how her husband bought a newer mini van two days ago just to transport his R/C planes! That changed me right then and there!

Don't let appearances fool you, I learned my first year in the trade that often times the guy with brand new cars, parked in his brand new garage, attached to his brand new house, where he has the biggest t.v, etc, is up to his eyes in debt because he spends every ounce of his money on stuff. This person has no money left out of what he takes in so even one $250 service throws off his world.

Then you get the little old lady who's husband worked at the tire plant for 60 years, he's dead now so she gets is his social security and his retirement package, they paid their plain small house off 30 years ago, there's an '84 cadillac sitting in the driveway and the interior of the house hasn't changed since the day the bought it, she's got $500,000 sitting in the bank.

There are certainly exceptions but a lot of people 40 and under have everything they're bringing in tied up in bills and toys.

Op, I totally get where your coming from. I see that same type of scenario every day and think to myself, "what am I doing wrong!"
I'm not jealous of these people, but I do think given the knowledge and ability we have as HVAC techs we should be better off. Not to mention all the wear and tear on our bodies.

You know what they say, Life isn't fair.

Gt

Dont forget bar owner!!!

To the OP......

You thinking about it all wrong.

You are selling your time. Allow me to explain. Lets use the mighty dollar as an example.

You make $1.00 an hour (just a nice easy round number, take no offense ) If you work 12 hour days 6 days a week and work 50 weeks, your annual salary will be $3600. You are taxed based on the annual salary you make. If someone is paid a commission or his pay is performance based (like a real estate agent, car salesman, internet marketer, etc...) and that person makes $1.00 per transaction and gets a bonus at the end of the year for outstanding performance, he/she only needs to make 3600 deals/transactions a year to blow you out of the water. They will be taxed differently than you because they may be able to "hide" more money than you because they can buy more home(s) and show more write offs.

Out of the 21 guys I directly work with, at least half of them have a side gig or a hobby that helps pay the bills. One does ornamental architectural sheet metal, one flips homes, one is a custom car parts fabricator, one sells tools and so on. It's not about an hourly wage, it's about what you can make with your time.

GT

If it's a regular customer, keep that in mind the next time
A shop I used to work at had a fast food franchise owner who had 18 restaurants. Refused to pay the bill for work done on both her houses because in her mind she was giving us enough business with the stores. Believe me, she paid.

Maybe you ought to carry a few real estate agent cards with you, the next time that happens whip out a card and hand it to them.