Mr. Stamford
The Authoritative Blog on Stamford Connecticut
Nobody Wants My Money
Author: Mr. Stamford26 Jun
I am discovering an alarming trend here in Stamford, nobody wants my money.
Right in the middle of an economic downturn, local service providers seem to have no interest in taking my business.
Driveway - I have called two local companies to provide an estimate repaving my driveway. Both came to meet with me, both very pleasant, and then left and never called me back with an estimate. Phone calls back to them go unanswered. Another service provider provides an estimate but then falls off the face of the earth.
Roofing - I have about a 300sq foot section of roof which needs to be replaced. I received 1 (overpriced) estimate to fix the roof and all other companies never call me back to set up a time to meet. Roofing companies seemed to be against using answering machines or cell phones.
Tree Service - I need one single dead tree removed on my property and can have the wood left on the spot. First service provider comes out, is very professional and provides an estimate for $2000. Second provider comes out and provides an estimate for $700. I approve the $700 estimate and ask when they can come out. He responds that Tuesday of last week will work great. Tuesday rolls around, the guy never shows up or calls.
Microwave Repair - I drop off my microwave to be repaired at an unamed local repair shop…it takes me two weeks to have someone return my calls to find out the status of the problem and approve the repair costs.
What is with these people? For all three of these jobs I cannot tell you how many people I called and never get any type of response back from. Even when I tell them I want to pay them for their work, they dont care and never provide their services. I think I need a full time assistant who does nothing but call local businesses for repair services. I cannot imagine an instance at my work were a customer would call with an order and I would choose to ignore it. Are Stamford businesses doing so well that they can be this selective?
A lot of people may say “you get what you pay for”, but I feel like I am calling on the most reputable busineeses in the area. My latest trick is going with people who advertise on the bulletin boards in supermarkets, if the have the drive to do gurellia marketing, I hope they will at least return my call 
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4 Responses for "Nobody Wants My Money"
Sadly, this is nothing new for this part of the world. The mansions in Greenwich suck up all the decent contractors with huge jobs, even when times are bad. What gets me is that these people pay good money to advertise in the Yellow Pages, which isn’t cheap, or the classifieds, and STILL don’t return calls or keep appointments. I’ve also found that a lot of the smaller contractors are just poor businessmen, disorganized and sometimes plagued with personal issues–drinking, drugs–that affect their ability to conduct business professionally. Angie’s List is one place to look for recommendations, though it’s coverage can be thin.
I had my driveway redone last year, and up until a few weeks ago would have gladly recommended the guy to anyone–he returned calls and kept appointments, the price was reasonable, the work was completed on time. Then a small crack developed over the winter that I thought should be attended to before it turned into something big. Now he won’t return my calls. HATE.
I’ve just had my driveway done (prepare for sticker shock with the price of oil) and some trees removed, so feel free to email me for some contact names.
We’ve had lots of tree work in the last year, and estimates vary widely. One service I won’t use is Bartlett’s, despite it rep. Twice they gave me estimates much higher than others. The estimator they sent was snobby (same guy both times). The last time he came out it took him a week to get me an estimate. The tree work was already done by another company by that time (and for less money, too).
Same problem here. Hate it. I’m encouraging my kids to go into the blue collar trades so we can start a family business preying on people just like DH and me. I’m thinking son will be a general contractor, daughter will make a competent electrician. Thinking of having one more so we can have a plumber.
A good comic was the Wizard of Id recognizing a Father of 9 with 8 Doctors, Dentists and Lawyers and the final one was a plumber who put them all through school.
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