Mr Handyman of Loudon Co
How to get ripped off

I went to a job one morning (3 min. From my house) to clean gutters, well when I got there there was not a tree in sight tall enough to drop leaves on the roof to cause a back up, so the nice much older lady was puzzled and stated that her not to long ago late husband usually does the gutters, so just to make sure I got a ladder and climbed up the one story and grabbed one half of a brown lunch bag of leaves that was it so I told the customer that I can't charge you for this (which took all of five min.) so I called the owner and he said that she needs to be charged the min. $230, I said that I did nothing, well ask her if there is anything else to do to make up the 2hr. Min ask if you can walk around in the house to try and find something, she said there is nothing. Well charge her $140, for what I did nothing? He was adamant about the charge so I told her and she gave me $130 in cash that she had on her, went into the house for the other ten and came back out with tears welling up in her eyes and gave it to me. I called the owner and explained all of this and he then said give the money back to her. Why did it take someone to be in tears for you to do what you should have done in the first place. She was so grateful for what I had done and mentioned to me that she was tired of being Ripped Off, you know one of those elderly people that businesses prey upon. So this is it, the typical Mr Handyman franchise buyer skill sets range varies from limited, to no skills at all. This is one of the touted selling points of Mr. Handyman Corporate! They boast about the fact that you can get into the exploding home repair business "WITH NO HOME REPAIR SKILLS!" Mr. Handyman Franchisee CULTIST are like Amway Salesmen. They pay a monthly franchise fee, a percentage of their monthly gross, corporate advertising expenses etc., to the parent company for the right to operate in a box on a map. To cover those expenses The Homeowner will be slammed on their bill; a minimum of 2 hours - $230.00, a material markup that starts at 87%, and your still on the clock when the Tech goes shopping for you at Home Depot / Lowes. When all is said and done, you'll spend $275 for a repair that a child could have done. For example, a running toilet valve; the part cost $9, but you'll pay closer to $72, with the above add-ons! Thats what allows the know - nothing franchise buyer to sit on his / her ass all day, honeing their telephone skills; so that when the unsuspecting victim calls, it is such a smooth pitch, you won't even suspect the ensueing robbery!

Company: Mr Handyman of Loudon Co
Country: USA

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