High Cost For Service Trips

[sheepmilk14]

Hello: Why does the service community such as Plumbers,Electricians,A/C and others charge so much for service trip. Here in Missouri we live 23 miles from the nearest towns and I have called for repair work and any of these charge $65-$85 trip call. Now being on Social Security it is very hard to get needed work done yet they do not have any discount for seniors. What can be done?

                                                                                        Rick

[ccncee]

Hello sheepmilk14 - I've got the same problem in my rural community that's 3.5 miles from a very small town that very few businesses are still open in (Main St. looks like a ghost town with every third storefront empty), nearest town heading the other way is 8.5 miles and has more commerial and retail stores, but still if you search online for a service provider they're all from the larger cities that are 22 to 25 miles away and they're the ones who charge for service calls unless you sign an annual contract with them for quarterly or semi-annual service - at least. I've tried word of mouth from neighbors, but ended up with people who I didn't feel comfortable with, who would only accept cash and if the repair or maintenance needed parts, they wanted the money upfront and then you didn't hear back from them for weeks. I've tried Home Advisor and Angie's List, but there, again, it was the big city people who complained to me about having to drive all the way out to my house.

I've even taken the time to explain the situation by giving a simple example using even numbers with a retiree trying to live on $1200/month and having to pay $200 for groceries, $100 for utilities, $125 for cable/phone/internet, $600 mortgage, $75 insurances, $50 medications, leaving only $50/month for miscellaneous. Most people don't even listen. So I just tell them, wait till you get my age and don't have a weekly paycheck to live on.

Heck, I've had some of the younger ones tell me they're supporting me already because I'm not working. That's when I really get mad and tell them I worked for over 40 years and saved at least 10% of my income for the last 25 years of that time, but it was the ineptitude, fraud  and greed of Wall Street and politicians that took over 2/3s of my savings, so now I have to depend on the benefits I paid out of every paycheck into FICA for the majority of my income.

So, I can identify with your anguish. I wish I could refer you to some program, but I don't know of any.

[sktn77a]

The reason is.........  because they can!  It may be acceptable if its applied to any repair charge, but it rarely is.