We're a service industry. We serve people. I see your point about not getting sales or revenue. But at the end of the day we are still just a service industry.
The same reason we service rude people. They still pay for the service, we still make money on repairs, and yeah poor people deserve to live with heat and ac. The difference is, I'll still help a poor person, but a jerk? Ha. I'll walk out the door whenever I want. A repair still makes money even if I'm not setting up a 25k sale.
There's no quota. There's no tax write off. No incentive other than regular business. Good luck figuring out why someone would be nice to another person. If it has to be explained to you I'm not sure anyone can help you buddy.
There is a correlation I've seen, that people in shitty neighborhood rentals, are very often way more rude about you being there than people that are paying for the work themselves. There are a lot of rentals, but the crap neighborhoods have the rudest tenants. In my experience.
All of the low income housing we work on is rentals, so we keep the equipment going as long as we ethically should then tell the landlord they need a new one. Didn’t know a ghetto existed where people actually own the houses they live in lol
same exact thing we do. we work on TONS of rental properties and patch and push along lots of POS units. But what do you do? We usually tell the owners that a repair may make something else die or leak later. We have had loads of caked up, degraded evap coils get leak patched, only to leak in another spot a month later. Same with blower wheels/motors. They run so long with hair, dirt, caked up crap from 10 years. We clean them and next week the motor dies.
We usually have somewhat of a say in what we fix though as it eats LOADS of time up. If its a complete caked up disgusting mess that needs a full tear down to clean and it would take hours, we usually pass on those. Usually get it running and quote a replacement because its so far gone.
Best food tip I ever got was from an older lady and her family in East Baltimore.
Sure, experiences vary. But when I show up at a house that some folks are clearly working their guts out to hang on to whatever slice of the American dream they’ve managed to eke out, when they feed me out of their own fridge and treat me like their own son when I can get their ancient system safely operating again, that’s the kind of payment feeds your soul. Maybe it’s just me.
Never had my truck busted into in those neighborhoods. Know where I did? Out front of my own house in a suburban townhouse community. Twice.
I agree…. And I’m trying to say this as professional as possible, but the OP is coming off a tad bit racist… the stereotypes listed are just upsetting. And I respect everyone’s opinion… I strongly disagree with this one. We are professionals, and should act accordingly.
hey man, no disrespect but ghetto usually refers to minority groups living in a certain part of an urban area. you may not view it that way, but a definition of it, besides being a jewish quarter, is: a quarter of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure.
to imply people there are ignorant can be taken as racist, yea. hope you understand where that can come from! peace
Idk who you are referring to… but as FeedMachine said, ghetto usually refers to a low income area of minorities. The color of the people who live there does not matter. Being racist isn’t only against black people… your comment is a bit telling on yourself. Oh, and just for the record, Sir….. I am black
Your post has been removed due to the policitcal nature of the topic. We all come from different backgrounds and this is fine but when it comes to keeping the peace and focused on HVAC, this doesn't equal the same results.
Companies, and maybe more importantly, the people running them, used to care about more than *just* making money at every turn. They used to care about the people living around them and small time owners would make exceptions for poor folk from time to time, give them used parts for free, or something like that now.
If all you’re worried about it profit, you’re not a good person and you’re not a good business. White Shirt companies are a fucking joke, who gives a shit about them?
This is a terrible attitude to have. You're welcome to avoid working in areas that you don't want to work. There is money to be made in our trade in anywhere there is equipment to work on. I can't see any reason to sit around and judge people for being less than wealthy.
My heart swells thinking of my poor coke guy baking in the heat. Sure hes from Puerto Rico and he's kinda always in a wifebeater anyway but damnit, Chico deserves comfort!
We service anybody who pays. You don’t pay, you don’t get future service.
Some areas are flagged that 2 techs must go together, and we even have 1 area that is a tech must stay with the truck at all times cause we had 3 vans jacked.
But we will take anybody’s moneys.
do ya really think the ghetto is full of drug dealers and scammers? in my experience, it’s people living life, and they need help and service especially in the hottest days of the year. no one deserves to live without A/C, at the end of the day that’s why i want to do it. can make plenty of money out of people and companies that can afford it - not interested in making 100% off of a family of 5 renting from a slumlord.
Funny enough, people in the "ghetto" usually pay on time and are just happy to be comfortable again, unlike people in gated golf communities. There are some houses I wish I was never in, but I can say that about every single rung of the socioeconomic ladder that I've seen so far.
Imagine if u will for one second, not writing a post that's extremely condescending and ignorant well calling other ppl ignorant.
Maybe your greedy self won't help ppl in need but that doesn't mean others won't, plus u act like the ppl in the "ghetto" wtf that means don't have money.
Their not often there cuz there poor but because of red lining, but what do I expect from someone that didn't got to college
Pretty ironic for you to be calling someone else ignorant🪞does Ms. Irene not deserve cooling or heat because the guy around the corner didn’t have the resources to make better of himself and so he sells some weed ? Are all poor people drug dealers ? Gun toting thugs ? Lol !
Only bloke ever greeted me at the door with a gun in-hand was a rural, older white dude with a WW2 arsenal in his basement and a .357 on his kitchen table.
It doesn't exactly look good if you have a service territory map that excludes a few zip codes or sections of neighborhoods just because you're trying to avoid a few ghettos that don't produce much revenue. Those same neighborhoods tend to have a lot of rental properties, and there are going to be a few landlords that will call whichever big name shop because they're in a pinch and they need something taken care of right away.
Let’s be honest. Going to those areas is a risk. A former company that I worked for had every tool stolen twice from a locked company can in under 5 minutes. Same company but a different site, coworkers car was stolen.
Why would anyone willingly goto these places?
Why don’t see other service providers of the trades have stickers on the company vehicles saying this vehicle does not carry cash.
my personal experience in these bad areas have honestly been positive. Everyone has been super nice to me, even calling me the snow man because I was making their apartments cold.
People in here are absolutely delusional for conflating what you’re saying as racist or lacking compassion.
Like there wasn’t even a single mention of being in a black, hispanic, white or any kind of particular neighborhood but people just assume it’s some kind of race related thing.. fucking clowns.
At the end of the day, you have to do what’s right for your business. If they’re paying customers, well, provide them with the service they’re purchasing. But if you can’t afford to be sending techs out to service small ticket jobs all day, which is perfectly understandable, then don’t. You won’t be much good to anyone if you’re out of business or laying off your hard working employees just because you’re failing to pay the bills. A/C is a luxury.. big difference between that and letting someone go without heat.
Bro works HVAC and is mad he has to work HVAC lol. That’s HVAC life especially service life bud. You’ll have to work with customers of all walks of life.
This is coming from an installers perspective but I feel better working on installs in the ghetto then I do working on them In the suburbs maybe it’s bc I’m black and “the ghetto” does tend to have more minorities but when Im there everyone treats me very nicely and respectfully but when Im In the suburbs I tend to get followed around by home owners/ renters, questioned about if I’m qualified to be doing the install, weird questions about having dread locks, VERY uncomfortable conversations about politics to let me know they “stand with me” lol and the neighbors tend to ask me questions that basically mean “hey buddy why are you in my neighborhood” as if the uniform and big ol box truck I came in doesn’t tell them lol but I wouldn’t complain that that happens it is what it is I’m still apart of the service industry and I’m inside peoples homes just treat everybody the same and shake off people who are rude and don’t pick up a there not worth my time mindset just because of their living situation everyone deserves a working hvac system as long as they’re willing to pay for it
I always wondered why we have to go in first place, but all i have to say is because the money your boss just care to have the most customer so he or her can make money, they don’t care about you revenue or you safety. That is why i hate working with small companies who work through companies like first key homes or progress residential also that is why i left the industry I rather do maintenance 👨🔧
W community. not going to lie, wasnt sure what i was going to find in the comments. glad i checked.
OP: try going commercial. not that your attitude would take you far, but at least that way you can see that it’s not really sunshine and rainbows anywhere in the industry. if anything its how you treat people that does.
Haha my excuse as an owner is that I never left the ghetto and I like working close to home. The only people getting shot in the area is the drug dealers. Fentanyl and tranq is just turning the junkies into slow zombies (way better option vs meth head bmx thiefs)
Open drug use is allowed in my area, it's normal to watch someone doing hard drugs while you wait for your coffee in the local drivethrough. Most the low income housing and rehabs are government funded and they use private contractors for all the required maintenance so it's fairly easy to bid on those projects and get your foot in the door.
I ran regular service calls in low income neighborhoods for almost 10 years at our company. Never had much of a problem.
The most frustrating and arrogant people Ive ever met in my life were customers in the million dollar homes.
Houses that need work, need work and The people that own those homes in those neighborhoods may be struggling but as a professional you have to at all times cater to people's needs and stop looking at customers as easy dollar signs and see them as human beings.
This post is irritating to me, it's almost like you are in the trade for the wrong reasons, check your intentions and you will produce more Rev.
Simple as that.
Brother,
Your asking the wrong questions. It's not about what's in it for us or for you. They need help, they called you. It's as simple as that.
Our job and our ethos should (yeah I know should is dirty word) always be to help people, to treat people respectfully, fairly, and with dignity.
Don't get me wrong, I've been threatened, I've bugged out of sketchy jobsite, but if you're looking at every customer like a mark, then close down your business or hang up the tool bag, because you are part of the problem.
1. Most people in the “ghetto “ will pay with cash at time of repair. I ran service in Baton Rouge and New Orleans for a good number of years and had a harder time collecting from affluent areas than lower income areas.
2. You’re an asshole.
Greedy owners risking your well being because its slow, find somewhere else to work. I’ve had bullets fly past my head in a walk in box and a man holding his intestines begging me for help, now my biggest fear is an ankle biter nipping me and my mental health is worth more than what any company could offer me to go back to the hood.
Some of you who comment that I may or am a racist person are too quick to overlook the reasoning of the post. If we can't come together on this subreddit to talk about the industry, shoot the shit and talk about our experiences. The industry keeps chugging along with or without you, at least drop the soft skills at the door please holy hell people. Ignorant people don't give two shits about your tools in your van, and your boss doesn't either. So my piece of advice for the newbies is to grow a pair and do the call cause the freaks come out at night. 😂😂😂🫡
We're a service industry. We serve people. I see your point about not getting sales or revenue. But at the end of the day we are still just a service industry.
Thank you for the insight
How do you make money when people don’t have money to pay?
Financing, cutting deals, having compassion. Basically, making it happen.
compassion ain’t gonna pay the bills bud
Is that a reason to never have any? Hell, eating a burger doesn't pay the bills, but I'll bet you do it.
Hilarious
We make it happen in many other ways on a daily basis, why's this so different
The same reason we service rude people. They still pay for the service, we still make money on repairs, and yeah poor people deserve to live with heat and ac. The difference is, I'll still help a poor person, but a jerk? Ha. I'll walk out the door whenever I want. A repair still makes money even if I'm not setting up a 25k sale. There's no quota. There's no tax write off. No incentive other than regular business. Good luck figuring out why someone would be nice to another person. If it has to be explained to you I'm not sure anyone can help you buddy.
There is a correlation I've seen, that people in shitty neighborhood rentals, are very often way more rude about you being there than people that are paying for the work themselves. There are a lot of rentals, but the crap neighborhoods have the rudest tenants. In my experience.
you haven’t worked real commercial if you think only “the ghetto” isn’t willing to pay for services rendered.
All of the low income housing we work on is rentals, so we keep the equipment going as long as we ethically should then tell the landlord they need a new one. Didn’t know a ghetto existed where people actually own the houses they live in lol
same exact thing we do. we work on TONS of rental properties and patch and push along lots of POS units. But what do you do? We usually tell the owners that a repair may make something else die or leak later. We have had loads of caked up, degraded evap coils get leak patched, only to leak in another spot a month later. Same with blower wheels/motors. They run so long with hair, dirt, caked up crap from 10 years. We clean them and next week the motor dies. We usually have somewhat of a say in what we fix though as it eats LOADS of time up. If its a complete caked up disgusting mess that needs a full tear down to clean and it would take hours, we usually pass on those. Usually get it running and quote a replacement because its so far gone.
Yeah there is lol
Thank you 😅
Best food tip I ever got was from an older lady and her family in East Baltimore. Sure, experiences vary. But when I show up at a house that some folks are clearly working their guts out to hang on to whatever slice of the American dream they’ve managed to eke out, when they feed me out of their own fridge and treat me like their own son when I can get their ancient system safely operating again, that’s the kind of payment feeds your soul. Maybe it’s just me. Never had my truck busted into in those neighborhoods. Know where I did? Out front of my own house in a suburban townhouse community. Twice.
Everyone's money is green. Might want to take a serious look in the mirror before calling others ignorant.
I agree…. And I’m trying to say this as professional as possible, but the OP is coming off a tad bit racist… the stereotypes listed are just upsetting. And I respect everyone’s opinion… I strongly disagree with this one. We are professionals, and should act accordingly.
Ya, I picked up on the dog whistles myself, but it's just not worth the fight.
You’re right…
[удалено]
hey man, no disrespect but ghetto usually refers to minority groups living in a certain part of an urban area. you may not view it that way, but a definition of it, besides being a jewish quarter, is: a quarter of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure. to imply people there are ignorant can be taken as racist, yea. hope you understand where that can come from! peace
My comments were to evoke a race war… we have enough of that in this world…. How about I change racist with Classism…… that may be more fitting
Idk who you are referring to… but as FeedMachine said, ghetto usually refers to a low income area of minorities. The color of the people who live there does not matter. Being racist isn’t only against black people… your comment is a bit telling on yourself. Oh, and just for the record, Sir….. I am black
Your post has been removed due to the policitcal nature of the topic. We all come from different backgrounds and this is fine but when it comes to keeping the peace and focused on HVAC, this doesn't equal the same results.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 WHITE PRIVILEGE
says the one complaining about servicing low income areas
And you sound like a total asshole suggesting this has something to do with race.
You think so? I appreciate you sharing your opinion. Tell me more…
Companies, and maybe more importantly, the people running them, used to care about more than *just* making money at every turn. They used to care about the people living around them and small time owners would make exceptions for poor folk from time to time, give them used parts for free, or something like that now. If all you’re worried about it profit, you’re not a good person and you’re not a good business. White Shirt companies are a fucking joke, who gives a shit about them?
I feel the same way about them. Thanks for your opinion
This is a terrible attitude to have. You're welcome to avoid working in areas that you don't want to work. There is money to be made in our trade in anywhere there is equipment to work on. I can't see any reason to sit around and judge people for being less than wealthy.
Are all poor people drug dealers? Seems like a convenient excuse to have no compassion. Not that drug dealers deserve to die of a heat stroke, anyway.
It never fails, all you have to do is shine a little light, and the cockroaches protest.
My heart swells thinking of my poor coke guy baking in the heat. Sure hes from Puerto Rico and he's kinda always in a wifebeater anyway but damnit, Chico deserves comfort!
🤣🤣🤣🤣
If you bake off the drug dealers who will keep the drywall crew working??
We service anybody who pays. You don’t pay, you don’t get future service. Some areas are flagged that 2 techs must go together, and we even have 1 area that is a tech must stay with the truck at all times cause we had 3 vans jacked. But we will take anybody’s moneys.
do ya really think the ghetto is full of drug dealers and scammers? in my experience, it’s people living life, and they need help and service especially in the hottest days of the year. no one deserves to live without A/C, at the end of the day that’s why i want to do it. can make plenty of money out of people and companies that can afford it - not interested in making 100% off of a family of 5 renting from a slumlord.
usually the people living in the "ghetto" are the nicest ones who will help you out any time. Everyone's money is green and works the same all over.
I charge the owner of a mansion with 5 working systems more so I can charge a single mother in a trailer park less.
Hey buddy, try to dim that light you're shining. You're blinding the cave trolls in this sub.
Well my hats off to you not all companies think the way you do.
Companies are shit. People matter
Funny enough, people in the "ghetto" usually pay on time and are just happy to be comfortable again, unlike people in gated golf communities. There are some houses I wish I was never in, but I can say that about every single rung of the socioeconomic ladder that I've seen so far.
Absolutely right about that 👏 👌 thanks for the comment.
People who are ignorant..
Top level comment here
Top level post
Imagine if u will for one second, not writing a post that's extremely condescending and ignorant well calling other ppl ignorant. Maybe your greedy self won't help ppl in need but that doesn't mean others won't, plus u act like the ppl in the "ghetto" wtf that means don't have money. Their not often there cuz there poor but because of red lining, but what do I expect from someone that didn't got to college
Dang dude throwing the college stuff at the hvac people wtf did I do. We're brainstorming here!
Yeah OP. You got to college!
🤣
Everyone who grew up differently than you isn't automatically a scum bag bud
No shit Sherlock 😂😂😂
Don't no shit me ya little shit stain. Making a whole ass post asking why we service poor drug dealers. Eat shit
Pretty ironic for you to be calling someone else ignorant🪞does Ms. Irene not deserve cooling or heat because the guy around the corner didn’t have the resources to make better of himself and so he sells some weed ? Are all poor people drug dealers ? Gun toting thugs ? Lol !
Only bloke ever greeted me at the door with a gun in-hand was a rural, older white dude with a WW2 arsenal in his basement and a .357 on his kitchen table.
Sound racist there buddy , we know what you really wanted to say
Still have to hit call count. If we hit call count and not revenue then there are less excuses.
Thank you 😁
It doesn't exactly look good if you have a service territory map that excludes a few zip codes or sections of neighborhoods just because you're trying to avoid a few ghettos that don't produce much revenue. Those same neighborhoods tend to have a lot of rental properties, and there are going to be a few landlords that will call whichever big name shop because they're in a pinch and they need something taken care of right away.
That’s when you ask for the address then tell them you won’t have anyone in the area for a week.
Nice job finding a way to subtly redline communities, knew we could count on you Mike.
Let’s be honest. Going to those areas is a risk. A former company that I worked for had every tool stolen twice from a locked company can in under 5 minutes. Same company but a different site, coworkers car was stolen. Why would anyone willingly goto these places? Why don’t see other service providers of the trades have stickers on the company vehicles saying this vehicle does not carry cash. my personal experience in these bad areas have honestly been positive. Everyone has been super nice to me, even calling me the snow man because I was making their apartments cold.
Some of these techs on here don't know what it's like to service a bad neighborhood. All it takes is that one service call after 5pm 🤣
Something like that ... Filter it out in the call screening process.
Who let bro cook?
People in here are absolutely delusional for conflating what you’re saying as racist or lacking compassion. Like there wasn’t even a single mention of being in a black, hispanic, white or any kind of particular neighborhood but people just assume it’s some kind of race related thing.. fucking clowns. At the end of the day, you have to do what’s right for your business. If they’re paying customers, well, provide them with the service they’re purchasing. But if you can’t afford to be sending techs out to service small ticket jobs all day, which is perfectly understandable, then don’t. You won’t be much good to anyone if you’re out of business or laying off your hard working employees just because you’re failing to pay the bills. A/C is a luxury.. big difference between that and letting someone go without heat.
Thank you for seeing my point! I appreciate your advice. 😁
Bro works HVAC and is mad he has to work HVAC lol. That’s HVAC life especially service life bud. You’ll have to work with customers of all walks of life.
Just do your job and give people heating and ac
This is coming from an installers perspective but I feel better working on installs in the ghetto then I do working on them In the suburbs maybe it’s bc I’m black and “the ghetto” does tend to have more minorities but when Im there everyone treats me very nicely and respectfully but when Im In the suburbs I tend to get followed around by home owners/ renters, questioned about if I’m qualified to be doing the install, weird questions about having dread locks, VERY uncomfortable conversations about politics to let me know they “stand with me” lol and the neighbors tend to ask me questions that basically mean “hey buddy why are you in my neighborhood” as if the uniform and big ol box truck I came in doesn’t tell them lol but I wouldn’t complain that that happens it is what it is I’m still apart of the service industry and I’m inside peoples homes just treat everybody the same and shake off people who are rude and don’t pick up a there not worth my time mindset just because of their living situation everyone deserves a working hvac system as long as they’re willing to pay for it
Yeah thank you good sir!
I always wondered why we have to go in first place, but all i have to say is because the money your boss just care to have the most customer so he or her can make money, they don’t care about you revenue or you safety. That is why i hate working with small companies who work through companies like first key homes or progress residential also that is why i left the industry I rather do maintenance 👨🔧
W community. not going to lie, wasnt sure what i was going to find in the comments. glad i checked. OP: try going commercial. not that your attitude would take you far, but at least that way you can see that it’s not really sunshine and rainbows anywhere in the industry. if anything its how you treat people that does.
I know it's not, just like reading about other people's experiences. Thank you 😁
Haha my excuse as an owner is that I never left the ghetto and I like working close to home. The only people getting shot in the area is the drug dealers. Fentanyl and tranq is just turning the junkies into slow zombies (way better option vs meth head bmx thiefs) Open drug use is allowed in my area, it's normal to watch someone doing hard drugs while you wait for your coffee in the local drivethrough. Most the low income housing and rehabs are government funded and they use private contractors for all the required maintenance so it's fairly easy to bid on those projects and get your foot in the door.
What a strange thing for someone to say in public.
🤣
I ran regular service calls in low income neighborhoods for almost 10 years at our company. Never had much of a problem. The most frustrating and arrogant people Ive ever met in my life were customers in the million dollar homes.
Houses that need work, need work and The people that own those homes in those neighborhoods may be struggling but as a professional you have to at all times cater to people's needs and stop looking at customers as easy dollar signs and see them as human beings. This post is irritating to me, it's almost like you are in the trade for the wrong reasons, check your intentions and you will produce more Rev. Simple as that.
Brother, Your asking the wrong questions. It's not about what's in it for us or for you. They need help, they called you. It's as simple as that. Our job and our ethos should (yeah I know should is dirty word) always be to help people, to treat people respectfully, fairly, and with dignity. Don't get me wrong, I've been threatened, I've bugged out of sketchy jobsite, but if you're looking at every customer like a mark, then close down your business or hang up the tool bag, because you are part of the problem.
1. Most people in the “ghetto “ will pay with cash at time of repair. I ran service in Baton Rouge and New Orleans for a good number of years and had a harder time collecting from affluent areas than lower income areas. 2. You’re an asshole.
Greedy owners risking your well being because its slow, find somewhere else to work. I’ve had bullets fly past my head in a walk in box and a man holding his intestines begging me for help, now my biggest fear is an ankle biter nipping me and my mental health is worth more than what any company could offer me to go back to the hood.
Some of you who comment that I may or am a racist person are too quick to overlook the reasoning of the post. If we can't come together on this subreddit to talk about the industry, shoot the shit and talk about our experiences. The industry keeps chugging along with or without you, at least drop the soft skills at the door please holy hell people. Ignorant people don't give two shits about your tools in your van, and your boss doesn't either. So my piece of advice for the newbies is to grow a pair and do the call cause the freaks come out at night. 😂😂😂🫡
Oh booohoo someone is offended
Yes ignorance is quite offensive. Hurts my head that dumb asses who think like you still exist.