Ha anybody ever had a lowes installer come out to their home to measure
their kitchen? And then convince them if they eliminate LOWES that they
will offer them a good price? If you had someone come out did Lowes
advised you that it was a licensed contractor? I lived in Sunrise, FL and
I fell victim of a scam that's costs me $6,000.00 awaiting the media's
contact but I am curious if anyone had this problem. If so please e-mail
me at snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com,
-------------------------------------
N.Maharaj
/o)\
\(o/
On Nov 22, 12:44 pm, nbmaharaj_at_gmail_dot snipped-for-privacy@foo.com (maha2010)
wrote:
There is no such thing as a lowes installer. Lowes subs out all it's
actual work to local contractors. Sounds like you had one of them
offer to cut lowes out of the middle in exchange for a better price.
That's a bit unethical. They probably were a licensed contractor as
Lowes would not have worked with them to start with.
But you should not have paid out until the work was completed. Small
local contractors are notorius for taking money and not finishing
jobs. They get in a hole and can't get out. Once they are in too
deep they just bankrupt the business and start another one. On any
job you need to establish a progress/pay out schedule of some sort. A
little up front money is ok. If there are a lot of materials involved
sometimes I tell them to put together the order with the supplier and
I'll phone in a payment to the supplier on condition that the
materials are being delivered to the site. That way I at least have
the materials if the contractor vanishes.
nbmaharaj_at_gmail_dot snipped-for-privacy@foo.com (maha2010) wrote in
Well if the installer would screw Lowes then why would they not screw you
and that's exactly what happened. You're just a con who got conned. I don't
see where the injustice is on this one.
Was the installer's name Gupta? Just curious.
replying to maha2010, andy mather rocam general contracting wrote:
I am a contractor I don't do this just on weekends, its not a hobby its what I
do to put food on the table. I have been approached by no less then three
different companies to work for them or under them. They offer me this so they
can make somewhere between 8 and 12 percent off my labour. Now Lowes and Home
Depot are not happy selling me the products they also want a cut of my business.
NO THANK YOU! I am already forced to pay Workman's Compensation Board six
percent of my Gross! Which makes me sick because this Government backed private
entity is about as helpful as an HMO when you need it, This parasite will make
any excuse in the book why you're not covered for that!
I always tell people don't pay up front for anything! A contractor of reputable
status should have accounts to buy materials. Once the material shows up pay for
that portion. Don't ever pay for more work than that which has been done. You
hire a contractor for a thirty grand kitchen reno and you have paid him 25k and
the cabinets are not even on site you are in trouble! My own Grandmother got
screwed by a contractor that lives in another City. This particular contractor
nickel and dimed her till she had paid ninety percent of a job that was not half
finished.
I don't take deposits unless we are talking a reno over the fifty thousand
mark. If you are doing a big reno ask your contractor what the deposit is for
and make sure that this man is buying the material or make the cheques payable
to his suppliers. Ask for receipts to ensure the contractor is using the money
to buy the material for your renovation. If you give your contractor a deposit
and the next thing you know the guy is on vacation you are in trouble.
You can avoid a lot of shady contractors by asking to see a City License? Does
this contractor have a company bank account? Or are you making the cheques out
in his name? Ask for references? Do the references have the same last name? Does
the contractor have liability insurance? WCB? How long they been in business? Do
they have a website? Good contractors will have all of the above and more. Just
because they have a business card doesn't mean they are legit. If they have a
business card and you are making the cheque out to his name something is wrong?
Another favorite of mine is the people coming through after a major
event such as roofers following the hail storms. They have a local phone
(usually cell) number but the truck is registered in Texas. Really???
--
?Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive,
but what they conceal is vital.?
andy mather rocam general contracting wrote:
(replied to some ancient usenet post, thinking it's a current thread)
The big box stores (like Home Despot) have been known to stiff the
contractors doing work for them.
I'm sure there is no end of jobs for one-man contractors in the current
state the US economy is in - with people looking through kijiji and
craigs list for contractors willing to work for cash. No taxes, no
workmans comp insurance.
The dirty little secret about the record low percentage of people in the
labor force in the US is that many that claim not to be working or even
looking for work are actually working under the table for cash - and not
reporting their income to Uncle Obama.
| replying to maha2010, andy mather rocam general contracting wrote:
| > nbmaharaj_at_gmail_dot_com wrote:
You've responded to a long-outdated newsgroup post.
Maybe it was archived by Google. Maybe you responded
to a reprint on a commercial site. (Some websites try
to make money by reprinting newsgroup posts and
presenting them as their own forum.)
Google archives newsgroup (Usenet) posts with their
search engine. Google also links newsgroups to their
Google Groups service. *But Google Groups is not the
same thing as Usenet newsgroups.* If you don't know what
newsgroups are you might benefit from an explanation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet
If you want to take part in current newsgroup discussions
you might want to consider getting a real newsreader.
Newsgroups use NNTP protocol rather than the HTTP protocol
used for webpages. It's a different format, not optimized
for viewing in a browser. For a list of newsreader software,
see here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Usenet_newsreaders
You can then subscribe to a news server to access various
groups. One popular, free server is here:
http://eternal-september.org/
Your ISP may also provide newsgroup access.
On Sunday, June 8, 2014 10:01:58 AM UTC-4, CRNG wrote:
What nonsense. With a client based reader, eg Outlook Express,
one click and you're on a different newsgroup. With Goggle Groups,
one click and I'm on a different newsgroup.
There are some difference. With GG, I can access it from anywhere.
I don't have to go figure out how a newsreader works, which one
I want, download it and maybe pay for it, install it, etc. And I
don't have to figure out which newsreader I'm going to connect to.
It's like using 20 year old technology and insisting that's the
only correct way of doing it.
| > If you want to take part in current newsgroup discussions
| >you might want to consider getting a real newsreader.
| >Newsgroups use NNTP protocol rather than the HTTP protocol
| >used for webpages. It's a different format, not optimized
| >for viewing in a browser. For a list of newsreader software,
| >see here:
| >
| >https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Usenet_newsreaders
| >
| > You can then subscribe to a news server to access various
| >groups. One popular, free server is here:
| >
| >http://eternal-september.org/
|
| Good post
These misguided posts have become so common that
I decided to come up with a sort of template response, in
hopes of helping some of the people lost in Google Groups
to understand the landscape.... and save the rest of us
some trouble in the process. Though I wonder how many
GG people who don't understand Usenet actually ever see
such explanations. If nothing else, I suppose, they might
run across them in their Google searches, but I don't think
I've ever actually seen a lost GG poster return to the thread
they started.
On Sunday, June 8, 2014 10:13:29 AM UTC-4, Mayayana wrote:
I've told you ten times now, that you've just got a bug up
your ass about GG. I use GG, I've posted regularly here for
years and I'm not lost.
Further, you seem to want to be the police here that says
someone who searches for and finds an old thread of interest,
has to then follow your procedure of learning all about
newsgroups, researching readers on your list, choosing a newsgroup
server, installing a client.....
All to make one post? Even if they won't need to access
newsgroups again for years, if ever? Good grief!
The only one experiencing trouble is apparently you.
With your mighty newsreader, can't you just see that it's somebody
responding to an old thread? I can see it clearly in GG, the date
is right there. And hence, I'll tell you again, it's not GG that's
the problem.
Though I wonder how many
Drone on, but there is no indication that the post that you're bitching
about originated from or had anything to do with GG. The post came
from "Flashnewsgroups", a traditional newsgroup service, exactly what
you're insisting these people shoud do. I can see that on GG. Maybe
your reader is a piece of crap, so you can't.
Except that he mentioned a usenet server that requires more complexity
to use (such as user-name and password).
When instructing a newbie how to use usenet, it's always better to KEEP
IT SIMPLE.
And that means pointing them to a server that doesn't require having an
account. No user-name and password.
Such as nntp.aioe.org.
But giving such advice is largely futile - because those people never
come back.
| > >http://eternal-september.org/
| >
| > Good post
|
| Except that he mentioned a usenet server that requires more complexity
| to use (such as user-name and password).
|
I think most people can handle that. :) They signed up
for gmail, after all. And they got online somehow. In fact,
the average Internet denizen probably spends a good deal
of time making up usernames and passwords. Most online
interactive sites these days require it. The much bigger
challenge would be to download, install and set up a
news reader. That requires specific, technical steps. In my
experience that's what mixes people up. There's a large
percentage of people who simply will not tolerate thinking
in a linear manner.
I have listed aioe in the past, but a
number of people have said that they're blacklisted due
to allowing illegal activity. I don't know about that. I use
them myself as a backup when ES is down. But I figured
it might be best not to lead people to an uncertain service.
On Sunday, June 8, 2014 10:58:12 AM UTC-4, Mayayana wrote:
Wooosh! His point wasn't that most people can handle it. His
point is that the person responding to an old thread did in fact
make the post from "Flashnewsgroups" which is a tradtional newsgroup
service, that you have to pay for. It wasn't made from Google Groups,
yet you keep bitching about GG. Don't you know how newsgroups work?
I've never once seen them respond after their "necro-post". I don't
know how they found Google Groups in the first place in order to do it,
but I'm convinced that they are so clueless that they will never find
it again or see any follow-ups.
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