Out of towners

[jaylectricity]

I do a lot of work in the Boston Metro area. But one thing that bugs me is when people ask me where I'm out of. It wouldn't bother me but I can tell that some of them are looking for an electrician that lives in/near their town.

Usually when they ask I try to couch my answer by mentioning that I'm in their area "all the time" to keep me in a favorable light. But also sometimes they wish to keep their money local. So if they're paying me and I'm taking their money back to my town and spending it, technically they're not supporting their local economy. I don't like lying to people, but I'd like to have a more reasonable answer than, "Well apparently I'm cheaper than your local electricians."

Do any of you deal with this and if so, how?

 

[LEO2854]

I do a lot of work in the Boston Metro area. But one thing that bugs me is when people ask me where I'm out of. It wouldn't bother me but I can tell that some of them are looking for an electrician that lives in/near their town.

Usually when they ask I try to couch my answer by mentioning that I'm in their area "all the time" to keep me in a favorable light. But also sometimes they wish to keep their money local. So if they're paying me and I'm taking their money back to my town and spending it, technically they're not supporting their local economy. I don't like lying to people, but I'd like to have a more reasonable answer than, "Well apparently I'm cheaper than your local electricians."

Do any of you deal with this and if so, how?

Yes i do all the time and i just tell them, plus my address for my shop is on my business cards and invoices .

Yes some want to keep it local but if they do that then their going to have to pay Boston premium prices so it is up to them.

If they called you or me then they are already looking for a lower price then the Boston guys are charging .:thumbsup:

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I get that a lot but it is because of my accent. Somehow they know I am not originally from NC. :lol: I say this because you may be misinterpreting why the customer is asking you.

 

[LEO2854]

I get that a lot but it is because of my accent. Somehow they know I am not originally from NC. :lol: I say this because you may be misinterpreting why the customer is asking you.

Could be the Frank Zappa hair and Mustache...:lol:

 

[Dennis Alwon]

Could be the Frank Zappa hair and Mustache...:lol:

I wish I had the hair...:happyyes:

 

[LEO2854]

I wish I had the hair...:happyyes:

Same here....

 

[kwired]

Come out here where population is declining, businesses are closing, schools are closing/consolidating with nearby towns, now the postal service wants to close many small town post offices, and you will get a better perspective of the other side.

I am a little suprised this is an issue in a population area like Mass.

 

[dhalleron]

My experience with out of towners is bad.

I was working near St Louis as a fire alarm technician, not an electrician. They are all union shop #1 there. Anyway this one project was so large they had electricians from all over the country working there. They were called “travelers”. Only a few were locals.

The local union electricians would do a good job and give me some respect.

The travelers were always going to break or coming back from break. I couldn’t prove it, but I know they purposely screwed things up so they could fix them again later and get paid for it. An example was the drawings showed strobes rated at 15/75 candela in the hallways. I found they installed 110 candela strobes instead and the circuit was overloaded. I asked them to replace them with the proper device as shown on the drawings. When they replaced them, probably 3 out of 5 were replaced with the wrong device again. That sort of thing happened all the time.

When I was younger I wanted to be in the union. After meeting those guys the union left a bad taste in my mouth.

Oh yeah, and I was an out of towner on this project, but I tried to do my job the best way I could.

 

[renosteinke]

I tell folks not to try to do my thinking for me ... and I try not to do theirs for them.

"Where are you from" is usually nothing more than harmless curiosity. Where I'm at right now, the locals ask instead "are you from around here?" Really a silly question, because any local knows from three blocks away that I'm NOT from around here.

"Where are you located" can also be an innocent -and proper- answer. I can think of some shady outfits that are little more than a phone room and a slew of 'independent contractors' with personal trucks. There's also the understandable desire to reduce the commute to the job site.

I've never been to Boston, but by all accounts the traffic there has to be seen to be believed. There might be merit in avoiding that cross-town drive.

 

[kwired]

My experience with out of towners is bad.

I was working near St Louis as a fire alarm technician, not an electrician. They are all union shop #1 there. Anyway this one project was so large they had electricians from all over the country working there. They were called “travelers”. Only a few were locals.

The local union electricians would do a good job and give me some respect.

The travelers were always going to break or coming back from break. I couldn’t prove it, but I know they purposely screwed things up so they could fix them again later and get paid for it. An example was the drawings showed strobes rated at 15/75 candela in the hallways. I found they installed 110 candela strobes instead and the circuit was overloaded. I asked them to replace them with the proper device as shown on the drawings. When they replaced them, probably 3 out of 5 were replaced with the wrong device again. That sort of thing happened all the time.

When I was younger I wanted to be in the union. After meeting those guys the union left a bad taste in my mouth.

Oh yeah, and I was an out of towner on this project, but I tried to do my job the best way I could.

If they were doing this for T & M then they figured out how to make the most of it. If they were under a contracted amount they were shooting themselves in the foot. Darwin theory eventually kicks in even in business.

 

[growler]

I don't like lying to people, but I'd like to have a more reasonable answer than, "Well apparently I'm cheaper than your local electrician.

Why lie about it? Many people like hiring those from out of town to save many. They like anything that will save them a few bucks. Tell them your overhead is cheaper out of the Metro area and that why you can offer cheaper prices.

People always wants a cheaper price but they always wonder why you are cheaper.

 

[qcroanoke]

"Where are you from" is usually nothing more than harmless curiosity."

I'm from Virginia and one of the biggest laughs I've ever had was a couple years ago when I was in Lenox, Massachusetts working and went into a Friendly's restaurant to eat.
Waitress took my order looked at me and said where are you from because you sure aren't from around here!
Got the same question in St. Paul, Minnesota too!

 

[dhalleron]

If they were doing this for T & M then they figured out how to make the most of it. If they were under a contracted amount they were shooting themselves in the foot. Darwin theory eventually kicks in even in business.

Not sure how it really worked. I'm sure it was a contracted amount for the electrical contractor, but the traveler electricians didn't care and would work any overtime needed to finish (or extend) the job. I'm sure they gave plenty of excuses as to why it was taking longer than it should.

 

[jaylectricity]

Today I was asked something similar. While looking at a job in Hull for somebody who was referred to me by my cousin's husband, he asked me if I lived in Hull.

Again, I didn't want to just say no, so I said, "Not anymore, I have a lot of family in town." Then I rattled off a few names to see if he was familiar.

I'm sure some of you are right, he was probably just being curious or even making conversation. He did ask for a card (after we scheduled the work to be done) so he could see who he was dealing with and, "so he can refer me to his friends."

Why lie about it? Many people like hiring those from out of town to save many. They like anything that will save them a few bucks. Tell them your overhead is cheaper out of the Metro area and that why you can offer cheaper prices.

People always wants a cheaper price but they always wonder why you are cheaper.

Just to clarify, I don't lie to my customers. I think that I'm projecting my thoughts onto them, though. For instance, if I was using an electrician for the first time, I might like to know that they're nearby for my own convenience. When I'm working in the four towns surrounding mine, I'll be nearby. But when I'm working on the other side of Boston from here I would be hard pressed to be able to help them in case of an emergency, and emergency service work is good money.

--

Slightly off-topic, I'm reminded of my favorite GC and a job we did for a family that lived 5 doors down from him on the same street. When the job was over, the customer would call him and ask him if he could stop by and take a look at something. He did this a few times and it came up in conversation that my GC was getting annoyed at this "free" service he was providing.

I told him, "Send him an invoice. He might not pay it, but he'll stop calling you. And if he pays it, then good for you!"

 

[Cow]

The local union electricians would do a good job and give me some respect.

I wish it wasn't like that. We get along with the union co's. in town just fine. We had a large job recently shared between our shop and one of those local union co's where they had to hire guys in to keep up. We could talk to the local union guys we knew on the job, but all their hired help from out of town wouldn't hardly say a word. One of the guys from our shop said he worked right beside some of them all day long and they acted like you weren't even there.

I don't get it? We're all here to put food on the table and get the job done. Don't take things so personally...

 

[GeorgeB]

Usually when they ask I try to couch my answer by mentioning that I'm in their area "all the time" to keep me in a favorable light.

Having read some of the answers, here's an honest way to (perhaps) accomplish your goal. "The office is in (60 mile away town) but I spend much of my time here"

 

[Fulthrotl]

I wish it wasn't like that. We get along with the union co's. in town just fine. We had a large job recently shared between our shop and one of those local union co's where they had to hire guys in to keep up. We could talk to the local union guys we knew on the job, but all their hired help from out of town wouldn't hardly say a word. One of the guys from our shop said he worked right beside some of them all day long and they acted like you weren't even there.

I don't get it? We're all here to put food on the table and get the job done. Don't take things so personally...

without going into the U vs. NU quagmire, which is the third rail of posting here......

it's not that hard to understand... put yourself in someone's situation, and
often their reactions become understandable.....

let's say, for example, that you make $38 dollars an hour.... today is monday.
you get into work, and find that half the crew you were working with has been
replaced with fellows from... say, portuagal... who are working for $29 an hour.

you wonder why you are still there, and realize that you won't be, just as soon
as another planeload of portugese arrive at the airport. just go and get another
job? there aren't any.

hey.... we are just here to put food on the table, and get the job done.
just not you, anymore.

now, tuesday morning, you get up, and decide to see if you can get a job at
$26 an hour.... but then you find that there are people who will work for $22...
who just put the guys at $29 an hour out of work, so you AND the $29 an
hour guys from portugal are BOTH out of a job.....

now, i bet you won't have trouble talking to the guys from portuagal at all,
as you both try to figure out how to get a job.....

don't speak portugese? won't matter. you both just got screwed, and that
language is universal.

 

[petersonra]

while it is understandable that someone who is making $38 an hour wants to continue making $38 an hour, the inflexibility in the union wage system tends to distort basic economics and makes it harder to adjust to new conditions, such as an economic downturn.

when demand is reduced, prices (including wages) have to come down to accomodate the reduced demand. if they don't then you end up with all kinds of wierd glitches in the system that just make things worse in the long run.

personally, i am not in favor of being paid less either. but it is the way things are for most of us when times get tough.

without going into the U vs. NU quagmire, which is the third rail of posting here......

it's not that hard to understand... put yourself in someone's situation, and
often their reactions become understandable.....

let's say, for example, that you make $38 dollars an hour.... today is monday.
you get into work, and find that half the crew you were working with has been
replaced with fellows from... say, portuagal... who are working for $29 an hour.

you wonder why you are still there, and realize that you won't be, just as soon
as another planeload of portugese arrive at the airport. just go and get another
job? there aren't any.

hey.... we are just here to put food on the table, and get the job done.
just not you, anymore.

now, tuesday morning, you get up, and decide to see if you can get a job at
$26 an hour.... but then you find that there are people who will work for $22...
who just put the guys at $29 an hour out of work, so you AND the $29 an
hour guys from portugal are BOTH out of a job.....

now, i bet you won't have trouble talking to the guys from portuagal at all,
as you both try to figure out how to get a job.....

don't speak portugese? won't matter. you both just got screwed, and that
language is universal.

 

[Cow]

let's say, for example, that you make $38 dollars an hour.... today is monday.
you get into work, and find that half the crew you were working with has been
replaced with fellows from... say, portuagal... who are working for $29 an hour.

you wonder why you are still there, and realize that you won't be, just as soon
as another planeload of portugese arrive at the airport. just go and get another
job? there aren't any.

hey.... we are just here to put food on the table, and get the job done.
just not you, anymore.

now, tuesday morning, you get up, and decide to see if you can get a job at
$26 an hour.... but then you find that there are people who will work for $22...
who just put the guys at $29 an hour out of work, so you AND the $29 an
hour guys from portugal are BOTH out of a job.....

now, i bet you won't have trouble talking to the guys from portuagal at all,
as you both try to figure out how to get a job.....

don't speak portugese? won't matter. you both just got screwed, and that
language is universal.

Randy, I can see what you're trying to say, but I don't see it that way. There's only the union price and the non-union price. It's not going to change. There are no 3rd parties trying to come in and undercut us(you must be licensed in Oregon), so I don't see that happening.