I do some work occasionally for a national outsource company. This is not some major telecom provider, just a agency that ask for bids from subcontractors to do smaller work, like hook up DSL or routers, or run cabeling, or troubleshoot a server. The bids they ask start really low.

What would you charge for something like this?

Vancouver IS one of the most expensive cities in the world. 50 dollars for a job like this is chump chance.


342985 NEW Routers - Vancouver V5Z 2M9 - DSL Modem/Wireless Access Point Install
Location: Vancouver, BC, V5Z 2M9
Date: 2011-07-11
Start Time: 09:00 AM
End Time: 10:00 AM
Est On Site Arrival Time:
Duration:
Pay: 50.00 PER Site
NO service fee will be deducted from this work order

Description:

DSL Modem Install with Test/Tone & Biscuit Jack Delivery to Coach Demarc.

Tech is needed for WAP/modem install at 9:00am
Equipment will be sent to the tech before our visit, valid shipping address is required.
Do not dispatch unless you have received the equipment.
Tech will need laptop, ethernet cable, toner and punch down tool
Job is not available Friday Saturday or Sunday

Setup of modem and Linksys Wireless Router.

Testing of Wireless Access Point at all points of the store after install.

Home Run required if the wireless signal does not reach the entire store.

Required Tools:

Call our Network Operations Center once on site to check in: 877-xxx-xxxx
Our call center will be with you on the phone to help trouble shoot while on site.

Tech will be released without payment if not accompanied
-Crimping tool
-Punch down tool
-Wire cutters
-Strippers
-Toner
-Butt set
-Cable tester
-Biscuit jack
-12ft Ladder
-200ft Cat5 cable
-Laptop Computer with WIRELESS capability
(you will be released without wireless)
Cell phone w/ charger and photo taking ability
Tech must email photos to "" BEFORE leaving site
Our customer requires these photos to be taken, if the required photos are not submitted you will not be paid

yep but I 'll bet the find someone to do it for that

the fact that they spell out what tools you need to complete the job is indicative of the quality of labor they are used to dealing with

hmm...toner required but no probe ?

(will all that fit in a trunk ? )

I was in Vancouver a while back and saw a van that had painted in large letters:

Handy Man
Painting
Renovations
Cabling
Telephone Systems
Plumbing
etc. The side of the van was basically plastered with everything you could think of, and a cell#. Apparently this guy is qualified to do absolutely anything and everything. That is the kind of person who would take a job like this. Seriously, they'll end up with someone who will look for something of value to pocket to make it worth their while.

I would suggest you not touch this with a 10 foot pole, or a 12 foot ladder for that matter. Even if you had nothing better to do than sit and twiddle your thumbs, this would still be a waste of your time. Factor in the cost of materials and the fuel you'd burn driving to the sites, and you might just be losing money.

Is that $50 per site, even if you have to make the 200' home run with Cat 5e cable? What if it's Plenum?

This is where you tell these people to find another chump.

Carl

Sorry, can't fit a 12ft ladder in my trunk. Guess I'll have to pass.

maybe you can get 3 ,4 footers in there and a couple of bags of tie wraps ...

You might be onto something, Skip. How about a 6' ladder and 4 6' pieces of channel. It would be like a ladder on stilts. That first step might be a bit hard to get to, but you'd be rolling!

Of course, my favorite picture was one of some guy with, like an Escort, that bought home improvement material in FL and put maybe 8 sheets of 4x8's on his roof, filled the trunk with ready mix concrete bags and other supplies in his back seat, etc. and the picture was taken in Georgia or the Carolinas of his roof caved in. He was on his way North somewhere. It's a riot.

probably heading home to Ohio , Carl .... :p

You guys are making a joke of this and that's fine

What would YOU guys charge for something like this?

This is the SECOND time this company email blasted me, and other techs with this job in two weeks. No one is taking it. The first time, they mentioned that the client was asking for liability insurance. This time, they are not asking for the insurance!

BTW, I have done jobs for them. But yes, 50 bucks is cheap and I have been paid more!
I like to transplant my outsource Project manager here for month and see how he can afford to live here and pay his rent

Just for fun, if you want to live in Vancouver, or the west end, and want to buy a 1960s rambler 1,400 sw foot home, take a look at this real-estate listing. My area, south of Vancouver is about half this price.

https://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=10832696&PidKey=-459737330

actual pricing isn't discussed in the open forums here, I would quote it based at what I would charge a regular customer and then add a" national surcharge "to it .

it is a joke

they will take whatever they can get , the thing is they are really screwing their customer by looking for the cheapest warm body to do the job and I'm sure they are billing the end user at a high rate. un-insured , un licensed , un - qualified they dont care just as long as they get em cheap

surdel, I recognize the company from the format you laid out. I get emails all the time from them wanting bids on work. Saw one not long ago, a scanner swapout for $7 each. I can rob the paperboy and do better.But yet, apparently they find people to do it I guess or they wouldnt stay in business.And sometimes they deduct their fee from your pay, what a deal(for them)

skip,

sorry for asking about dollar amount. Will remember next time. I have gone though these so called companies before. Once, was so frustrated doing a router swap out, that it refused to communicate with the home office. Company asked me to go back and install the next one. I said forget it. You want to put me in a phone que for half a hour waiting to confirm the install and test, then go hire some one else. It was during this time, the same company called a local telco provider to do the install based on there requirements. There response is "That is not the way we do business here..click!"

I no longer do work for that same us based outsource company.

Skip, I am off to HD to see if they can give me a deal on a 3-pack of 4 foot werner ladders and those big HVAC tie wraps :p

:thumb:

better yet I'll add a pack of hinges and put them all together...

Not trying to change the subject but the relestate listing posting is just down the street for where I went to high school, My dad still lives in the area. Very pricey

I had the same company wanting me to do the same install for the same price. I finally had to call them and explain the going rate for a reputable, insured company was more than what they were authorizing. If they wanted to pay that, then we would be happy to do the business. Haven't heard back since.

I just got my new declarations page for my insurance policy for next year. Price stayed about the same and I still have my killer inland marine floater attached :-) Every year, el stupido has to ask about that $1Mil Auto coverage. Apparently, if I hire someone who is underinsured and they have an accident in their vehicle, my policy covers the difference. Not bad, about $9 a month for the premium.

Carl

I just checked my account at the national outsource provider. Interesting, all four of those wifi/dsl jobs just suddenly disappeared after days of being advertised to all the local techs. Wonder if they got the message no one is interested?

they probably got somebody to do them . so your saying you log in and there are jobs listed to the first one willing to do them ?

They send a broadcast email out and post a job and whoever is the first to reply gets the install.

there not l;ooking for bids.... their looking for slaves. I just got back from Lima, Peru and reactivated my craigslist advertisement and was I surprised when the next day I got a bite! a guy wanted me to move his dish and run some cables at his second home in flagstaff. So I take the job and when I get there find out his place is a mobile home. THAY'S COOL!So I bury the line between the dish and his house (it was running over one the dirt road of his trailer park). Then I stapled the cable to the trailer over to tv and ran the cable into the wall (the previous installer ran the cable inside a window). I after going into the wall I went to the satellite box. Then I split the line coming out of the box and fed the tv with one end and the other end I fed back outside and stapled it to the back bedroom. He and I then mounted a tv on the wall of the bedroom. What fun I have! I love this job.