Big Boys Hobbies

I will never understand people.

Chipk

Chipk

Elite Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
3,315
Location
Jacksonville / Yulee Florida
I will never understand people.

Earlier this week I received a request from a man asking what I would charge to find 4 boundary markers. . I told him I don’t do those because they can be a real challenge if trees or landscaping has been put on them, or fences erected or if the contractors buried all their trash near them. I encouraged him to hire a surveyor because sometimes they are missing but mainly they are establishing a legal boundary and it needs to be done accurately.

He kept bugging and begging me to do it. He’s having a privacy fence put up Wednesday and wanted me to do it then. I was getting 2-5 messages a day.

Finally yesterday I agreed to come by today but he again wanted it done on Wednesday. I told him I am booked pretty solid but have a small window today. It’s getting colder and I’m already fighting a nasty bug and basically I’m doing him a favor so take it or not.

He agreed to today and asked what I wanted to be paid. Normally I never charge at all but I don’t want to do it, it’s an hour + drive each way, I don’t feel well and I was tempted to say $300 but instead if he agreed to let me hunt the whole yard and keep whatever I found then he could figure what gas, batteries and time were worth and I’d take it

Seems like a very fair request. I’ll burn at least $20 in gas, a couple of bucks of batteries, etc for the privilege of removing rusty nails, pull tabs, and whatever other !!!! may be present plus MAYBE a dollar in change versus about $300 for a surveyor to show up.

Or am I wrong?

Anyway I had a message that he decided to wait for a surveyor.

I hope they overcharge him....
 
Last edited:
Back when I owned a wooded lot, just to confirm a previous survey was going to cost me $500, and that was over 20 years ago. Surveyors are skilled and I can't see them getting cheaper in 20 years, so it must not be a very big lot if you think they'll do it for $300.

My lot was a shade over 9 acres.

-- Tom
 
Never ever work for free. Charge for for Murphy's law as it will pop up.
I own a business and I make sure I am not working for free. I even tell them that there is a trip charge for me to come out to see what they see and then give them a firm per hour price and it's always COD and if they say they left their wallet at work, Just call the local police and get a field report then hand it to your lawyer for collections and add his fees also.

Sent from my Armor_3 using Tapatalk
 
Looks like he did you a favor, Chip, as you weren't really keen on the job anyway. If you had gone out to help him, I could foresee him thinking you could guarantee a positive result in finding all four boundary markers, and then get huffy with you if you couldn't "produce". Sheesh... you're right... some people.

Jim
 
jimther said:
Looks like he did you a favor, Chip, as you weren't really keen on the job anyway. If you had gone out to help him, I could foresee him thinking you could guarantee a positive result in finding all four boundary markers, and then get huffy with you if you couldn't "produce". Sheesh... you're right... some people.

Jim
Click to expand...

Agreed!
 
His wife probably shot it down because she didn't want you "digging holes" on their nice lawn. Nothing sadder than a hen pecked husband...`
 
I think it was a win for you. You’re probably right about how difficult it would be to find the stakes. I know that the lots in my town are staked out but I’ve only ever found two while detecting. Lots of fill dirt and landscaping


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Back when my wife and I moved to our home here in South Carolina I wanted to figure out where our property lines ran because our 1 1/2 acres has woods on 2 sides and partially on a 3rd side and our property extended partially back into the woods.

This was long before I got into metal detecting but when I saw a metal pole sticking about 2 feet out of the ground on the front corner of our property I figured the other corners of our property should have visible poles also.

So I did a search online and found a plat map for our property showing the shape of our property and how many feet in between the 4 corners, since our property was a slight trapezoid shape it still took a little searching thru the woods but I found the other poles showing the 4 corners of our property.

Now if the person's property does not have visible markers showing above ground it won't be as easy, but at least a plat map could get the area narrowed down pretty good.

If people do an online search for "plat maps" along with their county and state it seems most (if not all) areas could have an online web site where you can put in an address and find a plat map, such a map might be found searching for tax assessment info also. Try it with your own address just to see for yourself.

As far as that specific person changing his mind after hearing your idea of him letting you detect his whole yard and keep whatever you find, maybe he has a cache of gold coins hidden on his property :lol: (just kidding :lol:)
 
Tell him to get one of those magnet fishing magnets and to tie it to a rope and just start dragging it across the ground... :p
 
It worked out for you on this one. In all my years of dealing with people like this and contracts is this : I charge what I call an "AGGRAVATION FEE". It's already going to be a hassle when I'm being grinded down during a job walk and negotiations. This is BEFORE any prices have been discussed. Imagine what kind of problems you got to deal with AFTER the contract is signed and the job begins !
Always jack the $ up = Aggravation fee !
 
I wouldn’t want to work for this OCD person for love nor money. I can’t tell you how many contract jobs I’ve avoided because of problematic people and I feel all the better for it.
Good luck!
 
I'd never work for free. Back in the late 1980's I owned and operated a store selling coins, precious metal, and metal detectors. There were many times someone would come in and want their coin collection appraised for one reason or another. I told them the cost was $25 per hour with a minimum of a one hour charge, but the charge would be waived if I bought the collection. You'd be surprised how many thought that there was no fee for this service and walked out the door.
 
achaios said:
Back when I owned a wooded lot, just to confirm a previous survey was going to cost me $500, and that was over 20 years ago. Surveyors are skilled and I can't see them getting cheaper in 20 years, so it must not be a very big lot if you think they'll do it for $300.

My lot was a shade over 9 acres.

-- Tom
Click to expand...

I was quoted 900 for a house that wasn't even .25 of an acre. My neighbor and I agreed to put the privacy fence exactly where the old fence stood and we called it a day.
 
It's shocking how many screwed up people are out there. I like being helpful but learned many many years ago it's usually not worth the headache. If an employer or stranger wants anything (non emergency) more than something simple and straightforward I tell them I don't know how and recommend a professional. Family and friends I'll help. I agree that you came out ahead on this one.
 
Chipk said:
I will never understand people.

Earlier this week I received a request from a man asking what I would charge to find 4 boundary markers. . I told him I don’t do those because they can be a real challenge if trees or landscaping has been put on them, or fences erected or if the contractors buried all their trash near them. I encouraged him to hire a surveyor because sometimes they are missing but mainly they are establishing a legal boundary and it needs to be done accurately.

He kept bugging and begging me to do it. He’s having a privacy fence put up Wednesday and wanted me to do it then. I was getting 2-5 messages a day.

Finally yesterday I agreed to come by today but he again wanted it done on Wednesday. I told him I am booked pretty solid but have a small window today. It’s getting colder and I’m already fighting a nasty bug and basically I’m doing him a favor so take it or not.

He agreed to today and asked what I wanted to be paid. Normally I never charge at all but I don’t want to do it, it’s an hour + drive each way, I don’t feel well and I was tempted to say $300 but instead if he agreed to let me hunt the whole yard and keep whatever I found then he could figure what gas, batteries and time were worth and I’d take it

Seems like a very fair request. I’ll burn at least $20 in gas, a couple of bucks of batteries, etc for the privilege of removing rusty nails, pull tabs, and whatever other !!!! may be present plus MAYBE a dollar in change versus about $300 for a surveyor to show up.

Or am I wrong?

Anyway I had a message that he decided to wait for a surveyor.

I hope they overcharge him....
Click to expand...

yep there are some real turkeys out there. I have run across my share of such guys. The only thing that makes me smile is that some day their will be a guy who won't put up with their !!!! and Bam instant busted nose. I have seen it happen twice.

a guy contacted me about same thing. property marker. I figured no problem only 4 miles away and finding rebar with my 800 would be a piece of cake.

wrong, he knew approximately where it was in the front left corner of his property. Only problem was EMI was horrific even a bit much for the 800. He told me the burried electric lines run across the front of his property.

I told him to show me other property corners in the back to get an exact reading on the rebar. well that was in a frigging jungle down hill by the creek and where he pointed was now in the creek. Went to the other back corner and got a good reading.

went back to the front of the property and switched to my 6" coil and finally got a reading among the shrubs and dug down and found the rebar with some blue marker tape on it.

He was happy, I was tired. He was a very nice guy and offered me $25, but I said no because on the phone I said I would do it for free.

But it is my last property marker venture.
 
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