Tradesmen in Springs: How Costs Seem to Change

So you have a house in the Hamptons, and you need a plumber, so you make a call. A plumber comes and fixes it, then sends you a bill for $235. You pay for it.

Then, in another part of the house you get an identical problem and call your plumber, but he’s busy so he recommends another plumber. That plumber fixes it, then sends you a bill for $1,734,46 plus $145 for travel expenses.

Same work. Different amounts.

What happened?

It probably had to do with what kind of house you have. If it’s a house that looks from a certain angle to be a rich man’s hideaway, the big bill is submitted. But if the plumber doesn’t see that angle, he might assume the owner is just a local guy.

With that, this second plumber would send a bill commensurate with what the job should properly cost to the local guy. However, sometimes the plumber will make a mistake. He sends out this gigantic bill to the local guy. And once its done, it’s done. This is not good.

As for the gigantic bill sent out to the rich guy, you might think that the second plumber is some kind of scammer. But he isn’t. He’s just going with the flow.   The plumber knows what the rich man wants. A rich man wants the job done well promptly, and doesn’t care what it costs.And the rich man knows the bill is far more than what it should be.

But there is something else. The rich guy knows this plumber didn’t have the education, family and a big pile of money that he did. And so he decides to help the guy out. He deserves it.

But a mistake can happen. And when it does, the local getting the big bill goes crazy.

This is not good for the relationship between the locals and the rich. It is just one more way one group can rub against another very much the wrong way.

In the old days, people got along by talking to one another. They’d go over to one another’s homes. They’d talk over the back fence.

In those days, the situation was not about price but about whether he would show up or not. My mother would clean the house before a plumber was expected.   Coffee, cake and soda would be offered.

And when people got together they would talk about who shows up and who doesn’t.

Today, everybody is on their cellphones, behind their hedgerows — even little cottages are behind hedgerows — and battened down with security devices to see that whoever shows up is on the up and up. There’s bad people out there. And everybody has a right to bear arms.

Did you know that there are now swimming-pool people who will come to your swimming pool once a month in the wintertime to make sure nothing bad is happening to it?

Somebody dreamed this up. It’s a new way to charge people.

Ridiculous overcharges and other things like this are sometimes written about on a website called Nextdoor.com. It’s the modern-day version of talking over the fence. There’s one Nextdoor for Montauk, another for Sag Harbor, another for Bridgehampton, Southampton, Westhampton Beach and all points west. Online, nobody has to meet anybody, and everybody can say what they want.

Here’s some of it from my Nextdoor in Springs.

“Help — Missing dog!! She escaped her collar, coat and leash with the dog walker on Flaggy Hole Road beach. She ran towards Maidstone Beach and then disappeared. She’s a 7 lb. chihuahua named Trixie. She’s extremely sweet, but timid. Not a fan of men. Loves women. Loves treats. We are worried sick!”

“She has been found!!! This community is incredible.”

“Is any organization in the Hamptons collecting winter coats?”

“Pls can a homeowner share the name of a reliable, skilled smart plumber who comes?”

Ah yes, the old plumber doesn’t have a problem.

“I was lucky to have Blake Kerr as my primary care physician before he recently retired. I was wondering if anyone else out there has a GP that they particularly love…”

Fifty-four people responded to this.

“Does anyone recognize this missing cutie? (Photo of white poodle.). It was found running around Hampton Bays area on the road. It is currently being well cared for and having fun at Core Dynamics Gym in Water Mill.”

“3:30 p.m today saw a tan pit bull running along Abrahams Path with what looks like an e-fence collar. Lost it at Accabonac and Abrahams Path. Very scared, would not come for a treat. Couldn’t get a picture.”

“Wondering about the Canasta group I was invited to once and if it is resuming.”

Optimum, the Wi-Fi and TV service provider, is frequently commented on in Nextdoor. The general consensus is that they provide terrible service but there is nothing else available that can be switched to that works.

And then there are the companies that deliver fuel oil.

“Indigo Fuel is $3.87 a gallon. They are a local oil company that respects their customers.”

“I paid $2.95 a gallon this week (COD Credit Card). From suffolkoil.com in Sag Harbor.”

I got a new oil company as a result of this. It will save me over $1,000 a year. I told them I do not want to renew my contract. I’ll call if I need more fuel. They told me if I did that and then later changed my mind, there would be a fee to that.

Big issues of the day are discussed at Nextdoor.

In Sag Harbor, a situation came up at the Pierson Middle-High School that would allow the school to buy a vacant lot next to the school to use as a playground. But the voters turned it down.

A man with a sharp pen had this to say — even now, a year later.

“Thank heaven Pierson High School never got that silly field. What a relief. The children who actually live here full time can always run in circles in their driveways — no need to waste perfectly profitable land on them. Far better to dedicate that sacred patch of earth to a few more luxury homes for our weekend nobility. Priorities are priorities.”

There are also comments on how to behave when ICE wants to haul you away. Just don’t get angry. That will only make it worse. Do you believe this?