When the Price Is Right and the Choice is Wrong

You can't always get what you want.  You don't need me to tell you that.  Sometimes you just can't get what you want for the price you are willing to pay.

Everyone knows someone who has had a BAD CONTRACTOR experience.  You've heard the story.  Nice guy.  Grrrreat price.  Off to a great start.  And then.  All quiet on the job site for days and days.  And then.  Phone calls stop being returned.  And then.  The job never got finished.  Or it got finished badly.

I spoke with a person on the phone one time who wanted me to come have at a look a master bath renovation that had been abandoned by the contractor she hired.  How much would it be to finish the job?  Oh, and there was some fire damage.   (I'm not kidding.)  How much to repair that?

Well, that's easy, I said.  It will cost whatever you paid the incompetent contractor plus the cost of a new bathroom at the price point of a competent contractor--pretty much.  Anyway, cut to the end of our conversation.  She thought the price I suggested was too much.  (Too much?!)  Poor soul, she paid too much to the first guy.  But I understand.  She was fixed on getting something done for what she had decided it was worth to her.  And it wasn't worth all that much, I guess.

Let's face it.  Competence is the bottom rung.  It's the least you can expect.  After that, the price goes up as the value delivered goes up.  Up for great ideas.  Up for fantastic communication and project supervision.  Up for skill, efficiency, thoughtfulness, thoroughness and tender loving care.  Up. Up. Up.

Because professional services are worth more, they cost more.  That means that you on the receiving end can expect more and get more--which is precisely what you pay for.  So, why isn't that worth paying for?  Excuse me, I must have missed something.