r/TaskRabbit • u/SPQRKlio • 9d ago

CLIENT I need some perspective…

Hi, everyone. May I get a reality check? I’ve only used TaskRabbit a handful of times—one terrific Tasker, one who did sloppy work at a premium price, and now for my third task, I’ve had four cancellations in a row from four different people. One was a no-show, one was running so late (two hours) she had to cancel, one decided she didn’t like the task and cancelled, one cancelled with no reason given. It’s getting frustrating, but is this just how it goes and is to be expected, so you should expect to keep trying to get someone over a couple of weeks? Is it more of an issue if the task small and short?

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

10

u/-N30N- 9d ago

What is the task exactly? Four cancellations in a row is not normal.

2

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago

To clean the half bath floor and shower, a really tiny room that has been totally renovated, not some old swampy mess; but the issue (which I told folks in advance) being that a bunch of garden worms have gotten in and basically expired on the floor, and I can't deal with worms, need to have them cleaned out so I can finish the grouting and plastering to keep them out for good.

7

u/-N30N- 9d ago

Some folks might be the same and can’t deal with worms or any pests. I personally wouldn’t mind it but it’s definitely a deterrent for most. A client of mine had a lakehouse covered in webs with spiders of various sizes and no Tasker would clean it up except me.

3

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago

That's fair, I really don't mind if someone says, no thanks, ick. A no-show is frustrating, though.

3

u/-N30N- 9d ago

You either gotta hire professionals that deal with worms and bugs or keep trying your luck with a Tasker up for the job. Maybe try deep cleaning category since they deal with the grimey stuff.

2

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago

I’ll try that. Those worms will have to be part of the permanent décor if I don’t find someone to help!

2

u/PencilandPad 9d ago

Unless you live 3 houses down and I can walk to you, the drive and everything else thats involved to get to your house just for a half-bath isn’t really worth the trouble.

As a Tasker we have to look at the job by the hour.

Your task would have taken 20 minutes. Would you cool and not cause a fuss when I send the invoice for 1hr work, or will you fight it? I don’t know, so just forfeit now and move on.

Just my insight.

1

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago edited 9d ago

I thought one hour was the minimum? And it's charged automatically anyway, right? And why wouldn't a tasker confirm the fee rather than do a no-show or accept then cancel?

I legit thought I was making it easy on someone, for them to have a quick task then be able to have a breather for the rest of the hour. I for sure have minimums for billable time for my own freelance work.

1

u/shortfriday 9d ago

Higher priced hires are more likely to give you a firm "not interested" or show up when they say they will. I would've declined, but I would've made it clear from the jump.

3

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago

I also wish TaskRabbit would make it easier to ask, "can you do such and such job," rather than having to book a time with someone and then they have to turn it down, or cancel on the day, or no-show. I guess I'm the most upset at the highly-rated guy who replied, "yuck, no way," then when I said that's cool, I'll find someone else, he said yes, he'll take the task, then was a no-show. Just, you know, wasting my available days while I'm running around trying to take care of elderly family. Grrrr, etc.

1

u/shortfriday 9d ago

Yeah, that's clownish behavior, I'm sorry. Strangers helping strangers with damn near zero quality oversight from the madame is just the way things get done in these alienated times. Find yourself good help on apps or in real life, save their contact to give them repeat business and treat them well!

6

u/According_Low5292 9d ago

There is no perspective without including what you hired a tasker to do for you.

2

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago

The first one was to assemble IKEA. She was fast and really nice. The second one was to break down and/or remove about twenty cardboard boxes from various IKEA and other furniture deliveries, the Tasker sent two of his guys, who left pieces of cardboard all over the floor and driveway, spent ten minutes, charged a couple of hundred dollars--I know there was a minimum, I just expected for that minimum to get everything picked up and the place left empty. (Could I do it myself? No, not with everything I'm juggling, and I just needed the stuff gone.) And the third task was to clean the half bath floor and shower, a really tiny room, with the issue (which I told folks in advance) being that a bunch of garden worms have gotten in, and I can't deal with worms, need to have them cleaned out so I can finish the grouting and plastering to keep them out for good. Give me spiders any day, love 'em.

2

u/whatchu_finna_do 9d ago

I wish I was the Tasker you contacted to do this.. I honestly would have shown up to do the job just to understand why worms are in a bathroom. I have a lengthy construction background and I’m SO curious as to what is happening here 😂

Also, it is my understanding that Taskers are not supposed to send “their guys”.. we are the guy.. the only one who should be doing what we are hired for (in my case, gal). I would have loved to be hired for the boxes and the worms 😂 I probably would have forfeited the IKEA if it had that many boxes. I will do certain furniture though.. I recently showed up for an IKEA bed & couch and the guy already did the bed so I broke down all the boxes and removed them from his apartment for him.

2

u/whatchu_finna_do 9d ago

I even bring a vacuum for the styrofoam :)

2

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago

lol, I wish you were my Tasker too, so you could explain it to me! I can see gaps around where the water lines come in for the sink and maybe a gap around the base of the toilet. Or the worms have made their own set of keys.

Any other type of little crawlies, and I would have been fine, but worms? Why'd it have be worms...? 😛

2

u/whatchu_finna_do 9d ago

I did tile for 15 years before moving to historic renovation and I have never seen worms in the way you’re describing 😆 I belly crawl under 150 yo houses and throughout the attics and have seen a LOT of things but none of them have caused this much curiosity, haha. I’m in the southeast US so maybe it’s an area thing. I’m assuming your house is on a slab.. Have you had a lot of rain recently?

2

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago

Oh yes, it's been raining all the time. The dehumidifier has been working hard all the past week to keep the basement at 50–54% (and I think I need to lower that a little more). I'm hoping to move to a new home in a year or so, and my first requirement in the house search is "very dry basement that will never flood." 😬

1

u/whatchu_finna_do 9d ago

You say garden worms.. like earthworms?

1

u/whatchu_finna_do 9d ago

I would guess they are likely drain fly larvae..

1

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago edited 9d ago

They look like your typical earthworms--long, brown, wiggly. I'm a little afraid to look at a pic of drain fly larvae. Might have to hire someone to look at a pic for me...

1

u/whatchu_finna_do 8d ago

If they are big like that.. they probably aren't drain fly larvae.. they are pretty small. Drain flies show up when drains have been stagnant for a while.. I figured that might be the case since you mentioned the reno.

Earthworms stay underground because they need to stay wet to survive so after it rains.. they come to the top for migration. I'm not sure if you ever noticed them on the sidewalks after a heavy rain but that means they've lost their way and couldn't get back on track before the sun/ wind dries them up.

All that being said.. if they are coming through the drains.. I would be worried. That could mean there is a crack or other opening in your drain line. Since you mentioned it is a basement (what I'm about to say is purely speculation since I have ZERO experience with basement construction besides watching every episode of This Old House 😆) they might be making their way in through unsealed gaps/ cracks in foundation/ basement floor. If that is the case.. in my mind.. it seems as though waterproofing measures are subpar.. which might also be why it is so wet 🤷🏻‍♀️

However, I am familiar with moisture + masonry/ concrete. We have the issue of "the rising damp" here in the old houses. The moisture from the soil makes its way up through the brick used for foundations/ walls/ fireplaces and will ruin the plaster or any (reno area) sheetrock or wood that touches the area.. and eventually turn the brick to powder. Efflorescence is USUALLY present early on.. the water absorbed dissolves the salts in the the material and as the water evaporates it leaves that white powdery residue on the surface. As the salt dries.. it expands.. eventually the drying salt expands so much it starts crumbling the face of the brick (aka spalling). Sorry for the ramble 😆 moisture in buildings is bad for so many reasons.. especially with historic building materials & everything is wet here.. all the time.

2

u/whatchu_finna_do 8d ago

"What is damp shall never dry" is a well known mantra in my neck of the woods 😆

2

u/SPQRKlio 8d ago

That was a good ramble--educational! I appreciate all the info.

Also, I am now suitably horrified!

If I weren't planning a move within a year, I'd be even more horrified about the extent of how much work might need to be done, but for now I'll be satisfied with 1) no worm corpses, 2) no further worms able to get in and sacrifice themselves, 3) no mold, 4) house does not collapse on my head. The basement was supposed to be my calm space for doing my freelance work and otherwise getting breaks from caregiving tasks 🤪

2

u/whatchu_finna_do 8d ago

I sincerely hope you are able to get all those accomplished :) & again, wish I was closer to remove the worms for you! and take a little trip down the worm hole to figure out what's happening there 😆

→ More replies (0)

5

u/dro1000 9d ago

If you find someone you like you should just take their number down and work off the app.

5

u/ThoughtBecomesAction 9d ago

This is the way.

2

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago

I really should have! She was super.

4

u/According_Low5292 9d ago

“The Tasker sent 2 of his guys”.
What?!!! No Tasker sends other people unless they’re shady. Tell TR the guy you hired isn’t the one that showed up

1

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago

I did not know this wasn’t just a thing people do.

Yeah, he told me on the day that Bob & Joe (whatever their names were) would be there in an hour, that they were his team.

4

u/KingLouis2016 9d ago

this looks like Ikea flat rate, most taskers don't like those Ikea flat rate tasks, because the pay is small and unfair, if is not Ikea just hire the highest rated with most reviews on the platform and you'll be happy

3

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago

I thought maybe there could be an issue with sometimes a task being too small to be worth the time and effort.

The first Tasker actually encouraged me to try to assemble IKEA pieces myself, and I've been doing them myself since then. I'll still need someone for when I get really big pieces, but here I am all proud of myself for not setting a Kallax on fire while trying to put in the shelves.

2

u/PickReviewsMovies 9d ago

Taskers are all different, sometimes it takes a few tries to find a good fit, but if you go too cheap or get taskers that are too new it's more likely to happen. It's also likely to happen if you're just not pleasant to work for or have unreasonable expectations. There are a lot of clients I reject just because of their wording and communication.

2

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago

I suppose it's possible I didn't sound pleasant or reasonable. I try to be friendly--I mean sure, I'm paying a person for a job, but right now I am so overwhelmed with life, from my side it's not just a task, it's somebody helping me keep myself afloat when I just can't manage everything on my plate. I've given up on TaskRabbit just for now, I think, and I'll probably ask my friend's college-age kid who's looking for odd jobs if he'd be willing to give it a go, or just do the icky part of it. If I go back to TaskRabbit, I'll try to see if I'm coming off as unpleasant.

3

u/PickReviewsMovies 9d ago

It's unnecessarily your fault I'm just saying that's a reason sometimes personally that I reject jobs, and then there are certain phrases you can say that are harmless but are kind of red flags at the same time.

Like if you say "should take an hour" that's a red flag because a lot of people expect a crazy amount of stuff to get done within 1 hour but then sometimes some people really do have something that just takes an hour, regardless if I read the phrase "should take an hour" in the task details I'm automatically more wary. So sometimes it's just a communication/perception issue.

Also it's just summer and summer is crazy, a lot of people right now are biting off more than they can chew and just taking more jobs than they can handle.

2

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago

I did actually say something like “really short, should take an hour.” I was hoping that would be a plus, get in and get out fast. It’s good to know what the red flags are, regardless—thanks for the insight from the Tasker perspective.

1

u/Common_Split_397 9d ago

What was the task?

1

u/SPQRKlio 9d ago

To clean the half bath floor and shower (fully renovated), but the issue is that a bunch of garden worms have gotten in and basically expired on the floor. I made sure to tell folks upfront that if it's too gross, no worries.