I blame the Internet and Government

[Crazy Dazz]

So sick of whingers who want something for nothing

I used to be in Professional Practice.
Years of training, post graduate qualifications, ongoing professional development, and several decades worth of collective expertise, but people would expect us to give out free advice.
Then come tax time, they bring some pile of chicken scratchings and proclaim "see, I've done most of the work myself, all you need to do is lodge it."
Like me rolling a shell into a mechanic, with the engine in pieces in the boot, and saying "I've already done most of the work, just need you to finish it off."

And then, to top it all off, think we should only charge $50 an hour because we should work for peanuts, have no overheads, and all the ancillary crap done by support staff should be free.

Not to mention, that nomatter how little they agree to pay, I am still obligated (legally, ethically, professionally, and institutionally) to complete the work to the required standard.

And here's the thing. We had clients who were large enough to employ part-time bookkeepers, and even those large enough to have full-time accounting staff, and in those cases literally all we did was dispense current tax advice, make a few tax adjustments and lodge returns. The irony was that those clients understood the costs and were happy to pay.

In part, I blame the government. We've allowed ourselves to be sucked into this ludicrous situation where we give the biggest portion of our money to the government, who then wastes most of it, but in return gives us lots of stuff for "free." We're so used to free school, free doctors, and heavily subsidised everything else, that we get completely gob-smacked when actually expected to pay for a service.

The internet is also a problem. In so far as how it warps peoples attitudes.
There's plenty of free advice out there, and if you have a problem with your car there's a bunch of us prepared to help with troubleshooting. And that's great, more power to everyone. I'm happy to hand out free advice, including tax advice, because its nolonger what I do for a crust, and I do it in my free time.
But FFS understand the difference between forums and the Real World. Don't take your car to a workshop and expect a mechanic to diagnose your problem for free.
Yes there are plenty of guides on "how to change your X" and if you have the tools and the ability to follow the guide, you can DIY for the cost of parts. If you can't, don't expect a professional to do it for next to nothing.

If you need a flu-shot, you can go to the pharmacy and get it done for $9. If you need brain-surgery, you will need someone a good deal more qualified.
So yes, if you want to take your car to a nice shiny Dealership, with free cappuccino and loan car, for every ailment, then expect to pay top dollar.

And whilst on a similar subject: If you're going to DIY and want cheap parts, then sure you can find everything cheaper on eBay or Alibaba. You can buy from a guy in China, with negligible overheads, generally no stock, no inventory costs, no gst, no warranty, and it will get here in a month or so. If you expect your mechanic to provide a part on demand, DON'T expect it to be the same price.
Also understand that whilst yes, most things are "made in China" these days, there's still a huge variance in quality. If you want genuine parts, or even a recognised "brand name" that you can return for a replacement if it fails inside a couple of years, then be prepared to pay more than for "Good Tek Happy Brand."

[Beastie]

You having a bad day today mate?

[SSD-85]

[Trump]

C'mon Dazz, you can tell me who the bad man was

[DJM83]

Thread of the year.

[SSD-85]

Originally Posted by DJM83

Thread of the year.

I dunno. Has to contend with that "other thread"....

We have a list.

[mik]

Everyone expects stuff for nothing these days , if you sell something of good value that is worth way more than what your asking , the turkeys will still try and beat you down till its almost free ,
its the same for those supplying services , they do a good days work and dudes paying the bill still only want to pay $ 4.00 dollars an hour .
On rare occasions i get someone in for a job , like last year the hot water service carked it , the plumber i arranged to come and deal with the problem the day before , turned up on time , did a good job replacing the unit and did it in a timely manner .
Then too boot , i did not think he asked enough for the job i thanked him for his good work and give an extra $ 50 for a counter lunch .
sometimes i see friends and relatives sooking about having to pay x amount for a job on their car , they clearly have no idea what is involved in the job and the value of someone that knows what they are doing and that skilled workers deserve to get paid enough to make some coin instead living in poverty.

[Junkyard-Dog]

I just don't waste my time worrying about things I can't change. It works out just fine for me.

[Itsme]

Just give the customer a quote & move on, simple when you think of it.

Next person!!!

[Sar4890]

just for the record how much is fair for someone to do your tax i know mine takes about 15 minutes so as you can imagine its very simple

[blueoval]

I rate this rant a 9/10!!!! Well done Dazz.

On a serious note though, I get charged by my CA 2k per annum for company compliance costs including my own personal tax return. This is for a trust setup and using Xero accounting software. While it is a steep cost to pay, I can see the expertise involved in doing what my CA does. It's not easy and while he tries to explain to me what he is doing in lamens terms, I look at him sometimes as if he has two heads and is speaking another language completely. So I pay without arguing and know that my accounts are in good hands.

When it comes to what I charge as a drafter, I just will not discount my rates just because some school leaver come wannabe architect can do it for 25% of the cost. If you want to take that risk, be my guest, just do not insult my intelligence and experience because you are too much of a tight wad to dig deeper in getting better professional advice and service.

[mike_nofx]

Why are you whinging about something you "used to" do?

So what do you do now, make tin foil and armadillo helmets to protect you from the gubbamint and innanet? You know they're controlling you with those flu shots right?

[mr smith]

Yup, Australians. Think they deserve to be paid $100 an hour for just turning up, but want to pay every one else $10 an hour.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by mike_nofx

Why are you whinging about something you "used to" do?

No, I'm whinging about the constant stream of whingers complaining about having to pay for things. Doesn't matter where you go, whether its here, or people on the sports forums complaining because they have to pay $50 for little Johnny to play, or the bulk of posts on Whirlpool.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

No, I'm whinging about the constant stream of whingers complaining about having to pay for things. Doesn't matter where you go, whether its here, or people on the sports forums complaining because they have to pay $50 for little Johnny to play, or the bulk of posts on Whirlpool.

Oh I like this "whinger whinging about whingers"

[xr6-FTW]

Oh mate I come across this **** often where I work at bmw spare parts, I just started as a first job. You get some real ungrateful ****s who come In demanding and dictating what price they should be paying. For example some bloke wanted these spark plugs that were 35ea for 20 bucks ea. Despite my mate working helping him (I don't deal with the phones or people yet, rather not lol) he basically offered them for unit price of 23 bucks ea, any less the company had to pay for. Basically told him to **** off because hes like I can get it for 20 and paying 3 bucks extra each was not good enough. I hate people who are afraid to part with money, that bloke inlartocular but also both my uncles are cheap skates and my cousins are following there parents which really irritates me.