I told him I was willing to spend up to $10,000 on the project
If you want to know somebody’s true intentions, give them the opportunity to take advantage of you. Knowingly offer yourself up to them on a platter, and see if they take the bait or make an honest correction. This is what I have been doing with my home service professionals for over a decade now. When I moved out of my parents house, I was immediately on my own trying to figure out adult living. I found that many times I got myself into trouble by being a small, young female. Many service professionals are older, burly men who know a thing or two about taking advantage of someone full of naivete. Unfortunately, this equipped me with a healthy sense of distrust and a head full of sneaky plans to figure out who I could turn to in a time of need. I found, the easiest way to determine if a certified service professional is trying to take me for a ride is to offer them way more money than necessary. For instance, when my air conditioning system recently needed a quick seasonal tune up, I called out a brand new Heating and Cooling technician. To see if he was trustworthy, I really dramatized my indoor air quality conundrum. I told the technician that my indoor air handling appliances all needed to be fully upgraded and replaced. I said there had been uneven hot and cold temperatures throughout my house. Even though the air conditioning system with two years old, I wanted a full replacement. I told him I was willing to spend up to $10,000 on the project. Luckily for everyone, the technician was extremely honest with me. He told me to calm down, let him service the AC unit, and we would re-evaluate air quality afterwards. I think I like this one.