Using Craigslist, to solicit a surveyor

i love craigslist for precisely this reason: it is, by far, the most democratic soup of commerce and delusion available to us.

any given ad i figure you have the exact same chance to deal with a complete lunatic as you do to negotiate a meaningful interaction.

all that said- i leave it mostly for gauging prices for stuff i want to buy or sell, stuff that tends toward hobby-type or non-livelihood type items for me personally (guitars, bikes, building materials).

> ...I really wonder if this is the best way to get a survey done....
For a person who, like most people, has never had a survey done, doesn't know anyone who has, and will probably never get another this is a very good way to find a surveyor, I think. Make the suppliers come to you. It beats letting your fingers do the walking.

Nate,

The beings that inhabit Craigslist, if they had a brain tumor would be looking for a Proctologist not a Neurosurgeon.

Naturally you quickly contacted the poster of the add to set up an on site appointment. I do not expect you to admit that here though!

Ha! That's a pretty good comparison Floyd. 🙂

What we need to remember, though, is a great deal of people now a days are "cord cutters." This means they have dumped cable TV, and their landline telephone. These people don't have a phone book to finger-walk.

Chances are, this craigslister is indeed looking for a $300 survey. But on the off chance they are simply a young person who doesn't know any better, isn't it worth a moment to respond with the company phone number? I've gotten plenty of genuine jobs from my non-phone book methods of advertising.

I lump Craiglist in with the Yellow Pages: most of the people bothering to post an ad there are looking for a low bidder on a small job. It's not the kind of work I like to pursue.

For the record, I do have a free Yellow Pages listing, but almost all of my business comes from repeat clients and referrals. If that listing went away tomorrow I wouldn't miss it.

And I might get around to putting up a web page before I retire, but that task isn't very high on the to-do list.

> Source:
>> http://littlerock.craigslist.org/wan/4622743598.html
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> Needed Land Survey Menifee, AR (Menifee)
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> I need the corners marked on some land I have in Menifee, AR. Its about 4.25 acres and I have all the documents from the county and the state for old markers. I need this done for a sell and I want to mark a fence line.
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> I really wonder if this is the best way to get a survey done. Is this how you hire a dentist, or a doctor?
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> What about how to get a Proctologist, or Gynecologist?
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> Do most of the public perceive us to be not much higher on the list of folks, than say, a Bull, to service their cow?
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> Makes me wonder what is going on in this fellow's head, and how to change it, and if it is worth it... maybe he already got a bottom feeder to do it for $ 300.00!
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> It just makes me think... what do we need to do different?
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> What do you think? So that folks won't think of Craigslist as a viable mechanism to hire surveyors... such as the above ad?
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> N

What is wrong with his post? I didn't see anything saying he wanted it cheap and he listed what information he had and what he wanted done.

Most medical people have well distinguished offices, advertise in yellow pages, affiliations with hospital, etc. In other words people know who they are and where they are. With surveyors not so much.

Craigslist is a useful tool for many things.

I have seen people post on there for wanting a lawyer to help with something. You never know when you might find a professional with some spare time that could help you out with whatever you need at a reduced cost.

You might have a point there. Especially if real surveyors called him and quoted him the real value of a land survey. If only the bottom-feeders react, it will perpetuate the belief that only $300 worth of work goes in to a $3,000 survey.

Anyway, I wouldn't blame the consumer for their mistaken thoughts on what it takes to get a survey.

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> Anyway, I wouldn't blame the consumer for their mistaken thoughts on what it takes to get a survey.

For me, it just seems like an extension of a story I heard. I worked in Chicago for a while, at O'hare Airport, and Midway Airport, doing construction staking. I learned alot. Then, my supervisor, ie, party chief, boss, (For an engineering firm)

The guy that I took the place of, had said he knew how to "Survey" and had run an inst bla bla bla. Turns out he had held a rod for a day, and thought he could wing it. My boss cornered him, and he came clean. Admitted that he had thought surveying (const staking) was all simple....

And, thus assumed.... and assumed.

I occasionally meet somebody of that persuasion, and they want fast, simple and cheap. IT's the surveyors that are of this persuasion, that need a slap!

🙂

N

I have no problem with this Craigslist post. It seems unlikely to work...but there are a lot of surveyors working out of their garages, making things work, and I bet they read craigslist all the time.

Hey now, Craigslist has its uses. I found my wife there.

I like Craigslist too. I bought a Weatherguard drawer unit for my current work truck off of it, and I just purchased a bedslide this past weekend for the new work truck.

It has it's uses for stuff like this.

🙂 OK, ok, ok !

Just trying to be safe, and not be to particular....

Craigslist. A good place to buy a motorcycle, as it is usually not as far away as ebay.

And, a good place to check market values.

Say, I could use a good 24' party barge, and about 2 months off!

🙂

N

Oh yea, party at Nate's!!!!