Daily Deals For Contractors-Shitty Deals Where No One Wins

So a few weeks ago I posted a daily deals offer I got from Living Social in the home improvement space and how crappy I thought the deal was for all involved. Well, yesterday I got another one…

And it’s worse!

Here’s the short story. If I want a room painted, there is a company willing to drop their pants to the tune of $95 a room from their usual price of $250. That’s a fantastic 62% savings.

But it gets worser! (My site, my English!)

In the fine print, I found a number of potential landmines for the contractor, the client and even the Living Social:

1. Limit 1 Voucher per household-Great if you have just one room to paint. But that’s rare. So the contractor is hoping for an up sell. Maybe he’ll get it, maybe he won’t. Either way he’s going to drive a work truck or van up to 20 miles (see below) to find out. Good thing gas is getting cheaper!

2. Client PROVIDES THEIR OWN PAINT! What the hell is that? Really? Oh, wait, it gets better, the homeowner get’s charged more if it is dark paint…awesome.

3. I can live with an up charge for larger rooms, but I have painted my fair share of rooms, and nothing blows more than painting trim and you guessed it, not included in the $95.

4. This contractor is willing to schlep 20 miles for a potential $95 payday. Can you say another “sell it at a lose and make it up on volume” dead-end sales tactic?

5. Available for use beginning the day after purchase-Here’s the problem with this one. Cuz had 25 sold when I wrote this, I bet all 25 people wanted their rooms painted this week. Good luck with that scheduling nightmare!

In the end, I think this is another contractor who is going to get screwed, and the only people making money on this deal is Amazon and Living Social.

I really am feeling an Angie’s List type rant coming on….