Times are tough for everyone, right? Gas and food prices are through the roof, businesses are struggling with supply chain issues and it seems like no one wants to work anymore.

I am sympathetic to the plight of these businesses, but as a consumer it is getting a little ridiculous. My problem is businesses are still taking on the workload of a 'normal' time as opposed to being up front and honest about their situation.

For example, we had called someone to get an estimate for some plumbing work in our house. The first day the guy blew us off because he had to pick up his kid at the last minute, then we got canceled on again the next day for a reason that escapes me.

He ended up showing up on a Friday afternoon, took a look at the job and said he would have an estimate for us that weekend. We told him no need to work on the weekend, early next week would be fine.

Fast forward to two weeks later when we get an email saying that they "haven't forgotten about us" and they would get the estimate over right away. It took another week before we even got our estimate.

We had also called an irrigation company for an estimate. After not hearing from anyone for a while I got a text message asking if a virtual estimate done via Google Maps would be okay. I said 'absolutely,' figuring it would save the company some time since they were probably busy.

A week later I get a text: 'Did I ever send you that estimate?" I replied 'no,' and a few minutes later he responded 'I somehow lost all of your info can you send me your address and email again?"

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The next week we got an estimate that included a $300 'price adjustment' with no explanation. When I asked what that was for, the person who responded to my email said 'our supplier is raising prices tomorrow so that adjustment reflects that.' Hmm, that seems like odd timing. Not only that, but if I would have gotten my estimate in a reasonably timely fashion it would have saved me $300!

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