I am beyond frustrated right now, and people need to hear this so they don't get put in the same position.
We had a snake at our house, so I first tried calling the fire department. They were closed and told me to call 911. I didn't feel great about calling 911 for that, so I Googled who to call and this guy popped up.
When I called him, I was explaining the situation and literally trying to figure out what I should even do. I said something along the lines of, "We have a snake and we've never had one before, I'm not sure if I should be calling the fire department..."
Before I could even finish my sentence, he cut me off and told me I had called the right person, that he's a "snake guy," and that he could be there in 30 minutes.
He asked for my address, told me he was turning around, and said he'd come take care of it no problem.
At NO point during that call did he mention a fee. Not once. No ballpark. No heads up. Nothing.
He shows up, walks up to the house, still says nothing about pricing. Sees the situation, still nothing. Goes and gets the snake, bags it up, and STILL says nothing.
Then AFTER the job is completely done, snake is secured, situation handled, he says, "How would you like to handle payment?"
Even then, he doesn't say the amount.
So now we're standing there thinking okay, maybe it's something reasonable, and THEN we find out it's $160.
At that point, what are we supposed to do? He already has the snake. The job is already done. We were completely backed into a corner with zero opportunity to make an informed decision.
And let me be very clear, because this matters: I do NOT have a problem paying for a service. Not even a little bit. I respect people running a business and charging for their time.
What I DO have a problem with is the complete lack of transparency.
There were SO many opportunities for him to simply say:
"Hey, just so you know, this is going to be over $100."
That's it. That's all it would have taken.
On the phone.
When confirming the address.
When pulling up.
When seeing the snake.
Before picking it up.
Before bagging it.
Even when asking for payment.
Not once.
So while we're paying, I calmly tell him, "Hey, it would have been nice to have a heads up on the cost."
Instead of acknowledging that, he immediately starts arguing with me.
He tells me this is a business and that if he did that, he'd be "living under a bridge."
I told him I'm not arguing that he shouldn't charge. I literally said I have no issue with a fee. My issue is that there was zero communication about it.
Then he starts going off about how the fire department would just throw the snake into the wash and it would come back and kill my dogs, and that he "handled it properly."
I told him I don't care about any of that. That's not the point. The point is we were never given a choice because we were never told the price.
And he keeps pushing back saying, "Well you should care about those things."
No. What I should have been given is basic, honest communication so I could decide what I wanted to do.
If I had known it was $160, I may have made a different decision. I may have called the fire department. I may have waited. I may have explored other options.
But I didn't get that chance, because he waited until after the job was done to say anything about payment.
That is not just poor communication. That feels like a complete bait and switch.
There is also ZERO mention anywhere on his page or website about any type of fee. Not even a "service charges may apply" or "starting at" or anything. Nothing to indicate that you're about to be charged that kind of money.
He had every opportunity to be upfront, and he chose not to.
And that's the part that makes this feel gross.
Again, I am not mad about paying for a service.
I am mad that we were never given the information needed to make a decision before being locked into it.
People deserve honesty before the work is done, not after when they have no choice.
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