Most online retailers like Wayfair, Ashley, and Walmart offer an option to book professional installation at the point of sale. When you order furniture or TVs, there is often a link to add professional installation for an additional charge.
It’s easy and convenient to add the installation for your TV or assembly for your furniture, playground or pergola at checkout, but the system isn’t perfect.
You can save time and headaches by hiring a local handyman directly.
Handyman Apps
Most online retailers will book your appointment through third-party handyman apps like Task Rabbit or Angi. Independent workers will see the appointment in the app on their end and show up as scheduled to do the work.
Most of the time, customers are unaware of this structure. They’re just expecting an employee from the online retailer to show up.
Because there are so many parties involved, issues sometimes arise. Sometimes the appointment is scheduled before the your product has arrived. Other times, the appointment is double booked and more than one installer will show up, causing an awkward situation at your home.
When scheduling issues arise, you’ll have to get in touch with someone to get it all sorted. It can be difficult finding out which company will make it right and they usually only correspond by email.
Another issue you may run into is having your appointment repeatedly rescheduled if there aren’t any installers available, or willing, to take your appointment.
Why Wouldn’t an Installer Want the Job?
In a word, pay. Well, it’s not just about the pay. It’s also about the time allotted to do the job.
Many of the appointments on the handyman apps just don’t pay well enough for an installer (a good installer) to want to do. They also can’t be done in the scheduled timeframe.
Example
One popular online retailer listed a Belmeade L-shaped Executive Desk, priced at $730. It’s large and has a lot of parts. Installation was priced at $94.99. Not a bad price for professional assembly.
On the other end of that, through the app, installers will see an appointment for 1.5 hours that pays $28.43.
The reality is this desk will take a minimum of 2 and possibly more than 3 hours to build. You can do the math.
Another booking on the same app offered $75 to install 3 ceiling fans in two hours.
Experienced handymen will know these bookings are unrealistic and will not bother with them. Others may show up and ask you to book more time through the app, which will cost you more money at the last minute.
It’s just another awkward situation created by booking installation at the point of sale.
What Should I do Instead?
The win-win scenario here is to order your product online and
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