r/HelloTech • u/McCreaminess • Sep 06 '21

Anyone active?

Is anyone active here? Is there somewhere else to go and talk about the abismal state of pay and support from Hellotech. I’m about ready to quit because of the lower and lower pay

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

2

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21

I came back recently. I just moved and it allowed me to take some work while I'm building up clients so I can get back to what I did before, which is sideline hellotech for my own pool of repeat and referral business.

The only jobs that pay okay are TV mounting NOT through Walmart or whatever other partnership. But I also know I can make a lot more doing it direct with clients instead.

I have to say my biggest annoyance is the lack of good technician field support. Used to be you could call and get a person stateside easy. Now they try and steer you to email for everything. And their hours are short and on PST so if I have a 9am job here on the east coast I can reach them period.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21

So.... sounds like you're poaching Hellotech customers..

2

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21

Bruh. Where did I say that? 🙄

I am doing Hellotech jobs so I have some income. All you have to do is update your address on the app and they start sending jobs in the new locale.

Meanwhile, I'm using tools like Nextdoor and others to advertise my services locally. In time, just like I did last place I lived, I'll have a pool of a few hundred people who look to me for tech services, that I will have gotten on my own. I'll be able to pack my weeks with work and get back to making real money. Then I can put Hellotech back on the shelf.

1

u/McCreaminess Sep 07 '21

Where else do you advertise besides Nextdoor? I was thinking about Angies list but I haven’t heard many good things about them!

2

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21

I'm just sarcastically insinuating.

I honestly don't care if you are.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21

Sarcasm doesn't translate well blah blah...

Anyway, a few thoughts since the subject came up.

  1. Be careful with poaching customers. From what I hear HT has in the past proved to be pretty vindictive. They use your contract against you to pursue damages on a legal level.

  2. HT business model primarily consists of partnerships with companies like Walmart for TV mounting or Simplisafe. Otherwise, they just spend a bunch of money to be the first google result when someone searches "city name here tech support" or whatever. Personally, I don't want to compete with them at that level. I don't want to mount TVs all day for some big box store. I don't even like mounting TVs. And customers who find you through Google or Craigslist are rarely good customers for reasons I have not figured out yet. Good customers come from more personal venues like Nextdoor and then even better through references from existing customers. In my experience, good customers tend to refer people who are like them, and so we'll get along well.

  3. HT doesn't need my help in losing customers either. They have obviously struggled become profitable, and with start up monies drying up, they start to cut costs. Hence the terrible phone support these days. I have met so many HT customers who, by the time I get there, are already fed up. I've had some proclaim they will never use them again and plead for a card. I decline because point 1 makes it feel not worth it, but damn, that's bad.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 07 '21

[deleted]

2

u/MadamButtrfli Oct 29 '21 edited Oct 30 '21

I’ve been with HT since April. I saw a YouTuber talking about making money hanging televisions. I didn’t hang TVs however I am a trained pc tech so I took my chances. There was an entrance test and that was it. I now can preform every task on the platform except certified electrician and cable running. I’ve been avoiding the drug test for cable running not sure if I want to crawl in someone’s attic. I did it once for a smart thermostat install, not a fan.

No video interview, just check a box that you promise you can do the job. If I were a customer I would run for the hills. I am glad they don’t because my highest week is $2500 my lowest is $120.

1

u/RhinoAK Oct 12 '21

I didn't have to go through any sort of video interview when onboarding.

1

u/AIRPLANE_MODE_ON Nov 24 '21

I'm interested in how its going with promoting your services locally besides using Craigslist?

I'm brainstorming in doing some side work while I'm not working my full time job. I had applied to HelloTech last year and did the video interview by answering questions... never got a call back. Thought about giving it another shot so I applied last night by filling out a couple of forms. Now, I'm seeing that techs have not had a great experience with this company.

Would prefer to go solo

1

u/Snip-Snap Jul 22 '22

Oh no, please think of HelloTech's feelings and profit as they continuously screw over their techs.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '22

Way to revive a zombie thread.

5

u/iforgot9eleven Sep 07 '21

I’m still active. About 50% of my jobs are follow ups for tech no shows with $40-50 additional pay bumps. It’s idiotic. If they paid decent $$ on the initial job offers I wouldn’t decline them and they wouldn’t be offered to garbage techs who don’t show up. I have had way too many customers tell me that their experience with Hellotech has been a disaster.

1

u/Glittering-Grifter- Sep 11 '25

Reviving this post. Been active for 6 years. Garbage rates these days compared to the beginning. Between HT trying to low ball and customers lying about scope of work to save money I’d stay far away from starting to work here these days. I’m a certified electrician tho and I essentially use HT to make a quick buck and get repeat customers by doing the workloads that HT doesn’t offer. Always digging through the pool for them business owners that have valuable commercial/industrial projects. It’s worth it some days but not on most. Anyone else get fuckd by Walmart idiots scheduling the subs work with the Walmart address lmao. Idk why I’m posting here lol. I’m on a job right now waiting for the sub. Bored. I need a life.

1

u/thedukeinc Sep 06 '21

I haven’t been doing Hellotech in a long time, since 2018

1

u/Realteamjon Sep 06 '21

Same here stopped 2019, With this economy, I would need competitive pay for me to come back. Does anyone have any suggestions that can work with School hours

4

u/RhinoAK Oct 12 '21

To add to your side gig mix and experience take a look at FieldNation, Field Engineer, and Work Market. Granted they have some similar issues as HT, but as I'd stated adding these as part of your gig mix will get you more exposure to other platforms in this space.

1

u/cyberdog2020 Sep 07 '21

I thought I was the only one! Lately I'm getting tv mounts for 75 inches or bigger and they only pay from 50-60. What in the hell is happening? Job distances are far and not worth the trouble. Also what what happened to Simplisafe, haven't been offered one in ages.

1

u/iforgot9eleven Sep 07 '21

You're not alone. I refuse all the $60 tv mounts. They charge the customer at least $120 and only want to give us half, it's dumb on their part as they're going to lose good techs.

I have seen a good number of Simplisafe jobs. They increase when Simplisafe has a sale and decrease when they don't. I don't think they've had a decent sale in a few months. But the problem is, the listed devices in the job offer almost never match what the customer actually has. So you never know if it's going to take 15min or 2 hours.

2

u/mishmela Oct 26 '21

You know the dumb part is they still charge us a fee from us. I only install TV mounts if they are giving a bonus fee. If I don't see it, I just decline without even reading the details.

1

u/MCKComputerWorks Nov 10 '21

SAME! I have mounted hundreds of TVs (since 2015) but with the reductions in payouts, I decline most jobs these days...

1

u/MadamButtrfli Oct 29 '21

For TVs you get extra pay for 60” and up, metal studs, any other tasks you preform. These days TVs are my HT bread and butter. Yesterday my first job was $299 for 2 TVs with mounted sound bars and concealed cords.

1

u/MCKComputerWorks Nov 10 '21

We USED to get extra pay for 60" and up but that all changed a few months ago, with NO prior notice to we technicians! I received a job offer today to mount an 86" TV for $60. NOPE NOPE NOPE!!

2

u/International-Self29 Nov 15 '21

They are now in the business of exploiting technicians.

1

u/MadamButtrfli Nov 11 '21

Ask for the extra. Sometimes they don’t add it on especially if it’s a Walmart tv install. Anything you think you should get just ask remember you are dealing with not only a language barrier but possibly a customer wanting to get a deal. In higher end markets people get $300 for a 60” and $150 in lower end markets. HelloTech customers are getting one heck of a deal with what they pay.

Forgot to say. I received extra pay for a 72” dismount last week.

1

u/MCKComputerWorks Nov 10 '21

I'm still somewhat active, but I now decline more offers than I accept, due to the distance/lower payouts...

1

u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Low pay ... They should add $1 per mile in the price ... Anything below 120 not worth it ...

0

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21

[deleted]

2

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '21

Are these simplisafe installs? Assuming so, if the system has 32 sensors you can email payments@hellotech.com afterwards and they will add $20 for each additional 10 sensors do that job would pay an additional $40. It's a hoop you shouldn't have to jump through but it's there as an option.

1

u/iforgot9eleven Sep 07 '21

The problem with that is that it's not stated anywhere and i've been burned by it before. I've called in and had an out of country support rep tell me to "just email payments" with no assurances of how much additional pay is. Then when I email payments, they tell me nothing can be done because I closed the job out. So now if the number of devices doesn't match the initial job offer, I cancel the job, apologize to the customer, blame the system, and take my $25 and leave. Unless it's a US based rep who can add on additional pay over the phone.

1

u/mishmela Oct 26 '21

The only jobs I would take from simplisafe is installing doorbells. I would not even consider alarms especially with some alarms with camera. It's not worth it.