Turned out to be a bigger job than I expected. A tree root had made its home inside and created a top soil layer that was risking the integrity of the entire tank.
The guy, must have been early 20's, spends his evening inside cleaning everything out.
I have nothing better to do and I'm from a place where we don't have septic, so this is a new thing for me. I'm just hanging out the whole time as a result.
During the process we're talking and I ask him how much he makes. He says $18/hr.
I ask “So out of however much this costs, you're going to walk away with…checks my phone clock…60 bucks?”
He says “Yeah, probably.”
I frown “And all the company does is provide you the truck?”
The guy shrugs, “Yeah pretty much.”
I let him work. Eventually he's done, my lawn is a bit fucked up, but I don't give a shit about stuff like that, despite living in a nice suburb.
The guy pulls out a fancy company provided iPad and tells me it's going to be about a $1,200 service.
I tell him “How about this, you charge me for a regular service (like $200 or something) and then I pay YOU $500?”
The guy chuckles and holds out the iPad for me to sign with. I say “No, I'm serious, I'll either zelle you the money, cash app, whatever. I'll go to an atm nearby before you leave.”
He shakes his head, “Nah, I like to keep it all above board.”
I frown again, “$700, you did the work, you deserve to profit the most from it.”
The guy laughs again. I shrug “What about a grand? You get the full amount minus what you charge through the company to keep it above board. You tell em you had stomach trouble after the job which kept you on the road for a while.”
In the end, the guy turns me down. I recognize the ideal; he's got integrity, and it's been used against him to make him think that his situation is acceptable.
After spending 3-4 hours digging through my family's shit water.
So I pay the full $1,200 and let him go about his day.
I really wish he'd taken me up on the offer. I honestly personally don't care about the money, I just care who it's going to.