Hiring a jew vs gentile

amother

Mon, Aug 24 2020, 10:55 am

I live in-town. I've always tried to give business to frum people. Lately I've noticed that gentiles are so much cheaper! Installing a ceiling fan is $500 vs $250. The plumber is cheaper, the handyman is cheaper, the roofer is cheaper. And by cheaper I mean considerably cheaper. I don't blame the frum guy. He's not trying to rip me off. He just has the same crazy bill I do. His tuitions are insane, he bought a house in a in-town expensive neighborhood, he sends his kids to summer camp, kosher food is expensive, simchas.... but at the same time I realize the gentiles are so much cheaper. I'm not sure what to do. I'd really rather give the parnassah to the frum guy, but what if he's 40% more expensive?

amother

Mustard

Mon, Aug 24 2020, 11:10 am

If two people give me a quote and the quotes are equal, or close enough, of course I'll give the frum guy my business. But if it's considerably higher for the same quality work? No way. I want to help my fellow jews out, but I'm not running a charity organization here. I'm not in a financial position to get ripped off to be nice.
It's very irksome when you question a Jewish worker about why he is charging 2x as much and his answer is not about him doing a better job but rather about him having more bills to pay. Um, yeah, but I have bills to pay too and if I agree to be overcharged all the time who will pay mine?

naturalmom5

Mon, Aug 24 2020, 11:27 am

This is really a question for your rov , not a bunch of cyber yentas
I did hear in a shiur once, that up to 10% you should mekayim vhazakta bo and go to a yeed
But a drastic difference that will effect your budget you go to who is cheaper and more reliable

I know in Lakewood , many service professionals have attitudes and you can wait weeks for them so the whole thing isnt nogea

amother

Copper

Mon, Aug 24 2020, 11:48 am

make sure you are comparing apples to apples. are the parts the same companies, is it guaranteed for a certain around of time etc

FranticFrummie

Mon, Aug 24 2020, 12:31 pm

In Israel, it's a known fact that Anglos do a better job, and are more fair. The quote they give will not change when the work is done.

Do you really want Arabs in your house? I've heard stories of the workers just making themselves at home on your sofa, while they insist you pay them crazy amounts in "tips" that were not agreed to in advance. They won't budge, and your only recourse is to either pay them, or call the police.

Arab cleaning ladies can get the layout of your home, know your schedule, and know when to let all of her cousins in to take everything you own.

Finding a Jewish cleaning lady is nearly impossible, but there are Xian ladies who will clean. They charge the maximum rate because they know that nobody wants an Arab cleaning lady.

Reality

Mon, Aug 24 2020, 12:38 pm

I think you can't generalize. I've hired both non jews and jews to do a lot of work around my house. It depends on the person. Plenty of times the jewish workers were similarly priced to the non jews.

In general, I prefer to hire frum.

Elfrida

Mon, Aug 24 2020, 12:46 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

The third option is avoda Ivri. There are jewish construction companies and handymen who are Israeli rather than Anglo. They also charge more than the Arabs, but they normally do a competent job. Some yishuvim will only hire avoda Ivri.

The situation in Israel is rather different though, and not really comparable to chutz l'aretz.

Last edited by Elfrida on Mon, Aug 24 2020, 1:34 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Powderblue

Mon, Aug 24 2020, 1:03 pm

When talking about giving parnossa to a yid, dh likes to say, I'm giving parnossa to myself by saving a considerable amount of money... that also counts for something.
Anyway, irl, I find it's very individual and depends on the type of work. I'll never make a blanket statement of "I only hire jews, or, I only hire non jews they're so much cheaper".
I've had instances in both ways. One where the Jewish guy was way better and one where the Non Jewish guy was better.
So really, evaluate each situation individually.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Aug 25 2020, 8:36 am

Elfrida wrote:

Right, I forgot to mention that.

The thing is, I need to hire Anglos because my Hebrew isn't good enough to explain what I need in detail. I take responsibility for that, and don't blame the company for not being able to understand me. If the company has at least one English speaker on the crew, I will definitely hire them, and I have in the past.