Adventists

[Woody]

When you need to hire someone ... Do you try to go to an Adventist .. OR do you try to avoid hiring an Adventist?

Personally ... I try to run the other way from Adventists. Frequently ... I've had poor quality and high prices. I am sure this is anocdotal experiences that should not count. But I was curious about your experiences with Adventist professionals ... or nonprofessionals.

Maybe it is conflict of interest that creates the problems. Perhaps I should require ONLY those with positive experiences to counter my poor experiences. But I am curious as to the overall view that people have of hiring SDAs.

If I knew how ... this might be a good poll questions. To hire or not to hire ...

[Amelia]

I've never asked the religiosity of the services I've contracted. Although some sport the fish symbol in their ads.

[Woody]

Thanks Amelia. I think that is a good way to do it. I need to follow your example. But, I have usually been active in the churches that I've belonged and the word gets out as to what you do and what you need done.

Once when selling my house ... I offered it to one of the SDA realtors in our church. That was a mistake. When you know of professionals in your church ... and they know for instance that you need to sell your house etc. it is kinda hard to avoid not knowing the "religiosity" of those you work with.

But I agree with your idea of trying to not know.

[carolaa]

Wow, I couldn't agree with you more about running the other way. No doubt there are many honest, ethical, competent Adventist business people, but I have been very disappointed on several occasions. I think, even if they are good, it is very tempting for them to put you on the back burner, assuming you will not give them a hard time. I did have a SDA mechanic for several years who was very good. Overall, I'm not sure if SDAs are worse than the general public - I actually kind of doubt it, but it can be so much more awkward when things go bad.

I saw a church once that was ready to hire a member to be contractor for a building project, even though his work was shoddy and his methods illegal - just because they didn't want his wife's feelings to be hurt. Fortunately, God brought a pastor there who was experienced in construction and was able to put a stop to it.

[carolaa]

When you know of professionals in your church ... and they know for instance that you need to sell your house etc. it is kinda hard to avoid not knowing the "religiosity" of those you work with.

Oh, I know, it's so hard when they come to you, knowing that you have a need for what they do. You don't want to use them, but you don't want to hurt their feelings. Actually, I have made it one of my personal rules to not use people who come to me offering their services. That's usually a bad sign. All the ones I can remember who approached me first were big disappointments. But I had a great experience with an SDA mechanic, realtor, and attorney that I approached; they did not approach me. Actually, the attorney was hesitant to take on an SDA client! So the reverse can be true.

[Woody]

Thanks for sharing your experience Carolaa.

Like I say ... there is a conflict of interest that creates problems when we hire within the family.

I bring this up because our church just had to hire some work out ... and the board had to wrestle with this issue. Like your experience ... the felt they had to hire the Adventist.

Since this is a public forum ... I will not go into all the details of the issues. But it did make me think of the troubles we get ourselves into just for the sake of hiring within the family.

[Lil Star]

general post.

My philosophy is NEVER hire family, or friends. Whether they are church friends or church families or not. It will almost always turn out badly. Keep personal lives and professional lives separate. It could lead to very different endings if you combine the two. You may end up not having the friend or the family may get mad. Would you want either? In my opinion if you keep them separate then you will have them always, unless something unforeseen happens.

[Amelia]

It's like following the "never date within your workplace" rule. Maybe better off not using services of those within the church just in case something goes wrong. Makes everyone uncomfortable later.

[carolaa]

Oh, church boards can do the dumbest things. This doesn't have anything to do with hiring an Adventist, but another church I was in had used a contractor for several remodeling projects. He did great work for a fair price. But then the board decided they needed to get 3 estimates, which isn't a bad idea, but they hired a cheaper guy and I think it took 6 months to remodel a tiny bathroom just off the mothers' room. The mothers and everyone else were mad before it was over. Actually, they ended up firing that crew and bringing the previous guy back to finish the job. I don't know what his religion was, but he was impressively gracious about it. So don't mess with a good thing!

[Nan]

This can work both ways.

In previous years my then husband and I ran a family medical practice in a certain city, and many of the local Adventists would come for treatment. It was noted that many expected to be fitted in, however many others were waiting, and that some would decide it was time for a long chat on nonmedical matters, even if there was a waiting room full of patients.

Kind of "we are SDA, we deserve special treatment".

[Liz]

We have a computer business. If I had a dime for everytime one of the congregation would *hire* us, only to ask us to do it for free and they would <wink, wink> advertise for us; we would be rich. The pastor and his wife were the absolute worst.

We had to stop doing any business with the church members period. They just about put us out of business doing us this way.

Like someone else said, we don't do business with family, friends or church members. That includes us hiring them.

[Bravus]

Perhaps we do need a few more sermons on 'let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven'.

And before we get into another long theological dispute, let me substitute 'good work' for 'good works'. Imagine if SDAs become known throughout the community as 'those people who do good work'. What a witness!

[olger]

Thanks. We have many good Adventist tradesmen in Ohio.

[CyberGuy]

It is unfortunate but adventists tend to take advantage of other adventists when it comes to business. Adventists many times demand or expect a huge discount from a fellow SDA than they would from a Non SDA.

My step son did work for the church and he was a poor student and when he presented the bill the church administrator acted surprised and said he thought this would have been a missionary project. That really did not go over well withy my step son and he explained he had bills to pay as well and the software he used to do the graphics designing for the church was not cheap.

In Any case my step son also is hesitant to do work for the church again unless payment is understood before he starts the project.

[olger]

Defining the terms of payment is vital before doing business with anybody. Owning my own company for 24-years has taught me that at least. We've done a million or more for Adventists and it has been a good experience. Wish your son the best,

olger

[Gerr]

Because of experiences like yours, I go out of my way to go the second mile for SDAs or friends and neighbors that have sought my services.

Gerry

[Woody]

I appreciate your comment I guess. But in another way ... I am sorry to hear this. I would hope you could treat ALL the same way. But I can understand your concern. It is just a big conflict. And that is why I think it is best to avoid the conflict and just not do business with SDAs particularly if they attend my church.

I do realize that the business person couldn't do that but the customer could.

[fccool]

I think the quality of work varies from person to person. I myself would like to believe that Christians are harder working because they do have a standard to live up to, but that's not always the case. But then again, all I can have control over... is my actions.

But you are right, I feel like my talents are abused at times without any compensation in return as people expect me to do things for them for free. Sometimes, things that cost 1000s of dollars to do. And it's kind of sad people do not understand how much work and resources it takes to do certain things, and then they are very surprised if you expect to be paid, at least partially to cover the equipment usage and some basic project costs.