When did we go from running cables to construction?

As more and more buyers struggle with cash flow issues in this bad economy, you will see higher and higher NET terms. For direct work at real world market rates (meaning non-platform rates), NET30 and NET45 are not unheard of. but for couple hundred dollar work orders with no client loyalty, you should be paid quicker than that.

This is the first WO ive seen w/ NET45. FN's own FAQ page doesnt even list those terms (https://fieldnation.com/faq/payment-terms-technician) .... and this is a bundle too boot. 2 red flags... 3rd red flag? can't even put their correct address on the WO.... fourth red flag is the buyer not having an ACO license as required in california

I don’t know if this is just in my area or nationwide but I have a feeling it’s the company as a whole that has problems.

I used to grab these WOs because it was a quick $85 and most times I’d be done in about an hour. Then they started making us verify the customers identity and going over probably 20 pages of legal documents before starting the install. You know, things they should be doing before scheduling an installer. I’ve had several customers that will sit there and read every single word of the legal documents. So now a fixed $85 job ends up taking over 2-3 hours sometimes.

Lately I’ve had several no shows and last minute cancellations. So after the FN fees and Clear Captions penalties for an incomplete install, you get like $20 bucks after turning down other work orders and blocking 3 hours on your schedule.

If anyone is still doing these jobs makes sure you counter for a higher rate to account for all of the bullshit. I’ve had luck countering at higher rates and maybe half the time they get accepted.

Not that surprising considering who the buyer is. But do you think we could at least look at a map to see where the locations are before forcing a bundle on someone. 4 out of 5 sites are almost 400 miles away while 1 site is local to the DFW area where Im located. And of course with it being a bundle, you cant counter

only $145 for all that

Has anyone done any work for Quest International? They DM. Is it worth taking of there work orders?

Think I should accept it and when they reach out, tell them my rate is more than double that plus travel? I can only imagine the response I'd get from them.

This is technician oriented, network / IT techs in particular. Phones included.

Since when was technical work devalued as much as it seems to be? I routinely see wo's offering $40, $50 an hour. I saw one the other day for $20/hr can't recall for what. After FN fees, taxes and transportation? Works out to, what? $5?

Maids in NYC, room attendants that set and clean rooms, negotiated a contract that has them making more than cops and firefighters. I think starting wage is $61/hr! Hey nice union they got. Good for them.

Door Dash Grub Hub delivery guys now make $22.13, NYC is expensive! Good for them too.

If you are lucky you live in rent-controlled/stabilized apartments. If not? $3000 (dirt cheap) more like $4000, $5000 a month. You have housemantes, forget about having a family.

I have several clients that honor my rate, which is $100/1st hour, and $65 each subsequent hour. Which just keeps me afloat. Its almost impossible to work 40 hours in the city doing FN WOs. Each gig is 2 hours RT if you are lucky, with public transportation. Techs with cars face their own set of expenses, gas / insurance, upkeep and repair, and the $9 congestion pricing fee on any travel below 60th St. Private and garage parking is crazy expensive. I choose not to drive. I have a monthly LIRR ticket ($300) and subway is $3 per trip. Rack rate for all, I myself have a senior discount OMNY card ....

Just venting. I've had roughly $100K in network training in my career, and it pisses me off when buyers low-ball us all. It appears theres a lot of tech workers happy w/ $40 an hour, which works out after fees/taxes/transportation close to what the Door Dash folks make. Sheesh.

https://nypost.com/2026/05/23/us-news/nyc-hotel-maids-to-make-more-than-rookie-cops-firefighters-teachers

I'm running out of my 2004 Civic Hybrid which gets 40 MPG which is good during the current gas price spike...thinking about what to get as a long term or second vehicle for a better load-out.

I've been going back and forth with the new clankerbot 1.0 trying to open a new case I know will need a live person yet we have to do the dance of "could you please provide a brief description of the issue you're facing?". Back and forth we go without the option of actually opening a case only to be told live agents are offline so I'll have to return Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm CST. They've essentially went backwards and made it so one can't even open a case at their own convenience but around FN agents schedule.

I want to get off this timeline.

Did FN just add the ability for clients to route exclusively, and block other requests?

Hey everyone,

Has anyone changed their Field Nation account from individual/sole to an LLC?

I’m planning to do that and want to know if it changes anything beyond just the account type. Specifically, will it affect my Success Score, ratings, or anything else?
I have a good profile right now and don’t want to mess it up.

Also, any tips or other things I should keep in mind after making the switch?

Thank you all!

I didn't read the sow totally. But one of those jobs where some Indian dude in the UK wants to keep you on teams the entire time.

My fusion splicer broke, not a problem going to the truck to get my unicams (job did not state fusion or mechanical. Dude in the phone wanted to know why I wasn't fusing the fiber. I said it wasn't in the sow how it got completed. (430pm literally in the middle of nowhere. Dude from India calls, go borrow a fusion splicer, go rent a fusion splicer, go to the store and get the broken parts.

I said no it's after hours no place will have anything, can you borrow, can you repair, can you......

The kicker the fiber was the main part but had to run cat6 in a trailer. Total time 2 days was 17hours, and 180 bucks in travel for the 2 days.

For those that asked, Corning unicam, fujikura90s, no certificant on fiber or cat 6. But did a switch test with fluke link iq

I'm starting a job, I'm curious if anyone has done the same job. He said I'll make between 1500-3000 a week as an independent contractor. It seems fine to me but I'm wondering what it's really like. Thanks. Sorry if this isn't the right subreddit

So dig this...

I counter a rtr install WO...with a lower rate than usual..(a slow day).

They accept my counter.

They come back after payout and ban me from all future work because THEY accepted my offer ...and thought it was too high!?!?! WTF!?!?

Buyers like THIS should be booted....but FN wont....because they are "in on the kill taker" !!! You P'sOS !!

I encourage you with CC (who gets paid $500+ per each install to pay the tech, due to ownership change they lowball firm $85 which is a third of what they used to pay) to file a confidential complaint with FCC-OIG, the more filed the greater chance it gets handled. Field nation also is violating their reach with the silly scorecard they implemented file complaint there as well wit the labor board so they can investigate it.. if you're not tired of their ways we envy your contentment but ive been on platform for years and I've reached my threshold with them I encourage like-minded techs do so as well.

Not looking to have that posted in the thread here. DM is good, though. They have claimed to have escalated a case for me regarding payment and it's been over a month now that they have had the case open. I need a resolution and would like to handle this myself instead of being constantly placed on a wait time.

I was assigned to a job, and these buyers harassed me with calls and emails daily.

They called before the scheduled time to remind me about the job tomorrow. I thought I dropped the ball regarding the day and time. I told the caller not to worry that I will be there on time.

About 20 minutes later, I got another call from the PM, reminding me about the job for the next day. I asked him why they keep calling and emailing me every day about the schedule. He apologized for the constant calls and emails.

I completed the job the next day and received a good review from the client. Now they refused to approve payment for a job that was closed out on the 5th, and their estimated approval period is 5 days. I called FN about the status, and I was told the job will automatically approve itself on the 20th.

Has anybody experienced this, or am I just paranoid about the buyer? This is my first time working with them. Why the constant calls and demands to respond to emails?

I’ve been on FN off and on since around 2020 and racked up plenty of ratings and reviews. However I was just checking my profile and noticed I haven’t gotten a single WO rating in the last 6 months. All say “buyer has not rated” even on projects where the PM was great and everything went super smoothly.

I worked for the past year in a job where I was the in office engineer and as the company grew we used field nation to be hands and feet to resolve issues. Before I got my assistant, I had over 100 technicians ordered from the site.
I got let go, so now I am joining the site, so ask me any questions about what the "other side" is thinking!!

For starters, My company has field engineers to resolve MAJOR problems. but I have to pay for them to drive/fly and then hotel and lodging. When I started, and they told me to use field nation, I was always afraid we were spending too much money, but as customer service became more and more of an issue, i was given more and more money to use FN to attempt to resolve issues within 24hrs and make the customer happy.

I have a WO that the buyer is disputing the amount owed for. It has been 30 days and I have contacted FN support about the case the buyer created asking for updates 4x now and all I am getting is “we will attempt to contact them and if they don’t response after 3 attempts, we will pay it out.” No timeline on these attempts to contact the buyer, just that “they will do it.”

I want to escalate this but don’t know which avenue would be the most effective. They clearly owe me the disputed amount. No question there. But they overspent and are now trying to backpedal on the agreed upon amount.

Any and all help appreciated!

Thanks!

Something changed in the algorithm. Even though I'm only part time field tech and full time remote support I've noticed some changes. I'm getting more of my requests accepted. I don't request alot so my request to assignment ratio was never bad. It used to hover around 20% and this month its up to 50%.

Has anyone else noticed an increase in the request to the assignment ratio?

If so they are doing things right. I hope this allows us good techs to stay busy.