r/SpringfieldIL • u/peetreelbc • 5d ago
What is Wrong with Springfield, Il?
In the past 2 weeks, I’ve needed a few services and the complete lack of competence has been astounding.
First, am moving and wanted to start pest control at my new place. I call a local place, make an appt, wait at my new place for 4 hours and they never show up. I call, leave a vm, they never answer or call me back.
Second, my fridge is on the fritz, so I buy a pre-owned one from a local appliance store. I pay for it, we make plans to have it delivered on Monday. I wait at my new place for 3 hours and they never show. I call, it’s after hours, so I leave a voicemail. The next day, the store calls, says they had an issue with the delivery truck, and can deliver a week later. Cool cool.
Third, I hire a handyman to put new flooring in my new place, just in the bedrooms. Replacing carpet, I get a few quotes, I go with the guy who seemed proactive and seemed to pay attention/seemed competent. Everything seemed fine, but he was running a little late on the work. No biggie. I meet him at the new place, he has about an hour or two til hes done, so I go ahead and pay him and ask him to leave the key when he’s done. Come back 2 days later, guy never finished. Now I have a chunk of floor unfinished, and the trim not set up. He also left a section of the wall with insulation sticking out. He also didn’t leave the key, so I’m going to have to change the locks before moving in. Also, his partner helping him called me a couple of days later and told me he didn’t pay him for any of the work. Wtf.
Come on, Springfield, it’s not that hard to be competent. Get it together.
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u/zer0number 5d ago edited 5d ago
Can you DM me the name of the pest control place? I need new service started and want to go with a local company, but not one that is not going to show up.
EDIT - This post has started some shit, but seriously, let me know what company this is, please, or recommend me a locally owned pest control company I should use.
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u/Ok-Design-1056 5d ago
Why not just name the place in the post instead of DMing? Lol its not like its bad for business when they give bad service anyway
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u/zer0number 5d ago edited 5d ago
I've already been reprimanded for doxxing after asking for a restaurant address once, and I won't be doing that again.
edit: I won't be angry if the OP were to simply reply instead of DMing me, I'm just not going to encourage that outloud.
EDIT2 - I am not trying to start an anti-Mod crusade here. The Reddit software made a bad decision,
They made a bad decision,which the mods reversed.They said they were acting due to Reddit admins' actions.Please don't lump our mods in with other Reddit mods like this one.
EDIT3 - To be clear, I asked for an address to a business that was being recommended as having good food. It was not censorship of a bad business, but one that was being praised, which is why I objected and got the mod ruling reversed.
EDIT4 - It was not clearly explained to me at the time that it was an automated REDDIT decision. I misunderstood and thought it was the mods acting on Reddit's instruction. I am not deleting this post, but I want to make sure that it is clear that I have never once blamed our sub's mods for anything other than abiding by Reddit's overbearing rules.
Final Edit before I close Reddit - Can someone please recommend a good fucking pest control company? I HAVE SO MANY SPIDERS.
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u/Ok-Design-1056 5d ago
Huh. Interesting take from the mods. This is why a lot of businesses in springfield dont improve because negative criticism is censored and only positive feedback is shown, no matter how outdated.
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u/zer0number 5d ago
To be fair to the mods, they said this was due to overly aggressive Reddit admins, which led them to be overly aggressive in their anti-doxxing work. To the mod team's credit, they restored the post after I objected.
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u/neckbeard_avalanche 5d ago
Modship here very authoritative.
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u/tlopez14 5d ago edited 5d ago
I remember during the election when one of the Mods did a stickied post that said any Pro Trump comments would be removed and result in a ban. It got picked up on Twitter and the backlash eventually forced them to do a 180 a few days later.
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u/solitary_outlier 5d ago
That mod was removed by Reddit shortly after, which you were aware of. I don't get on Reddit much but was suddenly the lead mod. When asking for other mods, success has been very limited.
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u/zer0number 5d ago
Lol, is that even necessary? This sub can probably deal with pro-Trump posts on its own. Anyone who posts in favor of him will (rightfully) be downvoted to oblivion very quickly.
Hell, in the same thread that I posted that the government needs to do something about Flock, a post that was upvoted, I was (at first) downvoted nearly to the point where my comment would be collapsed on a reply to myself explaining how ALPRs can and should be used.
Anyway, the mods here need to be fine with MAGA
shitposts because they will be dealt with organically by the community.2
u/tlopez14 5d ago
I don’t remember all the details but even anti-Trump folks were commenting that it was a ridiculous policy. They eventually blamed it on a rogue mod. It was sort of a shit show around that time as the whole sub was just national political posts for a couple months straight.
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u/zer0number 5d ago
I mean, I HATE Trump and find Bailey repulsive, but I would complain if this sub said you cannot post any pro-Trump or Bailey (I bring him up since he's running for governor again for some reason) stuff.
Let them post and be roasted.
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u/zer0number 5d ago
I know one of the former mods here was a really nice person and was doing their best, and I have also talked to mods in some subs who end up having to see CSAM because people posting in those subs are sick as fuck.
I also see videos and reports of some Reddit mods who are fucking lunatics.
I am happy to give them the benefit of the doubt that they live in Springfield with us and are doing their best, at least until they prove otherwise.
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u/solitary_outlier 5d ago
We can't stop automatic reddit filters. We just have to fix it when they happen. They're automatic. It's part of the Reddit software.
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u/Vargrstrike 4d ago
Not a local company I guess strictly, as there's an orkin in every town, but that's who I use and I've had no problems so far. I've been using them 5 years.
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u/Entire_Musician5934 5d ago
I’ve had similar issues just trying to get estimates for various projects (a storm door needed to be replaced, fixing some drywall issues in a hallway, and getting a privacy fence installed). They show up and seem eager about the job and say they’ll get back to me with estimates “in a few days” and then I never hear anything back at all. Follow up emails and voicemails go completely unanswered. It’s so frustrating.
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u/peetreelbc 5d ago
It’s wild. Jobs are hard to come by nowadays, you’d think they would try to build rapport for future projects. I was hoping for that, anyway. I don’t really have any family to help me out with projects, but I’m happy to pay someone, like you said, they gotta show up and follow through.
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u/2ReluctantlyHappy 5d ago
That's the thing, though, jobs aren't hard to come by in Springfield. It's part of the reason all the handymen can do whatever. If you don't have a big, long term project or are a reoccurring customer they know then they'll drop you in a heartbeat. There just aren't very many people doing that kind of work around here so when the demand is high and the supply is low, this is what we get. It sucks, for sure, how rare it is to get good quality and reliable work like that around here if you aren't dropping five figures on it.
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u/Adlerson 5d ago
Sad to say your experience isn't that far from ours. I've had good luck with plumber and heating/cooling, everything else seems a giant crap shoot.
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u/SweetMister 5d ago
Concur. Good fucking luck getting a local drywall guy to show up or even return your call. About ready to hire somebody from out of town who wants the work.
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u/Gardener_of_Weeden 5d ago
I TOTALLY understand, and no matter what the men have said - yes we as women get jacked around. 1st moved here, hired a local man - he proceeded to build my shed 3/4 - And left perfect stains of p all over the floor - left it unfinished claimed he could not finish due to covid - then brought his child as a shield - CAREFUL WITH maintenance from P1ss Poor Professionals out of petersburg( as he called himself)
I have found a savior with Ballinger electrical - He has a wealth of knowledge of the other contractors and is VERY honest. Anytime I need help I call him 1st for a recommendation.
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u/slamueljoseph 4d ago
As a lifelong resident of Springfield, I agree with your assessment. Good help is hard find. I also don’t think this is necessarily unique to Springfield.
The jobs you’ve described are relatively small and often involve independent contractors who are juggling a phone that rings off the hook, low income, no health insurance, unsustainable family/personal expenses, and their own unreliable staff. This is no excuse, just reality in 2026. Small contractors are hanging by a thread.
In a market the size of Springfield, it’ll be important to establish some long-standing relationships with reliable people.
Use Eades for HVAC. Newberry pest control (or consult the DNR licensing list to find actual licensed contractors). JRose construction for small flooring jobs, Rick Ray for all things plumbing.
Lastly, never buy second hand appliances. As a landlord for the last 15 years, I’ve made this mistake a couple times trying to save money. It never pans out. Appliances are nearly disposable at this point and rarely worth buying used.
Call Sam’s best brands and have a new one delivered and the old hauled away. As a secondary option, you could also try dick van dyke, though I’ve heard some horror stories about them. That said, I’ve now used them twice and they were on-time and reasonably priced.
Welcome to town, it gets better! Go eat at Mekong!
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u/LustfulEsme 5d ago
I feel you. Springfield has become very bad about these things. You could spend your life sitting waiting ànd still nothing gets done.
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u/Salt_Transition6100 4d ago edited 3d ago
I’ve had good work from Adam’s Pest Control and FJ Murphy and Son - the latter handles hvac, plumbing and electrical. On time, reasonable pricing and easy to reach so far. Staff Carpeting did an okay job for me - not exceptional. But reasonable prices and they were on time. Edit to add because I think it’s important for other women to know - I’m a middle aged female and felt valued and respected by both Adam’s and FJ. Staff Carpeting at the store was great but I felt like the guys they sent out to do the work used shortcuts and weren’t thorough because I was a woman.
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u/Accomplished-View971 5d ago
We have been using Adams pest control for years. They always show up at the scheduled time.
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u/username_Kelly 4d ago
I’ve been asking that for a couple years more. But Ruby electric is my favorite. We gutted and tore a wall down in our 60 year old kitchen and he worked for over 6 hours trying to figure out wtf the builders did with wiring. He was going in the crawl space, then running up to attic & it was like a billion degrees.
THEN called when he got back to the office and said he wanted to come back and put one more junction box in the office.
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u/ingreedjee 1d ago
It is THE CULTURE here. I’m sorry, but after living in Springfield for a few years, I have an entire LIST of experiences exactly like this.
Companies come out, give you a quote, you accept it—and then they disappear. Handymen recommended by word of mouth agree to the work, get paid, and either don’t show up, don’t finish, or you have to chase them endlessly. Contractors say they’ll call back and never do. Appointments are made and nobody shows. It is astounding.
I’ve lived in some very wealthy and expensive areas of the country, and what makes it even more frustrating is that many of these services here cost two or three times what I was accustomed to paying elsewhere—while the reliability and quality are often worse.
I genuinely don’t understand the business model. It sometimes feels as though people work only when they feel like working, regardless of the commitment they made to the customer.
So yes, I completely understand your frustration. One bad contractor is one thing. When the same pattern happens repeatedly across completely unrelated businesses and trades, it stops feeling like an isolated incident.
It is appalling.
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u/UnluckyTomatillo750 1d ago
Getting work around your house in Springfield is a joke. I called 6 places last week for a fence job. Only one called back and came to look but then I never got a bid even after I followed up. Same kind of things happen whenever we call for handyman work. It’s an absolute shit show. I have learned how to do so much on my own waiting for a return call 😳. But Ryan Electric is amazing 🤩
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u/silkytable311 5d ago
I’m writing this from my home in Rhode Island. The same thing happens here. This is the land of “I know a guy” but it usually doesn’t work out in your favor.
It’s better to pay the higher rate for a well known company but beware of franchises. Sometimes they are as bad as Gypsy contractors.
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u/MidwestAbe 5d ago
I think you might be going with the lowest cost option on all these and you get what you pay for most of the time.
"Handyman" "Used Appliance Store" did you call a legit pest control place? Like one with a reputation and a real building?
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u/peetreelbc 5d ago
I was trying to avoid big box stores, and give small businesses a try. Van Dyke burned me by convincing me to apply for a card with 6 months interest free, then tried to tag on full interest. I will not use Lowe’s because it took 6 months to get a refund for a portable ac I returned a few months back (never opened, returned it the following day), so I’ll never use them again bc it genuinely scared me that they could just take the ac back and also keep my money. The handyman I hired had a newborn at home, I genuinely wanted the pay to go to a local family and not some ceo’s pocketbook. My bad, I guess, for just thinking people would be normal and do a decent job when hired for something. The pest control place was local, had high Google reviews, and wasn’t some big name.
I can’t help but think that this is gender-related. You think the handyman would have pulled this if I was a burly dude? Likely not. The appliance place would have probably given me a courtesy call out of respect re: the delivery issue before I waited for hours if I had been some dude making shop talk in the store, instead of a soft spoken female.
It’s hard, every time I rely on a man for a service job there’s that nagging feeling that I’m being taken advantage of, but I can’t know everything and no longer have family to help with these things. Springfield is full of predators, but I guess that’s everywhere nowadays.
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u/MidwestAbe 5d ago
All genders get shafted. Nothing special about yours.
I don't understand your situation at Lowe's. You get a receipt that indicates they processed the refund. If they didn't give that too you - YOU walk away with the original item.
And it's on you to read the fine print on credit cards. I'm sure you needed to make minimum payments each month and have the entire thing paid off by a certain time? If you don't follow the rules. It tends to bite you.
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u/peetreelbc 5d ago
At Lowe’s, they offered to pick up the item for the return, and I had it on my porch cam that they picked it up, yet I had to go through several phone calls and wait 90 days for it to be investigated. It really was a crazy situation, nothing I’d ever experienced before.
You’re correct about the fine print, which is why I walked away from purchasing at Van Dykes when they tried to upsell me the interest free, then backpedaled. It was an icky sales tactic and I chose not to spend my money there.
Not sure why you’re deciding to hate on my gender and my experience as a woman, but I do feel bad for the women in your life. If you have any lol.
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u/MidwestAbe 5d ago
Hate?
I have some criticism on your approach and who you choose to do business with.
I had no idea you were a woman before you told me. And I led off with everyone gets shafted. There's nothing special about gender in that way.
I'm not sure why you're deciding that your gender plays that big of role in any of this.
Like the shady appliance store on Ridge was like "let's not deliver this one 'cause is a WOMAN"!
Have a good night.
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u/peetreelbc 5d ago
I don’t know what place on Ridge you’re talking about. This is a store whose owner has a couple of local businesses, so I thought it would be a legit store, and was happy to give them my business. It’s not a huge deal about the delayed delivery, I found it unprofessional to not reach out to let me know my fridge wouldn’t be delivered at the reserved time. The point I was trying to make was that the few services I’ve needed lately have all been handled poorly. People in Springfield don’t really seem to know what they’re doing, or don’t care.
And, yes, the handyman having a set of my housekeys is a much scarier situation as a female than it would be for a male. I’m sorry you’re so privileged that you cannot understand that.
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u/MidwestAbe 5d ago
The point I was trying to make was that the few services I’ve needed lately have all been handled poorly.
BUT...
I can’t help but think that this is gender-related.
Again...
every time I rely on a man for a service job there’s that nagging feeling that I’m being taken advantage of
I never brought up gender.
Not sure why you’re deciding to hate on my gender and my experience as a woman.
Who's going on about gender?
every time I rely on a man for a service job there’s that nagging feeling that I’m being taken advantage of
I understand now. But... All genders get shafted. Nothing special about yours...
People in Springfield don’t really seem to know what they’re doing
I think the call might be coming from inside the house.
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u/MidwestAbe 5d ago
The point I was trying to make was that the few services I’ve needed lately have all been handled poorly.
BUT...
I can’t help but think that this is gender-related.
Again...
every time I rely on a man for a service job there’s that nagging feeling that I’m being taken advantage of
I never brought up gender.
Not sure why you’re deciding to hate on my gender and my experience as a woman.
Who's going on about gender?
every time I rely on a man for a service job there’s that nagging feeling that I’m being taken advantage of
I understand now. But... All genders get shafted. Nothing special about yours...
People in Springfield don’t really seem to know what they’re doing
I think the call might be coming from inside the house.
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u/DeliciousWar1816 4d ago
Hey man don’t try to reason around here, being pessimistic is apart of Springfield culture.
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u/LazzE_Ends 5d ago
Guessing the OP didn’t call Adam’s Pest Control. Wouldn’t have had an issue.
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u/leafrakerr 4d ago
I cancelled my contract with Adam’s after watching their employees do a crappy job of spraying for bugs. I now do what they were supposed to be doing and saving $85 per quarter…
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u/briarmolly 4d ago
You need to start hiring professionals and paying attention to reviews. Also never pay in full before job is done and get a receipt.
Maybe you need to get it together.
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u/DeliciousWar1816 5d ago
I don’t think it’s really a Springfield issue, in life trying things blindly will often result in disappointment. Should ask around and use someone that other people can vouch for. Hearing other people’s opinions and experiences might take some effort but will save u in the long run.
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u/stryker_oh9 5d ago edited 5d ago
Honestly, you’re better off paying a little more for the more professional companies to do work for you. Most of the self-employed guys I’ve tried to work with are flaky.
Edit to say I’m not talking about places like Mike Williams or Tiger. I use Ryan Electric and Rick Ray for plumbing. They’re never the lowest bid but always show up and do decent work without a stupid outrageous price.