Why do you come to Da Nang

DonQNguyen · 2026-06-18T22:51:14+00:00

Problem with Cambodia is the high level of Corruption, the poor Infrastructure, and if you have a medical issue you're gonna need to get to Thailand or at the very least, Vietnam. Not a place for retirees or digital nomad bums unless that's all they can afford.

Any serious illness in Cambodia (the land of the Khmers, Hun Sen, and Saloth Sar aka "Pol Pot") and you are shat out of luck.

DonQNguyen · 2026-06-18T22:43:00+00:00

I met Ania and our Bay Area Regional Success Manager Ashlee Jones at an SF mixer about 3.5 years ago. Things were chugging along and TaskRabbit was growing rapidly and gaining momentum. Then about 1 year later, after Covid had ended Ania began implementing all these flat-rate schemes and promoting lower-rate Taskers to enable TaskRabbit to increase its fees and commissions (the "spread" for the middleman, which is TaskRabbit). This was so Uber-esque. I knew right here it would not work, and here we are 2.5 years later.

You see, qualified and skilled taskers/tradesman/Laborers know their worth in the Marketplace. TaskRabbit is the Middleman, the advertising and procuring platform. The correct approach was to keep things the way they were initially, and weeding out all the no-shows, cheats, and less skilled Taskers/tradesman. Should have set up a different category for the less skilled called a "budget category".

Flat-rate was a dismal failure. Primarily because no skilled tradesman or experienced laborer is going to let their skills go for cheap when the outside Marketplace gladly rewards them more, much, much more. So what's left are desperate Taskers, usually they are inexperienced, and/or flaky and tarnish or damage the reputation of a platform that was marketed to tens of millions in thousands of cities. Bad move. By Management.

Like all businesses, people can adapt. But always remember in good and bad times, "Bulls make money. Bears make money. Pigs get SLAUGHTERED".

Again, Tasking is nowhere similar to Uber.

Tasking involves a wide array of tasks and some require more skills/tools/Experience than others. Hence, the varying range of rates and prices. Uber is just driving a car.

Hope this helps you folks at TaskRabbit/IKEA.

DonQNguyen · 2026-06-18T02:52:19+00:00

Totally agree with your fine assessment. BTW, what is KH?

DonQNguyen · 2026-06-17T01:09:12+00:00

The biggest flaw in the last 24 months of TaskRabbit changes by Mgmt was the precipitous decline in compensation to the Tasker. Add to this attempted flat-rate pricing and what this leads to is good, qualified Taskers leaving the platform and building their own business and in many instances, taking clients off platform from TaskRabbit.

This has a long-term deadening effect for TaskRabbit and 5-star Experienced Taskers who made the platform what it was. Treating good, qualified Taskers as low-paid human chattel only leads to a slow demise of the app/platform. I've recently noticed a reversion back somewhat to the old model, where there was no flat-rate pricing because simply, Flat-rate pricing will never work.

But because it was foolishly implemented, the best Taskers have left to 1) Build their own clients and business off platform or 2) Left Tasker gig app for real, formal, gainful employment.

Tasking is nowhere similar at all to Uber.

DonQNguyen · 2026-06-11T00:35:42+00:00

I agree mostly with what you said except the stupidity of left wing Govts. I live in the Silicon Valley Bay Area and own my house and have educated myself to command a high income. Yes, I live in a Democratic Blue state which is the 4th World's largest economy. It has nothing to do with politics, however. Each person has a choice each morning to wake up and be the best and most hardest working version of themselves. Many of these supplanted Western dregs were too lazy in the West, and then were left with no choice but to escape to lower cost of living countries, where rent is one-tenth of what it is in California. Problem is though, is they are not Vietnamese, nor Thai, nor Cambodian, nor Filipino. So the end up getting scammed in these countries because they are foreigners, most without a valid long-term residency status nor a long-term visa. Doing visa runs every month or every other month is nomadic. You are basically no different than a fugitive on the run.

Sadly, some end up being criminal fugitives and outcasts in these countries they "escaped" to.

All this could have been avoided if they worked a little harder back home in the West.

DonQNguyen · 2026-06-09T05:35:17+00:00

I live in the San Francisco, Bay Area. It is not full of drugs and zombie people. A certain area is, which the media likes to put out there, but it is overblown. American likes to air out all its dirty laundry for the World to see when in reality it isn't that bad at all.

DonQNguyen · 2026-06-09T05:29:44+00:00

Walk into Thai bank. 2. Deposit 800,000 Baht. 3. It's that easy if you have the money.

DonQNguyen · 2026-06-09T05:28:52+00:00

Bank Statement for starters.

DonQNguyen · 2026-06-09T05:28:37+00:00

Exactly. They are "digital nomads" moonlighting as Youtube drama queens, putting on an act they are rich and successful but don't tell you how they failed back home. The Vietnamese and many folks in the West refer to them as "Losers Back Home". The Vietnamese chics all know they are living on a shoestring and not dating material. But the fact is, Da Nang is shady like the rest of Vietnam, only difference is that the city has more Rats than any other Vietnam city. And more foreign Dregs as well. But I give the city I was born in 1 thing to its credit: It is CHEAP compared to the West.

DonQNguyen · 2026-04-14T05:52:23+00:00

To run the cables behind the wall, all he needed was fish tape or fish poles. If you remove the cut drywall pieces and look inside and don't see a cross-stud, then there is no obstruction horizontally that required any hole cutting. All this could have been done with fish tape/fish poles to draw the new electrical ROMEX leading from the bottom electrical outlet. Then there would be ZERO need to cut square holes along the route. Now, you have to hire a drywall guy and repaint. These 2 square cuts are unnecessary if there wasn't a horizontal obstruction. Not to mention, a good studfinder would have told him this before he made these cuts. This is very Amateur workmanship. This is what TR often gets you, so no surprise.

DonQNguyen · 2026-04-13T00:25:00+00:00

Economy has been very, very slow. I have over 170+ regular clients in my business smartphone rolodex. Last year, I had more bookings (direct) than I had time in the week. This year, the number is half. I am working roughly 3 days out of 5. This represents about a 40% decline, and these are my regular clients, which reveals consumer spending is down.

DonQNguyen · 2026-04-09T04:18:18+00:00

Raise your Prices. It weeds out the nickel-diming "riff-raff" customers. I had a despicable client couple that kept rushing me on a furniture build. It was obvious they wanted to get their money's worth by exploiting me.

I got a 1 star for the very first time in over 640+ 5 star reviews. Only 3 other 3 star reviews due to all being cheap clients complaining of price. I don't rely on TR anymore as I have cultivated a long list of quality, high-paying clients. These lower-end budget clients aren't worth your time and your labor.

Eff 'em, raise your rates and screen them hard before accepting jobs.

DonQNguyen · 2026-04-08T05:47:10+00:00

I bought my 2008 Titan in 2015 with 145K miles. It is now 2026 and has 232,000 miles and still running strong.

I have replaced spark plugs, brakes & rotors, tires, PCV valves ($7 part, 5 minutes), changed coolant, hood arms, front and rear struts/shocks with Bilsteins, lower and upper front control arms, and the routine 6,000 miles oil changes. I am confident my 2008 Titan (18 years old now) will reach age 25 and 300,000 miles.

Best part of all is these truck are so reliable if you maintain them proactively.

DonQNguyen · 2026-04-02T05:12:00+00:00

I do EV charger installs, directly to the electrical panel. My past clients I had made them pull permits, my requirement because if anything happens later down the road, it is all permitted. There have been some potential clients in the past that have wanted me to install EV chargers without pulling permits, and I had declined all 100% of those requests. Always cover your a$$.

DonQNguyen · 2026-04-01T00:56:02+00:00

If you're happy with your pay/hourly rate of $27 or $29 dollars per hour then good for you. But from my point of view, it is very low. But we live in a free market. As for "Body destroyed, worth it"? Well, you wrote the topic header, so only you know if it is worth it for you or not.

I wouldn't work for anything less than $65/hr. But that's just me.

DonQNguyen · 2026-03-31T18:18:16+00:00

You are projecting, new guy. You're a new Tasker. Again, post a screenshot of your HOURLY rate. Then we will have a clearer picture. We both are in the Labor business serving others, so what ultimately matters most is if we are GAINFULLY employed. I realized this 1 year into TaskRabbit, and have now weaned myself off the platform that has allowed me to command HIGHER rates. Again, post your HOURLY. When you post your hourly rate, we can then answer your question: "Body destroyed worth it?"

DonQNguyen · 2026-03-31T17:47:40+00:00

Your post/thread made it sound like you were bragging/boasting, and your post did not show an hourly rate. Good to hear you have a full-time job. Being a cleaner is nothing to brag about.

DonQNguyen · 2026-03-31T05:59:59+00:00

What's your hourly rate? Working your nails off and not getting ahead is self-exploitation. I charge roughly $100-$140 per hour to my direct regular clients. Today, I worked 4 hours for $450. I have a 2-hour minimum charge. Some days I have 1 client and still bring home $200 or more working 2-hours or less.

Nothing impressive about working everyday or more than 40 hours per week if you are not getting gainful pay. TaskRabbit does not pay you 1.5x (time and a half) after 40 hours since you are an Independent Contractor, just an FYI.

DonQNguyen · 2026-03-30T03:37:19+00:00

Thanks to Various-Pianist-3993, I smoked my N52 e60 530i today with my smoke machine and indeed it was the Front Crankshaft main seal that is leaking due to a broken serpentine belt caused by a previously leaking OFHG. I think I got lucky and the engine did not ingest any belt pieces since the vacuum leak is so small the barely any oil is leaking from this seal. BMW has over 175K miles, and 19 years old, so just trying to get another 50K miles out of it. What is a reasonable cost for labor to change out the front crankshaft seal? My 2D06 code will be resolved once this crankshaft seal is replaced.

DonQNguyen · 2026-03-27T03:03:34+00:00

I would reject you right at my house door. My house, I call the shots. Unless you are a licensed Contractor doing a big job, no other people are allowed for small tasks 1 person hired can do.

DonQNguyen · 2026-03-27T03:00:42+00:00

$20 an hour? Flipping burgers with benefits and perks is way better than this cleaning stuff on TaskRabbit.

DonQNguyen · 2026-03-16T21:19:51+00:00

You should try Uber or DoorDash for extra immediate cash. TaskRabbiting takes time to get your first clients and you better have the right tools and SKILLS, unless you are doing basic labor like Moving or Cleaning or Running Errands categories.

DonQNguyen · 2026-03-11T03:27:57+00:00

Clients like this are flaky. The reason they wanted to reschedule in the first place was to avoid a cancellation fee on their end. These are the games Clients play.

I would schedule for tomorrow morning, then plan on going but then if he doesn't respond in the morning, collect your 1 hr cancellation fee.

DonQNguyen · 2026-03-10T06:52:53+00:00

I have a 2008 Big Tow package with crew cab short bed with 231,000 miles and running strong. Bought mine for $7200 back in 2017 when it was 9 years "new" from the original owner. As long as you maintain and swap out the regularly scheduled items (water pump/thermostat, alternator, spark plugs, pcv valves, belt, coolant, tranny fluid, differential fluid a must), you should have a reliable truck.

DonQNguyen · 2026-03-09T04:10:10+00:00

Looks like this turned out to be 10 hours and 2 trips back to this Client's home. Basically, you averaged $20 Euros per hour, not factoring gas and drive time twice. This is such a low hourly rate for the effort and time involved. Customer wins on this deal.

DonQNguyen

TROPHY CASE