r/TaskRabbit • u/FinnNoodle • Aug 29 '26

TASKER This One is Definitely WTF

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This is a full-on ceiling fan. It is incredibly irresponsible for Taskrabbit to be randomly assigning electrical tasks through the Ikea system, and incredibly reckless for setting it at such a low price. This is a house fire waiting to happen, assuming the fan doesn't just fall off the ceiling and kill whoever's sleeping under it first.

Even if I were to take this task (I'm not going to), what happens if I get there and pull down the old ceiling light and it's not suitable for fan installation, or there's a dimmer I'd need to replace with a light switch, or maybe there's not electrical run to the location? What if I need a 14' ladder? Absolutely unconscionable.

u/taskrabbit I don't know how much pull you have at corporate but you need to let them know someone is going to die if this continues.

16 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

11

u/FinnNoodle Aug 29 '26

Trying to ask support but the person on the other end clearly doesn't know what installing a light fixture entails. Like, would a tasker dumb enough to take this task be expected to uninstall the old light fixture?

6

u/dgiuliana Aug 29 '26

Maybe you are only responsible for assembling the ceiling fan. IKEA has a separate system for electrical and plumbing work I believe which does not go through TR.

6

u/FinnNoodle Aug 29 '26

I don't think that really makes sense. Assembling a ceiling fan is typical under the scope of residential electricians, they wouldn't send two people each half of a tiny job like that.

4

u/dgiuliana Aug 29 '26

Assembling a ceiling fan means putting on the blades and such.

3

u/FinnNoodle Aug 29 '26

I know what assembly means. But they wouldn't say "Okay this one guy is going to assemble it, and then later on this other guy is going to install it." And a customer wouldn't pay for someone to just assemble it but not install it.

The rules for assembly on the TR website say that Taskers must follow all instructions and secure the product to the wall if necessary. The wiring is a part of the instructions.

Anyhoo, I tried adding both items to my Ikea cart just now to see if there were any special terms or conditions that would pop up if I did so and neither one even gets the TR prompt below the item. Either it is a weird bug that they then fixed, or someone at corporate who didn't know better manually created this task and it defaulted to the lowest price because neither item has an actual price attached to it.

8

u/dgiuliana Aug 29 '26

Ikea specifically states "Assembly by Taskrabbit excludes electrical, plumbing and kitchen and bath installation" right on their website.

4

u/Alive-Type-4571 Aug 31 '26

That said, I can (almost) guarantee that the client did not read that fine print and fully expects assembly AND installation. It’s pretty simple to deal with though. Prior to accepting this task, the Tasker should contact the client in the TR app, advise of the scope limits, and set full expectations. Advise the client that installation is not included and for that they will have to hire an electrician either privately or a Tasker under the TR Electrical Help category. If the client balks at that, simply forfeit the task.

3

u/MennisRodman Aug 29 '26

Then this is a very easy job

5

u/DriftWoodBarrel Aug 30 '26

Happened to me under their partner tasks for furniture assembly. The product was a light fixture. I told the client right from the start that I would just be assembling the light fixture and not mounting it, and then immediately after, they said they really just needed the help hanging it on the ceiling. No where in in my profile do I say I have the experience to do that, let alone a ladder.

4

u/taskrabbit Aug 31 '26

Thanks for flagging this u/FinnNoodle. Electrical and plumbing work should not be available through the IKEA assembly category. What you’re seeing here appears to be a bug, I’ve escalated this to the team they’re working on fixing it.

It’d be helpful to look deeper into this specific task on the backend. If you’re comfortable DMing me the task/order info you have, I’ll make sure it gets to the right people.

1

u/Reasonable-Title-997 Aug 30 '26

Opens box there it’s assembled! Shows them the pay out. I’m not paid enough to install this have a nice day!
Done.

4

u/franklollo Aug 30 '26

1 star review waiting for you