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Thomas Johnson III
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FieldNation officially sucks (...and I Reveal the Secrets of the IT Support Industry)
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Thomas Johnson III
Thu, 12 Jun 2025 21:12:23 -0400
last edited: Thu, 12 Jun 2025 21:15:17 -0400
from ArrCay
First a little rant on FieldNation, and then I reveal one of the secrets IT support providers don't want their clients to know.
FieldNation was never a really great platform. Their android app tie-in to google services makes it almost useless on my phone (I use LineageOS and don't install any Gapps/playstore, etc. on my phone). But as of recently, login on their website just doesn't work - at all. The login button does nothing. No error message, etc. And their "Can't login" link is really a reset password link, not a troubleshoot or report a problem type link.
It could be something I am blocking on my DNS server. Blocking anything google along with the usual tracker and advert sites at the DNS level does break many, what I now call, low quality websites. Somewhat unlikely since I can login from a browser on my phone which is using the same network (not LTE). Phone may be using DOH or otherwise bypassing my local DNS server - haven't double checked on that lately. Anyway, I don't care enough to figure out the actual problem.
It's just now official --- FieldNation sucks.
They were fairly successful at taking the commoditization of IT and being the mostly useless middle-man tech platform to new heights though.
Much of the food service and retail industry onsite IT support runs through their system.
Of all the POS terminals, kiosk machines, in-store photo printers, on-site wifi networks, there's a good chance that the "IT Support contractor" with the retail outlet has very little to no actual tech personnel. They are a customer service call center type operation. Or maybe not even that... They may just sub-contract that part to another company. Who subcontracts to another... and another... and one of them uses FieldNation to contract a local tech to go onsite.
The field tech that actually goes onsite and does the work is often an Independent Contractor. Sometimes they are an employee of a small local IT company that picks up this type of sub-contract work.
On average, there is a half a dozen subcontracts between the retailer and the person doing the actual IT work. Usuallly the client (retailer) just has a support contract and pays some periodic flat rate (eg. monthly/anually), but terms may vary. In any case, they are paying the typical full cost for IT support which is in the neighborhood of $100-250/hr, excluding hardware. While the tech that shows up and does the work gets an average of $25-$50/hr. That's after FieldNation (or whatever platform eg. Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr, etc.) takes their 10-20% cut,
if
the tech is a self-employed independent. After expenses and taxes.... well, it's not great.
Around 75-80% of IT support costs goes to the middle-man(agement). Some of that is justified costs (eg. call center/CS reps) but I'd say well over 50% of it is wasted on do-nothing middle managers, etc.
This is typical of the IT Support Industry overall, not just in the case where a platform like FieldNation is involved. The quality of IT support supplied to clients is... inconsistent, to say the least. I've done thousands of dollars worth of work through FieldNation (and directly subcontracting with nationwide IT Support contractors). For someone like me, an "IT guy" in the 90's (back when they were often a one-man tech department for the whole company), it's simple/basic filler work. Easy money, one might say. Usually more time spent on paperwork, check-in/check-out procedure, and such BS than actual tech work. And often more than it's really worth (i.e. not profitable). Which is why the onsite tech is typically entry-level and can only follow directions of tech docs and/or phone support. Sometimes, the store personnel that use the equipment are just as, or more, qualified to handle the issue.
Just today I got an email on an available work order for a kiosk problem. Since I've seen about half a dozen work orders for the same site/kiosk in the past few months, it would appear that they keep sending ones that can't figure out or fix the problem. I haven't watched it that closely but it may be possible that they can't find a tech over the past week or three that the WO has repeatedly been posted. Somewhat unlikely as most WO's around my current locale are assigned by the time I get the email notification and try to look at the details on FN's site. Let's check on it... And.... Yep, it's assigned. Within about an hour of receiving the email.
A typical part of a work order agreement is that the tech "shall present themselves as being with xyz co to client" and "shall not discuss costs, etc." at the very least. This is the secret that so-called IT Support companies don't want their business clients to know. Most of them are empty shells - they have no "tech staff" and blah, blah - whatever their marketing fluff drones on about.
These deceptive business practices (aka no-compete clauses) also apply to other industries where subcontracting is common, such as the construction industry. For example, I also had a flooring company once upon a time and some of our subcontract work was for Home Depot - through another company that they contract with. Customer service (for the actual end client) comes second to making sure that the "service provider" company (which is the subcontractor's client) looks good, doesn't lose their customer, and gets their markup on any extras/unforeseens (often ~50%) regardless of whether they deserve it or not.
While sites like Upwork, Freelancer, and Fiverr tend to be more of a direct middle-man than FieldNation is - usually the end client and actual provider are dealing directly with each other - they try to enforce their status of being a middleman that deserves a cut (~20% give or take a few). I'd say in most cases they provide nothing worth the percentage they take to begin with, much less do they deserve a perpetual cut on any further business between two parties.
All such sites are just a race to the bottom. I've been on several of them and their ilk over the years, submitted hundreds of proposals on projects and could count on my hands (maybe just one) the number of decent projects or clients I've gotten from them.
Two biggest issues on these sites:
clients with unrealistically low budget expectations, or just plain cheapskates
lowball providers - either a company that has a pool of dirt cheap labor or freelancers that are happy to work for peanuts (most likely based offshore/overseas)
Whereas, my rate is actually higher on those sites than my standard rate to compensate for the percentage they charge and the extra nonsense/inconvenience.
So, small-medium businesses that want to save money and get better quality IT support should look at dealing directly with an independent freelancer or small IT business that actually employs their own techs.
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