To those with phone calls late at night. Have a business number?

Dual-sim or another phone etc.

If too drastic put Android on block everything apart from known numbers.

No way you’ve got to tolerate that.

It’s like the Blue Planet. The reliable decent tradesman is like the receptive female grouper fish; the customers are all the males competing to try and be the one who gets his moment of glory….
Guys, you just need to up your act: Help to unload tools & materials whilst telling traffic wardens to **** off, freshly cut flowers? Are you sure your tea & biscuit offerings are up to the mark? Single estate tea? Green % Blacks chocky on the biscuits?
It’s dog eat dog out there… 😈

I’ve had lots of work done on my house in the last 18 months. Insurance appointed disaster recovery company were absolutely shocking, altho the insurance co were brilliant at kicking arses along the way to get stuff done and mistakes altered, but it was a constant challenge. I had lots of extra personal work done by locals on top of the insurance claim and some of them were unreliable, liars, job jugglers, shisters. Only guy who was top notch was the most expensive quote and required a big deposit. He turned up on the day when promised and worked straight thru till the job was finished, all that was a gamble on my part (paying him a deposit up front), but paid off. You get what you pay for was my closing summary, but it’s still very difficult to separate the shits from the good guys, for sure.

Without going into details….GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH! 😡

I reckon I would make a killing as a trade just by doing what I said I would when I said I would

I find this! I’m a tradesperson and find I can pretty much be garenteed of getting the job by turning up when I say I will for the quote. Often people have already tried several others with no shows.

I don’t advertise and am mostly word of mouth and have taken my phone number off my website due to too many calls when trying to work. Much prefer an email enquiry I can answer in my own time in the evening.

I’m about to downsize the business due to the difficulty in finding employees so am sadly having to cull a load of regular customers and the first to go will be late payers and ones who don’t offer tea or Christmas tip. If you find a good tradesperson let them know you appreciate them as being self employed there is no one but your customers to tell you that you’re doing a good job and even a small gesture like a bit of cake can tip the balance.

I find this! I’m a tradesperson and find I can pretty much be garenteed of getting the job by turning up when I say I will for the quote

For sure, I dropped my heating engineer just for not turning up for a quote on my bathroom. He eventually did come up with a quote which was £700 cheaper, but his stall was already of £700 less value to me, if you know what I mean? (in other words, I always wanted quality/reliability/honesty rather than cheap).

However, I had a bricky drop a chimney flexiflue for me. He was prepared to go up on ladders, but I said no way are you doing that and I paid for scaffolding (it’s a 3 level house). He repointed my chimney and under the guttering for free as a return good gesture. One of the good guys. Because he did me a unexpected good turn, I then had him do some major internal alterations as well, before the insurance co came back to re-instate my house.

Argh, trying to give tradesmen money has been a total nightmare for me this year.
Called plasterer about a small job, they say they’ll come round and take a look. Smart looking chap turns up, measures, says he’ll send me a written quote, but probably looking at £x ballpark. Great. Except quote never gets sent out.
Called gardeners cos things getting well and truly out of hand, and wanted a new shed and patio. Say they’ll come out for quote, but not when exactly. 10 days or so later guys come round, i take them round front/back garden with a list that needs doing. Ok they say, we’ll prepare a quote and send it out. Except you guessed it – no quote.

WTF – i’m trying to give you money, why don’t you want it?! 😕

It’s taken me years to build up a bank of decent tradesmen. I now have a sparky, plumber, roofer, plasterer, decorator and general builder and don’t even bother getting a number of quotes in – these guys always turn up and do an excellent job.

Wasted far more time waiting for no shows than the alternate quotes may have saved and then I’d be chancing that the work is not as good.

Our old plumber retired a bit ago and was a bit stuck for a while until we found another decent one.

I’ve been fully booked all year, it gets to be a waste of time answering the phone to say no so I reply via text if they leave a message.

Once I can recall forgetting to turn up to an arranged quote, I got in touch the next day to apologise. When I said I could only do the work in 3 months time she said no anyway.

If I ever hear I’m the cheapest quote I’m gutted, that’s no way to operate.

I’ll be taking on a couple of new customers next year as two customers have just sold up and one has died.

I always have spider senses ready to detect awkward jobs or customers, even if they don’t intend to be. The best ones are those who email/text late at night as they are usually busy working families who don’t have time to pester people working for them. I turn up, do the job, arrange standing order payments over the year and basically never see them, perfect!

A few years ago was away in Morzine biking with a good friend of mine who’s an electrician, up on top of some big hill or other. His phone rings, from the conversation it’s clearly about a job he’s been working on with somebody who he knows quite well. “I’ll be round in half an hour”
😯

Recently had a call about fitting 3 blinds and replacing a letter plate on a upvc door.

How much, we provide an insulated sleeved letter plate.

Took 3 phone calls and didnt get the job.

Yesterday urned up at a job 15 mins early, lovely lady apologised profusely for being late as she had to take kids to school, it wasnt her fault we arrived early,we just did and would have waited.

We got a tip, cups of tea etc, as well nice lady

Looking back at my year of house renovations I reckon 50% of tradesmen answer the phone, probably 50% actually turn up to look at the job and then maybe only 50% of the ones that turn up provide a quote. Basically turn up, sound like decent person and write a number on a piece of paper and the jobs yours. I can understand the people who ignore me from the off but its the c**** who spend an hour poking round my house sucking their teeth who never end up providing a quote that gets me, who can afford to waste that much time?

Been trying to get tradesmen for a couple job and that’s pretty much my experience nosedive. If you are not available in the first place how hard is it to put a message on the answerphone to say you are not taking on more work at the moment? Then if you bother come round how much harder is it to quote? Strikes me that trades are looking for easy low hanging fruit, like some old dear who won’t haggle or complain. I’ve ended up doing jobs myself but I’d rather be out riding my bike 😉

Strikes me that trades are looking for easy low hanging fruit, like some old dear who won’t haggle or complain. I’ve ended up doing jobs myself but I’d rather be out riding my bike

Damn right!
Where would you rather spend your day? Helping out an old dear who feeds you tea and bikkies, and chats about her late husband’s love of his shed, or doing a boring job for some self entitled git who argues about the price and has so little regard for your skills that he “would do the job himself but doesn’t have the time”…

I’d rather be doing the well paid job where the customer is nowhere to be seen!

Good and bad out there but what I won’t accept is someone who juggles my job with another. If its a week then I want a week in one go not buggering off to keep someone else happy. Also if you quote for a job, balls it up and lose on the deal that’s your problem. Anticipate problems please, tell me a worst case scenario and also a likely cost. If you misquote , hard luck. If I get it wrong that’s my fault.

What is a Christmas tip?

Cash gift or bottle of wine/chocolate that loyal customers give you on your last visit before Christmas break to show they appreciate the hard work you’ve done throughout the year.

Any gardeners in the West Mids area need any help then give me a shout!

Cash gift or bottle of wine/chocolate that loyal customers give you on your last visit before Christmas break to show they appreciate the hard work you’ve done throughout the year.

Think the point was that most people don’t even dream of getting a present as well as being paid for the work they did.

“would do the job himself but doesn’t have the time”…

Pfft. Next you’ll be telling me te police don’t like it when I tell them they should be out catching real criminals.

Seriously tho, I do think some men will say that just so they don’t feel like a complete beta, having to get a man in. Reassuring themselves etc.

Mrs Johnson

Steady DD. That’s a typo or two away from a duel! 😀

So now times by 10 all what you’ve been whinging about and think of running an entire site with countless tradesmen.
If you treat these folks right you get good service. One man band’s are hugely sought after at the minute as word of mouth ties them up and their next jobs are booked well in advance.
Perhaps some of you should get out if your cosy warm offices and have a go at dealing with the general public!

I’ve found this also. Tradesmen are unreliable mostly because there is a shortage of good tradesmen and the good ones are scared to turn work down.

I think it stems from that the building industry is at the sharp end of any economic movement. And at the moment there is a bit of a boom after a good few years of a slump, this means tradesmen are weary of turning down work as they know (from experience) that the next economic slump is never too far away.

It doesn’t help that the whole building industry is not great at investing in training the future tradesmen so when things do pick up in the economy there is a skills shortage. Hence why we end up with crap (pretend) tradesmen or/and immigrant labour to fill the shortfall.

I do have an idea of how to sort the whole ‘feast and famine’ phenomena that the building industry finds itself constantly in but maybe that’s for another time or thread.

If anybody in Tayside needs a good plasterer… I’m a teacher now but back plastering because of a shortage of tradesmen. Too many people think they are better than the guy doing the job. I turn up on time and give the customer respect: it would be nice if that was a two way street.

I no longer advertise due to time wasting customers.
As a curtain maker I was doing a full days work, then going out and measuring (for free, because in our line of work you can’t charge) in the evening.
Often I would end up giving a quote which is all done after work, when the husband would say – “how much”? or, “you’re not choosing that are you?”.

Several years ago I would more or less get every job I quoted for, but since the recession several years ago, I probably only get 95%.

I often find that the price I charge works out that I’m earning the minimum wage. Trying to make up wages with selling stuff such as poles, rails or other window dressings is harder, because most customers can get stuff cheaper on line. Often cheaper than the company I have an a/c with.

Customers often don’t turn up with their fabric (not always their fault), when they say. Often don’t collect when they say.

But on the whole my customers are great and pay up on time

Now talking about my curtain fitter, could take all day. He’s unreliable, never gets back to my customers with quotes, his car is always breaking down but does a good job. Luckily he’s freelance.

I always answer my phone, return messages and do jobs on time, however this takes out a fair portion of your time.

Luckily I don’t do this work for the money, more for the fact I love the work.
When I give this up, I can’t see anyone taking over and earning such low wages for the time it takes to make a job, or put up with hassle from the fitter, suppliers, some customers (most of mine have been with me for years) or having to go out and give free estimates.

Perhaps some of you should get out if your cosy warm offices and have a go at dealing with the general public!

Oooof

I’d swap some the numpties I’ve had to work with, in cosy warm offices, over the years for the worst truculent tradespeople, any day of the week. 😆

Perhaps some of you should get out if your cosy warm offices and have a go at dealing with the general public!

I dealt with tens of thousands of customers over a long period working in retail. If I treated a customer like a lot of tradespeople do every day I would have been fired on the spot. Most have no concept of even the most basic aspects of decent customer service.

I have a friend who has his own carpet business, he had one fitter who did my carpets who did a good job but left quite a mess behind. All he had to do was pick up the bits and give the room a vacuum. I mentioned this to my friend because I knew he was trying to provide a quality service rather than the cheapest available. The fitter was there too and he absolutely refused to do it and said it wasn’t his job and he’d never done it. I tried to suggest to the fitter that maybe he could charge a little more for the extra time it took (10 mins extra so hardly anything really) and that it would provide a better service and help him secure more work and make him more money. He got quite angry (my friend agreed with me) and my friend told me later that he wasn’t using that guy any more because he just wouldn’t change.

I understand why trades don’t want to say no, In my first few years trading I found it hard. You never know when work may dry up.

IT’s just a basic courtesy to keep people informed though. I find it much less stressful when I don’t have anyone hounding me to finish a job.
I book a job in, giving a realistic time. If for any reason I’m going to be late (very rare) I’ll make sure I drop the customer an email a few weeks in advance. I’ve found that folk don’t mind waiting, as long as they are informed.

That said, some potential customers will ‘hear’ something you simply didn’t say. This happens quite regularly.

IT happened last week – I told someone on the Monday that I’d call in to look at their broken stove the next time I was passing, most likely later that week on Thursday or Friday.

Thursday afternoon she phoned to ask where I was as she had waited in for me… which is bollocks as it’s a pub and she’s ‘waiting’ in anyway. It’s hard not to be rude sometimes.

The vast bulk of my work comes through word of mouth. Sometimes I’ll get a cold call via google or whatever looking for ‘the best price’. I’m quite up front about asking if the ‘best’ price means the lowest price then it’s probably a waste of time me coming out. I’m aiming for VFM and good service, not cheapest.

Pricing is a chore and hard to find time for during busy periods. It has to be done though. Most of the customers I deal with are understanding but some just don’t have a clue. I had an email a few days ago asking if I could ‘pop out’ to see a job, ASAP. An hours drive away…
I price a lot via email these days though if they send a few pics.

A final note, if someone comes to measure up but doesn’t send a quote, CHECK SPAM!!
My email is an info@…. and goes to spam more than 50% of the time. I usually email the same day and ask them to check spam. If I don’t get acknowledgement of receipt then I’ll text or call to check it’s been received. I hate the thought of someone cursing me for not bothering my ass to send out a quote when it’s been done promptly.

Where would you rather spend your day? Helping out an old dear who feeds you tea and bikkies, and chats about her late husband’s love of his shed,

Had this quite a few times, reaLly lovely it is as well, one lady whos husband died suddenly ,she was teling me about his life and people they had met etc, we both ended crying.

I feel your grievances there op, as still waiting over a month for so e tit bag builder to come back to us on lots of good work but highly suspect he got a better offer of less work which means either he has a shite attitude or is a joke of a builder.

I’m sure this thread would go on and on if it were a name and shame tit bag builders / tradesmen one.

I’ll happily start… 😀

Don’t tar them all with the same brush. We had a bloke round to fit kitchen worktops and another to fix the stone tiles on our roof. Both did a great job. Mr Pea is also a tradesman and although he doesn’t always answer his phone immediately (he’s busy!), he does a good job, and in the main is very positive about his customers. However, he could tell a few stories about bad customers- including people who don’t pay (usually the rich ones) and people who are so tight they want you to work for almost nothing. Oh and people who spend 20 minutes trying to decide where to position a loo roll holder!

Good to hear a post to side with the tradesmen a wee bit, i find some public absolute pain to deal with many waste your time never get back and some seem to run out of money when they are due to pay and heading off abroad for a wee holiday
Some think they can save loads by suppyling the material and then complain when left with half boxes of expensive ties or 3/4 of a roll of dpm it’s their choice
I tend to be loyal to the ones you can trust they trust you and pay reasonably quick via bank transfer

it’s still very difficult to separate the shits from the good guys, for sure.

Same with mechanics…..

molgrips – Member 

it’s still very difficult to separate the shits from the good guys, for sure.

Same with mechanics…..

POSTED 53 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Enough enough enough!!

It’s the same in all jobs. How many shit social workers have **** up and some poor kid has been “let down by the system,”
I could think of two teachers at my daughter’s school who should have been sacked over a year ago and have now left before being pushed, and let’s not forget the bankers….

Everybody seems to only ever moan about the rubbish tradesmen, when there are literally thousands keeping customers happy day in day out. Seen the weather today, all my groundworkers are in and grafting, half of you whiners won’t even go for a bike ride if there’s rain forecast.
Up the grafters!!!

‘I’m trying to give them money’

I thought it was an exchange of money for services or goods.If you just want to give them some cash I’m sure they would be far more amenable.

So, we have learnt the following:

Don’t expect trades to answer their phone during the day as this will annoy them, they are working.
Don’t call in the evening, this will annoy them as it is the evening.
Send a text, but don’t expect a reply if they do not want to do the work
Preparing quotes annoys them as they may not get the work
They are likely to do the work if you are a nice old lady
Do not challenge or question the price, they are the expert, not you.
Give a tip at Christmas

Meanwhile, I have money burning a hole in my pocket that I want to spend on a new bathroom. I’m not trying to cut corners, do not think I am unreasonable with my expectations and I am not looking for a favour. I do want someone turn up though, let me know (with some accuracy) when they can do the work and how much it will cost. Then I want them to do a good job. Then I will pay them what they asked for.

Why is this so difficult?

Meanwhile, I have money burning a hole in my pocket that I want to spend on a new bathroom

We’re the same with our kitchen! We’ve had three builders come round to measure up, then not bother quoting. Three surveyors didn’t even respond to emails. I can only assume that business is so good they don’t need to bother with even the most basic levels of courtesy.

We’re the same with our kitchen! We’ve had three builders come round to measure up, then not bother quoting. Three surveyors didn’t even respond to emails. I can only assume that business is so good they don’t need to bother with even the most basic levels of courtesy.

Pretty much exactly the same experience I had when we did our kitchen a few years back.

I get what people are saying about not tarring everyone with the same brush, but it does appear that there is a widespread problem in this particular industry and the good guys are the exception rather than the norm.