plumbers/electricians etc: leave them unattended?

betsie

I would use someone you have been recommended or have used before. My husband is a plumber and all his work is from repeat customers or recomendations. 9 times out of 10 he is left on his own on larger jobs. He finds it much easier and often jokes when he is working for an elderly man or lady that sit hovering over his shoulder the whole time that he charges for audience seats.
If you hae used the person before or a friend has then I would feel happy to leave them alone. You caould always get your MIL to pop in if she is local to make them a cup of tea and just check all is ok.

eamon

I always leave them alone as well. I would just get in the way and be a nuisance.

rosalie-lavender

My MIL had a nasty surprise on her phone bill after she had a boiler engineer to repair the boiler. He asked to use the phone to phone his work and phoned his girlfriend in India. When we complained to the company he worked for it was added to the list of other crimes he had committed that the police were investigating.

I trust all the people we normally use and would leave them in the house alone if need be. Someone new to me though would not be left alone in the house.

ziggyman99

I often work alone and have been criminal record checked and am a member of a reputation site (https://www.checkatrade.com) which hopefully puts peoples minds at rest.
It can work the other way around. Sometimes tradesmen don't want to work alone in case their accused of taking something which they haven't.

C_Mababejive

I dont understand this.

Presumably you would let an estate agent wander round your house alone or to bring strangers to view your house?

Isnt this just the old ..workers cant be trusted but someone in a suit can?

sayahu

Until I met my other half I would have said no, but he gets left alone (which I used to find shocking), but I since learned that the vast majority of his and his friend's clients do leave them alone with a key and so have come to accept it this way and have done the same when I have had people over to do stuff. The only complaints I've had from people he's worked for is that he talks them through what he's doing now and later when all they want is a simple answer to 'what are you doing now?' But he feels he has to show that he is working and knows what he is doing if they are hanging about in the same room!

Tom_Jones

KillerWatt wrote: »

You might be a bit of a !!!!!! who is happy to sign the register, but the other 99% of us are quite happy to do what we are being paid to do and nothing else.

Wow did I touch a raw nerve there, and if you'd care to call me a '!!!!!!' to my face, I'll happily pay all your medical bills. Doubt if you've got the balls though.

Some people are so dumb, they can't even fathom out my post was light hearted.

diable

I have found stuff under floorboards that the owners never knew was there.

Bob the electrician now residing in the Bahamas................. ;o))))

KateLiana27

Yes, if it was someone I trusted.

And I wouldn't hire someone I didn't trust. (When I get quotes from tradespeople I pay far more attention to how trustworthy they seem than how much the actual quote is. There are lots of signs and I haven't been proved wrong yet).

So, basically, yes.

keystone

Tom_Jones wrote: »

Some people are so dumb, they can't even fathom out my post was light hearted.

Bummer! I must be dumb then 'cos I thought you were using irony.

Cheers