Best way to find good local tradesman?

Canucklehead

Leif wrote: »

Generally the trade would only find out the customer was bad once the job was in progress. And vice versa of course.

Unfortunate but accurate. How go your struggles with the bathroom bodgers? Any progress?

martinthebandit

Leif wrote: »

Generally the trade would only find out the customer was bad once the job was in progress. And vice versa of course.

Well yes, but they would only work for them once and, certainly in the smaller places, word gets around

cyclonebri1

So canucklehead, figured yet who Gordon is, and who leif is talking about.

Your infractions that the trade gets treated worse than the public are getting tedious to say the least.


Yes there are both bad customers and bad traders, but your argument is that it is the former who are at fault......
But a bad trader spawns a bad customer, guess you have to go away and look that up too??

You seem to be on a quest to discredit Joe Bloggs, the average punter, seems strange it's only you that feels this way.

Can i suggest that your own business plan is at fault? probably better said as your payment plan?.

Surely it's simple.
You as a trader charge the customer a small up front payment to book you?
You then charge again when you have materials on site?
And you charge again when labour has been spent

Etc Etc Etc

The final completion payment is your profit

Or maybe you don't think that fair?.

And by the way I started my posts on a conciliatory tone to accommodate your extreme views, (Where's the "bangs head on wall" emoticon gone??)

Your view that the customer is always wrong is why topics like this are neccessary, poor show on your part. :(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(


Have to ask as in your signature, are you CIPHE accredited?

martinthebandit

I have to say, and I am not sure I like to agree with canucklethingy, but on a fair percentage of threads complaining about tradesman it does seem patently obvious why they have had poor service.

I entirely agree there are some terrible tradespeople out there but there are also a lot of customers who I would not like to work for.

Canucklehead

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

So canucklehead, figured yet who Gordon is, and who leif is talking about.

Your infractions that the trade gets treated worse than the public are getting tedious to say the least.


Yes there are both bad customers and bad traders, but your argument is that it is the former who are at fault......
But a bad trader spawns a bad customer, guess you have to go away and look that up too??

You seem to be on a quest to discredit Joe Bloggs, the average punter, seems strange it's only you that feels this way.

Can i suggest that your own business plan is at fault? probably better said as your payment plan?.

Surely it's simple.
You as a trader charge the customer a small up front payment to book you?
You then charge again when you have materials on site?
And you charge again when labour has been spent

Etc Etc Etc

The final completion payment is your profit

Or maybe you don't think that fair?.

And by the way I started my posts on a conciliatory tone to accommodate your extreme views, (Where's the "bangs head on wall" emoticon gone??)

Your view that the customer is always wrong is why topics like this are neccessary, poor show on your part. :(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(


Have to ask as in your signature, are you CIPHE accredited?

In two words......bizarre post.

gibson123

Oh I sympathise, my Plumber who I used for years and recommended to all my friends and family has RETIRED! As we all used the same person we can't get any WOM recommendation. My boiler and gas appliances need their annual service, I have a drippy over-flow and my dishwasher isn't draining. I have been asking acquaintances for months, and now think it is going to be just pot luck, try out on a small job, and if happy get the rest done.

martinthebandit

gibson123 wrote: »

Oh I sympathise, my Plumber who I used for years and recommended to all my friends and family has RETIRED! As we all used the same person we can't get any WOM recommendation. My boiler and gas appliances need their annual service, I have a drippy over-flow and my dishwasher isn't draining. I have been asking acquaintances for months, and now think it is going to be just pot luck, try out on a small job, and if happy get the rest done.

Why don't you ask your retired plumber to recommended someone?

gibson123

He's moved abroad, and is probably on a golf course somewhere and I didn't think to get his contact details. If he was still around he probably would have helped out.

noelphobic

nickj wrote: »

i live in a small village , all my work comes from word of mouth - basically people i know , and then when i've done work for them and they are happy , they pass my name on to their friends and neighbours , at the moment i'm so busy i can turn down work that i don't fancy or am booking jobs in for next spring/summer

if you do find a good tradesman that you're happy with , don't mess them about , i've just done a job and had to get my mate who's a carpenter in to fix/repair a few bits and pieces, he's given the customer 2 invoices ,rung them countless times for his cash and they have kept him waiting for 4 weeks for £250 - he's now got his money and told them not to bother him if they need any other work doing , as they have an old large cottage it is a dead cert they will need him more than he needs them ,he's got plenty of work ,so doesn't need the hassle

Couldn't agree with you more. I really value people who do good work, charge reasonable rates and don't mess me around, and would always recommend them to friends. Then there are the other people who have done work for me that I would whole heartedly recommend - to my worst enemy!

coshboy

I used mybuilder.com recently. You have to register to post your job and to complete your registration they send you a code to input. They are rated on the jobs they've done.

You may or may not believe the reviews but I think because of the way they work it, if a tradesman was making up their own reviews it would be quite time consuming.

I was pretty pleased with the work I had done and the price.