Best way to find good local tradesman?

noelphobic

martinthebandit wrote: »

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.

I have had poor service recently (long story) and when the offender was confronted he offered no defence. I am sure there are customers who mess tradesmen around, but I'm not one of them, which is why I get so upset when I am messed around.

How would you define a 'bad' customer? Presumably someone who either delays paying or refuses to pay at all, is the most obvious problem? What else?

john.h

noelphobic wrote: »

I have had poor service recently (long story) and when the offender was confronted he offered no defence. I am sure there are customers who mess tradesmen around, but I'm not one of them, which is why I get so upset when I am messed around.

How would you define a 'bad' customer? Presumably someone who either delays paying or refuses to pay at all, is the most obvious problem? What else?

They want a lot more than they have been quoted for... I have had that loads of times..

John.

Leif

martinthebandit wrote: »

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

I can't argue with that.

Leif

Canucklehead wrote: »

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

Thanks, yes. They agreed to refund £1,800 in 3 monthly installments, the first is due soon. I will post about this a bit later for various reasons, in part because a trade did a survey of the bodge for free, and I need to reward him.

Leif

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.

I don't mean to be rude but I do think you have gone overboard here. Maybe there is some history here, but calm down, calm down. You are both valuable contributors to the forum for those of us who are less knowledgeable when it comes to DIY.

cyclonebri1

Leif wrote: »

I don't mean to be rude but I do think you have gone overboard here. Maybe there is some history here, but calm down, calm down. You are both valuable contributors to the forum for those of us who are less knowledgeable when it comes to DIY.

Well Leif I agree, no point getting heated, I just found it strange when I pointed out who Gordon Bennett was when he asked me in an attempt to discredit a post, that he didn't even acknowledge the reply, and yes I'll leave it, but not untill I comment on these polarised views that appear on here.

It goes as follows and is like something out of animal farm;

All customers bad, all tradesman good
or dependant on your standpoint
All customers good, all tradesmen bad

Now any sensible person will realise that neither are true, and if a person is an arsewhole, he/she will be, no matter which side of the customer/supplier fence.

gibson123

Sorry to gazump the thread, just wanted to say thanks. I decided to go for a local self-employed gas engineer and found one that lives 2 streets away, he was around today and I was impressed by him and the very fair quote and knowledge he has, he can do my servicing of my boiler and appliances next week, really pleased.And bonus I asked him to recommend a plumber and he recommended a semi-retired chap who only does small local jobs nowadays,and is very reasonable. I need a leaky overflow fixed and a new bath fitted, so sounds ideal.

cyclonebri1

He's definitely on the gas safe register then?, Can only assume you checked.

It's the 1 area you need to be certain, with most other trades there is a little more room for not getting it perfect if that's understandable.;);)

And feel free to add to the topic, It's all on the same subject.

gibson123

Yes he is on the gas safe register, he actually did a quick check on my supply with his wee meter thingy (as you can tell I am not at all technical) when quoting for the job and identified a small leak where my new cooker was connected, not serious but enough for him to go fetch some sealant type stuff out of his van and make sure the coupling was a snugger fit. I had thought there was a slight smell but put it down to the new cooker smell rather than gas. No charge! The plumber chap was in today and did a decent quote as well to replace my ancient cast iron bath and piping. I expected the labour costs to be quite high for this, as its upstairs and in a very awkward place, I think it may need broken up to remove. Anyway the quote was very good and a bonus is that he can get the bath and taps I want at a discount, so is going to supply these as well. I am feeling really positive now, I have been putting these jobs off because of the hassle.

cyclonebri1

gibson123 wrote: »

Yes he is on the gas safe register, he actually did a quick check on my supply with his wee meter thingy (as you can tell I am not at all technical) when quoting for the job and identified a small leak where my new cooker was connected, not serious but enough for him to go fetch some sealant type stuff out of his van and make sure the coupling was a snugger fit. I had thought there was a slight smell but put it down to the new cooker smell rather than gas. No charge! The plumber chap was in today and did a decent quote as well to replace my ancient cast iron bath and piping. I expected the labour costs to be quite high for this, as its upstairs and in a very awkward place, I think it may need broken up to remove. Anyway the quote was very good and a bonus is that he can get the bath and taps I want at a discount, so is going to supply these as well. I am feeling really positive now, I have been putting these jobs off because of the hassle.

Then you have a result, great stuff :T:T:T:T:T