OS Singlies - We Do It Our Way!

calicocat

Thanks Byatt, am totally fine but was rather annoyed at the time, did end up on a positive note though having a right laugh last shift.

I'm not exactly keen on 1.5K for two sliding doors either!!...I will be leaving it with a curtain across for now, which to be fair doesn't really bother me too much. these were just two melamine sliding doors...nothing special. I did get a quote from a joiner a few months back for hand made shaker style doors that were half the price.

'if in doubt spend nout'......as they say........so i'm hanging fire for now. The absolute must spend is thick or blackout curtains, and may treat myself to some new bed cover to match and a couple of new lamps for my bedroom leaving the ones I have now for the spare room........i think the 'no buying clothes for 6 months' is getting to me....i have withdrawal.....so just transferring it to house stuff instead but this is more sensible spends though.

Right....off to sleep again I think, if Asbo will stop talking at me to get up.

moneyistooshorttomention

Calico

Re the quote for those 2 doors...the figure you've been quoted is absolutely outrageous. £1,500 for cheapo doors, when the previous guy quoted you half that for decent doors.

Maybe you could have a change of plan and try and source one of those attractive freestanding folding screens to put across instead of doors?

Sounds to me like you've just been given one of those "don't really want the job...so will deliberately price outrageously so I don't get it". I have heard of this tactic of vastly overpricing a job if they don't want it for some reason. I guess its a win win situation to them to price like that. Heads they win = they don't get given the job. Tails you lose = they DO get given the job and make loads more profit on it than is remotely reasonable.

Sounds like you need to find someone else.

I've never encountered the Deliberate Overprice Quote tactic that I can recall for any job. In my last area I had precisely one "Quote that never did turn up" and took that as their message they didn't want the job, but never the Deliberate Overprice trick. Everyone else turned out quotes in reasonable timespan and at pretty much the price levels expected.

In my current area there is a tendency to promise and promise and promise again that they will provide a quote ...and it never appears. I was talking to a friend here today and she says that both the workmen she is trying to get to quote her for jobs at the moment keep promising and promising and never actually doing said quote. I don't know whether the endlessly broken promises of quotes here are the equivalent of a Deliberate Overprice thing or whether they want to get round to giving you a quote in their own sweet time (which could be months in the future) and meanwhile they will regard you as a customer potentially lined-up. If its a long-term trying to line customers up strategy it certainly doesn't work with me and I've suggested to friend she just follows my lead and mentally give them a reasonable length of time for the quote to appear and then forget them and find other workmen to quote and, at some point, she'll find workmen who will quote in a normal length of time and can get a workman in to do the job without them taking months about it.

At some point I'll find someone who will explain to me just which of these two things is causing the endlessly broken promises re quotes. I think it's down to they DO actually want the job, but are wanting to keep potential customers on the back burner to "warm the dish" when they want it and they are just hoping that every other workman hereabouts is doing the same and they can all keep you waiting at their convenience and will turn up months later when it suits them.

Anyways..the other thing going on here is the finding ways to get access to some of those "modern conveniences" I took for granted back in Home Area and having to ask around as to where I can get "normal standard" this/that/the other that I automatically assumed was THE standard right across the country:o:(:o. Some things are taking some tracking down...but I'm on the case.

moneyistooshorttomention

Calico

Just checked www.amazon.co.uk and put in a request for "screens shabby chic" and bingo....some nice screens there:).

Better still "screens room dividers".

calicocat

It was a local reputable company, but they aren't the cheapest. I am sure it would have been a very neat and good job as have seen a lot of their work when house hunting.....but not something I am willing to pay for at the moment.

They do want the job as have left various messages on house phone...it's just what they charge I guess. The problem I have also is that having rented for so long previously (10 years) I am totally out of touch with what stuff should cost now.

The screen is a good idea though....hadn't thought of that so thanks.


The promise of quotes that don't arrive would irritate me too....but then I am quite an impatient person when it comes to home stuff...and just expect people to rush to fulfil my needs...lol. the fact that this mornings electrician hasn't phoned yet is now starting to annoy as want to go back to sleep.....of course I have to realise that he may in fact be busy.

I'll give him until the end of tomorrow...if he hasn't called by then..he's ditched and will ring another one. Otherwise i'm going to have an alarm buzzing all evening when folk round for a meal saturday potentially....i guess if we have enough wine we won't notice in the end..

LavenderBees

And also watch out for the deliberately underpricing which seems to have been my joiner's way....seems he quoted for cheapest materials, not decent ones...I've learned my lesson.

And, of course, he gets no more work from me, stupid short sighted man.

But there you go...

moneyistooshorttomention

LB

I've noticed on a few jobs that the workmen were quoting me for what "most people" would want and that tends to translate into poorer quality than I want.

Sometimes I have the foresight to give them examples of different quality products they will recognise and say "That example is typical of the quality I want for myself".

I've recently had a joinery job done here, where I found my tradesman was heading towards getting the cheapest materials (probably for the good reason that he knows I don't have much money), but I re-routed him towards better quality materials and said "That's MINE there...that's the quality I want" and he bought that instead for me. I think sometimes we have to say what level quality we want and, in this area certainly, it seems to be the case that they are used to people wanting the cheapest quality product on the one hand or a lot of newcomers here are in the "money is no object" category on the other hand and hence they can see I'm not one of the richies moving into this area, so they sometimes assume I will therefore want the cheapest quality stuff that some of their other customers want and I DO have to make it plain that's not my quality of stuff either.

LavenderBees

Hmmm..maybe, but I'm not as charitable as you. I think he quoted this lower than realistic to get the work, and, apart from the back door, he has not said that what I insisted on meant that the job price was increasing.

We had a right barney about it yesterday. I accept I have been naive, and I also accept that I have clearly been lucky to work with mainly honourable tradesmen, who have communicated clearly. Not in this case.

I've also learned another lesson, not to allow the job to be specified by a go-between, in this case, the lovely builder. I have absolutely no doubt he will have spec'd the job as I wanted it, but the joiner denies it.

Lessons learned indeed. No job is being started here ever again without clear written estimates and quality of products specifications.

Daft thing is that, if he'd quoted me properly,I'd still have had the work done, but would simply have known up front what was to be paid. And he'd maybe be in with a chance of further work ...maybe.. but in his case, probably not as his attitude has been patronising at best, and downright rude at worst. NOT what I want from someone providing me a service. Being fair, his actual joinery work is pretty good.

The pain of the mistake will fade in time...life is too short. Pick myself up, dust myself down, learn a lesson and move on...:)

BookWorm

*sneaks in and hopes someone remembers me*

Sorry for being a bit awol peeps. Work and RL kicked my posterior last week so I decided to head off to visit my folks for the weekend as I needed a change of scenery and to recharge the batteries.

Just catching up on what I've missed.

Hugs to all

BW

LavenderBees

BookWorm wrote: »

*sneaks in and hopes someone remembers me*

Sorry for being a bit awol peeps. Work and RL kicked my posterior last week so I decided to head off to visit my folks for the weekend as I needed a change of scenery and to recharge the batteries.

Just catching up on what I've missed.

Hugs to all

BW

I remember you . Almost gave you a shout at the weekend to make sure you were ok, but got side tracked with joiner and a million other jobs...glad you're ok. Work angst is the pits!! Hope you're feeling better for your wee break.

I'm off to bed now as exhausted (as usual). Night, night, all

LB xx

grousescot

JustKeepSwimming wrote: »

You'll cope because you have to :rotfl: Its amazing what you can sort out when there really is no one else to help out. But I find imagining the worst case scenario & planning for it helps (which is why I have a huge pantry & loo roll stash). So glad your on the mend though - sounds like you've been through the mill a bit so have some :bdaycake:- it doesn't need to be your birthday!

Thanks and I will share the cake round with anyone else who fancies some! Physically I feel very well so it does seem a little odd that I'm deemed unsuited to go back to work for a couple of weeks at least. I guess the issue is that things could still go potentially very wrong (infection, etc.) so caution has to be exercised in the early stages.

I have had two immediate crises which I can recall and both involved plumbing: discovering at 7:30 in the morning when I was expecting to catch a train at 8 that the hot water tap which supplied the shower had become jammed on, and being woken one morning by my downstairs neighbour who had water dripping through his ceiling due to a leaking pipe connected to my washing machine. Both cases were eventually sorted by my dad. In the first instance advised me to shut off the boiler which stopped the water flow then when I was at work had a plumber come round and fix the tap. (Soon after I enlisted the same plumber to replace the entire bathroom.) Washing machine pipe was an easy fix for dad apparently but I felt extremely guilty about the neighbour whose pristine living room had been sullied. Probably as well I had slept in a bit that day as by that time most mornings I would have been on my way to work. I guess it would be useful to know some basic plumbing stuff to deal with an immediate crisis if not entire fix the problem but I'm not terribly good with my hands.

I am determined to do something productive with my time away from work given I'm not actually laid up in bed or confined to the house. Today was a start, doing some clothes shopping (one of my least favourite tasks, especially when it involves shoes, but needs must). I hope to catch up with a friend who works evenings but is generally free during the day. I am also going to make a conscious effort to help my folks around the house. I have to avoid anything too strenuous (when my eye gives me a warning twinge) but stuff like doing the dishes and the laundry, etc. don't fall into that category!

Don't know if it's the after-effects of the GA but I feel generally very tired the last couple of days despite getting a lot more sleep than I usually do. So off now to do something else with my evening before turning in.

Hope everyone has had a productive day.