why are tradesman bad?

catoutthebag

They don't turn up
They turn up late
They are disorganised
Poor time keeping
Long breaks
Don't provide an invoice or slow to do so
Work slowly or inefficiently
Don't bring all / correct tools / materials
Create more mess than required
Don't clean up said mess
Start work late and finish too early
Don't answer calls

Is this British workman or a worldwide problem?

What can be done? Or is the above the actual qualifying criteria.

Why are the MAJORITY SO BAD?

SailorSam

I think the first thing they're taught to do when they do turn up to look at the job is ............ Take a deep breath and shake their head.

Doozergirl

Whenever I see people asking for recommendations on the local facebook page etc, they are asking for someone good, cheap and available like tomorrow. Those three don't exist together.

I'm sure some of the tradespeople on here would be able to stereotype customers as well.

BucksLady

Goodness, sounds as if we've been dealing with the same people:)

In some areas of the country there does seem to be a lack of competition and so tradesmen seem to think they have an upper hand. Their attitude seems to be ''like it or lump it''.

It's a real problem and if you are able to find a good chippie, sparky etc - then you've done well.

I absolutely dread finding people to carry out work - never know what problems will arise :eek:

Paully232000

Doozergirl wrote: »

Whenever I see people asking for recommendations on the local facebook page etc, they are asking for someone good, cheap and available like tomorrow. Those three don't exist together.

I'm sure some of the tradespeople on here would be able to stereotype customers as well.

I am glad that it is not just me who thinks that. When i see posts like...'I can do it tomorrow for you'. First thing I think is why are you not busy, not great.

When we had our recommended bathroom refitted, the chap quoted in October, and couldn't start until February. So glad I waited, and didn't go with the chap who could start the next week.

Marktheshark

The ones that work in peoples houses at the drop of a hat are not going to be very good are they.
The best are employed on good wages with good conditions.

The ones that seek household work are often unemployable.
The ones who are not unemployable will be booked up until after Christmas at very least.

missprice

catoutthebag wrote: »

They don't turn up, they are busy!
They turn up late, doing another quote before yours as they have to keep busy to earn money
They are disorganised, maybe or maybe they cant possibly have everything to hand immediately
Poor time keeping, some certainly
Long breaks, depending on what they are doing, up on a roof for 3 hours in Feb I would want a long warming break too
Don't provide an invoice or slow to do so, you got the busiest trade ever or the worst.
Work slowly or inefficiently, in your opinion maybe, or maybe they are doing the job correctly
Don't bring all / correct tools / materials, said this before, just how many tools and parts can one van hold?
Create more mess than required, again in your opinion, if you are so clever forget the trade, diy and make less mess.
Don't clean up said mess, that's just wrong.
Start work late and finish too early, it can be very demanding trade work, try up and down a ladder with tools and slates 30 times before lunch, see how long you last. Also ties in with when do they do your quote? Do they turn up after 8pm cos that's when they finished the last job cos they worked a full day, do you think that makes it cheaper for you?
Don't answer calls, cos they are out doing a job or quote and you would then find them rude for answering the phone while your job is being done or they doing your quote.

Is this British workman or a worldwide problem?

What can be done? Or is the above the actual qualifying criteria.

Why are the MAJORITY SO BAD?

You want cheap and fast work, you get the worst workmen

Plasterer

Why are tradesmen bad?

Same as why your doctor sometimes misdiagnoses
Same as why your mechanic puts a new fan belt on - yet it squeals until you take it back to be tightened/slackened.
Same as why your hairdresser gets the colour slightly wrong or trims off slightly too much.
Same as why your solicitor says your going to get off then you get two years in prison.
Same as when you order a steak medium rare in a restaurant and get it well done.
Blah blah blah

Tradesmen are human

phill99

One of the issues ( and I have discussed this at 3 colleges) is that many tradesmen are good at their trades but have zero concept about running a business. Their trade is only one part of what they do. The other part is how they market themselves, the way they answer the phone, how they deal with you when they first come to your house (eg do they take theit boots off?), their courtesy, how they address you, how quickly they get a quote to you, how clean they are etc etc etc. All of this isn't taught at college and isonly likely to get worse. Its the older lags that tend to have a better grasp of dealing with customers as they grew up in more chivalrous times.

As others have said, the good guys are booked up for months ahead. The guys that can come this week have little work for a reason.

27col

Good post Phil.

catoutthebag

Plasterer wrote: »

Why are tradesmen bad?

Same as why your doctor sometimes misdiagnoses
Same as why your mechanic puts a new fan belt on - yet it squeals until you take it back to be tightened/slackened.
Same as why your hairdresser gets the colour slightly wrong or trims off slightly too much.
Same as why your solicitor says your going to get off then you get two years in prison.
Same as when you order a steak medium rare in a restaurant and get it well done.
Blah blah blah

Tradesmen are human

Never really had issue with most of the above. Mechanics are manual tradesman too. But they're next in line with the household tradesman of my first post.