why are tradesman bad?

andyhop

As a tradesmen I've learnt you can't keep everyone happy no matter how hard you try!

I once had a complaint that I hadn't fitted the shower hose through the sliding rail kit. Customer emailed images ...... They ignored the fact the install was immaculate, property was cleaner when we left than when we started , on time and to the penny that we quoted!!

lisa110rry

I must share with you the excellent experience I've had with one particular workman, a bricklayer by trade, living locally in our village, I'll call him BL2 for reasons which will become clear.

On a friend's recommendation, I called BL1 to ask if he could re-set the coping bricks for me prior to having a garden wall covered with K-Rend. BL1 had too much on and recommended BL2. It was a rush job because the plasterer was ready to render and we hadn't noticed the copings were loose. BL2 came, did the job, and was of course paid immediately.

Following year, a friend accidentally 'touched' a different garden wall with his van and 4.5 feet fell over! Clearly the wall needed to be re-built! Call BL2! Not a rush job, just had to be right for parade day as many people like to watch the children from our wall as they walk proudly past in their cub or band uniforms or whatever. BL2 quoted £2300 to include rebar and 'tunnelling' for presumed tree roots.

He came and did the job some weeks later (keeping me informed of his plans) discovered the tunnelling and rebar were not needed because the roots had not invaded the wall, but rather turned and gone the opposite way.

He also brought me sample bricks to choose from and tidied everything up beautifully.

Final bill: £1600

I later discovered he had consulted with BL1 (more experienced) about this job.

All in all I'm delighted with this man's work. When he passes my home in his van, he still toots and waves.

I shall not be looking for another bricklayer any time soon and have recommended him to several people.

Not all tradesmen are as the OP describes!

no1catman

There are emergencies, and there are 'jobs' you'd like to have done.
The former could be covered by insurance, the latter should give you time to pre-plan with a timescale involved.


Either way, when you come across someone you 'rate' keep the business card for a future occasion.
IMO the higher the value the more research of the tradesman you need to do, and yes part of that is their response - quotes/emails/visits in line with promises.

mttylad

Any tradesman that takes his boots off coming through my front door wont get further than the front door.

You may consider it nice but I consider it unsafe, if he drops something on an unprotected foot then all hell would break loose.
If his boots are dirty then he either covers them or goes round back to clean them with the hose. (or he just does not get in).

Mr_Costcutter

Sadly, I have to say that over my long life I've had more bad experiences than good. What never fails to amaze me though is the difference in quotes for the same job (using same materials etc). 6 years ago we had a new extension built and gathered in the quotes. The difference between the highest and lowest was £35,000. We actually spent less than £35,000 actually completing the whole job lol

pollypenny

Our tradesmen are super!

Most of them come by personal recommendation and do a great job, for a fair price. They are mostly young, mostly ex-pupils of mine, and are in the same rugby club.

OUr plumber and electrician have come in emergencies.

zax47

I'm just waiting for that member who always replies on "tradesmen" threads (can't remember his ID but he's an right arrogant sod), to come along and tell us we're all over-priced, rip-off, crooks and why we shouldn't be allowed to charge a {fair} price which reflects our costs - ALL our costs - but only what the customer (him) thinks they should pay. Charging £35 an hour does NOT make me £35 - I could clear just £4.50-4.80 from that, less than minimum wage, hence working 60+ hours a week! Yes, we try to reduce our operating costs where we can, but some are hard to influence - like fuel costs, compulsory trade registration fees (Part P - best part of £500/yr for example), insurances costs etc.

Respect your customers & do a good, tidy, safe job, it keeps you in business. 90% of my work is from word of mouth recommendation and, emergencies apart, I'm stacked up to Xmas now. As someone said earlier - if he can come tomorrow then he isn't busy. If he isn't busy then maybe you need to consider why not....

"Cheap" "good"& "quick" are generally mutually exclusive concepts when it comes to trades. If you want a decent job & tradesperson then getting one of those 3 often precludes the other two. {Good generally doesn't mean quick or cheap}

leveller2911

pollypenny wrote: »

Our tradesmen are super!

Most of them come by personal recommendation and do a great job, for a fair price. They are mostly young and are in the same rugby club.

OUr plumber and electrician have come in emergencies.

You forgot to say "buff" too ................:D Am I the only one seeing a pattern there?...:rotfl:

pollypenny

leveller2911 wrote: »

You forgot to say "buff" too ................:D Am I the only one seeing a pattern there?...:rotfl:

God, no! I'm like a mam figure to them, having known them from mini rugby or Y 7 in school!

lisa110rry

Pollypenny, completely with you on that. I was the first female Lancs junior rugby manager and I would employ any of the lads should I find them local tradesmen. Sadly, we live out on a limb, so it's hard to keep up with them.

I have also had superior tradesmen to paint my home, sadly lost the contact so now trying to find another as good! Might have found one though, while walking my dog...you meet loads of interesting people walking.