why are tradesman bad?

zax47

martinthebandit wrote: »

In a different thread some time ago I got shot down for saying this but I still believe it's true.......

Good trades people don't work for bad customers.

Indeed, as we can be choosy - seeing as we're not desperate for every little crappy job and balls-ache, bolshy, pain in the @rse customer who's just not worth the grief. Word gets round too, so the trades know who the problem customers are in a particular area - we all chat when at the wholesalers....

zax47

Doozergirl wrote: »

This is so true. Even with our regular guys, I know that they won't be keen to come out to my house to do random bits and pieces and so I save work until there's enough for a full day's work - and allow them to come on their own schedule so they can fill a gap in the diary between more chunky stuff, perhaps. Obviously, this isn't going to fit with people who don't work from home, but even I have to make things easy for good people.

Just that! I have what I call "granny jobs", the 1 hour straightforward things that just aren't worth a special trip to do. However, if I can slot it in before/after something else bigger nearby and you're happy to wait 2 or 3 or even 4 weeks for me, then fine. When I look at next weeks work then I might tell you Monday that I'll be there Thursday, after 3 (but it might well be 5:30) or Friday between 9 and 10. If you're flexible enough for that then great, if not - well tough find someone else.

balletshoes

Furts wrote: »

Please look on this with lateral thinking. You have posted that you contact ten tradesmen/women for one job. The converse is these folks know that 90% of your calls will be time wasters. Then if they respond, visit, price up, produce a quote, win the work, do the work, produce an invoice, chase up payment...it is not worth it. The job might only be worth £50-£100 and this adds insult to this process.

"My" electrician did not answer the phone. Contrary to what most mse forum users believe (excluding, I suspect, brightontraveller, doozergirl, leveller 2911 and others) it would be unprofessional to respond. My electrician earns money by working and not spending every five minutes on the phone. Besides, being on the phone looks like shirking, and further, those like me paying on daywork do not want to be paying for time wasting consumers to receive answers to their concerns.
Hence answerphone or text is the option. These messages are then checked when appropriate - such as lunch break - and sifted to give appropriate leads.

Now you might think my views are harsh. To add to this we are known to have high standards and do not tolerate anything sub standard. We know almost as much about many trades as the trades themselves. You would think this makes us a client from hell. Instead trades are available almost at the drop of a hat. Trades know what we expect and find us a refreshing change from the norm.

We also issue clear instructions, discuss the work, listen to isues, address trades courteously, are respectful, respect their skills, monitor and check their work, pay on completion and offer tea, coffee,cake and toilets.

Finally out of respect to leveller2911 we have a golden rule to avoid problems - all labour must be local UK. I confess one sub contractor put an East European in for a days work three years ago, unknown to us. We can still cringe at the problems created, but it was agreed the work would be FOC, so here we won on a financial basis.

Again, as in my earlier post, perhaps some consumers could learn from our experiences.

I'd be happy with any kind of response, but my issue is that I don't get one from the majority of my calls :cool:. I'm not a difficult customer, I don't expect fast or cheap work, I'm in the market for good work when its appropriate to the tradesman, I happily supply teas/coffees/choccy biccies, and I pay my bills on time. But how would any tradesman know that, they're apparently just going to lump me with the 90% which Furts describes as time-wasters.

So, as the consensus among the people in the trade appears to be that 90% of us domestic customers aren't worth getting back to, how do we get the work done which requires a tradesman?

Its a conundrum.

Voyager2002

Basic problem: we don't have enough immigrants. Local tradies need some competition.

Furts

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Basic problem: we don't have enough immigrants. Local tradies need some competition.

Not enough trades people but also a consumer problem. So many people today are not prepared to lift a finger to help themselves, nor learn DIY, nor own a basic tool set, nor own a ladder, nor get their hands dirty. This situation is in total contrast to what existed in our society forty years ago. However, there are insufficient trades people to combat this problem.

Then there are unnecessary consumer demands - it is not necessary to change a kitchen, bathroom and ensuite every five years. But to do so ties up scarce labour resources.

Consumers do not recognise quality and neither do they care. The specify and buy products that last no time then call out trades again to renew the item with another short life component. Many trades are not interested in this merry go round.

Consumers compound matters by scimping, by ignorance and by not inspecting work being done. As an example, my neighbours had a property maintenance company work on their home. The work might last one year. Another two neighbours have replacement gutters and soffits - both have ongoing problems after the work had lasted two weeks. None of these neighbours had the slightest interest in what was being done. All wanted the cheapest conceivable job, all bartered over the price and all believed ignorance was total bliss. The trades are reluctant to return to correct matters so things will probably be left as they are.

Immigrants labour is not the answer unless it is well trained, conversant with UK standards for materials, workmanship and safety and fluent in English. Hence many foreign nationalities are labelled potential cowboys by the construction industry.

There is not a magic answer but there are some mse forum posters who should look in the mirror before condemning UK trades people.

woodbutcher_2

I've not read all his thread but would just like to say that there are honest, reliable, clean working tradesmen out there. I am one such person.

However, there are plenty of cowboys around. Do your research and expect to wait for the good ones.