difficulty finding tradespeople

eastmidsaver

hi, i am just wondering if other people find difficulty getting tradespeople to do jobs.
either,  they don't return calls from the start.
or they come round,  take a look, say they'll come back to you with a date and you never hear from them again  (including not answering emails or texts).
and even those that have done a job for you, seem to disappear too.
and some say they will do the job, but quote an ridiculous price.
is this a normal problem?   or is it maybe due to pandemic these people are super busy?
thanks.

Jaybee_16

Several years ago in London I wanted a patio area paved. Builders either didn't turn up to quote despite arranging an appointment or as in one case, turned up but then kept saying he emailed the quote but wouldn't send it again. I suspect the job was too small for them to bother.
Now more rural, found a recommended builder to do a relatively small job but as it was indoors I had to wait for a rainy day when working inside suited him. Builder told me he was booked until December.
If a tradesman is any good they are busy and booked up for a while.

victor2

eastmidsaver said:

hi, i am just wondering if other people find difficulty getting tradespeople to do jobs.
either,  they don't return calls from the start.
or they come round,  take a look, say they'll come back to you with a date and you never hear from them again  (including not answering emails or texts).
and even those that have done a job for you, seem to disappear too.
and some say they will do the job, but quote an ridiculous price.
is this a normal problem?   or is it maybe due to pandemic these people are super busy?
thanks.

Normal problem sadly.
Personally I always try to get local people on recommendations from friends or neighbours.
Those that are available "next week" clearly don't have a lot of work on. Those that are good tend to have a waiting list for jobs.
I was recently looking for an authorised installer of a particular brand of appliance. The manufacturer listed 4 local tradespeople. Of them, 3 linked to Facebook accounts, only one had their own website (as well as Facebook). That was the one I contacted. Visited to give a quote 2 days later, and will probably get the job.

A good tradesperson is like gold dust. If you find one, keep their details for future use!

eastmidsaver

thanks for comments.

"A good tradesperson is like gold dust. If you find one, keep their details for future use!"

even this i have done, like for instance someone who did a job for me last September,  i asked him about another job.  he measured up and said he will come back to me in a couple days with some dates.   i never heard from him so I sent an email but he didn't respond.  a couple weeks later i tried with another email,  and again he didn't respond.  so i gave up.   was a bit bizzare because i paid him immediately for original job,  but also he seemed keen to do the work at the time.  so now i just not going to bother with him.

really tough as i got a couple small jobs needing to be done,  but just can't find anyone.

digannio

Lots of people are having lots or things done as they have spare cash that they haven't been able to spend during these crazy times. As said the tradespeople who work mainly by recommendation have bulging order books. One that I was looking for a quote from told me it would be months before he could visit for a quote for roofing work. He said: "My advice would be don't get someone from checkatrade or rated people, go from personal recommendations." Easier said than done, the decent tradesmen seem so busy they can prioritise the really big jobs and turn smaller ones down. I suppose you can't blame them really.

eastmidsaver

very true and it does make sense.
i just wish they would at least have the courtesy to respond, or just say "sorry i'm too busy", rather than shy away. but that i guess is modern society.
missed a trick when i was younger, should have learnt a trade!!

Thrugelmir

Do you access to a website called Nextdoor. We've found a number of local tradespeople by asking for personal recommendations via this source.  Still had to wait for them to come and do the work though. Sometimes as long as 3 months just to start! 

kasqueak

I don’t have a solution but just wanted to say I feel your frustration!
We moved house last year and it’s a different town so I don’t know many people for recommendations. So many tradespeople don’t get back to you or say they will and then ignore you. Find it so rude! If they can’t do the job or don’t want the job surely it’s just common courtesy to at least come back to me and say so!
I’ve heard mixed things on websites like checkatrade etc. 

victor2

kasqueak said:

...
I’ve heard mixed things on websites like checkatrade etc. 

Good tradespeople don't need to pay to be on checkatrade etc. as they get more than enough work through referrals and recommendations from satisfied customers.

I can only guess that those who don't even reply to queries get so many that they can't afford the time to reply, so just cherry pick what they want and ignore the rest. Cold business decision takes precedence over common courtesy!

eastmidsaver

thanks for all the comments.
i think at least there is a sense of comfort this is not just happening to me, and seems like it is a common situation these days.
i will have a look at nextdoor as recommended by an above poster.

Alfrescodave

One problem is that some people (not suggesting OP is one) contact the wrong trades person, e.g asking a plumber to fix a leaking tap or install an outside tap and therefore get frustrated when nothing happens.  Plumber is looking for boiler /bathroom/ kitchen installations that occupy them for several days not 30 minutes.
There are some very qualified "handymen" people that should be used for these minor type jobs