Nightmare Tradesmen - Would an app help?

pennypincher64

Hi there everyone. 

I got a new bathroom recently installed. 

Unfortunately it wasn't a great experience. It took over two weeks to complete. 

The issues are below which there's not a whole lot I can do about now in hindsight but it has inspired me to maybe produce an app to help people avoid these situations. 

Let me know your thoughts please, especially if you have had similar experiences. 

Here's the issues:
- The time it took to complete of over 2 weeks which should have been max 3-4 days

- The hidden costs after already buying the bath, toilet and shower such as waterproofing kit which ended up about £300 in total

- No communication some days where they didn't even bother to turn up as expected. 

- Crack in one of the wall tiles

- They were going to keep the wooden window sill in despite the whole room being tiled

- Showing up in mid afternoon and leaving sometimes early, sometimes much later. 

- Despite promising up front that it would be a few days and everything left clean, it wasn't - the carpet was destroyed with dirty water and adhesive everywhere. 

- Wouldn't tile the floor by replacing the current floor tiles. They only wanted to tile over the top of the current ones. 

- They did not give a price until the end which was £1000! (Yes, I know I should have got a price up front, usually I did, I dropped the ball but I didn't think it would be that much). My new motto is now "no upfront price, no work for you". 

Albermarle

£1000 to do a bathroom. That seems very cheap, which is probably why they were no good. 

You need to agree a price and the details of the work ( old tiled up and new tiles down for example) before you even start.

p00hsticks

pennypincher64 said:

The issues are below which there's not a whole lot I can do about now in hindsight but it has inspired me to maybe produce an app to help people avoid these situations. 

No offence, but my immediate thought is - don't bother.

There are already plenty of ways out there of checking credentials and reviewing tradesmen and companies.

Checkatrade and trustpilot spring to mind for starters.

I'll confess that I don't use either, as I believe that they're all open to abuse, with false good or reviews being added or removed, and reviewers potentially opening themselves up to accusations of libel.

What do you think you could offer that's different, and how do you think you're going to be able to build up enough of a reputation for people to take your app seriously ?

pennypincher64

Albermarle said:

£1000 to do a bathroom. That seems very cheap, which is probably why they were no good. 

You need to agree a price and the details of the work ( old tiled up and new tiles down for example) before you even start.

I completely agree with you and I will be doing that in future. 

£1000 for the work then about £2000 for all materials including fixtures. £1000 for labour on a relatively modest bathroom... Is that really cheap? Thank you 😄

Bradden

What do you see as the benefits of your app? There's already checkatrade and other sites for traders to use.. not that i'm a fan of them. Are you thinknig of something someone could use with a checklist of what to do before you hire a contractor to avoid future problems? This might be useful although I suspect those who could benfit would only realise when it's too late.

macman

If they charged you £1,000 for 10 days labour (i presume this excludes materials), then if one person, they were working for £100 a day. if two people, £50 a day. Do you really expect to get a professional job for that amount? 
it's perfectly acceptable to tile over an existing tile base, if those tiles are sound. 
Extras are always likely with a tiling/bathroom job, as you have no idea what condition the walls are in until you strip the tiles and bath out. Very often there is old water damage, which means replacing the plasterboard, replastering etc.
You cannot properly strip, replumb and retile an entire bathroom in 3-4 days.

pennypincher64

p00hsticks said:

pennypincher64 said:

The issues are below which there's not a whole lot I can do about now in hindsight but it has inspired me to maybe produce an app to help people avoid these situations. 

No offence, but my immediate thought is - don't bother.

There are already plenty of ways out there of checking credentials and reviewing tradesmen and companies.

Checkatrade and trustpilot spring to mind for starters.

I'll confess that I don't use either, as I believe that they're all open to abuse, with false good or reviews being added or removed, and reviewers potentially opening themselves up to accusations of libel.

What do you think you could offer that's different, and how do you think you're going to be able to build up enough of a reputation for people to take your app seriously ?

No offense taken I'm happy to get feedback before I would start! So thank you. 

The difference I had in mind was in my area (n.ireland) theres next to no results on checkatrade. 

I'm answering your question casually here, but even if there was a guide price for things based on agreed prices, maybe a checklist or prior to work contract sort of thing to protect people. I know that's not enough which is why I ask the question in the first place to see what others think too. 

pennypincher64

Bradden said:

What do you see as the benefits of your app? There's already checkatrade and other sites for traders to use.. not that i'm a fan of them. Are you thinknig of something someone could use with a checklist of what to do before you hire a contractor to avoid future problems? This might be useful although I suspect those who could benfit would only realise when it's too late.

What is it about them that you aren't a fan of may I ask? 

Yes a checklist before hand with a bit of data on a guide price so that prices can't just be plucked out of thin air. 

I think you're right actually, that's a good point, but if there was more value perhaps that could be avoided. If there was data I could get of a guide price for the area you're in that gives some sort of average and mix that with the checklist, I'm not sure how much value that would offer people 

Albermarle

pennypincher64 said:

Albermarle said:

£1000 to do a bathroom. That seems very cheap, which is probably why they were no good. 

You need to agree a price and the details of the work ( old tiled up and new tiles down for example) before you even start.

I completely agree with you and I will be doing that in future. 

£1000 for the work then about £2000 for all materials including fixtures. £1000 for labour on a relatively modest bathroom... Is that really cheap? Thank you 😄

In the more expensive parts of England, you can expect to pay something like £300 a day for an experienced tradesperson with a good reputation and maybe £150 a day for the assistant/labourer. Although for that you would expect a detailed discussion( maybe two) beforehand of exactly what you want/how they will do it/ what they will supply and what you will supply. Then a detailed quote in advance.
Also that they will turn up every day at the same time. Although some delay to the start date is par for the course.

pennypincher64

Albermarle said:

pennypincher64 said:

Albermarle said:

£1000 to do a bathroom. That seems very cheap, which is probably why they were no good. 

You need to agree a price and the details of the work ( old tiled up and new tiles down for example) before you even start.

I completely agree with you and I will be doing that in future. 

£1000 for the work then about £2000 for all materials including fixtures. £1000 for labour on a relatively modest bathroom... Is that really cheap? Thank you 😄

In the more expensive parts of England, you can expect to pay something like £300 a day for an experienced tradesperson with a good reputation and maybe £150 a day for the assistant/labourer. Although for that you would expect a detailed discussion( maybe two) beforehand of exactly what you want/how they will do it/ what they will supply and what you will supply. Then a detailed quote in advance.
Also that they will turn up every day at the same time. Although some delay to the start date is par for the course.

Thanks that's helpful. Where I am, it seems like anyone you ask, it's one person who does the job which I don't agree with. It's a two man job. Also the going rate is about £500 to tile and entire bathroom 

macman

£500? For that price you are not employing a professional tiler, anywhere in the UK. Your price expectations are in fantasyland.