Are there things NOT to do when trying to hire a tradesman?

[Deleted User]

Much search of a carpenter continues.... I've scaled back my expectations and will just look to get a competent handy many instead because finding someone to refurbish a wardrobe seems to be a near impossible task. 

One guy came over and this is why I'm making this thread. He looked, took measurements and then said he'll quote me the next day. I heard nothing back. 

I'm there thinking if I done something wrong? I told him what I wanted to do over the phone, and even through in getting new flooring. But nothing. 

Does asking for a rough quote scare people off? Does not knowing exactly what you want (2 drawers or 3 in my case) put people off?

Just amazed that finding labour seems to be so difficult. 

Bendy_House

Doesn't sound as tho' you've done anything wrong. You primed them before they turned up, so should not have been surprised at what the job entailed.

I think there's still a general shortage of handy-and-trades folk, in part due to the self-harm caused by Brexit, but the fellow might still come back to you with a quote.

I recall this was to refurbish what was a self-assembly wardrobe? Maybe the issue is that it sounds, and is, 'bitsy'? Ie, the guy (that's also gend-neut) might be able to build and fit these new from a flatpack quicker than they could 'fix' the existing ones, AND (in theory) they'd have all the parts? If you don't hear back - tho' hopefully you still will - it could be they worked out it's going to cost you a disproportionate sum. Ie, "The customer is going to expect this to be cheap because the unit's are already there, but this is going to take me HOURS!"

Only speculation, of course.

Any chance of some photos to show what the job entails?

TELLIT01

Not knowing what you want may get alarm bells ringing that you may change the spec again after giving a quote.  Good tradespeople are very busy at present so can cherry pick the jobs.  I think it's wrong of them not to have the courtesy to say 'Thank you for the opportunity to quote, but it's not a job I can take on', but that seems to be the norm i.e. if you don't hear back they aren't interested.

twopenny

The norm seems to be that if you don't hear back they don't want the job.

I've been through a lot of this. All nice charming trades who come, look, listen and never seen again.
It's depressing and infuriating because you ask a bunch for a quote they take umbridge and one at a time you wait forever.

I've tried asking their opinion down to fully drawn and measured plans and its all the same.
It's very depressing. But they're sensitive souls it seems.

If anyone knows the answer I'd be eternally grateful.

Megaross

Not necessarily, though I'd not hire a friend again to do work. I once hired a mate who was a chippy to do a couple of doors for me being they were pricy units so I wanted them in safer hands.

He didn't get them square in the frames, the chisel work was rough as !!!!!!, one of the latch plates was wonky causing a bind on the latch and they weren't planed down to an appropriate height for the flooring. I could've done a better job and I'm by no means a great carpenter.

Didn't feel comfortable bringing up any of this with him so just paid him and fixed the issues myself. Hence why I'd not hire a friend to do work for me again.

Best thing is get recommendations.

plumb1_2

twopenny said:

I've tried asking their opinion down to fully drawn and measured plans and its all the same.

Who’s time and money are paying for these plans.

JohnB47

In my experience, when a tradesman calls to look at the job and decides he/she doesn't want to do it (typically too small or fiddley and not enough room for profit) they'll either not get back to you at all or come back with a ridiculously high quote.

This has happened to me often.

Brie

Have you tried your local neighbourhood social media site?  There always seems to be semi retired chaps on NextDoor in our area offering their services.  Might be dreadful or might want to become best mates but worth a try at least.

Local housing associations sometimes too have a list of selected trades people who have been vetted so might be worth a look there too.

aoleks

first, when you find someone on checkatrade or any other similar website, cross reference the info. ideally they would have an official website, there will be a matching companies house page, there will be reviews on other sites too (google) and so on. don't rely on a single source of information.

second, NEVER pay in advance. get a schedule of work and only pay when milestones are done.

kdotdotdotdot

Possibly they're just busy.  The thing with tradies is that often they're really great at what they do, but completely rubbish at paperwork, so anything that requires sitting down at a computer (often after work in the evening) and putting together quotes, programme of work and so on, just gets pushed to the 'I'll do this tomorrow' pile.  And as we all know, tomorrow never comes.

plumb1_2

kdotdotdotdot said:

Possibly they're just busy.  The thing with tradies is that often they're really great at what they do, but completely rubbish at paperwork, so anything that requires sitting down at a computer (often after work in the evening) and putting together quotes, programme of work and so on, just gets pushed to the 'I'll do this tomorrow' pile.  And as we all know, tomorrow never comes.

very true, it takes me a average 2 weeks to send invoice’s and sorting paperwork out does get pushed back.
Verbal quotes within 48 hrs, email quotes 1 week