Why tradesmen just can't be bothered

[Deleted User]

It is almost impossible to get a tradesman to do anything round here. I say 'almost' because the local decorator is on point, the plumbers are responsive enough, and you can get an electrician with only moderate effort. The rest you can forget about.

I'm writing this whilst waiting for a roofer to turn up to quote. He's three hours overdue already, and I would bet the cost of the job that he will not arrive and will not contact me.

I've contacted four more, with four quotation dates booked. I'll never hear from them again. What will happen is that I will be forced to buy ladders, equipment, and get onto that roof and make the repairs myself. I know nothing about roofs and have never been on one in my life, so that's going to be a lot of fun. But on the upside I have been learning a lot about DIY.

Some stats:

When I was trying to get an en-suite built, I contacted 32 builders; 5 never answered phones or emails; 11 said they would turn up and didn't. 8 turned up and said they'd quote but didn't. 6 replied to say they were too busy; 2 quoted, and one of those quotes was so far from the ballpark I think he was quoting for someone else's job. So as that's too big for me, a non-DIYer to attempt, that didn't get done.

Garden landscaping: called 14 companies; 3 not contactable, 4 too busy, 1 would phone me back and didn't, 2 didn't turn up, 2 turned up but failed to quote, 2 quoted and one of those quotes was a guy who didn't know the difference between sq yards and sq feet (I mean that literally) and wanted to charge £48k for just the patio. I had to take the single quote, still overpriced, and ended up doing remedial work myself where they messed up.

Woodburner; 13 contacted, and to cut a long story short, one quoted and so I accepted that quote. I found that after I'd booked the work that he hadn't even bothered to examine what the work entailed, because when I emailed and politely enquired how he was going to tackle the fact the flue rises at a 45 degree angle for 6 feet - a fact obvious if you just stick your hand six inches into the recess - he went AWOL and never made contact with me again.

And so it goes on.

And this is the reason: I live in South Lakes and many of my neighbours are very wealthy and elderly. They have large properties so the jobs they request are often significant in size (one of the landscapers who had the decency to tell me he was booked up, said he was currently doing a Japanese themed garden for a guy up the road - a £1.6m project). What's more, with a large customer base comprising the wealthy and the elderly, these tradesmen can name their price.  When they see I appear to have all my wits and live in a modest house, they have no interest in doing anything because why would they, when they can go get a job three times bigger up the road, or charge some elderly lady £400 for a new downpipe?

So that's why, now I'm moving house, I am forced to look for something that is fully renovated and doesn't look like it will need any significant maintenance for the next 20 years. Because the alternatives are that I do all the work (doesn't bear thinking about) or it doesn't get done.

Admittedly, that doesn't explain why these tradesmen are so ignorant they can't just let you know they don't want the work, or worse, why they lie and say they'll come round when they clearly have no intention of doing so.

Ectophile

I wonder if you're doing something that is scaring them off.  If they have got plenty of work on anyway, then any customer who sounds like they will be difficult to work with will get either no quote or a ridiculously high one.

sheramber

Good tradesman are busy people. 

It also depends on the value or the job.Some are not interested in small jobs when they can get a bigger job  bringing more money. 

Not turning up to quote when arranged seems to be a common problem.  It seems they can’t say no. 

prettyandfluffy

It also depends where you live.  We used to live in Kent, could not find a decent builder, electricitian or someone to service our oil central heating.  Moved to the Midlands and it's a different story, we found a good builder, electrician, kitchen fitter and gas fitter without difficulty.

lincroft1710

OP is no longer on MSE