Arrgh! Tradesmen!!

Han_naH

Can I just point out that acquiring the services of tradesmen (at least here in Brum) is a difficult, anxious and disappointing experience.

You see, with the jobs market already buoyant, the market for tradesmen is manic. YOU CAN'T GET PEOPLE!

I have been let down numerous times, the price changes and you end up with a YTS kid who can't tile to save his life.
Or a carpenter who is 4 months late.
Or a plumber that cannot start because his mom died.
Or another tiler who couldn't make it because his brother has fallen ill.
Or the plumber who started at £350 and moved up to £800.
Or they dig a great hole in your front garden ready for your new drive. And fill it in 7 weeks later.
Then there was the tiler (yes a third) who intended to complete the job (bathroom and kitchen) over 3 months. I pulled the plug after 6 weeks.

DO YOU THINK I AM JOKING?!

It is a NIGHTMARE.

Tradesmen are too busy. They don't turn up for quotes. They don't turn up for jobs. They don't complete on time.

Buying anywhere requiring a lot of work is an idealistic non-starter. At least that's what I think.

PS All examples above are true, and that was in the last 2 years.

The conclusion? Don't buy run-down. Buy done-up.

Slinky

Can relate to this. We were quoted £85 and £990 + VAT for the same job! Refixing 2 ridge tiles on our roof.

Needless to say, we want Mr £85 to do the job, but we've been waiting since July....

vansboy

The number of these characters, that have purchased the cheapest vehicle from me, complained about paying VaT, 'cos they're not registered to re claim it....

THEN - should a minor faulf appear, they're back screaming that with the van off the road, they loose £$£$£$£$ a day income!!

Something doesn't add up - should have been a plumber!!

VB

Slinky

Good heavens. Mr £85 phoned last night and said he's coming to fix our tiles on Saturday. Never met the chap (he did a quote looking from the street when we were out). Hope we're not going to regret it....

dougk_2

Replacing two tiles isn't a big job - i would suspect an hour or two at most (if they can get to them with ladders!).

Whoever quoted £990 must have been fitting a new roof!

Travelqueen

Same issues everywhere... especially London!

I've done most of the DIY so far, but I'm not brave enough to tackle the bathroom.

So far we have had 5 different start dates from the plumber because of various factors - mainly related to the first tiler... who requoted 1K higher when he saw the tiles I'd bought.

The 2nd tiler seems quite good, was in the bathroom for an hour before giving me a quote (its doens't take that long to walk around honest) & gave me a good quote... unfortunately, whilst the plumber has promised to be able to start monday 8th... the tiler can't as he's fasting (fair enough).. so we now have to find another mutually agreeable date.. meanwhile the bath is sitting in the basement, all the fittings in the spare room we want to rent & we can't do anything about it.

Next time I'm learning how to do it myself!

TQ

Slinky

Mr £85 came round on Saturday, but only to tell us he couldn't do the job as the roof was wet. However, he said that as he lives round the corner, he'll nip round with a bucket of mortar one day this week if the weather is dry and will do the job...

Mr £990 bloke's quote was full of terms like 'erecting a scaffolding tower' 'services of a site foreman for the duration of the job'. Serious work indeed, those two loose tiles....

VH

I've had similar experiences.

I use a very cheap plasterer, he is great when he actually turns up. It's easier to get in touch with the Pope. And when he arrives you have to sit there watching him as he goes home when your back is turned and leaves you a note saying he was a bit tired. ::)

I wanted a new chimney pot putting on last year, waited 4 months for the guy to turn up. In the end I just hired a scaffold tower and did it myself which was cheaper anyway.

In general I think you get what you pay for! A lot of tradespeople don't like small jobs and will mess you about. Can't beat word of mouth at the end of the day.

EvilMonkey

After being ripped off by 2 sets of "plumbers" both doing 3/4 of the job asked of them and then dissapearing, I came to the following conclusion.

Most tradesmen will do a crap job as in almost all individual cases they'll make more money by cutting corners than they will by doing a good job and getting repeat custom \ word of mouth custom.

So what you need is to find someone who uses tradesmen a lot. So repeat custom for their jobs IS worth it and any bad sorts have been weeded out. Then we need to find out who their guys are and get them in to do the job.

The only type of person who uses tradesmen on a regular basis that I could think of is a big letting management agency (IE your local estate agent).

Not having needed this yet, my plan next time I need a plumber, electician etc. is to call the local estate agent and ask them for a recommendation. Then when the guy turns up, heavily name drop the agency hinting any bad behaviour will be fed back to the agency.

Its the best I can come up with in a town absolutley riddled with cowboys and worse....

Any thoughts on my plan?

Han_naH

Yes good idea, but I find tradesmen just don't give a ****. That's why they disappear like the chap said above, when you are not in. Any opportunity to scive off they will take.

We need the housing market to cool, and with it demand for refurbishments.

Then they will come to you...

Slinky

Success! Mr £85 turned up Saturday morning and did the job. Just waiting for his invoice now....