tradesmen and you-does it mostly end in bad feeling?

tina92

Hi there,

I have just had internal doors to my house fitted and the company that supplied them treated me ok (good enough service) However I found a joiner through the local paper and as it happens he is one of the joiners working for himself but getting work from the door company as well i.e he helps to price jobs and after the doors are sold to the customer, he gets paid directly by the customer for fitting them.

I am pregnant and he promised me that both he and his brother would do the job should take about 3 days to fit all doors. As it happens he turned up himself making an excuse that his brother was stuck on another job and overall it took well over a week and a half to finish the job, most days he only worked about 6 hours one day he never came atall and on last day he wanted to cancel for that day saying that he had to go to a funeral. As it turned out he was back an hour later (no funeral atall he was actually going to hang 3 other doors but they had not being sprayed by the door company so rather than do nothing he had come back to me) We give him plenty of tea thoghout his stay as well as a few meals, and my partner even offered to clean up after he finished for day so that he could nip off to early to see his family. He put nails in door frames as a temporary door stop and after a few days my partner had to remove them as they were beggining to dig into and mark doors. On last day my partner had to go around and tell him where he had missed putting screws into the some of the door hinges and he left in such a bad mood without checking the doors that one of them was dragging against the door stop when closing making a right racket. My partner sanded down the door stop himself as we were both so stressed out we did not want him back again and maybe even if we did it would be a hassle to get him to return.

On a lighter note which made us laugh, his shoes one day started to fall apart whilst he was working leaving goey rubbery stuff on our laminate floor (which was easily enough removed) and on day after that he fell over on a piece of wood on top of his tools but at same time bringing our geroge foreman grill to the floow (luckily it still works)

Why oh why in my case do a lot of my dealings with tradesmem end in such a way, glad to get rid of them and never want anything more to do with them! Dont they realise that if they have a reasonable customer then its mice to leave the job so that that particualr customer will only be too glad to have them back again.

Overall With this particular joiner he could do his work well but he was totally careless about how he treated people.

anyone else with similar experiences?

tina

lindos90

yep, I have to agree with you, even when we have tried to make sure we have seen previous work, or got recommendations, we seem to get problems, we seem to get bad luck in this area.

Out of all the tradesmen we have had over the years, there is only one that I would recommend to family or friends.

Alot of tradesmen now are the 'hit n run'type that do one poor job, get paid and move on, rather than taking pride in their work, and building up a good reputation (although im sure there are still people like this, they are few and far between!)

A couple of tradesmen we have had in the past (for example a plasterer and a fence guy) did reasonable quality jobs the first time they came, then when we needed more work doing, they came back and their work was shocking, nothing like the quality of the first jobs!

And you are expecting! lots of people seem to have work done pre-baby dont they (I know I have! -my last one went like this.....kitchen fitted...laminate floor laid in kitchen...waters broke...I'll spare you the details, but just saying glad I was stood on Laminate, not wooden floor boards at the time:rotfl:

Take care of yourself and ya' bump;)

wolvesinwales

Good and bad experiences here.

Awful plumber who took all day messing with my heating system and charged £275 then told me the boiler is finished anyway and he cant look at it because hes not Corgi registered.

Door to door garden people who assured me they had treated a troublesome steep bank in my back garden with extra strong weedkiller but nothing died ! I had knocked him down to £100 including cutting 2 x 20 foot trees down so i reckon i still got a good deal.

Just had a UPVC door fitted and very pleased with the job they did, not only have they not left any mess but they also patched up missing bits of rendering on the front of my house.

hollydays

How long ago did you first approach him to do the job? I mean,did you want it doing in a hurry?

The only time I ever had a similar experience was when I foolishly picked someone out of the classified ads,never again!

He was a nice guy,but an incompetant bungler.He told me stories of how one of his previous customers (unreasonably,he thought),demanded he replace their carpet because he got paint on it,er yes..Couldn't wait to get him out of the house,anyway,I put it down to experience,but it was an expensive lesson.

pulliptears

Girl I went to school with (so yes, Im going back!), her Nan wanted a radiator put in the dining room. She also had a miniature Yorkshire Terrier (can you see where this is going?).

Plumber came and stood the rad against the wall, unfortunately for the dog it fell over and crushed it to death

I dont think she used him again

aliasojo

Lol....been there done that etc. We've had more than our fair share of rubbish tradesmen.

I often wonder if I should put an ad in the paper asking for an old timer as they seem to be more careful with their work practices than the younger ones these days. Ageist comment I know, but it seems to be the case that every older tradesman we've had, takes more care across the board than the younger ones who just want in, do the job and out again asap.

Our last joiner was 28 and we're in the middle of ripping up and out, all his crappy work.

I also think, *stands back and puts on 2 flameproof suits* that tradesmen in the Highlands are generally more laid back and less 'technically careful' than their counterparts down south.

I would dearly, dearly love to be proved wrong. We're always in the market for a good carpenter/joiner, plumber and electrician but have yet to find one who's completely good at his job.....takes time to do things properly and doesn't cut corners etc.

We've spent £2.5k over the last 3 months and we still live in a building site because so much of the work we've paid for is rubbish and needs redone.

Any old timers in the Highlands...........feel free to get in touch.

Pennywise

The trouble is that the education system looks down on tradesmen and wants everyone to go to Uni and then go onto a desk job hitting computer keys all day. Anyone with academic or creative ability is fast-tracked onto Uni. The dross then do the manual work, including the trades. I know this is a sweeping generalisation and probably very unfair to a lot of proper skilled tradesmen.

Until the schools start telling kids that the trades are a valuable profession and encourage the more able kids to take on a trade, the problem will never be solved. That is why generally the older tradesmen are better and more reliable - they went through a proper apprentice in the days when trades were respected.

When I was at school, there was a lad in our class whose father was a plumber - he was very able and in the top sets in most subjects. I clearly remember the stick he got from the teachers when he said he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and take over the business - they constantly told him not to waste his life and go to Uni instead. Now he is one of the most respected plumbers in the area - very well thought of. We've had him do jobs in our house and he is brilliant - takes his shoes off so he doesn't trail mud, muck and dog poo all over the house, his van is immaculate inside and out - his work is extraordinary - talk about going the extra mile, he even paints the pipework so they blend in rather than leaving them copper-coloured, brings his own vacuum to clean up after himself. More importantly, he arrives when promised and doesn't leave early. The only trouble is that he is booked up months ahead so you have to plan early, but he manages to keep a diary and sticks to his dates even if booked months ahead.

We really need to get back to proper tradesmen earning the respect they expect, and that means proper apprenticeships and a proper work ethic. Although our DS is quite academic, he is also very creative and I'd be just as pleased if he became a tradesmen, i.e. plumber or electrician, as I would if he went to Uni and got a profession.

Chichi_2

Can't believe that I've found people who have experienced exactly what I have. This guy came with quite good references. Well five weeks later after saying the work would take 2 weeks, I have not done any other work as I'm still in shock. He lived up the road, had the gift of the gab but was rubbish!! He made me feel that I was bossy and everything was my fault. He really made me feel low!!! I could have done better painting!!! He was happy to take the money... but the job isn't finished yet. I've made him wait 3 months to complete it.. although I won't be surprised if he says he doesn't want to do anymore work in my home. He will need to come back anyway to rectify the mistakes and clean the carpet of paint.

Is there a thread on here for recommending good tradesmen???

Backbiter

We ordered a new shower last November.
Had it delivered in December.
Plumber fitted shower tray and piping in Jan.
Electrician fed cable into attic for the shower unit.
Called in tiler. Missed first appointment. And second. And third. I took morning off for fourth. No show. Never ever got back in touch.
New tiler came March. Great job.
Plumber fits screen and shower ready for electrician.
Late March electrician comes and starts work. Fits new consumer unit as other one too small. Leaves cable and box of fittings in living room ready to send up into attic and into new shower.
Not been seen since. Has ignored all phone calls.

One good plumber, one good tiler, one joke tiler, one disappearing sparky, not yet paid, of course.
50% satisfaction. Is that typical?
Last tradesman we had never finished our kitchen, even though he lives next door.

Regarding the electrician, would I be within my rights just to call in another and to refuse payment to the original for what he's already done, given the ridiculous inconvenience caused?

wolvesinwales

Chichi wrote: »

Is there a thread on here for recommending good tradesmen???

Well worth asking on the 'local moneysaving' thread for reccomendations.

Pennywise

Chichi wrote: »

Is there a thread on here for recommending good tradesmen???

You could try www.ahoythere.com which puts service providers and consumers in touch with eachother and includes a feedback system (like ebay) to get opinions from previous customers.