venting about annoying people
bobwilson
Posts: 595 Forumite
We asked for a quote from our plumber to fix our shower. He had good reviews online. The person who turned up on the doorstep looked like a 17 year old teenager.. He turned up by bus and had a school satchel on & no tools with him. He could barely speak english & said "is there hard shop?".. meaning to ask if there's a hardware shop nearby. He only came to quote & decide if he can do it or not. This was a free quote. He quoted me £70 to fix the shower, so I expected to at least take him an hour. I lent him a screwdriver, he fixed it in 5 minutes (apparently nothing wrong with it- just a piece of litter fell down in the wall and got stuck in the control dial)- he then asked for £70. I was gobsmacked. Then it turned out he's not even a plumber and doesn't normally do plumbing, he said he just "feel luck".
:mad::mad::mad:
Today, a man quoted me £170 to fix a window latch. That then increased to £180, but when I questioned, it went back down to £170 for no reason. I couldn't understand the price since it apparently is a 5 minute job. He said he could do it for £150 (minus 20% tax on labour) if I pay him in cash. I asked him why 20%- tax including NI comes to 33% deductions. He said "I pay tax every day it's 20%". It isn't 20% of course, a quick look on listentotaxman.com will tell anyone that. When he discovered he didn't need the £90 parts, he quoted me £80. (but 150-90 = 60, not 80).
:o:o
I hired someone else to fix the window, he said he'd charge me £80 including parts if it needed fixing, but he wouldn't know until he's seen it open. He arrived 30 mins late, spent 2 mins opening the window with a crowbar no less, then discovered there's nothing wrong with the latch, it didn't need fixing (just needed lubricating which I did myself). He then asked for £80 for that 2 mins. I clarified "I though you said it would be £80 if it needed fixing. It doesn't need fixing or parts, so wouldn't it be less than that?" he said no, he "fixed it". He then insisted on cash & even drove me to a cash point to get the cash for him.
:mad::mad::mad:
I swear the world is getting worse, and people are becoming more ridiculous as time goes on. You're almost held hostage to these people because it's close to impossible to find anyone who wants to charge an honest amount or be reasonable these days. I understand people will have a minimum call out charge, but they didn't- the first window man was in the area & second window man was on his way somewhere and I was en-route. They didn't lose any time by doing this (well, 2 mins).
:mad::mad::mad:
Today, a man quoted me £170 to fix a window latch. That then increased to £180, but when I questioned, it went back down to £170 for no reason. I couldn't understand the price since it apparently is a 5 minute job. He said he could do it for £150 (minus 20% tax on labour) if I pay him in cash. I asked him why 20%- tax including NI comes to 33% deductions. He said "I pay tax every day it's 20%". It isn't 20% of course, a quick look on listentotaxman.com will tell anyone that. When he discovered he didn't need the £90 parts, he quoted me £80. (but 150-90 = 60, not 80).
:o:oI hired someone else to fix the window, he said he'd charge me £80 including parts if it needed fixing, but he wouldn't know until he's seen it open. He arrived 30 mins late, spent 2 mins opening the window with a crowbar no less, then discovered there's nothing wrong with the latch, it didn't need fixing (just needed lubricating which I did myself). He then asked for £80 for that 2 mins. I clarified "I though you said it would be £80 if it needed fixing. It doesn't need fixing or parts, so wouldn't it be less than that?" he said no, he "fixed it". He then insisted on cash & even drove me to a cash point to get the cash for him.
:mad::mad::mad:
I swear the world is getting worse, and people are becoming more ridiculous as time goes on. You're almost held hostage to these people because it's close to impossible to find anyone who wants to charge an honest amount or be reasonable these days. I understand people will have a minimum call out charge, but they didn't- the first window man was in the area & second window man was on his way somewhere and I was en-route. They didn't lose any time by doing this (well, 2 mins).
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oh and then a really angry chav neighbour I didn't know came down the street & complained about my carpenter doing work in the garden.. apparently the sawdust blew on his car. Instead of telling me nicely "welcome to the neighbourhood! I'm sorry to bother you, would you mind if the work was done elsewhere because dust is going on my car
"... which is how I might have said it, instead of that.. he said "A LOAD OF CR*P IS BLOWING ON MY CAR!!! I HAD IT WASHED LAST WEEK!!! ALL YOUR SH*T WAS FLYING ONTO IT YESTERDAY!"- with an angry look like he wanted to beat me up. I apologised and said "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise & I'll make sure it doesn't happen again".. that seemed to calm him down.
I looked at his car & there was nothing on it.. it is about 20 metres away from where the carpentry work was done, and we hadn't realised it was going over there.. it's pretty hard to control sawdust outside but I try my best not to annoy the neighbours, I'm considerate, don't play music loudly or cause any annoyance. It was more the way he complained, in such a nasty way.
Another neighbour complained about our porch light having a dusk to dawn sensor.. we keep it that way for security. There have been a lot of thefts and weird people trying to break in. She said she doesn't like lights at night because it shines through her windows.. she doesn't want to get curtains. She's 40 metres away & her house is surrounded by trees, in a small enclave that can't be seen from the road.. meanwhile our house is surrounded by streetlights and takes the brunt of the security issues.. so many idiots try to break & keep walking past looking up at this house because of its position on the road, it's quite exposed. Oh and she didn't say "welcome to the neighbourhood" either.. and she also spoke in a nasty way. I wouldn't speak to strangers that way.
But seriously.. what is wrong with everyone? Perhaps I grew up in a sheltered neighbourhood where everyone was polite. Does anyone else find that the majority of people are just so unpleasant toward each other these days?
:mad::mad::mad:0 -
... and how the "nice areas" with nice friendly amicable types.. are becoming harder & harder to find because all the nasty people seem to be breeding faster than the nice ones.. and nice areas are becoming rarer?0
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Has no one else noticed these types of things.. am I really that alone?0
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marliepanda wrote: »Ive definitely noticed one annoying person today
You mean to say you'd have actually replied if I hadn't posted on other threads? Thought not. I knew I wouldn't get any understanding or sympathy here. There's an old adage "if you can't beat 'em join 'em" - would you say this is true or constructive?0 -
You seem to have some bad luck with some tradesmen, the 2 neighbours are odd.0
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To be fair, you need to make connections and ask friends for recommendations0
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To be fair, you need to make connections and ask friends for recommendations
Now that's one big assumption hollydays- you're assuming everyone lives in the same area as their family or has moved to an area where they already know people in the local area, or that their neighbours have recommendations to make. From my experience & that of everyone I know, no one is able to make a recommendation because they've had similar experiences.
I was wondering if everyone has noticed these things with people but it seems I'm in the wrong forum for this discussion since people mostly seem to enjoy trouble making here. You're also missing the point of the post which was to vent about people (ironic I know, given the responses). To be fair.0 -
Now that's one big assumption hollydays- you're assuming everyone lives in the same area as their family or has moved to an area where they already know people in the local area, or that their neighbours have recommendations to make. From my experience & that of everyone I know, no one is able to make a recommendation because they've had similar experiences.
I was wondering if everyone has noticed these things with people but it seems I'm in the wrong forum for this discussion since people mostly seem to enjoy trouble making here. You're also missing the point of the post which was to vent about people (ironic I know, given the responses). To be fair.
No, by making connections I was thinking about getting to know people eg local cafe, ,library,
Grocers.
I've never met a tradesman that didn't want cash only.0 -
Bob, fix a window? If you'd bought the Sunbright windows you'd have been ok, they last forever.One man's folly is another man's wife. Helen Roland (1876 - 1950)0
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