This isn't aimed at anyone on here, so please don't take offence. Maybe I have just been unlucky :(

Where I live though, getting someone to come round to your house and do a job is nigh on impossible. Only odd job men seem to have any interest in taking on any work.

Our house is old and requires many small to medium jobs doing on it that I do not have the skills for. Ring a builder, roofer or plumber and it is lottery time again. I understand that these people work long hours and are often very busy, hey I don't mind if they pick the best jobs and don't want the work. It does wind me up though when they promise to come around then don't show, don't ring, or return calls.

It took 8 goes to get someone in to fix the guttering, 3 for the central heating and now I am my third try for a builder, and these are nearly all recommended people. I always offer cash in hand.

At least the painter was honest and just laughed at me, at least 9 months he guessed :)

Ah well, at least I am learning to do some things myself :D

im bad for not turning up so i never give people a time so they cant say they waited in for me, but you have to remeber you get lots of calls a day for work and everyone wants the work done as soon as possible and they all want it done for nothing, if a phone call was a guaranteed method of getting the job maybe then you would have more luck getting someone to you door but more often that enough when you actually turn up at someones door they say they have more quotes to get and you can tell by the way people act that they mean they have no intention of paying your price

The main reason why builders won't turn up to small jobs is people are not prepared to pay.

From a builders point of view if coming out to your house, 4 hours work then leaving, he will expect a full days wages. Upto £125 - £150 :eek: I know. Most peole though want us to do the above hours and pay half a days work as that is they worked. What joe public forgets is we could work a full day (7 - 8 hours) and get paid accordingly. Little jobs are generally a pain in the a$$. Best way forward is to find someone older who is semi retired and is happy to take on small jobs.

Difficult I know but if I had a pound for every person who rang up wanting a small job done and very quickly.........

James :)

see now you have just written exactly what i said :eek: everyone wants the work done for nothing

It is the same no matter where you are, people are so quick to moan about tradesmen but very often they need to take a look at themselves and the way they treat people.

I look after people who look after me.

James.

On the other hand I can't belive my boss is still IN business. The way he treats his "quotes" and his vacant promises to be somewhere when he has no intention of being there, astounds me.
I sometimes wonder where he DOES get the work from...
But then it always seems to be the sh1t stuff that nobody else wants to do.

Eight years of that and it's getting enough to drive me up the wall. :(

(p.s yes, despite moaning, no doubt I will still be there next year. :rolleyes:)


Andy

I always pay, and am so grateful that someone turns up that I usually give them extra :p

I don't mind them turning the job down, just say so and I won't wait in all day drumming my fingers grrrrrrr.

I know what you mean, It used to drive me mad too. Fortunately now I've people I know and can rely on.

It's not about a job being too small, or worrying you won't get paid, it's about actually saying if you don't want the job in the first place. (when I say 'you' I obviously don't mean people on here)

I respect people who are honest enough to say "sorry mate, not worth me bothering with". Fair enough, I'll move on.

What fecks me off is taking the job on and then not turning up, giving you the run around etc etc. Totally unproffesional and it's only because skills like this are in such short supply that people can get away with it these days.

They should do a programme "Customers from hell" !!! They always want it done today.. but dont want to pay you until next month!!Some moan if they want the work done at a weekend and you tell them its going to cost them 2.5 times more.

I got asked to help someone just before Christmas.. She ownes a 7 bedroom house in Chelsea and a very very large cottage in Cornwall.

Within 1 min of talking she had mentioned that she had no money about 4 times!!!!

Made my excuse and left. They are only concerned about themselves....

Hmmmm.

I can see where some of the tradesmen are coming from here, especially as regards pricingfor a day.
BUT: I agree with Ringpeas that non-appearance is disgraceful. If they didn't want the work, why accept it?

I once had a quote for £400:eek: to rebuild a single-brick wall 3 feet by 8 feet with reclaimed bricks, and with the corner already toothed out!!

Needless to say, I do most of my own work now.

Alcazar

And how much would you pay for someone to work on you Subaru??????

I know of 2 good builders. They send out quotes and when they are confirmed and Deposits paid. They Choose the best ones (Good money for easy work etc) and confirm back with The client. All the others get a full refund within 2 days.

They are there to make money .. not look after people.

mooseracer

agree with you that if someone accepts a job and lets you down then that is bad, thats quite unprofessional and something i would never do if i set a date to do a job i would be there;), but as for an estimate well you takes your chances if you sit and wait for someone thats why i tell everyone not to sit in and wait for me if i miss them ill call again:D

I will never forget the hassle we had with a boiler that was sooting.

Phoned around from yellow pages, people promised to turn up. Out of 5, three turned up. These all took one look at the boiler, said "it needs replacing" and wanted 1500-2000 quid to do the job. Most could do it immediately, despite this being the week before xmas.

Ended up getting a recommendation from a mate for a firm that had installed all the heating in his house. They turned up when they said they would, which admittedly took a few days, but then looked at the boiler, said that there's normally never any problems, and stipped it down in their own time to diagnose the fault - incorrect pilot light.

Next day, and 50 quid later, problem solved.

We've used them for everything gas-related since and not once have they taken the piss with either time or cost. Consequently, they get recommended to mates, and come the summer they'll be fitting a new boiler in the new house, along with new pumps, controls, stats etc :D .

When we got a quote for a bathroom, one bathroom place wanted to charge 4k in labour, and retail prices. It'd take two blokes four weeks of effort (40 man days). Sales guy was very pleasant, and turned up in a skyline... Hmm... :D

I did it all myself in about 15 days of solid work... And anything like that I'll do myself again.

Moral? Customers - take personal recommendations, pay promptly, and be straight. Tradesmen - treat everyone fairly, as word of mouth is the best advertising, and small jobs will lead to a big job.

Too true.

But if you recommend them to too many people, they will be too busy to come in future. I tend to keep quiet now if I find a good un ;) unless they are just starting out and ask me to tell all.