AIBU to expect trades people (usually) men to...

We’re lucky as we have a number of local tradesman who if they can’t do that particular job, will recommend someone who can. Word would get round if they messed up.

I seem to be in a minority here. I had major work on roof, chimney and guttering carried out in some of the worst weather ever. To say they did a good job is an under statement. All work was carried out to time and came in under budget plus they did some "extras" that they did not charge for.

Only this morning a lady has put on our neighbours nextdoor local site, a photo of a guy who's ripping people off, especially the elderly. He's been taking money for supplies and not finishing the job or not turning at all, I'd never pay upfront, but some folk do. He's been named and shamed big time, just hope he doesn't take it further with the very angry lady who put it on.

I knew it wasn't just me!!!
Like the rest of the world it seems we've woken up out of this pandemic and decided to have some (stored up) jobs done.
Firstly some little plumbing jobs. Man turned up when he said he would, identified problem, had a go at fixing it, identified bits needed for jobs 2 and 3, went away. Sent bill which we paid immediately. No mention of when he would return to complete jobs 2 and 3. Emailed him twice, promised to turn up late the next day, then we got a message and we'd been bumped. Then that happened again! By now he was 'onto 3 strikes and you're out'. Emailed 'do you want this work or not?' Yes, I'll be round first thing tomorrow. We're retired and don't do 'first thing' any more, but we made a real effort. Then when he hadn't appeared I checked emails only to find he'd sent one in the middle of the night saying he was ill and was going for a COVID test next morning. Now, after having been tested + I'm not sure I want him in the house. Meanwhile we've been flushing the loo with buckets of water for over three months now.
Secondly - hedges. We got a guy to come and remove two trees for us, which he did efficiently. We asked him to come back and prune a huge Yew tree and a couple of others. Yes, that's OK, I'll send a date over. Email arrived, date and price agreed. Waited in...no show. Emailed and phoned to see where he was....'oh I read your email but forgot to write it in the diary'. I'm beginning to think we're living in a parallel universe.

My daughter is having major renovations done to her house. They started in March. Then they found termites so everything stopped until that was fixed. Two months later work restarted. Then there were lockdowns. They have hardly started, it is costing many thousands and it looks like they will be lucky to get it finished by Christmas. On top of that there is a shortage of wood so materials are hard to obtain. Sshheeesh.

Sounds par for the course to me. We were having major work done on some outbuildings. The chap arrived on time stopped a couple of days to supervise and then left the men to get on with it. One afternoon they packed up, we thought for the day but they never returned and phone calls were unanswered .issues are still to be sorted about keys and parts of bills.It is at least 12 years ago
I found out from another source though although highly recommended and excellent workmanship, he very rarely completes a job if a more lucrative one comes along.

My daughter was recently driven to distraction by the antics of the "gardener" she had employed to tackle her back garden ( building a low retaining wall, levelling the area to be grassed etc)
He came highly recommended by her next door neighbour, and to be fair, the work he had done in her garden looked ok.
He came, priced up the job, agreed on a start date. But....

He arrived 2 days early with no notice, so things hadn't been moved out of the way. Came with 2 "helpers", and left them to carry on, while he disappeared!

After that, he was mysteriously unavailable for days, always had an excuse. Or would arrive, get a phone call and disappear after 10 mins!

Initially he told my daughter the job would take 5 days tops. After nearly 3 weeks of this, she'd had enough, told him to go.

The family pitched in and finished the job, including laying the turf, in 2 days!

I don't think she will ever employ a tradesman again, the stress made her so ill.

ps - the neighbour was mortified!

xx

I'd love them too if they turned up Avitor1 ! I'd love them even more if they actually did the job instead of dumping the building materials in my garden and then buggering off for 3 weeks.

I have had to wait to have jobs done because Builders are very busy and materials have been hard to get but I am very impressed by how polite,cheerful and professional the trades people have been when they came to do the work
I love them all!

The last time we had some work some - by a local electrician - it was done over 2 early evenings, no tidying up, cable left hanging down for us to pin up. The excessive bill arrived and strangely I 'forgot' to pay it till the last due date. Won't be using him again.

We have had similar problems but primarily before any work has started! We have been trying to get our dining room ceiling plastered and it has been proving very difficult to even get people round to quote and/or they come round and then don't bother giving us a price. Most recently, a man came round and gave us a quote and we had him booked in to do the work (many FB recommendations) but when my husband texted him the week before to confirm, he said he had to put it off because of "other jobs" and then ignored further messages trying to rebook the work. We finally told him to forget it and are now back to square one. Very frustrating.

Have just had a call this morning about my French windows and he apologised for it being short notice but he’s going to come and fit them tomorrow which is shorter time than that I anticipated …????

It is, I think, a combination of shortage of trained tradesmen and a serious shortage of materials. It is exasperating beyond belief when people over promise and under perform, surely it is better to say that you just can't do the job until a certain date, rather than let people down. Add into this mix people having to go into quarantine because someone in the household has been pinged and you have a real problem.

Never mind builders - on asking to see a specific go at our practice my DH was told he would have to see an alternative because Dr xxx was lambing ??‍♀️

I have just waited in most of the morning for the designer of a small local bathroom company to arrive. When I phoned to check if he was still coming the guy himself answered the phone. His excuse was that a staff member was sick and that he was very busy. Too busy to pick up the phone and let me know he wasn’t coming? Apparently yes. He said he would ring me back later to book another appointment but I said that it wouldn’t be necessary as I had already experienced his lack of customer service. Now looking for another bathroom fitter/designer.

For repair and maintenance work there is much less chance of things going wrong if you use the services of your local Home Improvement Agency (HIA). This is a not for profit service, usually with a focus on older and/or disabled home owners where all aspects of the job are 'project managed' by the HIA. While some individual HIA's may charge a fee for this, many will not.
www.findmyhia.org.uk/

When we had our fencing replaced we employed a company from Glasgow to do the work, we paid for them to stay in a hotel a few miles away. It was a brilliant job and was worth the extra to have the work done by experts in that field.

On an American family magazine that I buy there's been a discussion about this.
The main points were that, similar to here, due to to Covid many workers have become comfortable about not working, managing on govt. support etc. So don't want to make the effort.
Also there's a genuine problem of difficulty in obtaining parts/equipment as the companies that produce them have also been affected by Covid.
And the blockage of the Suez Canal by a container vessel, only recently cleared which were brings supplies from SE Asia.

I do feel your pain Chewbacca and you are certainly not being unreasonable.
There are material shortages of course but your builder knew in advance what was required and should have ensured your materials arrived in time to do your job on the dates given to you.
I believe that Callistemon is right and these builders say yes to every enquiry and then struggle with material and time management.
I hope you have somewhere nice to sit in your garden with your back to the materials, close your eyes and try to envisage how it will look when it’s finally done.
We have had horrendous problems with a contractor who came highly recommended, yet to be resolved but found a wonderful man who has put most of it right. It has taken time but worth the wait. So there are good and bad.
Good luck.

Chewbacca

Turn up when they say they will. Have the materials to do the job that they measured up and quoted for. Actually do the job that you've asked for and been quoted for and that they don't suddenly change the spec without discussing it with you. Bugger off to get more materials, leaving your garden like a building site and say they'll be back next month.

Or am I being unreasonable?

So the trades people we were expecting today are held up at your place then Chewbacca.

No chance!! They are always
waiting for materials
have an unexpected call to make
Someone is ill ..perhaps true atm
Something is out of stock
I need to do my garden which I was actually told once
and so on

It is very annoying, Chewbacca
The problem is, I think, that they don't just do one job and get on with it, because they are so much in demand they juggle jobs and say they are waiting for materials.
When the materials do arrive they had started two or three other jobs so don't come back to get on with yours.

It's very annoying indeed but it seems to be the modus operandi.

No you are not being unreasonable you are spot on. I totally agree with you they are very irritating and annoying. I know materials can be difficult to get now. But they should be honest instead of giving dates for work to be done when it’s not realistic. We are waiting for a patio and sun house to be built it will probably be done in the winter?

You are not alone no matter what the work is! I’ve almost been driven to a breakdown by trades who over promise, don’t turn up at all & then mess about due to “shortage of materials.” It’s been a total nightmare & a terrible waste of time. I was in despair so I feel your pain. I’m just coming out of the woods but it’s been a long & frustrating process. YARNBU!

Shinamae

I am waiting to have new French doors fitted and I paid a deposit and he did tell me it would take about 12 weeks because even the manufacturers are running behind….

That is true. My next door neighbour has a window fitting company. His team have been working flat out for months and months.
People are spending the money they’ve saved through lockdown.