9:30am and I've already fired one tradesman.

octatonic

Had a tiler booked in for 8am for a job here at home.
Was a no show and then wasn't picking up his phone.

He just called me, an hour and a half late, to say 'O, sowwy maaaaate, I fort it was for Wedneeday- can I come do it then?'.
Er, no, you can't.

Dopesick

Was that last sentence a typo?

CabbageCat

Dopesick said:

Was that last sentence a typo?

It's called accent convergence. You find elements of the accent of the cockney you're talking to showing up in your own talk.

octatonic

Dopesick said:

Was that last sentence a typo?

LOL.
Almost.

Fucker lost quite a bit of work today- we are doing 3 bathrooms, and a kitchen well as this job.
I'm sick of unreliable trades.
In the past I've let them back, but in my experience the ones that do this sort of this will also be the ones who don't finish the job, don't reply when it comes time to book the snagging list, piss all over the toilet seat and skive off early.

LooseMoose

Seriously you would not BELIEVE the grief of trying to find reliable tradesmen - as contractors or just as a punter...

We've had THREE people out to quote for our garden fence and not one of the f*ckers has even quoted when they say they would.  Sheesh.

Sporky

The guy who did our bathroom was generally fairly good, but the plug thing (it's a push-push arrangement) in the basin waste is too low down so the bit you push has to be unscrewed until it's wobbly or it won't latch down.

He called wanting a review on Rated People, so I said I'd be happy to do that once he fixed the waste (I was very polite). He hasn't come back so he got the review he asked for.

4114Effects

The guy who quoted us for re-rendering our house has been coming to do it "in the next couple of weeks" for about three months now. It's a decent amount of money too. He's a smaller outfit but does decent work.

We're going to pay more to a larger company now though, they'll turn up and actually do the work. 

Wonder if there's a shortage of tradespeople at the moment. Seems hard to find one to do any work. Finding someone to do the guttering seems an equally mammoth task.

 They must all be working for someone somewhere though. 

sweepy

I was fortunate in getting the Plumbing and Heating engineer I used, apart from being an old friend, he was prompt, tidy and very reasonably priced. With all the building going on in Oxfordshire it is an absolute nightmare getting quality workmen and those that are any good are usually booked up solid 

sw67

It took me a year to find a good builder for my extension and refurb. Top quality work with zero snagging req. They took a few weeks longer than everyone else said it would but it was worth it in the end. He was 10% cheaper than the other quotes and at the end of the build asked me how his quote compaired as he likes to remain competitive. 

He said he is booked up 6 months in advance and hardly ever works outside the local area so more time on site earning. 

slacker

The last person to do work on my house was given loads of work. New kitchen, new electrics, cupboard converted into a washroom and two new flat rooves. We paid for all the material up front when he wanted to order it. We were flexible with working times and days when he had other work. He left the flat roof material loose and the new guttering on the floor.

We kept asking him to finish it. After three months of waiting  I completed the work in three hours and now I have some nice ladders and a wheelbarrow.

TheBlueWolf

If he can't be arsed turning up when he's supposed to you're within your rights to Fuck him off.

spark240

The problem is that that we have missed a generation of apprentices ( they all thought Uni and computer studies was the way forward) so now we have older guys who can be good but not bothered, young kids who dont have a clue combined with a load of work out there so they can pick and choose.

You want to try and employ a decent spark...  

BigLicks67

My tiler has just finished our bathroom, he turned up on time, worked three full days and there were no problems whatsoever.
So, what you need to do is steer clear of these cockney wide boys and get a northern tiler.

boogieman

One of my mates asked me to go over to his place and have a look at some tiling he was having done. The guy was a plumber but said he could do tiling as well. It seriously looked like a five year old had done it, I'm not even sure why my mate needed a second opinion. I wouldn't have had the nerve to say I was a capable tiler, let alone charge for such a shitty job. My mate sent him packing the next day, paid for the plumbing work but not the tiling. 

Gassage

13:48 and I've already unfriended 3 Aussies on Facebook

boogieman

LooseMoose said:

Seriously you would not BELIEVE the grief of trying to find reliable tradesmen - as contractors or just as a punter...

Word of mouth seems to the only reliable method. Checkatrade is ok if you find someone with lots of decent reviews, as opposed to the ones with 10  great ones (probably written by their mum and some mates). 

The guy who did the loft conversion on my old place was fantastic. He worked incredibly hard (we had to force him to go home at 9.30 one night) and his standards were superb. Did the whole thing, plus some extra jobs, in 5 weeks. He came via a personal recommendation but we did have to wait 18 months till he had a free slot to do the work. 

professorben

spark240 said:

The problem is that that we have missed a generation of apprentices ( they all thought Uni and computer studies was the way forward) so now we have older guys who can be good but not bothered, young kids who dont have a clue combined with a load of work out there so they can pick and choose.

You want to try and employ a decent spark...  

As a spark I agree, I'm almost entirely clueless and have no end of work. 

professorben

Gassage said:

13:48 and I've already unfriended 3 Aussies on Facebook

You were freinds to begin with? For shame sir!!!!

Bidley

spark240 said:

The problem is that that we have missed a generation of apprentices ( they all thought Uni and computer studies was the way forward) so now we have older guys who can be good but not bothered, young kids who dont have a clue combined with a load of work out there so they can pick and choose.

You want to try and employ a decent spark...  

Wow, what a load of bullshit. Lots my mates are tradesmen, and I've had them work for me. They're all around 30, I presume that's the 'lost' generation you're talking about?

lustycourtier

He sounded English. Says it all. 

spark240

Bidley said:

spark240 said:

The problem is that that we have missed a generation of apprentices ( they all thought Uni and computer studies was the way forward) so now we have older guys who can be good but not bothered, young kids who dont have a clue combined with a load of work out there so they can pick and choose.

You want to try and employ a decent spark...  

Wow, what a load of bullshit. Lots my mates are tradesmen, and I've had them work for me. They're all around 30, I presume that's the 'lost' generation you're talking about?

Err.. just an opinion dude....but what I'm saying is that when I was 20 odd and on site there would be quite a few other sparks of my age, together with other trades, but now that doesnt appear to be the case. Apprentices are coming back in though, I think we have about 6 at the moment which is the most for a few years.