To tell you to do this when hiring a builder/trader

So your BIL is a misogynistic twat?

Have you reported your BIL for this?

I have recently had a renovation project carried out by a building firm. Despite me giving my name and details they insist on phoning my husband about it. It's very annoying and he keeps telling them to phone me, his number is only there for if they can't reach me.

Exactly. He should be reported.

That's a thing? That is disgusting.

I’ve been in the industry for years, as has my husband, and most of our family and friends. I have never heard of someone raising their quote just because it’s for a woman. They will absolutely be misogynistic twats who assume women know nothing but they don’t stick extra digits on the quote because of that.

edit to add the actual sensible thing to do, which is much easier, is just to get quotes from more than one contractor and try to take recommendations from personal contacts. No need to pretend you’re a man. Ffs

I did a job for a tree surgeon. He openly told me he charges more for rich people.

I felt like adding an arsehole tax to his job but unfortunately I had already given him his quote.

It's a balance isn't it. Yeah there are demanding customers but there are also too many 'tradesmen' who have clocked that they can get away with over-promising and under-delivering. Charge the premium that comes with the premium service and cut every corner going.

This is especially true for 'iceberg' jobs, where most of the corners that are cut can easily be hidden.

We've had a few different ones in lately, and every single one has mansplained utter bullshit at me, decided mid-job to change what was agreed without telling me, tried to cover up lazy mistakes and corner-cutting and even had a mantrum and got threatening when caught out. Unskilled, thick, and greedy 'tradesmen' are endemic where I live but of course I, a mere woman 'who thinks she's all that because she can use Google' (yeah, one did actually say that and no, I didn't get 'you can't lay a patio level, it needs a fall for drainage' from Google) will be labelled 'annoying' for daring to pull them up... Logical.

Maybe the take home should be do the fucking job you're being paid for.

I think they need to have a plug in radio on and have it loud enough to notice if it goes off. This is because of safety with electrics I think?

Sadly I’ve had that experience too, I call it “woman tax”, and also where I live we also get “postcode tax”

Fortunately the trades I use aren’t assholes like OP’s BIL

edited to say, anyone who has quoted a job with “woman tax” gets no work from me

Never had a problem with tradesmen. And I've dealt with them on my own.i pay what I consider to be a fair price.

I’m perfectly able to get several quotes and figure out who the chancers are. I don’t need a man to do this. In my experience men can be shit at negotiating anyway because they can’t bear to look tight / penny pinching to other men.
Most builders I’ve had have been lovely because I’ve chosen well.
Hope you told your brother in law he’s a misogynistic cunt.

I'm not in the UK, but since my DH died, I always book tradies in his and my names.

Yep I'm sure this exists and I've had it myself. Infact DH and I accidentally contacted the same tradesman and got two different quotes for the same job. You can guess which one was higher!

I hope some pps can convince me my prejudice is unfounded (if their relations are builders), but I don't like builders.

I find them intimidating and yes, I often feel they look down on me as a woman and take advantage financially. I'm afraid I've never come across a professional attitude in builders - the ones I've had haven't treated me or my home with respect, and I've had to ask them not to play their music in my house. You'd think that would be obvious - it's my HOME! And because they like to play music, they then have to shout to each other. But very few are courteous and considerate. They also trash the areas of your home they're not actually working on, and basically take over so that you feel your home isn't your own. Some even call out and say 'Put the kettle on!'. I normally show them where the kettle is and leave stuff out and tell them to help themselves, but some of them clearly think you're there to wait on them.

I often see a sign on building sites saying 'We are considerate builders' and I wonder if they actually are. Of course I realise there must be civilised builders out there, but sadly I've never encountered one.

I get the postcode tax too and the black tax. It’s what it is.

The sad thing is that this does go on, and that many posters on here have already said they hire, pretending to be a man, ti get round it.

One utter scum bag does not represent a whole industry. Rather than advising people to pretend they are male advise them to grt multiple quotes. That soon exposes abnormalities within quotes.

Really? I've renovated properties to sell on as well as my own. I'm not an idiot. I know the day rates. The one property I did with my husband - well, even though he was a lawyer who handled multi million dollar negotiations he was crap at dealing with tradies.
I'd warn anyone against hiring your BIL - he's pathetic and I hope you told him so.
It is true I have dealt with tradesmen who just don't hear me - one issue was a change in floor levels between rooms. Builder, chippie and even the electrician was there to give an opinion. I was there with my (female) tenant. I suggested they just use a threshold that angled slightly differently each side. They talked about the issue for five minutes, then one of the guys said: 'hey, let's just slope the edges slightly different'. They thought great idea! I looked at my tenant, she looked at me. The problem is not women, it's the men. But you know, ultimately I'm the bank. If they don't understand what I want and how I want to do it and how much I want to pay - there's the door.

He's probably scared of scamming men but thinks he could intimidate a woman if they realised they were being scammed

He's a scammer. As a widow, I hope I don't come across a scammer like him.

@trekking1 which isn't funny in this context. So your BIL preys on lone females to rip them off?