AIBU to think finding a reliable, honest tradesperson is nearly impossible?

It's hard, and nerve wracking, I'm sorry you've had such a crappy time.

I haven't had large scale stuff done but we've definitely needed plumbers, roofers etc in the last few years and you just never know what you're going to get. That said I've mostly had good experiences through asking local Facebook groups or recommendations from friends and family.

If someone has been recommended to me I'll Google the company and see if I can find an online presence, Google reviews website with proper business details etc. it's not foolproof by any stretch of the imagination but it's mostly worked out.

I'm about to get some rendering done off a recommendation so 🤞 for this one. I got 4 quotes and this person was prompt professional and didn't want any money upfront...the quote was one of the more reasonable ones as well. The others were either mad expensive or I'm chasing them for the actual quote or cash upfront, can do the job next week...er no thanks, it's a minefield!

".Reviews count for nothing. Someone apparently 5 star has let us down just as often as the guy who's brothers mate recommended them on Facebook. "

Yes, if you're going to ask for recommendations you need to ask for "personal recommendations only" which means that people only recommend someone who has personally carried out a similar job for them. All other recommendations are dodgy really coz as you say they just recommend their brother in law etc etc.

When you finally find one who is good (difficult but not impossible), keep him. Always be polite when contacting him, offer him a cup of tea when he arrives to do the job, pay him the same day and thats it. Oh, and don't recommend him yourself to anyone. That just means he'll be more in demand, less available to work for you and will probably put his prices up.

They need to make it easier for people to enter the trades. The culture is very off putting for women and ND people, who would probably make a more reliable tradesperson than the people who currently do it. Ds2 would have considered it, but he probably wouldn't be able to deal with the people.

Not impossible, but really difficult. After a quite a few disappointing experiences, we've found an absolute gem.

It's even worse if you live out in the sticks! I had an emergency plumbing disaster, rang all the plumbers I could find and none of them would come out as far as me! The one that said he 'might be able to' wasn't going to be able to come for six weeks - meanwhile I had water pissing all over the floor. In the end I used one of those 'guaranteed to come same day but we charge you hundreds and hundreds of pounds before we even get there.'

But I don't know what the answer is. Tradies know they are in demand and can pick and choose their jobs, so why wouldn't they?

Totally reasonable! I've had nothing but unreliable, thieving and incompetent tradespeople. I have only had 2 in the last 10 years who were trustworthy and reliable. I live in a sh*thole now (think holes in the ceiling, filthy worn carpets, water stained damaged kitchen/floor, rusty radiators, leaking taps) because I can't find/don't trust anyone to do the required work. I'm able to pay but they're all a bunch of cowboys and incompetent lazy thieves.

What I really dread is the day my DH is no longer able to do the work on the house that he does now. Then we really will be sitting ducks for dodgy tradesmen.

My mum lives on her own and gets a local firm to do everything she needs. They’re very reasonably priced and seem to go out of their way for her. However, the owner is knocking on age wise himself so who knows how long the business will go on for.

We did find a good and reliable electrician but unfortunately he’s seriously ill now so we can’t get the rest of the work done. The other quotes we got were a joke - one of them turned out to not even be qualified and another firm wanted us to pay 3 very dodgy looking tracksuit clad teenagers - why 3? Everyone else said it was a one person job 🤔