Why do so many tradespeople fail to show for potential work

[reesewithoutaspoon]

So frustrated, been trying to get some work done (removing old flags, relaying new patio and further flagging around front and side of house. so not a small job) 2 separate firms have offered to come out and measure and give quotes and arranged time and day to do this and neither of them have turned up, no phone call to let me know they were held up on other jobs etc. just radio silence.
How are you supposed to trust a firm who cant even be arsed communicating.
I just want my bloody flags done

I agree, amazes me although if someone doesn't show and doesn't let me know then I never use them.

Can I extend this further? I am also amazed the amount of companies that don't seem to be interested in actually selling to a customer who contacts them. We are looking to buy some garden furniture, it's a big space, the company I'm looking at, Moda, have lovely stuff, exactly what we seem to want. I tried to call them during lockdown, no reply. As at the end of last week there is nothing on their website or Facebook about them re-opening their showrooms (just want to check the weaves etc) and when I called them and pressed '1' for new client it told me I would be holding for 20 minutes. I held on to see what would happen - went down to 6 minutes then back up to 15! We have now discounted buying from them as if this is what you get when you are trying to buy I'm not convinced what their on-going customer service would be like. Sorry rant and off topic a bit!

Last house there was a lot of work - and we had this so often.

I think some people assess both what it will cost and what you might be able to afford...

We thought we must be giving out poor vibes.

Though when we did get someone they were often very pleased and suprise that we always paid immediately and would deal with us again even for small jobs. Hard part was getting someone there to start with.

This popped on on Viz's Top Tips today funnily enough.

Trades people are like gold dust round here, they can pick and choose their jobs. I wanted a kitchen extension, it was abandoned in the end because I just couldn't get anyone even round for a quote. Well a couple of builders showed up but no quote was ever seen.

I am also amazed the amount of companies that don't seem to be interested in actually selling to a customer who contacts them.

Parents are currently having - and it's not a cheap peice of equipment they want either but no-one gets back to them after they try and make contact.

Completely agree with all of this. We bought our house a few months ago and it needed the lot doing - plumbing, new central heating system, roof repairs, rewiring, plastering, new kitchen, carpets etc.

It took us so much longer than it should have to get the house in a liveable state because of the amount of tradesmen who didn’t show up to quote, or actually do the work. Even loads of the people we did use always had endless excuses about why they couldn’t come today/needed to leave early/didn’t show up yesterday without letting us know.

In the space of 3 months I think we heard about 5 divorces, 6 bereavements and multiple broken down vans/cars and so many illnesses. It does make you wonder how true it all is!

Glad its not just me then. I know firms can pick and choose work. but why pretend you are interested and arrange to come to quote in the first place. Just say no sorry too busy atm. Thats the bit that annoys me.

Because many are very disorganized and don't understand the concept of customer service. Even when they lose work as a result!

I worked for many years as a business adviser to small businesses - it's very common and immensely frustrating that while they understand this, they can't seem to mentally resolve it.

We had the same thing with some wood windows we needed repairing a few years ago.

After three whole months of trying to get people out, even taking days off work when they said they would come to quote and didn’t show up and then didn’t answer calls, we gave up. It was thousands of pounds of work as well.

It's worth asking around for recommendations for good reliable people. Really good people don't need to advertise as they get all their work this way.

While I am not a man hater the problem is often that men just don't give toss. There needs to be more women in these industries as we care more about the actual client. I'm doing my bit as a painter and I always turn up.

Sorry doesn't help you now though.

This is so annoying. Well before lockdown I contacted a female gardener who was advertising on the local Facebook pages and it all sounded hopeful. After several messages about what I wanted doing, which basically was a post winter clear up, there was, like many others-radio silence.
A few weeks into lockdown and said gardener is complaining on same Facebook page about no work and having to claim UC, I just don’t understand it.

I completely agree! We are mid renovation and really struggled to get people out to quote. However we have now had all the building work done and really struggling to get the plasterer to turn up when promised! It's the lack of communication that is bothering me, especially since our house is a building suit and we have no kitchen! We have ground to a halt until the plasterer bothers to answer the phone.

I'd worry if I needed to find a tradesman. I'm currently renting so most issues go via the agents. Lucky for me, their plumber is reliable. And he's also cottoned on to the fact that I don't mess him around, either. He's mentioned to me that so many people don't return his calls when he's trying to arrange for the gas safety check, or aren't in when they said they'd be, etc. And I'm one who calls back quickly, arranges a time and I'm there at that time to let him in and work.

So, when I manage to get a house of my own, he'll be the one I call for checking over any plumbing.

If I need a gardener, I'll ask next door, she has someone who comes round.

It does seem to be personal recommendation is the best way to go.

Totally agree Op
I was given a quote for a decorator to paint the rooms in my house.
I was given a quote and dates/times were agreed. They didn’t bother turning up.
This has happened several times with gardeners, builders etc.
I just don’t get it.

Agree with posters who say that the reliable, good ones don’t need Trust a Trader.
The builder who is currently doing work on my house was recommended to us. He is reliable, reasonably priced and hardworking.
We have introduced him to so many of our friends and he has got some lucrative work as a result
He is booked up for the next year or so

You need to get local recommendation. My husband is in a trade. Never, ever advertises. Always having to turn down work as he is too busy, working 6 days a week. All his work is word of mouth. Ask people you know.

I hear you! We wanted our garden doing and started getting quotes 12 months ago. Three people turned up to quote - the first was extortionate but could start the next week and the other two didn't even bother getting the quote back to us, so why bother coming out to quote

We ended up having a neighbour do it - it was a weeks work but it took us nearly 11 months to pin him down because he was so busy. We didn't mind because he was incredibly cheap but the work was amazing.

I always remember a poster in the stationery shop of my old college - "Good, Fast or Cheap, you can only pick two"

I think some of it is arrogance ...people who decide to work for themselves often get that decision because they find it it hard to tolerate having a boss of any kind, but then if you are tradesman your customer becomes a kind of boss and some types of people are constitutionally unable to defer to anyone

Oh I have found my people. I have about six queries out ATM for a quite substantial landscaping job on my garden. One person texted back to say they were fully booked until the end of the year (eek!) but the others are sitting in their sheds having a glass of wine and a natter.

I used a trusted trader once when I desperately needed new carpet laid two days before Christmas guests arrived. Luckily it's a not often used room because the carpet he provided is about as durable as wet tissue paper.

I think there should be a rating system for customers

I am happy for you to use the toilet

I have parking for your van

I provide tea and or real coffee

I provide real biscuits, cake if you are lucky

I pay up promptly when you finish the work

I don't mess about with changing my mind about stuff

I am flexible about days you can work.

I think I would get five star ratings.

And for those saying to get recommendations, that’s not always a guarantee of finding someone reliable!

We’ve contacted so many “recommended” builders/plasterers/decorators and had either radio silence, no-shows or were messed around during the job!

Of ALL the trades we’ve used, the only 100% reliable one was our decorator, who was a friend of the family. Even our own brother in law (very busy and well regarded in the local area) pissed us around with about 3 no-shows before he came to sort our heating system out, and we weren’t paying mate’s rates either!

I think PPs who’ve mentioned a complete lack of organisation and customer service skills are correct in most cases, sadly. Not all, but most. The amount of times DH and I said that if we treated our clients like they do in our jobs, we wouldn’t make a lot of money!

Same here! I don't know what's more annoying, the people who don't turn up to quote at all or the quoters and then hear no more-ers. After a mix of the above two trying to get my patio sorted I thought I'd hit gold when someone came at exactly the time they said they would, and then came back with a very reasonable quote...in fact it was so reasonable I double checked....turned out he had completely ignored what I said I wanted (new brick patio) and quoted me for something completely different (current slabs lifted, weedproofing done and then put back down and cleaned). When I pointed this out he tried to say I hadn't explained what I wanted clearly, despite my original request spelled out in the message he was replying too

It's mad when you consider how much money people are willing to pay for these jobs!

The only problem with asking for recommendations is that if you move/live even a short distance away from your friends doing the recommending, the good people are so booked up in their local area that they don't want to be driving an extra half hour or so when they don't need to. I've had a look on local FB groups but often it's a bit hit/miss - will you get someone who's so good they don't need to advertise or will you get (as pp put it) dodgy DIY Dave and his van who'll half arse it and then just abandon you with the job half done?

I wish I'd got into a trade rather than going down the academic route, honestly think with just a minimal level of customer service you could make a fortune!

Glad it’s not just me this happens to!

A few years ago we needed a wet room doing for my FIL. At the time, my hairdressers new boyfriend was a tradesmen, doing just that and she highly recommended him as he had installed her new bathroom and that was how she met him. Thought great, someone I know well knows him well and can recommend him! Bingo.

He was still a nightmare, took months to pin him down to even pop round and quote, then we had to chase him for it. Once FIL said he was happy with the price, it took a few more months to pin down a date for starting. The once he started, he wouldn’t appear until after 10am and was always gone before 4pm. Sometimes during the day he would disappear for hours on end for ‘materials’. He would also text me in the morning on the odd day to say he couldn’t come today for one reason or another.

When the work was eventually finished, it transpired that they hadn’t installed the drainage properly as when the shower was used the whole floor flooded! 🙄 So then they had to come back and fix it. All they did was add another layer of tiles to create an area around the drain that was lower than the rest of the floor. Still didn’t fix the issue, if you use the shower now the water just pools in the lower floor, it has to be mopped and pushed towards the drain! 🙄🙄🙄 £7,000 that cost! And a lesson learned, too.

Our house will need a new kitchen and bathrooms eventually but I’m dreading trying to get them sorted because of the above... 😳

Maybe the hairdressers new boyfriend doesn't need to work so hard now that he can draw on the wages of the hairdresser
Maybe that was the main motivation for making a good job of her bathroom?

@B1rdbra1n Maybe, she had her own salon at that point, own home etc. and was still in her early 20’s at that time (he was older).