Why do tradesmen lie?

[Squaretiles]

I was due a plumber for tomorrow morning. He said he will confirm Thursday but he never got back to me.

This isn't the first time a tradesperson said he will do work and then not do it.

My own father own his own trade business and I saw him lie through his teeth. He used to lie and take on work without ever having a notion of turning up and doing the work and he said it was easier to turn people down like that. Basically just string them along instead of being honest with someone.

No doubt other people would have similar experiences of tradesmen not turning up.

I know there was a pandemic in recent years and people can genuinely be sick but this is usually my experience and perception of tradesmen too. Their default position is to take on work and not turn up.

I think the government should get on board and create a registrar of Tradesmen and there should be a 10 strike rule. There should be a system in place where people can report trademen who do not turn up to carry out work Similar to driving penalty points and create a 10 strike rule.

YANBU

I think some of them work for themselves as they are so bad at organising themselves and totally unreliable, and no-one would actually employ them.

So good when you get a good one who turns up when they say.

I don't think Check a trade is a quality mark but proper trade associations can be, and will chuck people out if they don't adhere to standards.

Yanbu

A decent tradesperson can make an absolute packet.

sadly they are very few and far between

One of the things I love about my DH is his DIY abilities, he'll do anything plumbing, electrics, decorating, carpentry, gardening...anything. The only thing is that he works very long hours in his proper job which is very pressured and physically draining. I'm so grateful to him because if I didn't have him I'd have traders mucking me around. Absolutely hate dealing with them. Most of them are shits, I dread it even when it's my neighbour's having work done they're so leery and cheeky. Ugh

You said it yourself. Those groups are local type of groups and casual and not worth the paper they are on.

There has to be an official registrar of trades going forward and if enough reports are made, they are struck off.

I can't believe I forgot about one of my uncles. He's a plumber and he's the biggest prick that ever walked the planet. I needed a job done before and I was strung along for months even though I would have been paying him too. Just strung along. That must be their default position. Just string people along.

Wow!
What a very judgmental comment to say being self employed isnt a "real job" and all self employed people must be "poorly educated"
I'm sorry to burst your little bubble but I was self employed as a live in a carer. Is that not a "real" job? Do you not understand how hard it is to care for a vulnerable person for 24/7 hours a day?
I'll also have you know that I'm educated?
I have GCSES and A-levels in health and social care, sociology, psychology and german. Yes, all self employed people are so uneducated 🙄

I think they are generally unprofessional. Working for themselves means they don’t have to answer to anybody/management etc like most people do.
Add to that many of them work for cash in hand and generally work when they feel like it.
I think some tradespeople found school difficult/ don’t finish school/go straight to apprenticeships and the people who are training them have a similar background.

I have very low expectations. Still get frustrated though.

I think it is pretty obvious to most people ( maybe not you, but the 'poorly educated' tradesman) that you are going to make more money being self-employed tgan working for a company.
I guess the reason for 'stringing along' is they think they might do a job if nothing more lucrative comes along.

Last year I paid a £2000 deposit for a shower room refit to cover some basic materials . We discussed tiles and I sent photos of the ones I wanted and he advised on cost and agreed to get them. We chose flooring. All of this took time. The job was booked in and then the lies started...
I even got sent a photo of the plumber with a black eye to prove he's been beaten up
Then he was on holiday
Then his van was stolen
Then he had covid....

Luckily as I've been caught out before I had paid the deposit on my debit card and not bank transfer so after 8 weeks of excuses I asked for a refund and when that didn't materialise I let the bank take over and got refunded by them.

But it wastes so much time and was stressful and I realise he probably just wanted the money (he tried to persuade me to bank transfer but must have been desperate and agreed to debit card eventually) . Just a pack of lies and another year went by until we found someone to actually do the work.

Trades tend towards non academic people, even though they’re often much more lucrative than careers that need a degree, so they may have the craftsmanship to compete the job, but lack the business and planning side, unless they have someone (usually partner) helping.
Also, they’re in huge demand so can pick and choose what work they take.

My husband is a builder, i'm not sure why someone would lie or not let you know they aren't coming - but I do know he gets so many messages asking for quotes that he cannot respond to all of them, and things happen on jobs out of his control that can push back the next job.

No reason for not communicating and keeping you up-to-date, I don't think all tradesmen lie.

Do you know what really annoys me? I have had loads of work done to my home recently; I post the job on a website[ you know the one I mean], despite being accurate in my description of what is required, the number of trades who ask me what the job is? I tell them for example that I need 3 internal doors replacing,like for like, and they will complain because it's only 3! What am I doing wrong?
Or they measure up, promise a quote and I never hear from them. Why waste my time? Grrrr!

I guess the reason for 'stringing along' is they think they might do a job if nothing more lucrative comes along

Yes this is probably it.
Extremely unprofessional.

Some of them eg painters are just people who are unemployed and want to be paid in cash and have no training
/experience other than painting their own houses.

Add to that plumbers etc who take on apprentices and let the apprentices do the work while they don’t care how much they are destroying up someone else’s home!

I even had a text twice 'I'm on my way - I'll be there in 20 minutes'
My response: 'great I'm parked right out front I'll move my car as soon as you get here' His response 'thanks see you soon'.
He never arrived.

Broadly yes. They also generally have low literacy and communication levels.

But I'm actually considering setting myself up as a handywoman at some point in the future on the selling points of:

1. Being a woman (that some people will feel safer having in their home).
2. Having basic competence in planning and communication.
3. An actual talent for doing misc DIY.

But I think 1 and 2 will be enough of a revelation for some people!

@thecatsthecats Good luck with your plans. I would certainly prefer hiring a woman if the choice was available.

I agree.

Though I've needed to use a few plumbers recently. One was lovely, arrived on time, polite, respectful of our house. The rest have been unreliable or couldn't be bothered, another was more concerned about chatting than getting on with the work.

They're not well paid in my experience (unless they employ several people) and they're self employed with boy helpers. The apathy and indifference I noticed even from the chatty one.

Some of the attitudes on here are awful, I'm not surprised people don't want to quote for you
The trouble is anyone can call themselves a builder, always go through personal recommendations and ask to see some of their work
A good builder would do this with no problem

You are wrong. There should be NO deposit.
Handing over money to some unregistered, unchecked, self-employed bloke is madness, particularly taking in account the track-record of 99% of tradesmen (untrustworthy thieves, to clarify).

There are some things to take into consideration, a self employment trade is typically doing a manual physical job and is on site doing that during working hours, along side that they need to find time to be responsive to new enquiries, go to visit potential customers (usually after hours) to discuss, measure and price the job…and sometimes things can’t be priced right away as materials may need to be researched etc before a quote can be put together, then there is all the paperwork putting together of estimates, sending out invoices, chasing material deliveries, ordering of stock, chasing payments, chasing quotes, organising sub contractors and then general day to day accounting.

Being a self employed trader is many jobs all rolled into one, and frankly unless you have support staff (which many don’t) it can be tricky to handle all these aspects alone. You may have many trades people who are fantastic at the actual physical work they do, but are simply overwhelmed by all the other tasks involved and I think this can be very typical.

My DH spent over 10 years in a professional and qualified and accredited career, renovations were his hobby and he decided to make it his full time career. He manages as well as he does because I keep track of everything, I liaise with the customers, I deal with all the enquiries and see that quotes get sent out and money is chased and the accounts are kept on top of and all our marketing is on point. It’s still a challenge, we deal with customers whose expectations exceed their budgets, those who change dates, or cancel a quote that has been arranged, are late to pay, change materials at the last minute. We work to accommodate all those things as it is the nature of the job but it can be tricky to deal with a change from the current customer knowing that it will have a knock on effect for the next customer. We do absolutely everything we can to be reliable and it is paramount that we do, reputation and reviews count for an awful lot in this game and so we do all we can to make the customer experience as pleasant as possible and because of this we have a lot of repeat customers and recommendations.

I would also say that research is key, make sure you research your trader, make sure to read plenty of the reviews and look at examples of their work, research them in more than one place…are they on Checkatrade/rated people/trust a trader etc, do they appear on google, Facebook, instagram, do they have their own website etc, for larger projects I recommend checking info on companies house. Ask for their payment terms and always get it in writing, all our terms are on every estimate we send out, and they are signed electronically by both parties if the customer wishes to go ahead. Run a mile from anyone who asks you for all of the money upfront. For us small jobs are just paid on completion, large projects are materials in advance (but then those materials are delivered on site to the customer) and payments for labour is done in stages and for the work completed and we typically do this weekly so the customer is never out of pocket, and for us if the customer does not pay we are never financially out of pocket for any more than just that week. Make sure communication is good, and that you each know exactly what is agreed and when, what the timelines are and what contingencies are in place for any unexpected complications or delays, don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions. None of this is foolproof of course but it does go a long way towards giving yourself as much assurance and protection as you can.

Sorry this is getting long now but I will just say that a lot of the advertising platforms like trust a trader and others are in control of the enquiries that get sent out to traders, and it’s not quiet as straightforward as you might think. Many traders often feel that they have to accept every single one that comes in regardless because it affects the algorithm and can impinge upon the amount of they get in future if they decline them. These sites are not as heavily weighted towards the traders who pay to advertise on them as you might think.

@RingALingADingDong The trouble is anyone can call themselves a builder, always go through personal recommendations and ask to see some of their work

The trouble is, anyone Does call themselves a builder! And it shouldn't be allowed. There should be a minimum standard of qualifications, DBS checks, approved tradesmen register, a protected deposit scheme (if necessary), a complaint system to a regulatory body.
If totalled up, it would be absolutely shocking how much money is stolen, how many people defrauded and how much tax is skipped in the mess that is the current building industry.
I don't know why this wild wild west is protected by the government alas it seems to be. Someone must be lining their pockets in the process.

On personal recommendation? Like vintage times when people shared a builder (oftentimes crappy I might add) per street? Who says that my neighbours elderly aunt is a good judge as to what standard her roof or plumbing is done?
Case in point - a tradie still recommended by everyone in my street, has been bodging roof after roof since about 1980s. I saw the structural horrors when I went up on my roof personally.

How odd.

You are aware self-employed people work in an entire range of occupations and aren't just in the trades?

So that radio/tv journalist and some of the crew behind them can be self-employed. That solicitor you are using or that accountant you are using could be self-employed even though their are working for a firm.

Are you saying they are all uneducated?

Also I've hired plumbers who were part of a firm and plumbers who are self-employed. I've hired electricians who were part of a firm and electricians who were self-employed.

Some people regardless of how they are employed simply don't have good communication and organisation skills.

This 100%.

It has to change immediately.

My issue is that I was talking to him on Tuesday evening and he said that he will get in touch on Thursday to confirm for Friday and there was no communication. I tried to follow up with him and nothing.

This has to stop. I am not the first person and I wo t be the last but it has to stop. People are taking time out from their lives to be available to get work done and making taking days off as holidays to be available and there's nothing.

And it's happening time and time and time and time and time and time and time and time again.

It has to stop.

I want an official regristar of tradesmen where they can be struck off and this behaviour will soon stop.

All the trades I deal with use text messages, not whatsapp, or email to agree quotes. In other words they deliberately make a paper trail.

Years ago, though still this century, I did use a plumber who gave me a paper receipt from one of those books where you use a carbon to make duplicates.