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.

agree @QueenCamilla someone i know had to correct a whole house as it had been bodged by the original builders. Very upsetting for the owner

A frie d of mine is doing a bathroom for his elderly mother. He had a tiler booked a few weeks ago and the tiler never showed and all he did was string my friend along for weeks get the work is needed to be done for the plumbing work to be carried out.

It's just here are trades taking on jobs and telling us that they will be with us on such a day and time and they never show. And this is usually a default position too. It has to stop.

@Lillygolightly the thing is, what you describe is the norm fir most self employed people.
Its pretty normal to work out if hours. Putting quotes together is essential etc…

And imo, this points towards one big issue.
Often trades people do not have the organisational skills (and maths?) to easily cope with that.
They are trained in their trade but not in running a business.
And it shows.

This is true regardless of the level of training btw. When I learnt my own trade/skills, I did an MSc. Lots about how to practice, little about how to run a business. The result is people struggling on for years to set start up and/or giving up.
If you add tte fact, trainees see other trade people running their business like that (eg in a placement etc…) 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Tbh maybe we should start behaving like those trade people and book several of them to do the same job. And then it comes to whoever actually turns up?

Exactly. Why not just say you can't take a job on?

I thought I was dealing with a lovely tradesman who kept giving me chapter and verse about his personal life as excuses for not turning up - busy school hols, kids football coach, van in garage, all this. Because he was being so personable I believed him, but gave up in the end and never even met the guy. Wasted months of my time when I could have found someone else. Why do that!

I think the problem is with most jobs it’s quite difficult to correctly estimate how long things take as it unfolds you can run into issues
if he started your plumbing job run in to problems then cleared off 1/2 through and left it un finished because he’d promised to go to someone in The afternoon would you be happy with that

@Squaretiles

In the meantime, I have given up. I will not be exaggerating to say that in the North East where I'm at now (wasn't quite as bad in the SE) every single one of the tradies is at least to some extent a time-wasting idiot at best, and a thieving criminal at worst. Plus there are well-intentioned clueless bodgers.
I've barely escaped with my sanity and money intact (and probably with my life, as one "tradie" turned into a night-time stalker).

I've now gone part time in my work to be able to complete my house renovation myself. I've done extensive groundworks, drainage, brickwork repairs and pointing in lime, general carpentry, rebuilt a rotten Victorian staircase, I'm about to replace ceiling joists upstairs... Apart from another pair of hands at times and better weather(!) I've not needed any thieving bastard to "help".

Once my own house is done, I might very well go into period property renovations - it's satisfying to save old houses from old and current bodges.

It’s such a waste of everyone’s time! I’ve been trying to get a quote for 26 double glazed windows for 6 months. It’s a substantial job for a firm willing to take it on but I couldn’t even get one of the larger national companies with a bad rep out to measure.

Thats not what people are talking about though.
What you describe is telling one customer there will be half a day delay. Not MONTHS.

Plus it’s also part if their job to allow fir spare time for tricky jobs, learn how to move jobs around if need be etc…
I mean otherwise how would they ever be able to answer an urgent call?!?

There’s more work than there are tradespeople.
Most people will want more than one quote so each one the tradesperson does won’t turn into an actual job.
Jobs don’t always run to plan, eg the customer might want extra work doing or there are problems found once the original work begins.
Not everyone wants confrontation, easier to not get back to people rather than be upfront.

That is unbelievably rude. I am self employed, and I also have a degree and a past career in international lobbying and government. Self employment just suits me better right now! Frankly if your attitude comes through to people it’s hardly surprising if you struggle to get people in - most people don’t enjoy being treated with contempt.

As to why some tradespeople can be a bit useless OP - well so can anyone, frankly. It’s just very noticeable when you have an important or emergency job needing to be done. I sympathise greatly.

That is unbelievably rude. I am self employed, and I also have a degree and a past career in international lobbying and government. Self employment just suits me better right now!

This thread is about self employed tradespeople. Plumbers, builders, etc. If you read the post you quoted further, it's talking about trades.

Self employment itself is not being criticised here. I have also been self employed (freelance writing etc)

That's not the issue. The plumber said that he will get in touch with me on Thursday to confirm for Friday morning. Surely he didn't start a job yesterday that caught his attention overnight and into today. The issue is he said he will be will me and he will confirm on Thursday but he couldn't be bothered to even get back to me. And it's clear it's the default of stringing people along.

It's wrong and it has to stop. Immediately.
A friend of mine was strung along for a few weeks by a tiler who has no intention of turning up to do work but says he will.

There has to be an official registrar of tradesmen where they can be struck off.

I had to take time out of my schedule earlier in the week to travel to the nearest ATM to get cash to pay him. That was the first task. Then for this to happen. He couldn't be bothered even giving me a rough guideline on time that he may come. Just nothing.

This has to stop. Stringing people along. They wouldn't be in any other job if they behaved like that.

Yes, there should be guilds as well as qualifications and accreditation levels like the Handwerkskammern (guilds) and Geselle / Meister in Germany, which act as examination bodies and resolve conflicts between tradespeople and their customers.

In future if you book through the site My Builder you leave a reference after the job is done. Tradesmen bid for your job and have to pay to bid so you know they are serious.

I seriously would be dubious about employing ANY trade that needed to pay to simply quote for work.
There's is a shortage of tradespeople ( thanks in no small part to the 'everyone MUST go to uni' mantra, hence the difficulty in pinning the good ones down.

I'd rather wait ( unless it's an emergency), for someone booked up for the next 6 weeks, than get someone who has had to pay to quote the next day.
But I do agree with you OP, just tell it how it us and don't string us along.