Fed up being let down by traders...

[Moorem666]

What is it with traders in Wexford?
A couple of times now, people have come out, quoted on work, agreed a price (I've not even haggled) only to never hear from them again.
Is there so much work that they can just walk away?
Why is is so hard to find someone who is reliable?

We are having exactly the same problem in Wiltshire except no quotes, just come out and say they'll send a quote but never do. Maybe that's it, they can choose which work they'd like to do and brings the most profit. Not sure what the answer is, we've been trying to get quotes for a year. Kids will have moved out by the time we get the work done and won't need it!!

It’s the same everywhere I think. Tradesmen at the moment, can pick and choose which jobs they want.

Is there so much work that they can just walk away?

Bluntly, yes. All the trades here are booked up until the end of 2024.

We had the same in Essex with carpet laying, building work and having a lawn laid.
Anyone who "could start tomorrow" was usually someone to be avoided, then there were the sky-high quotes to watch out for.
Our cousin in Wexford only needed a unit for a double oven... B&Q in UK about £340... not available in Ireland so she was quoted €2500 for something an average handyman with a could have made in a day.
I might offer to send her one over from the UK... it'd still be cheaper with post & packing.

Same in Hampshire. We can't get anyone to do anything. Sometimes they show up to quote, and then disappear, and sometimes they don't even turn up to quote.

Latest is roofers. We have some rotten rafters, 3 roofers, one promised to turn up repeatedly and then didn't, and two have been round and looked, said they'd quote and have now disappeared.

It is so frustrating.

Replace "Wexham" with "UK".

We had a leaking roof-light week before last. No one would even come to have a look. Too busy, too small a job. Three eventually promised and 2 just didn't turn up. The other one said it would be £850 which seemed extortionate for what he said would be a couple of hours work on a small leak but we haven't got a clue.
In the end a friend who has a builder's merchant business asked a bloke who does his houses's small roof repairs and he came out and fixed it there and then. He also pointed out some guttering issues (which we knew about) - fixed two of those and is coming back to fix the other 2. He showed us a photo of where the water was getting into the roof because of a gap in the fibreglass coating and another showing it after he had sealed it. Took him an hour in total and charged us £75.00.
We were pathetically grateful and over-paid him.

Friend has had 3 quotes to have minor cosmetic work done in bathroom- new shower tray(not flash and in same place), new flooring and a row of tiles. Rang 7 traders, 3 turned up. Quotes range from £5,700(plus vat) to £3,400 to £1500. Again, they have no idea which is reliable.

We had a carpet fitted a month ago and the fitters announced the room door would have to be removed and some wood shaved from the bottom and then replaced- we knew that, we'd told the carpet shop. Fitters said they would remove the door but wouldn't shave it down or put it back because 'we didn't put our tools in the van today because the shop didn't tell us, so you'll have to get someone else in to do that'.

I don't mind someone turning a job down, it's the not saying anything and leaving me hanging around that really annoys me.
I've wasted 2 weeks now waiting for a garden maintenance guy to get back to me... in that time I could have done the job myself, albeit very slowly because of a rib injury, but it would have been done by now as winter closes in.

WexFORD is in Ireland. HTH.

We have experienced this too, midlands.

Who cares; it's the same story everywhere.