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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Am I being precious or is this bloke out of order?

60 replies

NorthernComfort · 21/02/2011 09:33

We rent and the landlords were recommended a local handyman to fix a problem with the roof which is leaking and turning the ceilings upstairs black.

He randomly turns up unannounced and expects access to the whole house at 8am when people are trying to get dressed and ready to leave the house. They've only just managed to finally pin him down to do the work and we asked that he didn't turn up until 9am as mornings are not a good time. He turned up at 8.10am anyway and then saw his arse a bit because I wouldn't let him go upstairs where DH had just got out of the shower and was getting dressed.

He left his stuff and went somewhere about half an hour ago, and has just come back, let himself in - as well as some random man who I came down and found in the yard with him.

I'm in with my two and four year old boys and I'm not particularly happy about him wandering in and out without telling me what he's doing and bringing god knows who in.

AIBU?

OP posts:

swallowedAfly · 21/02/2011 10:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

ccpccp · 21/02/2011 10:39

IME tradesmen turn up when they want, and can leave just as quickly if you are being difficult.

You need them more than they need you.

Had you been the paying customer, you probably would have been treated with a bit more respect. However as a renter, be thankful the job is getting done at all :)

ThePosieParker · 21/02/2011 10:43

I told builders in my house, that with three children one being a toddler and being eight months pg on top of getting married and them being five weeks over.....I would not be making cups of tea. They were welcome to have my kettle nearby...but not to traipse all over the house.

GloriaSmut · 21/02/2011 10:52

I hate to disagree with the poster who has the Perfect Tradesman for a dh, but actually, YABU. All workmen turn up at 8am. Even if you are paying the bill for the work, own the house and can, in theory stamp your own precious feet. If you were silly enough to try, that is!

I had 5 months of building work and managed to get an 8.15 start agreed but that was the limit of it. Having seen the pattern of their day, I came to see the common sense in the early start too so we just had to organise ourselves in the morning.

Oh, and if I'd not considered employing people who occasionally needed to bring "random men" to assist them, then some of the most crucial work would still remain undone.

It's can be very invasive but ultimately, far better to get the work done, surely?

susanbanthony · 21/02/2011 10:57

You can't expect a roofer to start work late in the middle of winter. Did we learn nothing from Nigal Pargiter? If he is going to get a full days work in he needs to be up on the roof first thing.

ApocalypseCheeseToastie · 21/02/2011 11:00

And in fairness to him he did bugger off for half an hour leaving you plenty of time to get dressed..... having said that i'm a bit soft when it comes to my builder, he gets posh biscuits and his preferred brand of tea and coffee

JaneS · 21/02/2011 11:00

YABU about the time. 8 am is perfectly normal and you should have been up and ready.

YANBU about the notice (which imo somewhat negates your unreasonableness otherwise). Your landlord should have sent you very clear notice when the workmen would come, either on the phone or in writing. Clearly this is an urgent job, but counting it as an emergency only means the landlord doesn't have to give the full 24 hours notice. It doesn't mean s/he can get away with not respecting your privacy. I think a decent landlord would also tell you which rooms the workman would need access to, but I don't think they're required to do this.

I would be hacked off if the workman turned up with some 'random' person, but not if it were another workman - are you sure it wasn't?

Not the workman's fault at all - he was probably annoyed you weren't up and able to let him get started quickly (it must be a pain having people running around trying to get dressed when you need to work). But your landlord is being rude.

Original poster

NorthernComfort · 21/02/2011 11:22

rofl@ susanbanthony!

methsdrinker for goodness sake have another swig and sort yourself out. Yes I did offer him a brew, I am not a rude person and I expect not to be treated rudely by people letting themselves in uninvited and getting shitty about it.

Can I put this in perspective; this is not a busy builder's company, it is one man and he is retired, he doesn't have a days worth of jobs to get on with, he has a couple of hours here and that's it. This is why it irks me, it's something he does a bit in his spare time so there is absolutely no need to turn up at 8am.

And he didn't bugger off for half an hour in response to me telling him he would not be going upstairs until everyone was dressed, he lurked in the yard (drinking tea that I had made, meths!) for a bit after that. He buggered off after 9am and I had no idea if he'd finished the job and gone or what.

I'll stop ranting now, it's just that he has a habit of turning up at the worst possible times, then talking to me for half an hour about building stuff that I have no idea about, and when he finally does a job it's really shoddy and shortcutty!

And breathe...

OP posts:

Original poster

NorthernComfort · 21/02/2011 11:23

And anyway, he's finished and gone now. The landlords are fine, it's not them, they told us 9am. THey're as fed up with this guy as we are, he's been arsing them about for about two months.

OP posts:

ErnestTheBavarian · 21/02/2011 11:35

"Can I put this in perspective"

please do! :)

Original poster

NorthernComfort · 21/02/2011 11:39

Straw that broke the camel's back Ernest. Have a housefull of ill children on half term, have lost my voice and totally fed up of this chap constantly turning up unannounced.

OP posts:

Original poster

NorthernComfort · 21/02/2011 11:39

(Ooops, didn't mean to put a big toothy grin there!)

OP posts:

ErnestTheBavarian · 21/02/2011 11:45

I know these things can be a pain. You want to meet my electrician. You'd love him :) Turn up at 7, then disappear for months. Asked for our satellite system by mid September. He finally got the dish up 2 months or so late, then couldn't align it to the right satellite ( didn't have signal finder) so despite having a dish, we had no tv for literally months. He would not answer calls, emails, then just show up at 7 am. Bless.

So also don't think it's a tenant vs homeowner issue. SOme people are just like that.

Doesn't make it right, doesn't make it ok, but from experience, it's not something I'd dwell too much on either.

oldwomaninashoe · 21/02/2011 12:42

Unfortunately you are a tenant, and you Do have to have the workman that your Landlord wants. At * months pregnant with twins my landlord sent around a man to fix the window at 7.30 am.
I then had to take down the curtains and move the sofa myself (we knew he was coming but had not been given a date or time).

We are now homeowners and who we have in our house and when is very much on our terms!

BTW most workman start at 8am, the ones who start at nine are the ones you see sitting in thier vans reading the paper/drinking coffee/smoking/listening to the radio

oldwomaninashoe · 21/02/2011 12:42

should have read 8 !

JaneS · 21/02/2011 12:45

Erm ... not if he's turning up at a non-agreed time, shoe!

methsdrinker · 21/02/2011 13:05

Thanks for the tea by the way.
Untucks judgypants and watches droopy boobs sink slowly to the floor.

Original poster

NorthernComfort · 21/02/2011 13:12

meths.

OP posts:

Mumi · 21/02/2011 13:24

YANBU - you have a right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises you have rented (except in the direst of emergencies) as presumed by the courts. You may have to compromise on the labourer your landlord prefers but you do not have to compromise on the notice given!

SugarPasteFrog · 21/02/2011 13:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NadiaWadia · 21/02/2011 14:25

YADNBU. It's common courtesy to let you know when he's coming/check if it's convenient.

And what's this about letting himself in? The landlords havent given him a key, have they? Because that's not on.

When you are a tenant, OK you obviously don't own the property, but while you are there you are paying handsomely for the use of the property as your home and the 'peaceful enjoyment' of it (that's a legal term I think). You have almost the same rights as a homeowner to control access to your property and are usually entitled to 24 hours notice of someone coming round(unless in emergency). If lls are giving out keys to all and sundry you would be within your rights to change the locks, as long as you change them back when you move out.

NadiaWadia · 21/02/2011 14:29

BTW, what does 'saw his arse' mean? Have never heard this expression before, did you just make it up?

SarahStrattonHasNiceBears · 21/02/2011 14:33

Hold on. Tied the ladder on? On to what? Is scaffolding going up? I thought H&S rules now stated that a scaffolding tower had to be used at roof level work?

lospolloshermanos · 21/02/2011 14:34

YANBU

If they come that early I send them away to come back, what does he expect at that time??

in fairness tho not everyone has that much front

Original poster

NorthernComfort · 21/02/2011 14:42

Nadia - it's Northern speak for going in a mood.

Sarah - no idea what he got up to out there, I left him to it. No scaffolding used though, he just went up a ladder...

lospollos It was a choice of either telling him to get back down the stairs and wait thank you very much, or letting him cop an eyeful of DH. THought the first one was the best idea all round...

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