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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Or is EVERYONE shit at their jobs nowadays?!

47 replies

Fluxedo · 02/04/2013 14:45

Ok, not everyone in the world, but every time we make an appointment with someone like a plumber, IT technician, BT person, joiner, electrician etc they are always late or don't turn up or don't return calls/emails. It's just shit and unprofessional and has been happening ever since we moved two years ago.

I welcome tales of people not being shit by the way, it will reassure me that it's just bad luck.

OP posts:
somewhereaclockisticking · 02/04/2013 15:10

Well we found it very hard to find a decent plumber - have been let down so many times and eventually only got one because he lived just down the road but he wasn't exactly despertae for the business. I find alot of the time they really just don't seem to want the business which is odd in this day - my mum found alot of painters and decoraters came out to give her a quote but then never got back to her!! We did find an excellent electrician however but when I mentioned we needed a plumber to fit a new bathroom suite he said he had a great mate but would never recommend him because he wasn't reliable!!!!!

GrowSomeCress · 02/04/2013 15:11

YANBU to be annoyed (though YABU to generalise that much and I'm sure you know that Wink ) and especially as they will be the ones complaining that 'the forinners and imigrants are steeling are jobs'

EffieTheDuck · 02/04/2013 15:13

What is it with plumbers? Another one here still waiting for several plumbers to reply from months ago. Hmm
One point blank refused to come and quote as 'They could be out on a proper job instead of doing quotes".

Original poster
Fluxedo · 02/04/2013 15:14

Haha, now who's generalising GrowSome :)

somewhere that's exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. But maybe they do have plenty of work? Everyone needs maintenance doing, even in a recession. When we did finally find a decent plumber he did exactly the same - knew plenty of tradesmen but wouldn't recommend any of them because they're too shit!

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Original poster
Fluxedo · 02/04/2013 15:15

Yep Effie, I contacted four local gas men and NOT ONE got back to me. Gits.

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Nancy66 · 02/04/2013 15:15

when we bought our house ( a wreck that needed loads of work) I was staggered at how crap people were and how many just didn't turn up or let you down.

Even now I'm shocked at how poor service can be. You'd have thought the fact jobs are thin on the ground would be an incentive but - apparently - not.

Original poster
Fluxedo · 02/04/2013 15:18

It's especially fricking annoying when one of us has to take time off work to wait in. ARRGH Angry

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Original poster
Fluxedo · 02/04/2013 15:19

I have a Reader's Digest DIY Manual and am going to learn how to do this shit myself.

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MrsKoala · 02/04/2013 15:19

yanbu. it took us 2 years to get a gardener to actually turn up to do our garden. For 2k for a weeks work (plus materials of course) - still you would think it worth their while.

one i found thru rated people. he was desperate to do the job but too busy for 3 months but pleaded with us to wait. we did (in the summer with an unusable garden and me heavily pregnant) then on the day agreed he didn't turn up. The following day (after me calling, emailing and texting) i got an email with no apology, saying he had to attend a funeral and now would not be doing the job as too busy. When i then gave him a bad review on rated people he sent me a really nasty email about me being bitter Confused My review was removed and rated people were quite nasty to me too.

GrowSomeCress · 02/04/2013 15:20

Fluxedo fair point Grin

Original poster
Fluxedo · 02/04/2013 15:23

Oh MrsKoala I found someone through Rated People too who was properly terrible - gave a really good impression at first then basically turned out to be a crook. Rated People is very much in favour of the tradespeople (fair enough in some ways.) I left a good review after the guy's first visit (rookie error) then had to remove it once he turned out to be evil.

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Nancy66 · 02/04/2013 15:23

I have no faith in any of the 'rate a tradesman' sites.

I suspect a lot of them get their mates to write their reviews.

I gave a job to a painter and decorator after he quoted for it. He didn't turn up on the agreed start day. Didn't respond to any of my calls or emails. Two weeks later, as if nothing had happened, he just turned up at the house. When I said his services were not longer required he called me 'a fucking bitch' and threatened to pour petrol through our letterbox while we slept.
Lovely bloke.

Original poster
Fluxedo · 02/04/2013 15:26

Blimey Nancy Shock

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Original poster
Fluxedo · 02/04/2013 15:26

Personal recommendations are all you can rely on really, aren't they? I guess that's the problem when you move to another area - you don't know anyone who can recommend people.

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emess · 02/04/2013 15:29

A colleague recommended Rated People. We tried it and only 2 phoned up. We live in a suburb of a large city, with no shortage of tradesmen.

When we needed some plastering done at home a few years back we had a real job getting anyone to give a quote, then they couldn't fit us in for about 12 weeks, and all 3 of them arrived in very expensive cars - work must come easy!

Juniperdewdropofbrandy · 02/04/2013 15:30

Shock Nancy66, did you report him?

Our local home service company is great. They can't come out quick as so busy but they come when they say and aren't too expensive. Other than that pretty shit tbh. Although Dp's joiner mate was fab.

I'm astounded at the appalling level of service all round tbh. What's so Great about Britain?

sleepyhead · 02/04/2013 15:31

We really struggled to get a plasterer to do work in our flat. It was a fairly big job and we were willing to pay the going rate obviously, but two out of the three people who agreed to even come and give us a quote clearly didn't want the job and spent more time telling us what they weren't willing to do, and what wasn't worth their while, than persuading us that they'd do decent work.

Luckily the third firm were a very professional husband and wife team who gave us a very competitive quote (or possibly the other two firms had hugely inflated theirs as they weren't bothered about getting it), turned up when they said they would, did a great job and will be recommended by us for ever more!

There's obviously a lot more work around for tradespeople than I thought there was. The two local "polish" firms that are meant to be so cheap and reliable didn't even bother to return our calls.

Lueji · 02/04/2013 15:34

Probably because they are too busy or because some jobs take longer than they expect or get caught in traffic.

Maybe knock on neighbours' doors and ask them for references?

wonkylegs · 02/04/2013 15:36

We've just had some fab decorators in the other week, who I felt underpriced the job so we gave them a generous tip. They were polite, tidy, did an amazing job and were more than reasonably priced.
We have a fab plumber too who trekked here in snow when he couldn't get the van here but our boiler had broken.
Have brilliant friendly milkman & good cleaner.
I have a good joiner too, he's quite relaxed re timekeeping but so good we don't mind too much.
Just sacked the window cleaner though as they scratched the window, lied about cleaning round the back of the house and we're generally a bit shit.
There are good people out there but sometimes you get s run of shit ones.

bigbadbarry · 02/04/2013 15:37

I have some small jobs I want done in my kitchen. I know it isn't going to be huge but about a day's work that you might think would slot in nicely between big fits. I wanted to firm who originally installed the kitchen to do it so things would match and they would know where the bits came from. I called for 2 months with him saying yes yes yes I'll come - he eventually came, seemed keen, took measurements (if he didn't want to do it he really should have said at that point sorry this is too small for us), promised a quote the next day. That was last March. I did phone to chase a couple of times: the lady who answered the phone said oh yes I know he was working on your quote hasn't he sent it, sounding genuinely surprised. Last April.

Original poster
Fluxedo · 02/04/2013 15:38

Craziness. The next person whose services I attempt to engage will have to go through a gruelling vetting process!

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MrsKoala · 02/04/2013 15:40

my dad's an electrician and he and his mates are incredibly unreliable. i tell him i would be furious if i employed him. fortunately he is mainly retired now. i think it's a young mans game tbh and sadly now a generation of trades people are retiring there is a massive labour shortage. so they get to pick and choose.

meddie · 02/04/2013 15:41

Trying to get a tiler for new kitchen took ages. To an expert it was a 4 hour job, so no one was willing to do it.even when i offered a day rate rather than per yard rate. In the end got an older guy who came in the evening aftrr his main job. did a beautiful job and has been recommended on many many times

Nancy66 · 02/04/2013 15:42

I didn't report him just because he knew where I lived - and that I was mostly alone since DP was working in America at the time.

Just seemed easier to let it ago rather than make him angrier.

sleepyhead · 02/04/2013 15:43

We also had some carpet fitters in recently who were furious that the shop we'd subcontracted them from had said they'd do it in one day rather than over two (carpets & lino being replaced throughout the flat).

Granted, a lot of furniture needed to be moved from one end of a room to another but dh was there and did most of the shifting while they got on with other rooms.

Anyway, they arrived at 9.30am moaning about it being a two day job... and left with the job completed at 11.30am. God knows what one day's work looks like.

(They've done a pretty rubbish job though).

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