Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

Why don't people want my money?!

121 replies

NoCapes · 23/06/2016 17:35

Is it just me that finds businesses just don't actually want their money?

We need some work done in the house, I've been trying endlessly to get someone in, nobody ever calls back
I even went to a family members friend thinking surely they won't let me down - yep I'm up to 3 unanswered messages

We need a dog sitter for when we go away, I went on a couple of dog sitter sites and I've messaged and messaged and messaged people, and nothing
One guy rang me, we had a good phone call he said he'd check what day was best with his wife for us to visit and text me, the day came and went with no word from him so I gave him a text, nothing

Trying to book my son a birthday party, got through to someone, he said he's not in the office he'd ring me back in an hour - this was yesterday at 10am and still haven't heard from him

Why don't people want my money!?!! Argh!

OP posts:

Want2bSupermum · 23/06/2016 19:24

I just put new windows in and paid $100 extra for each one ($1200 in total) to have them open in so I can wash them myself. I have the money to hire some. My problem is I don't have the time. By the time I have someone sorted to do it I might as well have done it myself.

I do however totally agree that there are plenty of jobs out there. If someone is unemployed (as in they are able to work but can't find a job) I don't understand why they arent paid to attend a course to train them in a trade.

Passthecake30 · 23/06/2016 19:29

Dp is self employed. What puts him off is time wasters, people who don't know what they want, don't have the money at present and are just researching and who are not happy to wait for a couple of months until he has a space....

FledglingFridge · 23/06/2016 19:30

I don't understand why they arent paid to attend a course to train them in a trade.

I got a bursary to train in Scotland. 3 years then you serve time before you're able to just apply for any job. It was like living on the dole, apprentice wages aren't good and lord no one wants an older one (by that I mean over 22) as you have to pay them more.

On a more positive note my local college is still over subscribed for all trade courses, so change is coming.

I just hate the implied assumption (even when not intentional) that because it's manual rather than more academic work anyone can just pick up and go. It's hard work, lots of stuff to learn, both practical and from the health and safety and legislation side. You need CSCS cards which have tests involved and aren't cheap to sit. You can't even work as a labourer without one of those. If you want to use your van to pick up rubbish for people, either as part of a trade job or like an odd job person, you need a waste licence.

There's a reason trades get paid well and have more work than they can handle. There's lots to get through before you can do it.

TwatbadgingCuntfuckery · 23/06/2016 19:40

Dog sitters are usually fully booked up this time of year. Friend does it and she's given up replying because people wont take no for an answer.

icanteven · 23/06/2016 19:48

It is one of life's greatest mysteries. I want to get a substantial kitchen extension, and anticipate spending about £40k or a little more. Can't get a builder to even come and give me a quote.

I completely appreciate the frustration that the self-employed have with people who are just researching a dimly conceived project (spent 45 minutes on the phone with a potential client yesterday only to have her tell me that she was thinking more in terms of 2017), but surely that can't stand completely in the way of running a business?

Mind you, I wonder if, lucrative as a skilled handyman/carpenter/plasterer etc. career can be (fully booked, 4 days a week at £30 -- £50 an hour, allowing one day a week for admin), the career at the ENTRY point appeals more to underskilled young men, or older men, who lack the administrative skills to make it work. It's as much about marketing, planning your time and business admin as it is about wielding a drill, and I suspect that many a talented person is sitting on jobseekers because he (or she, but probably he) can't bring all the pieces of the puzzle together.

The most successful carpenter I know has a law degree. He was made redundant from an estate management job before turning to carpentry, and I think that he is just better trained at managing his business than many other handymen and carpenters I have met (or tried my level best to meet!!!).

KC225 · 23/06/2016 19:50

Moved from London to Sweden and it's exactly the same. Drives me nuts. Not looking for favours or cheapies, just want someone to up when they say they will and do the job the claim they can do. Arggghhhhh

Playduh · 23/06/2016 19:53

Same here - landscaper. Recommended through a builder I use. He's a bit flakey too.

PansOnFire · 23/06/2016 19:57

Sort of glad this happens to other people, I was starting to take it personally! I've been in touch with 5 companies, they never get back to me to finalise the details although they've all said they want the work. It's been a year, I'm fed up with my half finished house. Apparently I live in an area where I should be supporting our small, local businesses, it's just a shame they don't actually want any work. I can totally understand why workmen get slated by the public if this is their attitude.

TwatbadgingCuntfuckery · 23/06/2016 19:59

Dont forget many jobs need public liability insurance these days too. cant just go and clean/clear etc

CliffeHanger · 23/06/2016 20:01

I can recommend a handyman in Medway, if that helps anyone. He was a welder by trade, but doesn't like to do industrial fabricating any more and is an excellent all rounder.

Can't speak for how busy he is in any given month, mind.

OnePlanOnHouzz · 23/06/2016 20:03

I'll take your money ! ( if you need a freelance concept planner )

Ragwort · 23/06/2016 20:04

My DH runs his own business doing garden maintenance, he is constantly amazed at the praise and thanks he gets for just doing his job, being polite and turning up on time (or always phoning to cancel or let the customer know he is running late). . He re-launched his 'career' after years in sales so is very customer focussed, but it is hardly rocket science is it !

He is on holiday at the moment but still spends a morning checking his enquiries and calling customers back to let them know when he can schedule them in. .

DownWithThisSortaThing · 23/06/2016 20:19

Same here, I was actually ranting the same way about it to DP the other week
Need a bit of plumbing doing - called 4 plumbers in total in the end. The first two didn't turn up at all, the third turned up, had a look round and never got back in touch with us again, the fourth was on time, reasonable quote and did the job in two days. It was a fair bit of money for us, yet nobody seemed to want it!

SabineUndine · 23/06/2016 20:21

This. Oh a million zillion times this. The hassle of finding someone reliable to do a 'small' plumbing job. Ditto gardening. I'm planning to spend a couple of hundred on each, but are they interested? Nope.

MrsKoala · 23/06/2016 20:22

Oh Rag, are you in Kent by any chance? We desperately need someone to sort out our garden.

Lazyafternoon · 23/06/2016 20:24

It is crazy. KC225 interesting that it's not just here!

Don't get me started with trades; bricky, plumbers, gas etc when we were doing our extension. I must have contacted so many just trying to get them to let me know if would be interested. The few that did get back to me often then just stopped replying before coming to quote. Just a quick - "I'm fully booked until September but if you let me know a few more details (what budget you are working to, size of the job, any specific requests etc) I can let you know if it's suitable job for me to give you a quote on" would be all it took to be polite! We had an idea how much it would cost, how long it would take, what need to be done but we just didn't have the skills to do it ourselves. So frustrating. Just reply to my bloody emails/phone calls/ text messages saying can't do it at the moment and I'll find someone else. I think it's fair to work down a list of preference and wait for one to reply before contacting another rather than just contact loads at the same time assuming they'll all come to quote (with most potentially 'wasting' their time), but if I never hear back then I don't have much option but to keep looking!

It's the FB selling sites that drive me mad - someone selling something and obviously you have to collect. Try to arrange to pick up and pay and it seems they are never at home apart from 2 hrs in the middle of the day on a Wednesday during DS nap time... or something along those lines! Or they just don't reply to messages.

Or the gym - there's a big well known gym chain very conveniently located to me. I was interested how much it was, I had been a member of one of their gyms a few years ago but moved from 'oop north to down sarf' but wasn't sure if would be similar price or not. If still affordable I might join. So I contacted them - they wanted me to come in. Well no, if it's out of my budget then it's a waste of both our time. No they point blank refused to give me any idea of price without me going to look. I know what a bloody gym looks like, yes it is probably very nice I know that. Just give me a ball park figure of how much it costs. No. Oh I give up, don't have my money then! I'd refuse to join on principle now :-)

Coming from a customer service/ end user focused working background it amazes me just how crap some businesses are to their customers.

MerryMarigold · 23/06/2016 20:30

Builders here too. Had 2 people in who spent considerable time looking at/ discussing property, but couple of months gone by and no quote! What a waste of their time, as well as mine.

OhtoblazeswithElvira · 23/06/2016 20:37

"Sorry, I am not taking any jobs at the moment"
"I can't fit you in for 3 months"
"We are not taking any jobs under £X as they are uneconomical"

YANBU

glassgarden · 23/06/2016 20:38

this is a worrying thread
I need to get my bathroom done!

wizzywig · 23/06/2016 20:42

No glassgarden!!!! Put the phone down!

abbsismyhero · 23/06/2016 20:46

ive got this waiting for a call back for someone to fix my cooker

arethereanyleftatall · 23/06/2016 20:53

A plumber friend of mine is now appealing to all of us to never recommend him on fb. He doesn't have time to deal with the calls!

DanglyEarOrnaments · 23/06/2016 21:11

We are a mid-sized private cleaning company and I have to admit sometimes I simply can't get back to sales enquiries just because I cannot hire and train fast enough to supply the demand, this is despite us being regarded as on the more expensive side. I have to clean myself the whole time to cover all of the sickness etc and it's hard to then do the admin at night so sales enquiries are last priority sometimes, first priority being not letting current clients down and keeping us operating correctly.

I wish there was a magic spell to get me staff instantly trained and good to go, it would be the route to success for me and MANY others but that just aint the way it is in the real world.

harshbuttrue1980 · 23/06/2016 21:16

Handymen who won't take small jobs annoy me too - its hard to get someone to do something like assembly furniture. Even when the handyman in question lived in the next block of flats across from mine!!!

EverySongbirdSays · 23/06/2016 21:22

I can go one better, it's not about sourcing a tradesperson. I have an account with a company for a service that I can use on demand and pay monthly.

I have been ringing them for TWO WEEKS to try and pay my bill (It's a small business Direct Debit not an option) and they keep asking me to call back!

I owe them money and I can't get them to take it.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5