Why don't people want my money?!

[NoCapes]

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!

[BettyDraper1]

Pretty sure a plumber did that with me MrsKoala It was a seriously simple job but he wanted £900 for it. In the end my DP figured it out himself, but i always wondered if the plumber gave us a ginormous quote to get us to refuse.

[Ragwort]

Sorry MrsKoala we are miles away from you. .

[Hannahcolobus]

I'm going to defend tradespeople here (I'm a plumber) and say that sometimes I forget to call people back. I get so many calls a day and it's easy to do. Not defending people who don't show up, turn up late without letting people know, overcharge etc. But I never realised before how tricky it would be to keep up my communication levels! People always get a response from me if they call, leave a voicemail and then send a text.

If you haven't heard from them, ring them again and send another text. Then leave it and find someone else.

If I'm super busy I'll warn people 'you need to keep ringing me till I reply' otherwise it just seems ignorant not to get back to people.

[Janey50]

This seems to be an increasingly common problem. My late DM experienced it with regard to plumbers,decorators,mobile hairdressers,gardeners and electricians. Always the same story. She phoned them,they PROMISED to call her back,then... nothing. She came to the conclusion that they just didn't want her money.

[GaryGilmoresEyes]

Himself is a painter and decorator. He answers every call and goes to price every job. He gets this in reverse. About half of the potential clients never get back to him. It's so frustrating.

[DanglyEarOrnaments]

People just cannot cope with the demand they find themselves to be in it's that simple.

We are at that now and we are at the 'in between' stage where we are bombed with work but still cannot afford a virtual assistant or admin staff to take calls, we can't hire and train fast enough to meet demand therefore sometimes I can only get back to sales enquiries when we have new staff ready as otherwise it's all hands on deck and nobody manning the phone. Also I have nothing to sell unless I have newly trained staff.

It's exhausting pressure and I need to have boundaries and cut off points for my own sanity but better than the alternative which is no work coming in!

[Ragwort]

If you are seriously that busy that you can't get back to people Dangly why don't you have a message on your answerphone/website (whatever you use) stating that you are currently not accepting any more business - or relevant wording depending on what your service/product is?

[stiffstink]

I can't even get shop assistants to help me in person.

[OnePlanOnHouzz]

I work for my clients 9am-5pm and do admin 8am/9am and 5pm /6pm so 2 hours a day to keep on top of answering enquires and sending invoices etc - I endeavour to answer every enquiry on the same day it came in and if things get busy I just work longer hours ! I used to work as far afield as NZ but found it was eating into my family time too much due to time differences - so now concentrate on UK clients only .
I think it's all about treating enquirers and clients as I'd like to be treated myself - so either these people who you guys have been asking to quote are all massively too busy to keep up with admin or they just don't need the work . I imagine this will catch up with them eventually !

[toniqxx]

Tried to get someone to put up a wickes conservatory and do the base, nightmare they only want to know if they can supply too which isn't what I want, literally got the money to pay and no one wanting the work

[SpaceUnicorn]

Makes you wonder how people make a bloody living

Or the opposite: their workload is so overwhelming that they don't have capacity to deal with new enquiries.

[SpaceUnicorn]

She came to the conclusion that they just didn't want her money

I really can't understand why anyone would draw this conclusion. Why would a tradesperson choose to under-earn. Why is 'I don't want to person X's money' the more plausible circumstance than 'I'm snowed under with work and can't take on anything else'?

[glassgarden]

If you have more work than you want or need then you can 'cherry pick'
Who wouldn't?

[PuraVida]

It's all the little jobs isn't it? Who the bloody hell do you get to do them? I understand they're busy and a couple of hours isn't worth it to them but it's a pain in the arse.

I'm being made redundant. Seriously considering retraining in a trade.

[MrsKoala]

My dad and a lot of his friends under earned all their working lives. He laughs and says he could have been very rich had he taken more work. But he worked the minimum he had to to get by as did his friends. Sort of in a pre-feudal system/pre-capitalism style. He never worked Mondays if he could help it. Gave himself lots of time between jobs. Often had me field phone calls of people chasing him for when he was going to arrive because he had decided to have a lay in. He is retired now (not that you'd notice much of a difference!) and says that he's glad as if he behaved the way he did now he'd probably go out of business because, especially in the last few years he worked, the sites were filled with EU workers and they had a very different work ethic from him and his peers. They worked harder, longer hours and for less. He says he chose that career so he didn't have to work too hard or for a boss.

Growing up with lots of trades that has been my experience of all of their attitudes. I suspect the younger generation are a bit more profit focussed. It was the product of lots of work demand. However i also remember him and his friends still turning down work that they didn't fancy in the recession of the early 90s. We had to re-mortgage our house, and lots lost their houses completely, but their attitudes never changed. Of course all this is anecdotal and just my experience, but i know many other who have found the same.

[Ragwort]

I agree that many people choose to 'under earn' (is that an expression? ) if they can; as I said earlier in the thread my DH retrained to do a 'manual' type job in his 50s - but he chooses just to work four days a week - gives him a much better work/life balance. I too only work part time by choice - I enjoy spending my time doing other things .............. we could earn a lot more but at our age perhaps we have learned that money isn't everything and we are fortunate to be able to live comfortably.

Having said all that DH always gets back to his customers and never leaves anyone waiting for a reply.

[glassgarden]

I'm self employed, I could take on more work and earn more money but I value free time and a low stress life, I've deliberately kept my personal overheads low so that I can be happy and comfortable with a lowish income.

I love being able to please myself most of the time and having no one to answer to

[lampygirl]

I'm not in the trades but in a similar specialist skilled people. The reality is I have to pay staff a day rate, they won't take a couple of hours if they can get a full day elsewhere. If you only wanted 2 bits of ikea building and I charged you a full day rate (2-300£££) would you be interested?? Small jobs are not appealing because they ultimately write off the same amount as a whole day as you can't accept a full days work.

[OhtoblazeswithElvira]

You can underearn AND turn up in time for an appointment that you agreed to yourself .

If tradesmen's attitude is to keep customers waiting because you fancy a lie in, no wonder they are all moaning about Eastern European workers... they actually turn up in time and do the job they are paid for... revolutionary stuff I know

A taste of the future post Brexit I suppose!

[CurlyMango]

Want to buy a car with cash......should not be so hard!

[AppleSetsSail]

I am so with you OP.

We have rising damp in our house. West London. I managed to work a personal connection to get someone to come and check it out (I have a friend who's a builder), and he told me that he could fit me in in three months time.

He then told me that if you can find a dampproofing person in the UK who works on shorter timelines than this, not to trust him because there is more dampproofing work in the UK than the trade can handle.

[sailawaywithme]

Your dad sounds like a lazy bastard, MrsKoala Not showing up to appointments because he's decided to have a lie-in? 😡

[MrsKoala]

Well yes, booze was imbibed in the evenings so mornings were always a bit difficult! However from my experience of the culture of the trades in the 80s this was pretty normal. There is a stereotype/reputation here for a reason i think. It was a hard drinking, suit yourself culture. Work for yourself, turn up when you like, what are they gonna do? Wire it/plumb it themselves, all the same type attitude. We lived in an affluent part of London and work demand was high so it meant it didn't matter if you lost a job or 2. It drove me and my mum barmy. I doubt he could be so cavalier now in the internet age of reviews etc.

[LizzyELane]

It's plumbers here. They turn up to quote then you don't hear from them again. Have been told they don't like smaller domestic jobs so take the big lucrative jobs, so those of us wanting a new boiler or toilet installed are left up the creek! Also plumbers seem quite scarce so can pick and choose jobs like that.

[Hannahcolobus]

Well then you need to look for plumbers who specialise in small repairs. They aren't hard to find. I get loads of jobs given to me by GasSafe plumbers who get someone calling up asking them to change a washer on a dripping tap. It isn't worth it for them when they've spent three grand on their GasSafe. If someone says they're too busy, ask them to recommend someone who will come out for a small job.

Also, try ringing your local plumbers merchants and asking who they would recommend for a small job. They know who does them because they know what stuff people buy.

Failing that, approach a handy person and ask them, but beware that if they don't have a plumbing qualification and something goes wrong, your insurance company won't back you up if the handy person refuses to rectify the situation.