To not let this plumber in?

[BillyButtfuck]

We reported a broken tap to our letting agent over a week ago and they said their plumber, who we have met before, would be in contact.
Have just had a knock on the door and it's the plumber saying he's here to do the tap.
DH is off sick, and has been up all night throwing up in that bathroom and is currently in the bath in there. I was in my pjs and in the middle of making lunch for dtwins who were having a bit of a scream down (13mo).

I said nows really not a good time could he please phone and arrange a time with us and not turn up out of the blue, he said he tried to call me at 8 and I didn't answer, I have no missed call and he got really shirty and said we would be put to the back of the list when he has an opening but could be weeks.

DH just asked who was at the door and when I told him he said 'why didn't you just let him in, I could have got out the bath, he's doing us a favour?' And looked a bit

At the time I just felt like I was in the middle of chaos and I didn't need another thing going on, but DH has made me feel a bit stupid and I think I over reacted.

I was unreasonable wasn't I

A helpful chap? I think not. It's an inconvenience and he knew it; nobody likes being dropped in on. He was doing it to benefit him, not to be helpful to her.

It's a tap, he can find a few minutes in his so called busy schedule to come and fix it at a prearranged time.

Dropping in on someone and it basically being 'now or wait forever' is petty revenge that they didn't dance to your tune.

What, so it's exactly when he wants or have to wait as long as possible in petty revenge for not doing it when it's convenient for him? Fuck that.

Or the tradesman is going to put the customer who made it difficult to do his job to the bottom of his priority list or just not go out of his way to see them early? Maybe he popped in because he had some spare time or another job cancelled/finished early? Either way he showed up and the OP didn't even let him in for a couple of minutes to try and figure out a good time for him to come back (and he might have been lying re:calling or he could have made a mistake with a wrong number given to him by the LA as I have had happen when trying to contact tradesmen myself a couple of times) so he's not going to "do OP a favour" of prioritising the problem and you just go on the waiting list as usual.

This has happened to me before - needed a handyman to do some minor repairs, called my LL and they said they'd send someone round. They got back to me to say that officially the next "free appointment" wasn't for another couple of weeks, but since they were small jobs that would take an hour or two at most he'd ask the handyman to drop round if he had a bit of spare time, but it might be short/no notice. The handyman did end up dropping by randomly a few times but I was either just leaving for work or wasn't in and he apparently ended up just calling the LL to say he'd dropped by a few times but since I was never free he'd just stick to the original appointment in a couple of weeks' time rather than making the trip for nothing.

Okay, I see we're into the tradesmen worshipping now I'm out.

I'm not a tradesman worshipper but there is a difference between "making someone wait for purely petty reasons" and "making someone wait for their appointment and not put in extra effort to see them early"

Thank you all for your input.
I was always prepared to be told I WBU and from your mixed replies I think it's a bit of both.
Have had a call from the letting agent this morning saying they have passed the job onto a different firm who will be in contact with me to arrange access. I now have 2 toddlers with DHs sickness bug, oh joy.

In an ideal world all tradesmen would phone/make suitable appointments/be phone in hand to reschedule when appointments have to be chaged due to customers unforseen issues......in reality, the only way this happens for very small jobs, is in a very large company where there is a secretary booking appointments. lt will cost considerably more too.

Individual good tradesmen juggle appointments based on urgency, location, traffic, value of job and many more factors. Small jobs are slotted in otherise they would never make money.

Good tradesmen are very very busy, often fully booked weeks ahead with bigger jobs such as bathroom fit outs...that is the reality...

If a LL has to pay double to go to a big company to fix a small job eventually some of their costs will be passed on to the tenant....some will be swallowed by the LL...everyone loses out...also there is more admin this is also a cost....

Sadly the op has only made her life more dificult and that of the LL...if it were my home l would have let him in, got on with whatever l had to do and the problem would have been solved easily....

How have I 'made my life more difficult'? That's a little OTT it's a single broken tap, it's not stopping us from doing anything we can't do from another tap in the house, it's just a tap - I'd like it fixed at some point but it doesn't matter if it's tomorrow or in a few weeks.
It's added 2 extra conversations to my life, one with the letting agent and one which I will later receive from a different plumber to make a convenient appointment to fix the tap, which is what I wanted anyway.
My life is no more difficult.

Well, definitely best to keep anyone else away while your home is Lurgy Towers. Hope you're all feeling better very soon.

It's no wonder tradespeople take the piss as much as they (IME) do, if the average person treads on eggshells to accommodate them as much as this thread suggests.

For the love of God why shouldn't a tradesperson make an appointment? In how many other industries would you get away with just turning up on the off-chance?

Hated this went renting!

It's as though because you rent the landlord can organise stuff whenever it suits and not ask the tenants!

I would have done the same as you x

As if tradesman trip over themselves to get in with landlords

As if tradesman trip over themselves to get in with landlords

Not all do, but ti's not unheard of depending on the situation.

My parents are landlords and they have a portfolio of about ten houses in our town, most of which are short term/12 month rents, so there are always jobs needing doing on their rentals. They have had tradesmen trying to get in with them purely because of the amount of regular work they always have available. I doubt the tradespeople would be the same if they only had one house or long term renters with no issues, but it is possible for tradespeople to see working with some LLs/LAs with larger portfolios as advantageous.

Is there a special sort of rules for tradespeople then?

Everyone else has the basic manners to make appointments but it's different for them because apparently they are 'busier' than every other person in the land.

They have had tradesmen trying to get in with them purely because of the amount of regular work they always have available.

Indeed, not for 1 or 2 properties, but they're definitely keen on getting in with landlords with lots of properties, but more especially the letting agents who may be managing 50-100 properties.

So who pays for the plumber's wasted time and petrol? You? The Landlord? The plumber? All because you were on your high horse.
You called a plumber. He came. You could have let him in. Of course you have a right to refuse entry. Of course. But you called the plumber to do a job for you.

A "I'm terribly sorry, could you give us a minute while DH gets out of the bath?" and i the time ti has taken you to post on MN you would have had the job done.

BadKnee, the plumber should suck up the wasted time and petrol, if he isn't competent enough to make an appointment with a customer.

So who pays for the plumber's wasted time and petrol?

Him, of course - he's the one who turned up out of the blue.

Good luck, OP! Last time I tried to get hold of a plumber to come and do a minor job, I had to wait two and a half weeks. And a fair few refused to come at all as the job "wasn't worth their while."

I don't think you were unreasonable, I would have done the same.

A simple phone call from the plumber was all that was needed for this to have not happened in the first place.

People have jobs and lives to live so don't generally wait in 24hrs a day on the off chance that someone who hasn't made an appointment may turn up unannounced

He did. He was turned away. His problem.

melj thats why when housing associations put a heating contract out to tender companies jump at the chance to get it. Not only is there the money involved but as the HA is seen as the customer by the plumbing and heating company rather than the tenant being seen as the customer you end up with a sub standard service as a tenant in a lot of cases.

Huge gap in consumer law that needs closing.

Badknee have you not read the Op? I didn't call a plumber out. I called my letting agent who said their plumber would be in contact with me to make an appointment.

Anyway, the other company the letting agent have passed my details onto have phoned me this morning and offered me 3 slots this week, 1 tomorrow and 2 on Friday. So looks like it's not that hard to get someone out for a small job.