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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Workmen

35 replies

Housingcraze · 27/12/2018 16:24

DM new house is empty having a bathroom fitted tomorrow!

she wishes to leave them to it and give them a key

Aibu to say this is too trusting?

OP posts:

MikeUniformMike · 27/12/2018 16:26

no, yanbu

Sparklingbrook · 27/12/2018 16:26

That's what I did.

Has she plucked the company from the Yellow Pages or had some recommendations/used CheckaTrade etc?

AreYouANoddingDog · 27/12/2018 16:29

My family were in building trade and from the tales they told, I would be around. To be fair, every man I know in white or blue collar professions has shared concerning behaviour from colleagues. I have seen it myself from untrustworthy colleagues.

mortifiedmama · 27/12/2018 16:29

I'm assuming she's met them? Got references etc?

What do you think people who have jobs outside the home do? Our bathroom took a month. I gave the guy a key and let him crack on.

Sparklingbrook · 27/12/2018 16:37

The best place to be while having a new bathroom fitted is out.

rosesinmygarden · 27/12/2018 16:41

I'm assuming she hasn't paid them up front? So they are trusting her to pay them in arrears for materials and time? My dh is a builder and it's amazing how many people will not trust him to be in their house dispute the fact he is trusting them with his money?!?

I'd suggest being there at the beginning and end of the day and putting away anything really valuable if she thinks they are likely to be burglars on the side.

Beautyandthe · 27/12/2018 16:42

Previously, I would have left them too it. I am generally very trusting. However, I recently had my new boiler fitter and all the radiators in the house drained and checked and a few things in the kitchen were to be fixed. I left the workman to it for most of the day. Thought it was all fine.

Turned out he had taken a pair of my knickers! He happened to drink at the same pub as a good friend of my DH. It turned out he'd been joking about it in the pub, shown pictures of my pants and a picture of myself from a photo I have up in my house, DH's friend recognised it was me ... and all this got back to DH who was furious.
Additionally, my neighbour had popped a parcel in on the day he was at my house, she'd seen him through the window just on his phone with a cuppa on my sofa at about 10.30am. Obviously not working too hard.

rosesinmygarden · 27/12/2018 16:46

Beauty, did you report him to the police for stealing? That's pretty disgusting behaviour. I wouldn't so upset about someone having their tea break to be fair...

Original poster

Housingcraze · 27/12/2018 16:55

DM has paid 50% of full cost up front!

OP posts:

Sparklingbrook · 27/12/2018 17:11

Paying anything up front is a no-no.

greendale17 · 27/12/2018 17:13

Unless a personal friend I wouldn’t give my house key to anyone else. Would just take leave for this. Too many rogue traders out there.

mortifiedmama · 27/12/2018 17:15

greendale17 you can't just take leave for everything though. Our rewire was 3 weeks, the bathroom 4, the fires 1, replastering 1. That's 9 weeks leave needed.

Sparklingbrook · 27/12/2018 17:28

I went to work as normal, the house was covered in dust sheets, the water and electricity were on and off every 5 minutes. They were in the loft, up and down the stairs etc, front door wide open..

No way would I be hanging about with all that going on.

rosesinmygarden · 27/12/2018 17:32

It is normal for lots of tradesmen to take a deposit to cover the costs of ordering materials etc. I'm a private tutor and only accept students who pay in advance ... no one's ever questioned that and then they leave me alone with their most treasured thing (their child).

Sparklingbrook · 27/12/2018 17:34

I thought you paid when you were happy with the work when you were having a bathroom/kitchen fitted and passing over thousands of pounds?
Otherwise they could just run off with your money having done nothing.

CurlsandCurves · 27/12/2018 17:37

DH is a tradesman working in an empty house at the moment. Mind you, it’s been totally gutted and being remodelled, so not liveable in anyway! He’s got his own key and it’s meant he is able to get ahead of himself by working in between Christmas and new year without bothering the customer.

But surely to get to this point, you DM has met the person, had a couple of site visits with them, maybe she has found this person based on word of mouth recommendation, or else has she checked out references?

BackforGood · 27/12/2018 17:40

What do you think people who have jobs outside the home do? Our bathroom took a month. I gave the guy a key and let him crack on.

Though I'd be a bit doubtful about a company asking for 50% up front.

Did she not get recommendations before booking them ?

rosesinmygarden · 27/12/2018 17:41

Equally you could shut the door behind them and pay them nothing for no reason.

Big companies e.g. Wren, demand a large deposit before they will even give you a plan and proper quote.

My husband takes deposits for jobs where he has to pre-order any expensive materials. This was after a customer (who was a lawyer) cancelled the job the morning before they started as he'd decided to change his mind about what he wanted done. My dh was left with a large amount of non returnable materials and we were in serious financial trouble. 'Workmen' are not the only people capable of lying, stealing and cheating ....

OP if you are that worried about the workmen then can you offer to go and watch them for her? Being in the house with work going on is really inconvenient and unenjoyable, assuming she's checked out the builder and is happy with his references then I don't see the problem.

CurlsandCurves · 27/12/2018 17:43

Sparklingbrook 15 years of trading and I think only once has DH asked for anything upfront, and even then it was about 10% of the cost of the job, it was a huge amount of work and needed a lot of stuff getting upfront.

This job DH is on now, he’s got to a certain point and asked for an amount to cover it. And then when he’s done the next stage he’ll ask for a bit more. But this is an entire house, so very out of the ordinary and not something as a sole trader he can afford to fund until it’s completed.

But yes in general we never ask for a deposit, cash flow usually covers any upfront costs. You pay in full when the job is done and you’re happy with the work.

Sparklingbrook · 27/12/2018 17:44

You could always install a CCTV camera?

I feel very lucky. Got a bathroom fitters recommended to me, a really good quote, left them to it for the week and paid them in full the day after they finished.

We then recommended them to someone else and they did the same there.

CurlsandCurves · 27/12/2018 17:45

roses that’s awful!

And it’s tradespeople that are labelled ‘cowboys’ and ‘rogue’ ...

Stephisaur · 27/12/2018 17:48

Can’t see an issue if the house is empty tbh.

rosesinmygarden · 27/12/2018 17:50

Curls and curves, I wish I could say they were our worst customers.... I could tell you some hilarious/unbelievable things that people have said and done.

Many people treat anyone who doesn't work in a suit with utter contempt and distrust.

DH has got a pretty good gut instinct, and simply doesn't work for customers who give off these kind of vibes. But sometimes you get it wrong.

HolyMountain · 27/12/2018 17:53

My dh is a plumber , we generally asked for staged payments; dodgy customers looking to swerve payment can be as difficult as dodgy tradesmen.

I see no problem if your plumbers are reputable .

cardibach · 27/12/2018 18:11

As others have pointed out, it’s usually impossible to have someone in the house with tradesmen. In this case, with the house empty, what on earth are your concerned about?

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