Would this annoy you? Tradesman

[tvod2244]

We've got a builder over this week to extend the patio and generally make the garden a bit more usable. I've been really looking forward to this and have picked up lots of extra shifts at work to have the spare pennies to invest into doing up the garden.

He arrived this morning - 2 hours later than when he said he'd arrive. I'm pretty easy going so thought nothing of it. He's now gone again (and has since text me to say he will be gone for a couple of hours) as he has an appointment to go to... apparently our garden is only a 2-day job. Almost halfway into Day 1 and nothing has been done yet. Just a garden full of tools.

He also said that it is a smaller job than he anticipated and therefore won't need as many of the materials that he brought with him for it. Considering the overall price I am paying for this includes all the materials he measured up for when he came round to quote (which he now says were too many), AIBU to ask if this will reduce the cost?? I'm yet to see any labour too!

Maybe I'm just being miserable as it's Monday lol. But overall I'm not 100% impressed yet. Hopefully the end result is all worth it x

YANBU, but IME builders etc do take the piss like this if you let them

Did you sign any sort of agreement with him, laying a patio takes more than a day. Did he come round and do a survey and give you a proper quote with measurements. He sounds a chancer, have you paid him anything yet.

Yes if he says himself it is a smaller job then you absolutely need to ask him to let you know the new price!

YANBU! Definitely ask him to remove the unused materials from the bill, did you sign an agreement/get something in writing?

I hope you haven't paid him anything. He's gone off to another job. Either ask for a reduced quote or sack him off.

I would be saying “that’s great news, can you give me a revised quote “

Yep but I'd be very concerned about a patio that could be laid in a day!

how big is the patio extension? What else are you having done?

Ah. Welcome to the world of tradesmen. I work in construction, so know what the guys are like but even I had my patience tested with our landscapers. They kept splitting their time between jobs based on sequencing, drying times and weather. It was really frustrating! Unfortunately it's something you just have to grin and bear with.

With regards to the costs yeah definitely bring it up. Was it a fixed price? Did you split material and labour costs during the cost agreement?

Thanks everyone. The price that was quoted was to include all materials, removal of the old garden/patio and labour. I'm definitely going to say to him that considering it's a smaller job (his words), I look forward to the revised quote x