Getting work done in your house: AIBU or is it always a lottery as to whether you get ripped off?

[crew2022]

Posting for traffic really.
In the last few years I have had more bad than good experiences with trades doing work on our home.
I'm literally done with it now and feel like just not starting any more jobs. But am I just unlucky?
I used Checkatrade until second time in and I lost £3000 by paying a 'reputable' tradesman to complete some drainage work which he basically never turned up for. Checkatrade said sorry but we did all the checks so over to you, we can't help.
So instead decided to try local Facebook and nextdoor app recommendations
Paid (this time on debit card) large deposit for fittings etc for a plumber to refit a bathroom. He didn't turn up and said he would send a refund. It never turned up either. Bank refunded it as I paid on debit card, but all the time spent getting quotes and choosing tiles etc wasted.
Double glazing turned into a nightmare as company measured one room wrongly. They paid for replacements but we went through winter with poorly fitted windows and window sills were ruined.
Tiler (recommended) laid our outdoor tiles wrong and consequently they have blown due to frost.
We have lots more jobs to do but I am just exasperated by it all and feel like just leaving it until we move in a few years.
Am I just unlucky or is it so hard to get competent and honest tradespeople?

It’s taken us 15 years to build up a set of people we trust and would recommend. I dread any of them retiring. But we were prepared to wait, pay promptly, used recommendations from people we knew, and pay a bit more sometimes (but that doesn’t always guarantee). Not FB recommendations unless I personally knew the person recommending.

I'm totally prepared to wait and always pay promptly. It's just really hard to judge now and I've lost confidence in my selection skills! I rarely go for a cheap quote but try and work out if they are knowledgeable and skilled to do the job. Checkatrade is a no go and I hear what a pp said about rated people. I have used recommendations locally but one of them went badly. Have tried sticking to local businesses too which have generally been better but then you get a complete fraud. It's so time consuming when you are trying to work and deal with everything else.

We have never had a problem. Dh is an electrician and so he knows lots of people in other trades. He's seen who leaves the site looking like a shit-tip, who doesn't turn up, who does a bad job, who customers complain about. If you know anyone in a trade, ask them for a recommendation.

I would have said that years ago @FourTeaFallOut , but my builder now refuses to recommend people as he has been let down before by passing a person's contact details on and then them not doing a good job, and he feels it reflects upon him.

My partner is in the trade and it’s absolutely right to ask for at least a deposit up front to cover materials.
just to share the other side: many many times he had jobs cancelled the night before when he bought hundreds of pounds of materials ahead, people booking him then not responding. People being horrible to him, not even let him have a cup of coffee.

I guess that makes sense. I suppose it's one thing to use that experience for your own home and another to risk your reputation by making a professional recommendation to someone else.

Never pay up front, pay at the end when you are satisfied with the quality of the work. If you need materials buy them yourself and say firmly that they are yours. I don't use Checkatrade but My Builder. I ask for detailed quotes and proper invoices. I need to know how much it will cost and exactly what they are doing, what materials they will use. I check reviews as well. Decent trades are happy to do that. They also discuss if anything is found which is extra to the original plan.

never use checkatrade!

NEVER USE CHECKATRDAE!

cant say this often enough or loud enough

It is really difficult. Online recommendations count for nothing, and some of the best tradespeople I've found have essentially no online presence. Personal recommendations are best, but even those aren't totally reliable.

There are so many shoddy workers out there, and few who take a pride in doing good work.

This…million times over

I'm struggling with this too. Not one of my contacts who has had a builder in recently would recommend them & Ive used personal recommendations before & been disappointed.

After a nightmare roofer I now only ever get tradesmen that have been used by someone I know.

It's utterly ridiculous that it has to be this way

We are lucky my bil is a builder and so has lots of reliable contacts from plumbers electricians carpet fitters & gardeners

Also DH is quite handy can paint and do
general DIY

we have never been ripped off but I think DH being 6ft 4 and very direct speaking helps 😂

we did have new flooring ouy down and they were paid in advance to take the old stuff and any other bits of flooring away

they tried to say they would do it the next day but DH said that was fine but they wouldn’t get the £750 owed for fitting until all the stuff was removed

strangely they removed it straight away

I've started using a local house maintenance company who can carry out several different trades for bigger jobs. They are horribly expensive but they quote clearly and promptly, arrive on time, keep their work area tidy, chat a bit and clean up when they finish.
My old handyman has moved away and I have got to suck it up and find someone new.

It has really taken the pleasure out of redecorating and changing our new house to be honest.
I dread the process now as we start each room and are still dealing with the crap from the double glazing fiasco.

I'm seeing this with my daughter who has recently bought a house- she had two quotes to do some roofing, one who thought whole roof needed redoing for 8.5k as apparently braces not strong enough, and one who just recommended some flashing and a bit of pointing for 4k. I usually advise 3 quotes but she said she wouldn't know who to trust if they were coming in at 8.5k or 4k, and she might end up getting endless quotes having no faith in anyone actually being decent. I might add the 8.5k one wanted it upfront and had his banking details on the invoice which I found dodgy.

@BellaPommefritio it's madness isn't it!
Who knows which one is correct?
I wish they had to be registered by some sort of proper regulatory body, like healthcare professionals

On the above point ask exactly what needs to be done and get a detailed quote which states precisely what work will be carried out. Ask them if they are sure that will constitute all of the work required. I know it's not infallible but at least you have a better idea of what each claims is required. I've had such vague quotes from people that I have rejected them.

Absolutely agree with this - I live in a small house and I get tradesmen who think they can judge my budget better than I can! It also seems to be very difficult to find people who will actually think of solutions - if it’s not a straightforward job they’re not interested at all.

@loislovesstewie both roofing quotes were very detailed, so it still comes down to the customer not knowing if all that needs doing. Maybe we could start compiling trusted tradesmen on Mumsnet for different locations- I have already been recommended someone for windows in Warwickshire via another user.

That really is mad, isn't it? I have a builder who lives in the next street to me and a lot of my neighbours use him, so in that I do have a reliable, recommended tradesman.

Carpet fitters who damaged my expensive overhead lighting. I didn’t notice till they were paid and long gone.
Decorators I’d used several times previously who painted over gloss doors with one coat of eggshell.
Gas fitter who caused a gas leak and when I phoned him to come back and fix it, charged me for a second callout at emergency rates.

Would never do a doer upper again. Just too difficult to get decent work done. Too many absolute chancers.

The only decent trades people we’ve had have been on recs from someone we know. We have a street WhatsApp group where we share recs. But we’ve had to wait a long time before they have availability if at all.

A decent tradesperson will get lots of referrals and repeat work in our area. And vice versa - we also name and shame the scammers.

It's so difficult .Two or three times I've used people recommended by friends who've had work done .Guy comes along to quote .All good .
When the day comes he sends someone else who is not so skilled .
Probably my job is only a few days work and not a major pogect .
And yes of course I can complain .