To want people to turn up at the time they said?

[MissClimpsonsTypingBureau]

I had an electrician coming this morning at 8.45am. School gates were late opening, so at 8.40 I messaged to say I'd be there by 8.50 - and he messaged straight back to say he'd rung my bell at 8.30, and since I wasn't in he'd gone straight to the next job.

Fair enough to be early, and I know tradespeople have lots of stacked appointments, but to have left for the next job BEFORE the appointment time without even messaging to ask where I was makes me a bit cross.

Yeah that’s unreasonable of him, if he was that keen he should have messaged or called you to ask if you could do earlier.

Yet you yourself were not on time!

This is so annoying, we stopped using a supermarket delivery company as they kept turning up early (at least half an hour early, often an hour). I don’t mind if they ring to check but they’d normally unpack the van and ring the bell and then be miffed if we weren’t home yet or couldn’t answer the door because I was still working. I’d have been fuming if they’d buggered off before my booking slot.

Not ideal you were late but what they did was worse!

I had a tradesman asked to come at 4:30. I said no because I had a hospital appointment (consultant while pregnant, so couldn't change it) and wouldn't be home then, so we agreed 5 instead. At 4:30 he was ringing me saying he was outside. Why arrange a time and then turn up when it suits anyway?

Is it the ops fault that the School gates were late opening?

He shouldn’t have turned up early without letting you know. But then most tradespeople think they are God and can treat customers like shit.

You factor things like that into the time you say you are available. So in this case I’d have booked in the sparky for 9.

The issue isn't that OP was late, the issue was that the tradesman turned up 15 minutes before the original time. Even if the school gates hadn't been an issue, OP would have still missed him as he was early

Yes absolutely not ideal I was late, but I messaged before 8.45 and he was already at his next job, so I don't think me being late had much to do with it tbh.