Builder 45 minutes late with no text or call and now wants to come

[rosecin]

I had a small job in the garden that needed doing and the builder was booked for 3pm.
No text or call to say he was running late etc.

I deleted my address from WhatsApp as he hadn’t read the message yet at 15:39 and then he calls.

I didn’t answer as I have kids to look after etc and this has caused me a massive inconvenience today and my whole day was arranged to accommodate this.

AIBU to block him and find someone else?

45 minutes quite modestly late for a builder.

I’ve had them be multiple hours late without explanation on several occasions.

Yep this. ^ Unfortunately @rosecin this is par for the course. Most builders and contractors are terrible for running late (and often don't come at all.) DH and I have had this happen soooooo many times that we do the vast majority of work ourselves. I don't know why they are like this but it does my head in.

You're lucky he's still coming.

I'm surprised he's still prepared to come at all now. For future reference it is standard for tradesmen to be late and uncontactable.

My plumber is very reliable, he always arrives between 8 & 8.30. He lives nearby, and it suits him to have his first job close to home so he doesn't get stuck in rush hour traffic. Builder BIL is also very punctual, but he occasionally runs into a problem that can't be left unfinished. He'd always ring though, unless he literally couldn't get to his phone.

I don't think you need a builder to break up hard soil and hang some fixings for hanging baskets OP, and putting plants in is definitely a gardener's job!

Just to clarify I didn’t cancel on him, I was waiting from 3pm and he was calling to say he wouldn’t be able to make today and will next he in my area on Monday.

YABVU - grab that builder if you have any sense and don't mention he's late.

I’m just grateful for whenever a good builder ‘decides’ to turn up. Unfortunately because of the self employed nature of their work, I think of a better offer comes up then they move you down the pecking order. I’ve just had to suck it up many a time!

Off on a tangent now 😅 but I think this is why increasingly people hunt down houses that need nothing doing other than superficial decor improvements. I think doer uppers increasingly strike fear into the hearts of the average working age person as the logistics of managing such an unruly ‘law unto themselves’ sector is just so off-putting. If you don’t personally already know someone in the trade for any work that needs doing, it really is the Wild West out there!

You try stopping in the middle of plastering, or hanging off a roof. Get over yourself, he’s humam

If you don't get a good feeling from him I'd cancel and look for someone else, look for a gardener as a builder probably won't really understand what you want to happen with the soil and will do a half arsed job.

I’m not one to usually comment on threads like this but honestly, you are being unreasonable. It’s 45 minutes and he doesn’t have a desk job!

"Massive inconvenience"??? Really?? I think you are going to need to learn to be a bit more flexible when you employ tradesmen!

I'm happy if they turn up at all! 45 minutes is nothing really. You are likely to just make yourself a lot worse off if you give up on a tradesman who shows up to do a small job within an hour of the time agreed, on the same day.

Nope.

you perhaps don’t understand that builders and trad3w gem rewlly operate to a different set of social norms

1. how long a job takes has no realtionship to how long they said. Getting pissed with them leads no where except to threats of them walking off job . Smile politely whilst you assertively set new deadlines
2. if they say they’ll be there at 9am, they maybe will be there that week. do not book time off work. Ask your boss to go in late or take day off depending whether they actually show
3. if they say they’ll call back. They won’t. You have to call. Always
4. never agree to staged payments in advance. Sign of very dodgy builders. Pay weekly for work done.
5. Try avoiding to sub contract. You might as well not bother and manage project entirely yourself as they’re no wiser than you at getting another company in on time.
6. they never communicate proactively about when they’ll be doing work.

I could go on and on. 3d building project in 5 years becuase my house was a money pit and I’m wiser.

ultimately it’s a sellers market. They have more demand than they can manage. They can choose jobs. And choose when to do them. and they’re the decent ones- the crap ones might sell you brilliant committments and then are even worse. They also do not spend time doing anything that isn’t bringing actual cash into business. Communication is an overhead that they ditch. Margins are tight.

sorry, adjust your expectations.

But she’s got kids to look after etc!

Why is being late ok for tradies but not any other profession?

If I were him I’d have solidly put you in the ‘too much bother for a tiny job’ category by now. Have you got form for burning your bridges?

My dentist, doctor and hospital appointments are often running late.

My hairdresser as well at times.

It’s due to the nature of the job, some people want to discuss the jobs at length, some jobs take longer than anticipated due to an unforeseen issue. Lots of people do the “whilst you’re here, could you just look at” thing.

That’s what makes the timing unpredictable, you must surely see why that happens?

Cos they’re in a sellers market? Since Brexit the amount of European workers,ready to undercut and delivering capacity to take on work, has been slashed. Trades know they’re in demand, they can choose what they do and when. Many want to go self employed as more profitable and flexible for them with their own kids etc.

also rot set in when Blair gov told all kids to go to uni, and undermined apprenticeships which need government subsidies. I don’t think raising school leaving age to 18 helped either.

I had work done to renovate a flat in 2015, it was a breeze, though didn’t know it at time.

Since 2021 I’ve had to do significant basic building work on my new house in 3 separate projects and every time my stress and anxiety has been off the chart. I’m better this time around, but still with issues.

i wouldn not take on doing work to any house just now if I could avoid it. Don’t buy a house needing work doing to it. (I didn’t but vendor lied, and surveyor was deliberately deceived by cover ups)

until the government promotes skilled trade training or allows oversees workers to come in, we’ll be in this situation.

I’d also add I have had a lot of work done at weekends …that the other difference, trades want to change overtime rates by working a Saturday or Sunday, in lieu of taking time off during the week…never used to see this…but my latest job had weekend working all the time with no trades on site all week in some weeks.

Just wondering how you cope when the doctor or dentist is inevitably late

They wouldn't know until after they started the job . Even simpler !

Trade isn’t a profession. That’s literally the way jobs are divided. That aside, have you been to any GP or hospital appointments recently? 39 mins late (which is what it was - he rang at 3.39) would have me cheering!

If he was on your job and kept stopping to read texts, text people back, make calls or take calls...
A) you'd be annoyed he wasn't working and dragging it out, especially given you clearly have lots of things to be getting on with
B) he'd never get anything done!

Tradespeople can not run to a tight schedule. Its impossible. Far too many variables involved. Let's say he needed additional material that wasn't on the van, on the job before you. Down tools, nip to b&q, back on the job. Straight away that's a push back of half an hour. Let's say there was unexpected clay under the soil he was digging out. Let's say there's roadworks or traffic. Let's say the client before you asked "could you just..." as he was about to leave.

I work in a trade myself (yes - it's not just MEN as someone pointed out!). Honestly, an hour behind is good going. Making calls and updates really is a hindrance. Not least because their estimated time could further change again after the initial update to you!

YABVVU

I work for a tradesman. It's impossible to schedule exact arrival times.

There's travel times between jobs with variable traffic and it's not possible to know exactly how long each job will take. If we've allowed 1 hour for a job but it takes an hour and a half then he stays for an hour and a half to complete the job. Would you prefer he left the customer with a part done, unfinished job just so he could reach his next appointment on time? We wouldn't have many happy customers if we behaved like that.

Texting to let you know he's running late is ideal but that holds him up longer and if he's driving isn't possible.

You sound very unreasonable and you have very unrealistic expectations. I'm guessing you thought he was just pottering around doing nothing much until your appointment time - you'd be amazed how many people seem to be oblivious to the fact that they are just 1 of numerous appointments that day. We wouldn't be rescheduling your job so I expect you need to look for another tradesperson if you want the work done. Just a heads up though - they will probably be late!

I'm an electrician, I am categorically not a professional, I am a tradesman, very important distinction!

Well, it seems like the only person who has lost out here is you?