Not messaging tradie

[SereneHazelAnt]

Arranged to get my patio done. Agreed it would start in 3/4 weeks, depending on the weather - tradies words. It's now 5 weeks and he's not contacted me.

I don't have a partner so it's on me. Shall I not message him, aibu? I think if he's not interested hes not interested.

I mean it's up to you. I don't think it matters one way or another, do you?

If you still want him to do the work, send a friendly reminder in case he's snowed under and it slipped his mind.

If you'd prefer to find someone else then just leave it.

The weather hadn't been bad. Surely he should be messaging me?

I wouldn’t be trusting him . Imagine if he asks for money to get materials and he’s already shown he can’t be trusted to turn up so he might disappear with your money .

I would find someone else who’s more likely to do the job .

If he is decent, he will be busy and have plenty of jobs lined up. This isn't a tinder match, he doesn't need to show he is interested, just message him 😊

What he should be doing is not really the point. It can be really difficult to get people to quote, to come when they say they will and to complete the work without buggering off to other jobs in the middle of yours.

The question is, as @SereneHazelAnt has said, whether you still want him or not. If you do, you need to message him and if you don't want him because he's been unreliable you can decide whether to tell him so or just ignore him until he does get round to getting in touch.

Depends on how busy he is to be fair.

If he's snowed under with work for example, you're not going to be first and foremost on his mind.

It's not going to matter to him whether you message him or not, so you need to decide if you want to use him (in which case send a text) or if you don't and want to look for someone else.

It's a pretty nothing situation really.

Definitely don't assume he's remembered. With things like this you need to press them a bit to get to the top of their list. Nothing personal, they're busy and have many priorities.
Maybe set a boundary of how much you're prepared to chase. Remind him twice, for example, and if no response find another option.

Right I'll be clear.

He was supposed to start 2 weeks ago.

He's not messaged me to let me know he is running late.

So do I message him or not?

It's not a "nothing". It's do I chase after him or not.

Why would he have forgot? It's a self employed hard scape. I was booked in for a job. Being 2 weeks over time is £££££

Face it, you need him more than he needs you. Call him.

And again...

If you want him to do the work then yes of course, message him.

If you're not fussed about finding someone else, don't bother messaging him.

I need him more? Plenty of contractors

What do you mean being 2 weeks over time is ££s? Have you paid him anything?

Had the same situation with the man doing our decking, earlier this year. I messaged him chasing up and he replied straightaway saying he’s so sorry, has so much work on. He did come and start a week or two later and did a brilliant job.

However- the reason I chased him is because a) I’ve used him before and he was good and b) he’s well known locally, is an all round good guy and I actually know he’s genuinely in demand! He’s not great at admin. Along with many tradies.

If he's behind in his work by 2 weeks that a lot of money for him

So ring one 🤷‍♀️

Do you overthink and need the advice of strangers for every simple thing or just this one?

If you want him text him.

If you're not fussed, find another contractor.

Not unless he's sitting on his bum doing nothing, which is unlikely. Honestly, it goes with the territory. We've had a fair bit of work done recently and not one contractor has kept in touch as they should have. It's infuriating, but it's how it is.

You can take a hard line and bin him off, but the odds are that whoever else you get will be exactly the same. I've often said that tradies who set aside half a day a week to ring people with quotes/estimates, go to measure up, follow up calls etc and sort basic admin would get a great reputation locally, but only the bigger firms who can afford to pay a PM ever do that. The difference between our bathroom people (a company with a showroom and project manager) and the rest was marked. Even the kitchen lot kept going off the job to fix snags for other people.

It's unanimous so far - call him if you want him to do the work.

He's more likely taken on a different bigger/better paid job in between or expanded his work for his original client. He wouldn't be not getting paid for those 2 weeks!

It’s really hard to predict exact start and finish dates for this kind of work. Just message and ask him if he still wants to do the job and what his updated estimated start date is. He isn’t “behind” or loosing money as you suggest, that isn’t how juggling projects work.

It would cost them nothing to update their customers, and keep them in the loop so they can arrange time off work etc, but they just don't, IME.

Good tradies are busy

Busy people need chasing

If he was chasing you it might mean he has no other work… not a good sign

For all he knows you’ve changed your mind, people get quotes all the time, say yes and then back out

You’re being precious. Just message him

In the time it took you to type this out you could have phoned him and instantly known. How is this helping you?