I don't want much I only want the builder to turn up!!

[Eve]

Why will they all come and quote but when I phone to ask when can they start....silence, I never hear from them again!

....is it just me? Are they really so busy..should I retrain as a builder/plumber/electrician?

Same applies for chaps I have asked to come and paint the outside of the house.

eve,where are you located? What are you trying to get done?

Well in my experience they turn up when they've run out of other work to do. It's all very stressful and whatever they say, you have to remember the opposite is true!

A law unto themselves and if you find a good one, hang on to him forever!

Think yourself lucky - we can't even get anyone to come and give us a quote. They say they'll come and then just never turn up. I, too am considering retraining - I'm convinced I could offer 100% better customer service than I've ever received from the builders/plumbers etc I've dealt with.

Much sympathies - we are having the same problem too. Plumbers, builders etc - all of them - whenever we call they either never come around for a quote, or even when they do - they fail to get back to us with a price/written quotation/start date. The same applies for those who advertise in our local paper. I don't understand if they are advertising surely they need the work or else why bother advertising in the first place?

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I too have experienced builders not turning up to provide a quote, or they have come but never sent the quote? The longest I've waited for a quote is 12 weeks! I suppose most of them are busy, and they are able to pick and choose which jobs take their fancy- very annoying for us folk! One thing is for sure if you have to chase them for a quote don't use them! I've had alot of experiences with builders over the past few years and they are mostly all the same and after one thing $$$$

there is no such thing as a good plumber.
I say this after 15 years of detailed research, one phd thesis ("the myth of the modern day plumbing operative - hallucination and fantasy in water and sewage containment" and the employment of several international search consultants. they are extinct.

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wiltshirelass - I wouldn't have said this 6 months ago, but I disagree. I have AMAZINGLY found a really good plumber. Turns up when he supposed to, is really polite, doesn't charge the earth, and when I had to get him back in after mending my cistern because it was leaking, he discovered the fault, a crack in the bowl that wasn't obvious the last time he was there and wasn't something he had caused, he spent all morning mending it and didn't charge me a penny. He is great, unfortunately he looks about 70, so I don't know how much longer he'll go on before retiring!!

if you tempted a good plumber with doughnuts I hope you trapped him in a large cage so we can all benefit from his expertise in the future.
of course we'd have to carry out some tests first to ascertain whether he REALLY was a competant plumber, I'd be very sceptical...

nutjob! how exciting! so not quite extinct but clearly on the endangered list. it is your duty to instigate a programme of captive breeding from him.

Did anyone read about the plumbing college course for 36 that attracted 2000 applicants!

Don't know if the poor old so and so would be up to the job!!

Well, I am married to a builder, so I think I can give you a little inside information. Ks has got it right on the nose. And add to that the fact that they are almost all male and therefore predisposed to be late/disorganized/inefficient/messy/etc. My dh consistently underestimates how long it will take him to do a job (anybody have a dp/dh who doesn't?) and therefore is constantly losing money on jobs that he has underbid. As a consequence he now tries to avoid (with my encouragement) any jobs that are not straight forward. If the client has a clear list of what they want and where they want it he is much more likely to take the job. In addition, he too is at the mercy of the unreliable, unprofessional, bodge job plumbers and electricians. The average homeowner is not interested in paying the prices that a top notch plumber/electrician commands.
Wiltshirelass, I have finally found a good plumber and electrician. (I am an architect so I have seen many of them) However, their daily rates are twice what the average plumber/electrician charges. In the end, I decided (after having the hot water system done 3 times in my house), that you ultimately save money by hiring the good expensive guy.
Jzee, what else do you expect builders to be after besides money? There aren't very many people who work for free. And at the end of the day builders don't really make a very good living. I'm never cease to be amazed how often potential clients say to my dh that they want lots of work done for very little money as if somehow it is his responsibility to deal with their inability to decorate within their budget. Of course, that doesn't excuse poor or unprofessional work.
If any of you are in london, I would be happy to pass on my plumber/electrician/painter recommendations. However, my dh is too busy on our house to pass him on to anyone for quite a while.

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SofiaAmes, I have had a lot to do with builders and architects over the years having rebuilt a derelict house, gutted and re-done our present home and re-decorated our previous home. I so agree with your comments on it being worth it to pay up for good people - it makes such a difference in terms of quality of work.

Actually sushi and earl grey are his weaknesses...and me of course.

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To respond to the question about what I want done...an integral garage converted into a room. About 2 weeks work the planner reckons, put in a new floor with proper insulation, knock a doorway through and build the outside wall and put in a window.

I thought a lot of it could be done from the inside and therefore on those days when its too wet outside mine would be ideal...but that doesn't seem to have helped.

I live near Southampton.

...as it me (inevitably) who is phoning them and talking to them...would it be better if my DH did?

Do they respond better to the male of house rather than me?

(You can tell I am desparate!!)

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