why can't we get tradespeople?

[caoraich]

DP and I bought a house a couple of years ago. Have finally saved up enough to have needed work done on it. We can't seem to get anyone to do the work, though!
People come, give quotes and seem very positive then either don't get back to us or need loads of chasing and put work off to the point we are annoyed and cancel

This has happened with garden landscapers, plumber, plasterer.
The only one who's been decent has been an electrician we found on gumtree but he's gone back to Poland now.

We get recommendations off a local neighbourhood website and ratedpeople etc. but don't know any other homeowners for word of mouth recommendations. We live in Glasgow.

What are we doing wrong!?

I have a horrible, sneaking suspicion it might be because I'm a woman and do most of the organising - DP works somewhere that mobile phones have to be left outside/at home so it makes sense as I can pick up voicemails. Plus I work from home a couple of days and so am often the only one in when tradesmen (they've all been men) arrive to give quotes.

Please someone tell me I'm wrong about that - but what are we doing wrong trying to find someone to do all this work!?

(NB we live in an unremarkable but in need of modernisation 1950s semi)

Advice from experienced renovators appreciated

I could have posted this. I have been let down by several plumbers, including one who is a good friend's husband (was due to start much needed work on my ill father's home and cancelled the day before, leaving him with no heating in January). Others disappeared mid job, or botched it. One plasterer agreed to a job then didn't return calls, the list goes on. The only reliable ones for me have been electricians, and frankly I suspect it's because they are at the top of the foodchain trades wise.
Thought I'd finally found a pearl with a new boiler in a rental house, but there are already issues.
Like you, I have often suspected it's because I am 1) female and 2) middle class and want to be nice.
Sorry no easy answers, but you are not alone!

Don't know if it would help for your area but we live pretty rurally and don't really know anyone who can recommend tradespeople.

We have used Mybuilder.com to find a plumber, heating engineer and an electrician over the past 3/4 years. All have turned out to be excellent, reliable and very fairly priced. Also, I tend to deal with arranging tradesmen too and had no issues at all.

I've also used mybuilder.com for loads of jobscand never been disappointed.

OP, similar here though opposite end of the country. Only ever had one reliable tradesman who returned to Eastern European homeland.

My builder people were usless Imo, never turned up to give quotes or came to look and then never got back to me! Like you I'm a female doing it all alone, I often felt this has counted against me. I had some trades asking if they could talk to my DH about what needed doing!

I've tried RatedPeople, was better but quite expensive for the relatively mediocre work quality. Indeed everything I've had done except by my non English builder has been low quality...

I am thinking of training up my DC

It's a nightmare isn't it ? I am single now, but I have about a 50% success rate and seem to find as many good ones as bad. Don't think gender would be a reason why they wouldn't get back to you with quotes though - think that's just a case of them taking better paid/easier jobs. Obviously that is their right - it's bloody annoying though.

Exact same experience. People quote then fall off the radar.

Same here . If I can actually manage to speak to one and arrange an appt, they either don't turn up or turn up take measurements and then I hear nothing from them again . I've even got 4 of those carpet sample things sitting in my lounge that a carpet bloke left for me to choose from , he took measurements , I phoned and told him what colour carpet I wanted - then complete radio silence.

If we're all having the same problem , then who are these tradesmen actually working for ?

Similar story here, but got a foot in the door and then they recommended friends/contacts and the ball really got rolling and have had steady progress.

The trades I've spoken to say they never have trouble getting work from other trades. I wonder if a lot are working for each other - either on good jobs they find and recommend to each other (customer easy to work for, pay on time etc), or indeed on houses they themselves are developing, where there's more profit to be had.

I have before posted jobs on rated people and had the reply that x thousand of people had read my posting but no.one wanted to do the job.

Been waiting for my electrician to return to finish the job since February..

It has got so bad ds has decided to go into plumbing and do courses on plastering, carpentry and tiling and kitchen fitting

You're not paying enough.

Same here. Took me 6 months and 4 workmen to get bathroom tiles put down. So frustrating!

How can she not be paying enough? They tell you what they want you to pay! Bizarre comment.

My point is this m0ther- generally, tradespeople got comparatively a lot cheaper due to influx of European tradespeople. A lot of trade work is price sensitive. A lot of tradespeople have recently departed. The remaining tradespeople have not yet put up their prices, but are inundated with work offers and are not able to do it all (so price rises won't be long in coming).

There were also tradespeople who, because they had steady work and regular customers kept their prices at comparatively the same rate as before. They are stable, reliable, turn up on time etc. They cost roughly double what the price sensitive end of trade does, and can generally only be reached by either personal recommendation or looking them up in the yellow pages. They do not need to bid for work, so they don't do it.

I have that problem too. I live in a normal house and when I try and find a new tradesman they are always 1) unreliable and 2) expensive.

They completely change their tune when they find out I run a property company. The way they speak turns from patronising explanations to treating me as an equal in the industry , they always turn up on time and the prices are far more realistic.

This happens to me too.

Had a building job last year - 4 different people came and said they could do it then vanished!

Plumber kept not turning up then 2 more I tried after that as well. Even recommended ones!

WTF is it? I wish they'd just say too busy or whatever rather than piss us about!

Now found a good plumber, a reliable decorator bloke (but won't need that again for years, just needed someone to do the stairwell).

Mainly because they are a pain to manage. If you were a skilled trade, what would you rather: a fortnight working on the same job, making the same journey & figuring out where to park etc, or 2 -3 little jobs a day spread out over many different locations, each involving a separate customer most of whom will whinge about the cost and start ordering you about?

Suggest that you just need one job done right now, but over the next couple years will need a lot more done. They'll be more interested.
We had this problem until we had major building work done and now know all the trades and if they can't do it soon they'll ask their brother's fiancée's mate's brother...

rhythm I can only assume you either have never had worked done on a house or you have lived-in the same location and know everyone around you so you can get that recommendation.

And who has a yellow pages anymore.

30 years ago I had 56 kitchen companies and carpenters come to give me a quote on putting in a new kitchen. I ended up with 2 quotes

The house was worth just under £60000 and the kitchen company quoted for a modest kitchen £56000

Another company quoted £3000.

Where are you supposed to get these recommendations from if you don't know anyone and yellow pages don't deliver anymore

we stopped the apprentice scheme and encouraged our dc to stay on at school studying for sometimes pointless qualifications and made real, dirty hands, jobs seem beneath them. So now we have a shortage of plumbers, electricians, tilers, brickies you name it. My dh has semi retired from his job as a postmaster but does up houses and is inundated with people asking him to do jobs. The biggest problem is they all want 'three quotes' most tradesmen can't be arsed to quote if they are only going to get 1 in 3 of the jobs they quote for so they stay with customers they know or are personally recommended. There is no easy answer but the fact you are a woman has no bearing on it the tradesmen just don't want the jobs you are offering. When I was single I started doing g stuff myself, I learnt basic electrics and plumbing I can tile dig a drain, do basic carpentry it's not rocket science (especially tiling) you are just waaaaay slower than the professionals.

I have seen quite a lot of personal recommendations on my local town facebook pages lately. Given a few too.

You do get the spouses of business "innocently" posting their details without saying the connection, but you can ask for actual customers and by and large you will see a few names more than once.

Unfortunately some of the worst work I've had done has been via fb local page recommendation. My.honest experience is that UK trades either are 'experts' and charge a lot (£3k to fit a simple bathroom! I didn't hire him) or are generalists and do a poor quality job. The guy I had from E Europe worked to a reasonable standard and charged reasonable money. I've not found anyone else who can do that!

Sounds like OLD

I agree with PP, that they like "big jobs", the good ones can pick and choose. I do as much as I can myself too.

I guess there must be a massive skills shortage. We've found the same. Can't even get people to quote for (to my mind) fairly large jobs like the installation of an entire heating system (>£5k)

What counts as enough work to be worth bothering with? We have lots of jobs to be done and would be happy to batch them all up together or let them be fitted in around other work, if we could only get quotes...

I'm a plumber for my sins. And always quote. But don't always take the job. I have a lot of work. After 3 years running the business I've learned the hard way that a LOT of people are liars. In the early days of taking jobs based on the job I had 1 in five asking for discounts when completed, refusing to pay, the most infuriating "little add on" people.

As my reputation has grown, and my experience I've become very selective. And sadly very cynical. I have come to literally judge people on meeting them

But it's rare now that I get a non payer. I've become a good judge - while probably ruling out lots of wonderful genuine people

I tend to refuse jobs where the client doesn't know exactly what they want- vague " oh we'll have what you recommend" "oh we aren't really fussy on the suite" " whatever's easiest for you" these people are turncoats and when complete will say that the suite is wrong , they didn't need an extractor fan and won't pay for it, they wanted thermostatic valves and want discount because we have t put them in etc etc

I avoid people who don't have a start date in mind. "Whenever you are ready" etc. Yes, you're start date will likely be rejected but it shows you really are intending to do the work. I've booked so many jobs only to turn up on the day and they've changed their mind. I then ha e to desperately make up the weeks work I've lost with no notice.

Finally- I avoid people who don't ask about our payment terms at all. People who ask "what's the deposit? Do we pay for materials or you?" Etc are the people who want to pay.

I hate the list and used to be (and am in my social life) a non judgemental, trust people because most people are good type of person. But it's not true. I damn near went under in the first year because there are so many shysters ( though like you I wonder if I see more if this than my peers because I'm a relatively young woman) . I questioned my work and paid extra to do refresher training. In which my tutor took me aside and asked why the hell I was there- I ended fitting his kitchen and bathroom as he didn't have the time and I AM good. I do tell people that I'm sorry since I did the quote we have taken on other work but I will be available in 6-8 months. If they wait or plan a date in then all the list is ignored and I plan them in.