Judging tradespeople on the phone

[Shedbuilder]

I posted last week about the difficulties of finding decent tradespeople. In the last few days I've been phoning around trying to find a plumber and an electrician and I'm gob-smacked at the lack of professionalism among so many of them.

I just phoned what looked like quite a large electrical company from its website and had a chat with an older man who sounded as if he was just out of bed and wanted to know whether I was Greek (!) and wanted me to know he was Indian and then just mansplained away at length to me. At the end of the conversation he started going on about how we needed to feel comfortable with each other, even though I've explained that the house is empty and he and his team will have the place to themselves to do their work and he won't be seeing much of me.

My professional alarm bells are going 'avoid, avoid, avoid', although I know he's registered with the NICEIC and so he must be competent.

Has anyone else had similar experiences? Do you override your 'This bloke is going to be a nightmare to deal with' alert, or do you just proceed on the basis that you need an electrician and any suitably qualified electrician will do?

I’ve been trying to get a handyman to do a couple of small jobs. I sent a list of all the jobs I need done with photos.

One said he was booked up until September, that was fine.

One quoted an absolutely obscene amount.

One arrived to do a quote and told me he couldn’t do half the stuff, but would I like the next door neighbours garden tidied up? (?!)

Most didn’t even bother replying.

As a suggestion, try the Next Door app. I did manage to find someone on there who turned out to be great!

Funnily enough, I work in marketing (freelance) and as a copywriter and I've recently started to help tradespeople out with their social media.

Some of them have NO idea how to go on. I think they need to be taught communication and customer service as part of their initial training.

A lot of their social media (for eg. Facebook) is full of personal opinion and odd/unfunny jokes etc.

I've had to clean them up, post appropriate images and updates and generally help them understand how to respond to enquiries.

But saying that, it's certainly not ALL tradesmen. I would avoid the ones who ask personal questions for example!

The irony of it all is that I run a small construction-sector business and employ contractors (though not, unfortunately, the kind of domestic contractors I currently need). Everyone I recruit is trained on how to talk to customers, what to say and what not to say, how to address female clients and architects etc, and to answer the phone professionally. I don't expect contractors and tradespeople to be like PR professionals, but as you say, some of them have absolutely no idea what impression they're giving.

YES but sometimes you have to overlook it. We did lots of work on a house with loads of different contractors. The best work by far was by someone who took every opportunity to tell us, at length, that eating watermelon prevents cancer.

Go with your gut, though its not infallible. I tend to get tradespeople through others I've already worked with. But one plasterer was so awful with his 'banter' even the other trades complained about him!
One plumber i thought presented himself very well just was over his head, and it cost a lot in remedial work. But you do generally have to deal with them on a daily basis (i would NOT let anyone do anything to a house without checking in daily), so you do need to get on with them.

That sounds quite mild and I could overlook that, though internally I'd be one big eye roll. My contractors seem to get it. In fact they often complain of the unprofessional behaviour of some of the other contractors they meet. They don't like the swearing and aggressive banter or sexual innuendo any more than I do.

I think getting recommendations is key - could you ask any of your neighbours for contacts? I have generally found this much better than trying to get people online

or ask the estate agent you bought your house from who they use for their lettings

Not my house, doing this as a favour for a friend who is away looking after her dying mum and so can't find her own tradespeople. Have tried all the usual methods — word of mouth, finding and calling local companies — and have been ghosted and cancelled by almost all.