Why are tradesmen so crap at communication?

[CimCardashian]

We need a carpenter to do some jobs for us.

First problem is getting hold of them,and if they come over they don’t get back to me/give a quote and then I don’t hear from them again etc etc.
Even checkatrade ones

So annoying!

If anyone knows a carpenter in SE London let me know 😩

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Thanks for that, but I currently need a carpenter!

I honestly think that tradespeople who just reply to texts / calls could significantly raise their prices to cover the admin. People would book them. And how would I know if their quote's competitive anyway - I can't get any others to compare it to!

I'm trying to get a quote for a significant job (tried a few years ago and gave up in disgust so it's not just Covid) and I'm starting to think that leaving online reviews based on the (rude/lazy/can't be bothered to reply) service I receive would be a reasonable thing to do.

Aaaargh!

@GreenBiro

Wife of tradesman here:

His is practical, not into admin

He has 22 jobs at various stages lined up between now and the middle of September - that's a LOT of admin

It's more admin than you think - make a time to see the job, cost it all out, decide whether you want to do it, make sure you have the right details for the client, write all of that up and send it, receive the go-ahead, find a date, check date is still OK, but materials, do the work, check customer OK with it, prepare and send the invoice, check you've been paid

Most don't actually like letting people down. They'd rather just let is slide than tell you the job isn't for them. They haven't been trained in diplomatic written communication

Some are shit and rude. It's hard to tell.

It's HARD work keeping on top of all of that.

This is shit and rude. All of it. While he's faffing about deciding if he wants to do the job, someone is waiting. And most of that list sounds like the sort of 'padding' I'd put on a CV wham I was 16 with no job experience - it's really basic admin and organisation and not an optional extra!

@GreenBiro

Wife of tradesman here:

His is practical, not into admin

He has 22 jobs at various stages lined up between now and the middle of September - that's a LOT of admin

It's more admin than you think - make a time to see the job, cost it all out, decide whether you want to do it, make sure you have the right details for the client, write all of that up and send it, receive the go-ahead, find a date, check date is still OK, but materials, do the work, check customer OK with it, prepare and send the invoice, check you've been paid

Most don't actually like letting people down. They'd rather just let is slide than tell you the job isn't for them. They haven't been trained in diplomatic written communication

Some are shit and rude. It's hard to tell.

It's HARD work keeping on top of all of that.

Why would he keep spending time going out to view jobs and raise quotes etc if he's already busy, knows he can't do them for months, and ends up "letting it slide", thus annoying potential customers? It makes no sense to continue wasting time when you're already too busy to cope. He'd be better spending his time on the 22 jobs he has in progress to catch up on the backlog. Then, when he's back in control and has shorter timescales, he can start going out quoting for work again that he knows he's in a position to do.

We needed our decking replaced. We started asking for quotes in February. Some never turned up, no contact, no apology etc (just why would they set an appointment and make no further contact?). Despite us saying we were wanting it replaced before Summer, 2 people turned up to quote and told us they were busy and wouldn't be able to do it until Winter (so why did they waste their and our time and not just say that rather than coming to quote?). Out of the 4 or 5 who came and claimed they could do it before Summer, only 1 provided us with a quote. I really can't understand why they are happy to waste their time, when they claim they're busy, and then not see the jobs through. I think it's more down to being poorly organised and incompetent at admin, etc. Unfortunately, due to the shortage, they can afford to treat customers badly as they know there's more customers around the corner. They'll suffer in the long run when their reputation is shot and there's less demand/more supply and it's the reputable ones that get the work.