The Customer/Tradesmen relations thread.

IronGiant

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So as not to spoil the Funny picture thread, please continue the discussion here.
 
95% of customers I work for are fantastic.

those who I don’t end up working for I just don’t click with when I’m round there doing the Quotation so I’ll typically just send them an email letting them know I won’t be doing any work for them.
 
Just my two pence.

As a customer, I'm not used to people being in my house that I don't know, I feel awkward. I may feel the need to indulge in small talk, and in my case the only subject I'm likely to be comfortable with is the job in hand. So if you were doing the job I might ask questions purely out of interest, with no criticism meant. I have had tradesmen here maybe 3 times in 20 years, I don't know how to treat them.

The last 3 tradesmen we have had from highly recommended companies:

One flat roof specialist used my deck as a saw table and left cuts in it. Broke a guttering clip and just left the gutter hanging down. And left a full blown diarrhetic curry in my loo.
The second company were awesome, fantastic job. But they broke my front door canopy and attempted to mend it with super glue without saying anything.
I won't detail the issues with our boiler fitter. Fortunately Fergal helped and talked me through the issues and we now have a working system all fixed by my good self.

For you good tradesmen:

If as I gathered from the off topic in the other thread, would you just like to be left alone and ignored?. That would suit me perfectly.

I can make a drink if asked, but is it expected?
 
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I sometimes engage them in small talk too about the job. A) I'm interested in what I'm paying for, B) I'd like to learn more, even if it means I can at least self-diagnose next time, and C) I'd like to think a tradesman with a sense of pride in his work would be happy to talk about it (I am my work). If it's a big job, like a new bathroom, then I'll pop in every now and then to see how it's going and have a superficial check of the quality. An offer of a cuppa and biscuit is always used as the excuse to do this
 
I’m always happy to chat to my customers but I can’t emphasise enough how terrible I am at chatting and working at the same time. I just can’t multi task. A friendly chat is good but no watching please, I’ll only make a mistake as I’m not fully concentrating. I do tell people this once I’ve got to know them a little bit.

Technical questions are always welcome whether that be during a quotation or doing the work.
 
@IronGiant I'll always run through everything with the customer and we'll always hold our hands up if something does get damaged, which doesn't really happen at all.
I'd prefer the customer to know what they want and give input prior to the job starting but once we've agreed on the spec and we commence work then I'd rather we be left to it.
I do realise though that good trades are hard to come by. I've had work carried out in our house by builders, plumbers, plasterers and joiners. Most of them I wouldn't have back. Out of all the people I work with there are only a few who I would trust to do a decent job.
I get on with most customers, it makes everyone's life easy to have a good relationship but some customers are just massive dickheads. But then that's not limited to trades, any service that requires customer interaction suffers from these people.
 
Just before Christmas I damaged a Bath that the customer supplied. Tiniest of chips that was borderline, you could barely see it.

I had to shuffle downstairs with my tail between my legs and tell the customer. I paid for it no questions asked. £300.

don’t care about the money, it was the embarrassment, awkwardness of telling the customer but under no circumstances would I try to hide it or say it wasn’t me.

My spirit level fell onto it. These things happen. Sold that level now and replaced with one with rubber bumpers on all the edges :D
 
I’ve only ever fallen out with one tradesman. He was good at his job, very good but he’s a miserable git, mainly because he’s always hung over.
However I would put up with his moaning as he was was very good at his job - a plumber and a good one is hard to find. Booked him in he was swapping a sink over removing some radiators. I organised all the trades around him, day before he was supposed to start he tells me he’s a week behind on another job, I asked the other trades to get one with what they can.
Eventually decorator and carpenter need the radiator removed and repositioned and can’t wait . Plumber said he would pop down and remove it as I explained to him he was holding them off due to him being delayed. He comes over moans shots being in a rush , doesn’t drain down the system , literally lifts a vertical radiator off the pipes legs it flood the floor and takes it outside . Lost my rag , called him every name under the sun told him to pack his stuff and get off my property. Only time it’s ever happened . Other tradesman I have known for years and lots of work done on trust.
 
Any workmen (haven’t had any workwomen) always get offered tea or coffee on arrival, also have a chat and then let them get on with the job.
 
Not sure if this is just a local thing, but tradesmen in my end of Northern Ireland are overwhelmingly shocking.

I'm a landlord, so you need to have a steady supply of reliable tradesmen on hand but it's far from easy. And it's not a case that I'm just a pain of a customer. Another AVF member is also a landlord in NI, and he's originally from England yet has a similar tale of woe for dealing with tradesmen, and add solicitors & estate agents into that mix.

I recently renovated a flat, full strip and re-do. Of the folk I used:

*Painter - said he would be done in a few days, took 2 weeks and kept trying to add on costs. Some of which were fair and accepted, others he was told to wise up.

*Joiner - wasn't cheap, and didn't show on a few occasions, but his work was very good in fairness.

*Tiler - another few no-shows, very expensive, also added on some extra excuses. Exceptional quality work though.

*Plumber - repeated no-shows, not the tidiest finish, didn't clean up after himself including all the black rubber marks his equipment left on my new tiles.

*Spark - oh my God the spark... First time in 3 renovation jobs that I've had to sack a tradesman. Said he'd be done in a week, took 4 weeks. Broke more things than he fixed. Almost never showed up himself, just sent his apprentices. Ended up chucking him out and getting someone else to finish up. Absolutely shocking, (pun intended).

Now bear in mind that I've done a few properties before, so these guys were mostly people I've turned to because the ones I used previously were so bad. Only the plumber was someone I've used before, and only the tiler is someone I'd use again.

And I've lost count of the number of people who just don't return calls.
 
Finding tradesmen who can do quality work, behave professionally, correctly diagnose the issue, and who are responsive when it comes to bigger jobs - it's like searching for gold.

In my experience, roofers can be the most costly when one makes a mess of a job.

A quality job is one that only needs doing once. If quality comes with a premium, funds allowing, I'll pay if it avoids shoddy workmanship.
 
The biggest problem with a lot of trades is that anyone can do it. I see loads of ‘tradesmen’ whizzing round in their Vauxhall Vivaro Vans knowing damn well that they have just decided to start their own business with no real training and certainly no Qualifications.......and why shouldn’t they? Nobody checks, customers certainly don’t and HMRC will let anyone start a business. Weird system.
 
The best person to do any building work (skill level excepted) is the one who owns it. Nobody else has the vested interest to 'get it right'.

That is not correct. I think I’ve met possibly two or three customers of mine in the last few decades where I’ve thought they could do a better job than I could based on their attention to detail. One was an aircraft engineer. As you say, that person would have to have the skill level to actually do the work, which In this case he didn’t so it’s a moot point.
 
My experiences as an electrician, is that most people just let you get on with the job. As others have said always willing to answer questions, but that’s mainly covered at quotation time. Had the odd occasion, when the customer wasn’t happy, but you just gotta suck that up.

Did have my rear garden ‘landscaped’ last year. Made sure the lads, had access to makings, and plenty of biscuits, chocy bars and soft drinks. Had to ask to change a couple of things, done mostly discussed before they left for the day. But didn’t keep a beady eye on them, at work myself anyway.

I regularly got asked if I could fix a customers appliances. Wasn’t my bag, so I’d give them the details of a local bloke that fixed my washing machine, some years before. He got a lot of custom off me, unbeknownst to him. Got asked again by one elderly lady one day, so gave her the name of the guy. She said she wouldn’t have that ‘thieving, arrogant, offensive arsehole in her house as long as she lived‘. Oooppps!
 
Like all walks of life you get good and bad tradesmen, I have had considerable experience in all aspects if the building trade and I have tradesmen I my flat who give cowboys a bad name, but I have had guys who do a great job and more importantly clean up afterwards, though I tend to offer to do that.
 
I've had considerable issues getting tradesmen (Manchester) at all. And those I've got have been of various quality. Even when I get a good one and use them a few times, they often end up disappearing. I suppose it's the nature of the job that if you're good, you're always busy.

As such I've been using Youtube and some help on here to do basic jobs myself. Replacing light fittings / additional light fittings / fixing tumbledryer / insulating and boarding the loft etc. The problem I have is that although I'm good at following instructions, and I'm very good with machines, I don't have any qualifications in the field, and I'm not good at doing the work with a professional finish.

Lack of tradesmen issue...My dishwasher broke on Sunday, the earliest I can get anyone to look at it is tomorrow. So 4-5 days in one of the biggest cities in Britain.
 
Lurkers - customers who make out they’re going to leave you alone but are constantly hovering around, tidying, mooching and generally being a nuisance. Popping in and out asking “are you winning?” every 5 minutes.

Very off putting and annoying.

People who just stand and watch are also annoying but least you know where you stand with them. I’ve always said if they want to spend their time staring at the back of my head they’re welcome!
 
People who get all weird if you don’t ring their doorbell. Amount of times I’ve rang a doorbell and it doesn’t work / they don’t hear it means I now knock but you’ll be surprised how many people take offence to you not to ringing the bell.

I absolutely refuse to ring one of those video ones as well - won’t happen!
 
I've had considerable issues getting tradesmen (Manchester) at all. ... My dishwasher broke on Sunday, the earliest I can get anyone to look at it is tomorrow. So 4-5 days in one of the biggest cities in Britain.

You want to try living on a wee island of around 5,000 souls then! On the plus side, everyone knows who is a cowboy and who comes recommended. On the minus side, 'manyana' has nothing on these guys. You can wait literally weeks for a look-see / quote - "I'll pop by sometime this week" turns into two, three, four weeks and then trying to actually get work done - wow! Four months to get a simple leak in the roof sorted is probably the longest. Excuse after excuse - too wet, too windy, too cold, emergency job just came in, apprentice hurt his thumb, van off the road, man 'flu, it was endless.

Not sure if part of the problem is there's a large local "multi-trades" company that do everything from cleaning gutters to new builds. They charge about 4x the price of independents but they operate very professionally, own/have access to lots of equipment and they turn up quickly and do a good job. I used them for an insurance repair to a stone wall that someone hit with a vehicle. I suspect this company subs out to independents as well as using their own lads/lassies depending on demand, and consequently this creates voids in availability as they jump to the piper's tune. But I have no hard evidence.

Thankfully I'm quite handy and can sort most things myself but most neighbours that aren't so inclined are always moaning about trades. Rarely shoddy work (see first comment) but availability and timescales. Which probably explains why the incoming 9am ferry and outgoing 5pm ferry are an endless procession of white vans as folks get fed up waiting on the local guys.
 
Going into peoples houses is now second nature to me and 90% of people are spot on. You do have disagreements and it can get awkward.

Sometimes things are going on in peoples lives that you won’t be aware of that will impact how they behave.

I always remember the lady who was ranting at me because I couldn’t come back on a Saturday to fit a part to her boiler. We didn’t exactly fall out but it did get heated and I felt she was being completely unreasonable. She then paid someone else to return and fit the part.

A year passes and I go to her house again, preparing myself for her being awkward. We started chatting and she was relaxed, friendly and very pleasant. She later told me she’d just been given the all clear with a serious illness, likely something she was battling when I’d encountered her first time round.
 
Never let them use the front door unless they are fixing it, the same goes for the toilet :D Afterwards, complain, complain and then complain again whilst shouting loudly....HOW MUCH!!!!

Then go to Aldi (Lidl if, well you know) and kit yourself out with a full kit of workwear (Do not forget the tool-belt) and all necessary tools, then onto YouTube and find out how to repair their bodge correctly...In less than half of the time they billed for, you will reach the Job done phase. Big pat on your back, and then immediately start saving for the inevitable repair that you can then blame on the previous tradesman to your new tradesman :)

Somewhere in there, a dairy free cup of tea or coffee or even a herbal remedy, along with a vegan roll or sandwich and some sugar free biscuits can have a beneficial effect ;)
 
We've just dropped the wife's car off at the garage due to a fault. This thread (and in particular @Wahreo's post in the funny meme thread that started this) was at the forefront of my mind. I made certain to tell the mechanic what the symptoms were that my wife and I had seen from the car, whilst not trying to diagnose the fault and tell him (the qualified mechanic) what to look for :thumbsup:

He's a top bloke and has always done a good, professional job. Like any tradesperson that does work for you, a really good one is worth their weight in gold.
 
Never let them use the front door unless they are fixing it, the same goes for the toilet :D Afterwards, complain, complain and then complain again whilst shouting loudly....HOW MUCH!!!!

Then go to Aldi (Lidl if, well you know) and kit yourself out with a full kit of workwear (Do not forget the tool-belt) and all necessary tools, then onto YouTube and find out how to repair their bodge correctly...In less than half of the time they billed for, you will reach the Job done phase. Big pat on your back, and then immediately start saving for the inevitable repair that you can then blame on the previous tradesman to your new tradesman :)

Somewhere in there, a dairy free cup of tea or coffee or even a herbal remedy, along with a vegan roll or sandwich and some sugar free biscuits can have a beneficial effect ;)

My sarcasm-o-meter is flickering a little :laugh:
 
I'll be encouraging my kids to go down the Trade route career-wise. I reckon reliable, good, well qualified tradespeople with a little start-up cash and you'd be set for life.
 

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