No wonder Australian business is going to pot
- Thread starter lizzie
- Start date
In my experience, most folks just want a job done, no mucking around, thanks for the good work, here's your money and see ya later.
A fair days work, a fair days pay, job done well...most times, most customers. There are a few who are out to stiff the tradie, but very few, I would think.
I do know tradies who are still trying to get money out of customers for work, as am I in my workshop.
We used to run accounts for work done at our workshop, and more than 90% were good at paying. I am sure this is the case in the building industry trades too.
Somewhere in all that, both parties get experience - bad experiences - and then the problems (attitudes) occur.
Having said that; the trades are endemic with blokes who leave school early, who are then taught their jobs by other blokes who left school early, have no class, no manners, no morals or care, and pass on their "skill" at all those things to their apprentices, who pass it on to theirs, etc.
So in my opinion the bulk of the problems lie with the tradies on their (lack of) professionalism first, and the bulk of bad customers happens as a result of all that.
As old (and as ripped off) as I am now, I still have hope that the tradesman I use are reliable, do good work, communicate when required and get the job done....
I am not rude to them - probably too much the opposite which is probably a mistake.
I am a person who has had to provide products and services all my working life, so I understand what bad customers can be like, and thus try to be the good customer to the tradie from day one.
And then they start to play funny buggers and do the things that folks mention here.
Reading through the various posts and threads on this topic here over the years verifies that.
Most folks tell of horror stories where the tradie promised the world and delivered an atlas - not the other way around.
LOL
very true also.I've seen - Peter 14.7's story occur on a weekly basis at my old job.
Well, everything is finally back up and running.
Received a recommendation from a school contact, their young nephew was just starting up their business in plumbing and was keen for work.
Young lad of about 22 or 23 came over, fully qualified plumber. Got chatting with him.....a Green voter.....nearly cancelled the appointment right there and then.
He quickly organised to supply and fit all of the necessary plumbing connections, brand new big 100mm PVC connections on the outside, with gentle corners and big access points on the outside of the wall where we can get to them easily in the future.
His tools easily got rid of the concrete remnants of the old system, and he quickly made up the fresh concrete base and installed the new toilet - completely new whole shebang. Replaced the rusty 60 yr old isolation tap for a brand new one that actually works and isolates the water supply like it's supposed to.
Checked the flushing mechanism, yep it works, it doesn't sit there like the old one and continually hiss away for 10 minutes after you flush, until you give it a Fonzie slap on the side.
Able to fill in the hole in the driveway and replace the concrete slabs so cars can drive over it.
That should last another 60 years, and if there is a problem, the cure will be very easy.
All up, over 5 months, $ 2,400 in costs and many many many hours of free digging and cutting and reaming......all because "the water doesn't seem to be going down properly."
I hope the next 'little' domestic chore flung my way doesn't end up the same way.
Probably not too bad when you read about people buying brand new apartments with dodgy plumbing! (referring to a thread about a month ago. Employer had to bring in tradies from overseas - excuse is that all the tradies have left WA to work in the mines...)
Standard operating procedure...I remember a few years back I wanted to get a new engine built for my car...I rang fourteen specialist and specific companies and gave them a limit of $15K to spend, gave them a time-frame at their leisure (basically), all over Melbourne. 13 never called back! When I finally got started and took the car to the engine builder. He asked how I found him and I told him. He was the fourteenth specialist business that I called to spend $15,000 (and it wasn't anything difficult to build). The 13 others never returned my call...not one! Some I had called more than a few times for no response. After shaking his head, he laughed and thanked me.
Had a few others (property ones), but that was the best one for quantity LOL
Everyone is busy, but I think the successful ones follow up.
So true....look at the little Irishman who is running Qantas and pouncy board.
Reminds me of the old story about real skill. Try my best to get right:
New young , cocky manager takes over widget factory with goal to save money.
Everything works well, no breakdowns.
Then he sees old mechanic man with oil can and some tools sitting around.
He thinks, hummm, it all works well so I make him redundant, and pay contractors to come in as needed. Save a wage!
Old guy not happy.
Cocky young boss tells him, "thats business" and pays old guy out.
Boss gloats, FIGJAM, look at me, to the Board.
After a month, key machine breaks down.
Get in contractor mechanics, cannot find fault, spend days, no workflow, items backing up, no income.
Them someone at Board says calls old man see if he can help.
Old man tells them to shove it.
They beg "please help" they say
Old man comes in and says sure but I want $5000 billable if I fix it.
New boss says why not, others have taken days.
Old man comes in, tweaks here , tweaks there and after five minutes BINGO it starts and works.
Everyone is amazed, new boss embarrassed.
Then being tough boss says to old man, well I am sure you will be fair, it only took 5 minutes labour,
Old man smiles, says sure, hand boss his invoice, it reads:
Repair of Machine
Labour: 5 min = $10.
Experience: Lifetime = $4990
Teaching D$%kheads Real Business Skills = Free.
Real skills are dying, Peter 14.7
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How much time and $$$ would it have added up to if the missus had just said "I hate cleaning this old loo anyhow - get a new one" ...
None - it would have made it worse Lizzie.
The toilet was old, but functional. Changing it out for a brand new one wouldn't of helped at all, as the problem was structural in the old earthenware plumbing under the concrete driveway.
That sentence highlighted was what cost all the time and money. I, or anyone else, didn't know that until all of the dramas eliminating possibilities were completed. Tracking down what the problem is and where it is, is the hard thing.
Once you know what and where the source of the problem is, fixing it is a piece of cake.
The skill (just like the old man knowing where to apply his little oil can in the story above) is knowing where the problem lies. Fixing it after that knowledge is gleaned is easy.
Every time I have ever done anything that gets buried underground or concealed behind a wall, I make sure there are more access points than are needed and that they are easily spotted. And I take photos before everything gets buried/concealed. I remember I once had a plumber over to fix a problem and when I handed over photos and a hand drawn plan with dimensions of what was underground, I thought he was going to hug me.
Exactly right !! I did the same. One must take the opportunity when it arises.
The problem originates from purchasing old properties in nice suburbs where the infrastructure was put in 60 years ago and no-one has a clue where anything is underground.
Yes we found some old sewer pipe which was not on any water authority register nor on the title which caused us major issues.
Sim
Administrator
Indeed.
The council came and re-concreted our driveway (the bit between the property fence and the road), and in the process dug up an old PVC pipe which went to the gutter and appeared to come from the old garage on our property, for which there are no longer any gutters or working downpipes.
A couple of days later, the council were back digging up a new section of the path next to our driveway - my neighbour (on the opposite side of our block) was talking to the council workers and pointing out that there is actually a drainage easement (not documented it seems!) where water from the next three houses up the street drains down through a pipe that runs along the back fence from each house, down to the road along the side of our house. There is actually a small pit under our fence (buried under grass and dirt - didn't even know it was there!), where the pipes join before heading out to the road. The council had dug up the pipes, assuming they were no longer used, and not replaced them.
Not sure if any of this has been done correctly - was done many years before we moved in and the plans I've seen for the property don't mention any drainage easement (then again, I've not seen all the documentation since we don't own it - I only did my own searches out of curiosity when we first moved in).
But either way - if you don't know it's there, you have no way of knowing where to look for problems. It's just fortunate that my neighbour has lived in that house next door for so long and knew there was a problem with the drainage immediately when it started to rain. Could have caused a lot more issues if nobody knew were to search for the problem!
