Tradies - Winge

[CHAOS]

I like to think I am fair person. Of late I am have been struggling with the attitude of others in relation to their work. We make sure everything is ready for tradies when they come and we make sure someone is there to let them in. We always pay on time as well. Last week no exception.

Trade was coming on Friday afternoon (as per when suited them) - was organized the week before. I heard nothing so checked the night before checked we were still on. Surprise something has come up he will be there in the am. (When did he plan to tell me that - when he rocked up and there was no one home?)
So I make sure I am there at the time he wanted to work. 45 minutes later still waiting. I call up and he says I'm coming I am just loading up for another job. I said well you changed the time and I have rearranged my day to be here to open the house for you and you are not here. He interrupts me and says just forget it then and hangs up.
I call back to ask if he is coming or not. (No in this manner of course - At the end of the day I need this job done).
No surprise the job is not finished and he leaves the place in a state. I asked politely if he could finish one room because my kids were coming to the house and he said, No -I am not going to get my tools out just to do that. I have to go soon. Then he tells me he will come back and finish it when it suits him. Wants a key so that he can after other jobs pop by and do a bit more.

What is that crap? And their attitude is find someone else. When you ask someone to quote job and give you a price and they tell you they need a day. Is it unreasonable to expect them to do their job? Or if something comes up as I understand can do - they have the courtesy to ring or text you.

I am coming across this more and more.
Last year a tradie had 5k of our money and two mths later still hadn't started the job and when I queried the hold up - he said "are you questioning me?". Like I have no rights to find out what is going on.

The attitude from some business is its my way or the highway, I will do it when it suits me and if you don't like it nick off! This wasn't a last minute can you fit me in job - it was quoted on and organized 4 weeks ago.

Obviously we will not use him again. There was also follow up work we would have given him but now we will do it ourselves.

Rant over

 

[DaveM]

Smart trades know that customer service is just as important as the work quality. They are the ones who end up with successful businesses where they can get others to do the work.

Many tradies have no communication skills and usually spend their career working for someone else for a relatively low wage, or run one man band budinesses where they lurch from one overrun work disaster and un-met deadline to the next.

In addition many tradies have only known good times where they can pick and choose jobs, and havenot known bad times when they have to scrape enough work together to keep their house. It will be a rude wake up call for many when they have to bend over backwards to keep the same client they told to sod off too busy a few years earlier

 

[Jen_PFR]

Good/reliable tradies are hard to find.

As an example, we needed to get a small patch of sand bricked in. Rang around, got hold of a very personable guy, who quoted $330 for the job (we supplied the bricks and mortar, he supplied the sand). My other half said it seemed like a lot for an area about 1.8m x 2m, but we needed to get it sorted out and time was an issue for us, so we gave this guy the go ahead. We paid 50% up front, fair enough.

On the day, my father in law came past as he was doing some work on the property for us. He found two guys scooping the sand out with their hands and laying the bricks in anyhow. Asked if they were using a level - 'of course we are'. He called me and said I might want to check the job out.

Pictures attached.
The guy didn't get the other 50%.

 

[china]

Good/reliable tradies are hard to find.

I am just curious how investors that hold properties interstate and overseas manage to find good tradies to conduct renos. It is hard enough to find good tradies in one area let alone someone 1000km away.

What are the best sources of recommendations for tradies if you are living in Sydney and hold IP in Perth? Or do you rely on the property manager to conduct minor renos?

 

[cu@thetop]

I am just curious how investors that hold properties interstate and overseas manage to find good tradies to conduct renos. It is hard enough to find good tradies in one area let alone someone 1000km away.

I suppose you can buy new and get problems fixed under warranty. Buy in body corporates so it's someone else's problem outside your four walls.
Get a good manager and utilize their contacts.

 

[DEC]

In addition many tradies have only known good times where they can pick and choose jobs, and havenot known bad times when they have to scrape enough work together to keep their house. It will be a rude wake up call for many when they have to bend over backwards to keep the same client they told to sod off too busy a few years earlier

Can't happen fast enough for me.

 

[BayView]

I am just curious how investors that hold properties interstate and overseas manage to find good tradies to conduct renos. It is hard enough to find good tradies in one area let alone someone 1000km away.

What are the best sources of recommendations for tradies if you are living in Sydney and hold IP in Perth? Or do you rely on the property manager to conduct minor renos?

when we had 5 IP's, the closest one was an hour from here.

Two were interstate.

The solution is to find a PM and usually they have access to a network of trades people who they can call to do the work.

The good thing is; the tradies they use know they are on a good wicket with the PM's, and therefore provide a prompt, reliable service for any repairs....otherwise they would lose the gravy train.

 

[Truly Exotic]

I put up an ad for someone to mow the front and back yard of an ip

Got heaps of responses, chose the first one,

They mowed the front but not the back because their lawn mower broke down,

And now they want me to pay for the full job

I'm going to pay half even though e front is smaller

So now I have to find someone who is willing to do just half the job

Not happy jan

 

[Jen_PFR]

How to find good tradies? Well, we have just used trial and error, basically. We know of two great plumbers and an excellent cabinetmaker, but we're still looking around for a sparky to add to the list. If anyone can recommend a sparky in the Perth northern suburbs, please feel free to PM me with their details

 

[moyjos]

. . And THAT is why we are "successful tradies". Our tag line is Service to Count on... And we actually mean it.

We are starting see the reverse lately. Hubby books in a job/quote gets there on time and no-one home, (phone call to client).."hi i am here, where are you"..... " oh i didn't expect you would be there I am shopping, can you come back in an hour?". .... Ahhhh nooo we have another job.

I have very little sympathy for tradies who say business is tight

 

[slumpMunkey]

The attitude from some business is its my way or the highway, I will do it when it suits me and if you don't like it nick off! This wasn't a last minute can you fit me in job - it was quoted on and organized 4 weeks ago.

Some make to much money and just do not care. My mate is a plumber and ive been with him when people were calling him and he was saying 'yep yep im still coming, im just at reece getting some fittings bla bla' and we were at mcdonalds doing nothing. he misses alot of bookings aswell because he doesnt write anything down and books work on top of other work.

i gave him $1000 cash one week before i needed him the day after settlement and he went to the sand dunes with his quad bike, then it rained for 2 days..

1)too much money
2)no organisation skills
3)does not care about stuffing people around

but he's a top bloke haha

 

[Hodge]

I've been working for myself for 8 years, never missed an appointment and when I know im going to be late I just call or sms to let them know.

It's not rocket science but so many just don't get it. It's called respect.

 

[CHAOS]

I've been working for myself for 8 years, never missed an appointment and when I know im going to be late I just call or sms to let them know.

It's not rocket science but so many just don't get it. It's called respect.

Exactly.

An sms would have done the trick. I could have gone and had breakfast in the 45 mins - because I missed it that morning due to not wanting to hold him up.


I have a great plumber, electrician and recently painter. Normally do the painting myself but decided to hire an extra pair of hands. Even the tiler we used has respect. When we asked if he could do some work he said he was going on holiday and was flat out trying to finish jobs so it would be 4 weeks. No probs there. Just means hubby is doing the tiling this time round -but we would call him again for future jobs.

 

[moyjos]

I've been working for myself for 8 years, never missed an appointment and when I know im going to be late I just call or sms to let them know.

It's not rocket science but so many just don't get it. It's called respect.

Absolutely...it is not that hard

 

[wylie]

The plumber we have been using for well over ten years has just dropped the ball and the bathroom job we did just this past month on our own PPOR was done by a new plumber due to our regular chap just not calling me back to come and look at it. We've given him so much work over the years that it is a real shame, but we've been less than happy lately (though have kept quiet to see how things pan out).

It seems to me that when we find a tradie who is a sole trader we get great service. It is the tradies who get too big and we find we are sent someone we've not worked with, or don't know that well that things fall down.

I also don't like knowing that when there are two fully qualified plumbers and an apprentice at our job, and the main plumber is directing his other crews and/or organising deliveries to other jobs that we feel we are being taken advantage of. I'm assuming we are paying for three plumbers to be on the job, but only one is working, the other is learning (which is fine, and we are probably paying a bit less for an apprentice) whilst the third one is running the business from our job whilst no doubt charging us his full hourly rate.

The plumber we got when our regular one just didn't get back to us (though he knew we had a bathroom to do and after I called to ask for him to come and take a look - twice) is fantastic, single operator, all round nice bloke.

He's a keeper.

And of course, the next problem is... when people ask for his name, do we keep it to ourselves? If we give too many people his name, we will have trouble getting him when we want him. This has happened with our sparkie too.