Poor tradesman

A

an203888

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Norfolk
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United Kingdom
What is it with trades and being so bloody unreliable. My builder was brilliant during lockdown as I had materials for him. So I've since reccomend him to the in laws and he's a month late starting but he just isn't letting them know his timescales, never replies to texts or phone calls and has 7k of their money to start
He has however been replying to me as he has a few bits to finish off at mine. He came to do the brickwork on moving a doorway two weeks ago - really should have been a days job. He turned up at 11,finished at 3 and said he would be back the next day to finish. He wasn't back so gave him a day and text him and said he would "deffo" finish that week... I gave him a week, text him and he said he had freed up the next day to finish off. I made sure everything was ready for him but never turned up. Text him again and no reply.

I am now thinking of just doing the work myself and not paying him. I don't mind delays as long as they are communicated and if u say your going to turn up the next day you do!

I've delet with another builder in the past who seemed to be exactly the same if not worse which is why I used the new one. Why, oh why oh why do trades seem to be like this. All I can think is that they are inundated with work and can't manage it effectively but I don't know.
 
an203888 said:
What is it with trades and being so bloody unreliable. My builder was brilliant during lockdown as I had materials for him. So I've since reccomend him to the in laws and he's a month late starting but he just isn't letting them know his timescales, never replies to texts or phone calls and has 7k of their money to start
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There lies the problem - Never pay for work in advance of any work being done. Make staged payments, based on agreed levels of progress. Even on small jobs, just pay for what has been done, not what will be done.
 
Harry Bloomfield said:
There lies the problem - Never pay for work in advance of any work being done. Make staged payments, based on agreed levels of progress. Even on small jobs, just pay for what has been done, not what will be done.
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7k is a staged payment - it's a 40k extension. He has ordered steels. To be fair I think on my job I have paid him for all his work and he has done some more on top but he hasn't finished so can't invoice me yet. If he doesn't get ut done by Friday, I will be finishing it myself any not paying him.
 
an203888 said:
What is it with trades and being so bloody unreliable. My builder was brilliant during lockdown as I had materials for him. So I've since reccomend him to the in laws and he's a month late starting but he just isn't letting them know his timescales, never replies to texts or phone calls and has 7k of their money to start
He has however been replying to me as he has a few bits to finish off at mine. He came to do the brickwork on moving a doorway two weeks ago - really should have been a days job. He turned up at 11,finished at 3 and said he would be back the next day to finish. He wasn't back so gave him a day and text him and said he would "deffo" finish that week... I gave him a week, text him and he said he had freed up the next day to finish off. I made sure everything was ready for him but never turned up. Text him again and no reply.

I am now thinking of just doing the work myself and not paying him. I don't mind delays as long as they are communicated and if u say your going to turn up the next day you do!

I've delet with another builder in the past who seemed to be exactly the same if not worse which is why I used the new one. Why, oh why oh why do trades seem to be like this. All I can think is that they are inundated with work and can't manage it effectively but I don't know.
Click to expand...

Think it is pretty common tbh. A lot of guys out there are good at their job....but just not great at running a business. Work can stack up quickly..can quickly go from no work to too much work....trying to manage it isnt always easy. Especially when its difficult turning down work...a lot of guys dont do it because of greed more because they think or want to try help someone out or dont know how to get out of doing a job that they might not fancy doing. Sometimes their going from not enough work to too much work at times...its hard to justify turning the work down knowing they might hit a dry spell soon. Some find it hard to let people down. So they say the right thing...then it turns out they,ve took on too much. It almost becomes easier to avoid it when one day late turns to two. Before long it snowballs. Its hard work one man running a business tbh. They need to sort out marketing. Get the materials which can sometimes turn into a nightmare. Manage their schedule. Keep their van clean. Do the jobs. Sort out staff sometimes. Keep everyone happy. Keep up to date with the ever changing new products etc. Pricing up/quotes etc. Sometimes theres not enough time in the day. Probably a lot more too it as well.

Not an excuse but a lot of these guys are decent guys that are pretty good at the job just not great at running a business. No one really teaches you how tbh. Unlike the skills they,ve learned with their trade etc.
 
bbjc said:
Think it is pretty common tbh. A lot of guys out there are good at their job....but just not great at running a business. Work can stack up quickly..can quickly go from no work to too much work....trying to manage it isnt always easy. Especially when its difficult turning down work...a lot of guys dont do it because of greed more because they think or want to try help someone out or dont know how to get out of doing a job that they might not fancy doing. Sometimes their going from not enough work to too much work at times...its hard to justify turning the work down knowing they might hit a dry spell soon. Some find it hard to let people down. So they say the right thing...then it turns out they,ve took on too much. It almost becomes easier to avoid it when one day late turns to two. Before long it snowballs. Its hard work one man running a business tbh. They need to sort out marketing. Get the materials which can sometimes turn into a nightmare. Manage their schedule. Keep their van clean. Do the jobs. Sort out staff sometimes. Keep everyone happy. Keep up to date with the ever changing new products etc. Pricing up/quotes etc. Sometimes theres not enough time in the day. Probably a lot more too it as well.

Not an excuse but a lot of these guys are decent guys that are pretty good at the job just not great at running a business. No one really teaches you how tbh. Unlike the skills they,ve learned with their trade etc.
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I think you have hit the nail on the head and it's as I suspect BUT all they need to do is be honest and tell the customer. Just a quick text or call to say "sorry for the delay, other jobs have taken longer than I thought. I won't be getting to you this week but am hoping I can by the end of next, will update you then".
 
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