Toggle sidebar

Incompetent bloody ******s

  • Thread starter Thread starter Homer J Simpson
  • Start date Start date
Sort by date Sort by votes
H

Homer J Simpson

I'm not sure if I'm just getting grumpy in my old age (and I'm not even that bloody old yet) or if there are just more stupid people about.

I've used a number of 'professionals' who just don't have a bloody clue. And I'm talking qualified, experienced people. Tradesmen, structural engineers, surveyors.

Some of the most simple things seem to be to difficult for people to comprehend, let along actually carry out the task.

I had a structural engineer produce a report and costings. When you added up all the items, his total was out - simple junior school maths. Then the idiot sends me a stroppy email a month or so later in response to a query I had starting he hadn't been paid. I'd paid him on completion of the report and send him an email stating this at the time. I pointed this out to him and had no reply.

A roofer who claimed to be part of just about every 'scheme' out there (and don't get me wrong, I think most of these FMB, Trustmark things are a joke anyway). But then I asked for details of these and he said, 'I'm not part of those any more, it costs too much' - yet to this day he still advertises as a member of them all.

The list goes on and on.............

So, is it just me, or have you all had your share of these idiots? Any tips to avoiding them? I do my best to vet them by checking their credentials and getting references, but even that's had little impact.

The plus side is it's Friday tomorrow and I've got a part to go to, so I'll be sure to kill off a few brain cells - hopefully the ones with any memory of these idiots.
 
That's the thing, they are (or at least supposed to be) professionals!

They've got the qualifications, and they were paid the going rate. It's not like I asked a structural engineer to come and and 'have a quick look for £20'.
 
Upvote 0
Off on a slight tangent here, but yes - I've dealt with people in the IT sector that are 'cowboys'.

My defence against it? A clearly defined set of responsibilities in the form of specification and contracts. And I suppose this is applicable to any industry; make sure everybody is crystal clear about what exactly's to be delivered, when it is to be delivered by, and how much you/they will pay upon delivery.
 
Upvote 0
We've used a number of Sub-contractors in specific fields whom claim to know what they're doing and they clearly don't.

I won't mention company names or people's names but put it this way... the work they provided were absolutely shocking.

For instance... We had one company install a door operator on our behalf after being given a reasonable quotation. Took them three days to install... which we found to be fair. However, when my client sent me an email asking me to come and inspect the work upon completion as they were not sure if it was done to the correct standard I decided to pay a visit myself rather than sending the Engineer.

I was absolutely shocked at what I saw... Bearing in mind this particular company had specified the product and reasons for using the specific product I'd have thought honestly that they'd have been able to install it correctly.

The operator was installed on a 5 degree slant - the cabling was on show and didn't look to be protected - there were no sensors on the door but installed against a wall... on top of this and other niggling things... he had used a SCREW... yes a SCREW as a doorstop!

I asked were the engineer was, thinking he was perhaps loading his van... I was told that he'd left at 12.30pm saying that he would be back in an hour and hadn't returned, but insisted that they signed the job sheet as complete!

Let's just say we were hardly impressed. It took 4 weeks from them to get all the issues sorted - and on top of this we had to pay for a plasterer to chase the walls!
 
Upvote 0
Roofer last year was due to come on a specific day. We had taken time off work and made sure tenants cars were moved and so on. He didn't turn up - we rang him and apparently he had a hangover and couldn't see what the problem was as he could come tomorrow.

Friends were moving house (4 beds and huge garage full of stuff). One bloke turned up with a Luton van. He packed about half the house and then demanded his money stating he had had enough and was going home.

How do these people stay in business?
 
Upvote 0
Please always get references / referrals from friends / relatives whom you trust. You would definitely know someone in your immediate circle who has the positive experience to share

Also, make sure you select the professionals with whom some one you know has dealt with and is happy.

Also, ask your queries more than once if you are not sure the professional is on the same wavelength as you. Communication is very important.

Find some one who is not working for profit but who is working to add one more satisfied client.
 
Upvote 0
I genuinely don't know anyone who has any good tradespeople to recommend. I know this sounds far fetched, but honesty it's true. I've had a few people recommend to me, but even they were not reliable (not complete cowboys), but not really anyone I'd recommend on to anyone else.

I had a tiler recommended to me. He came out, sae the job, gave me a price (which I didn't push him down on) and he got the job done. His work was good. Then I tried getting hold of him again for another job and he just never bothered getting back to me.

A plumber missed an appointment to come and quote for a job. We rearranged it for another time as he said he had a family issue. When he came out, he had a black eye (from the 'family' issue?) looked at the job and never even came back to me with a price.

The list goes on and on and on.

This applies to builders who are FMB and have been for years. Gas Safe plumbers who've been going for about 18 years. Plasterers who've been doing it 30 years.

The quality of tradesmen is shocking. And this is people who've been doing it for ages, not your 2 week course type, or recently laid off from site type. These people have been making a living like this for well over a decade!

Those drinkd tonight can't come soon enough.
 
Upvote 0
Are you sure you're not already drunk? You're already slurring your words :D


‘tomorrow and I've got a part to go to’

‘Those drinkd tonight can't come soon enough’
 
Upvote 0
try and go for the younger ones they're fresh, eager and energetic which is the exact opposite to someone in their late 40's who is knackered, jaundiced and lazy;)
 
Upvote 0
fisicx said:
Roofer last year was due to come on a specific day. We had taken time off work and made sure tenants cars were moved and so on. He didn't turn up - we rang him and apparently he had a hangover and couldn't see what the problem was as he could come tomorrow.

Friends were moving house (4 beds and huge garage full of stuff). One bloke turned up with a Luton van. He packed about half the house and then demanded his money stating he had had enough and was going home.

How do these people stay in business?
Click to expand...

Joiner - wanted X for him and around 0.5 X for his junior which was fine but could not state how long the job would take. My thoughts were ... until he got another job!

Had a leak in a condo I owned and wanted to move to another condo I owned in the next block. Removal company tried to charge for mileage (there could be none !) and then half way through the move with the large items done, they wanted to slope off. I said sure, but you won't get paid. They said I could finish the rest. I did, they didn't get paid, never heard from them again.

Another removal company - smashed item of furniture and suggested I claim on my insurance. What ?

As soon as you push a tradesman for real references and introduce a real contract, most jump ship. Why ? I guess because they are just crap or cowboys.

Today I spoke to a couple of brickies who are doing some work on a 10 house build near me. They complained about not having enough work but when I suggested pricing up a small job or putting in day rates and not piece work for a large job they suddenly had to go back to work and would drop a card round later. They didn't. Again, the thought of accountability scared them off.
 
Upvote 0
It can be hard as a one man & van trade to field every phone call that comes in in a way that pleases everyone.

Days can be chaotic and rarely go to plan. Chasing money, chasing orders, dealing with other peoples errors, traffic, quotes, managing subbies.

Inbetween all that you have to get your hands dirty in crap dusty conditions and earn the ££'s to feed yourself.

Rinse and repeat 52 weeks over many years and you soon see why we can be a cynical jaded bunch.

Most will just follow the path of least resistance.



Sent from my GT-I9100 using UK Business Forums
 
Upvote 0
Yes, I appreciate their lives are not always an easy life.

But neither is mine and employ tradesmen to make it easier, not harder.

With regards to using younger tradesmen, I thought exactly the same thing, until I actually tried using them. The example of the plumber I gave was relatively young. I also tried a team of other guys who consisted of an electrician, carpenter and painter/decorator - they were useless. Too eager to earn money quickly so standard of work was poor.

Young plasterer damaged customer's kitchen and didn't tell me about it.

Young bricky couldn't do much without being directed all the time (probably use to being on site and ordered around).

I'm still trying to find a happy medium. Someone young enough to have the energy to do the work well but the lack of experience can still be the issue. The older experienced ones seem to have more of a take it or leave it attitude. I leave it, and they wonder why they don't get much work!
 
Upvote 0
I'm a tradesman. We are insanely busy at the moment and I put a lot of it down to the fact that we can be bothered to actually turn up / return calls / emails etc.

I'm talking about domestic clients mainly (we're flat roofers amongst other things) - they are genuinely delighted that someone interacts with, and gets back to them!

We have no accreditations, not a member of any official bodies etc etc and I can honestly say it has made not one jot of difference.

It's crazy, people don't seem to want the work, which is great for us :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Philip Hoyle, Homer J Simpson, Curious and 1 other person
Upvote 0
And you deserve it. You're doing what you're meant to - providing the customer with a good service which is more than just price & workmanship. It's treating them properly!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Upvote 0
We've actually put off having work done in our house as it's so hard to find decent tradesmen. Every single time it turns out to be ridiculously stressful in chasing supposedly good tradesmen to do their job. They either don't turn up, do a shoddy job, forget what they've come to do and bring the wrong stuff. And I'm not talking the cheapest here either - we don't use the "handyman" types - always established businesses. We've found that the only way to get anywhere near the job done properly is for one of us to stay in and keep an eye on what they're doing. Every single time (and I'm not exaggerating), we've left someone on their own for longer than an hour, we come back to find a mistake or shoddiness.

Back to the OP, though, it's definitely not just tradesmen, the professions are definitely just as bad. I had a horrid time with a solicitor - I'd written a report of all the fundamental issues when we were buying a very long lease - I knew the premises inside out as I'd been rented it for years on a short lease. The sheer number of letters & emails asking for exactly the same information I'd provided in my report was crazy and I kept having to refer them back to my report. When the draft lease arrived, with a covering letter asking just for my signature, I actually thought it was for a different client as it bore no resemblance to my property. To think people trust their professionals and sign what they're presented with (often without understanding or reading it) is scary!

Sadly, I have to agree that trade/professional qualifications/affiliations don't seem to be a guarantee of good service.

I once needed plans drawing and tried some local architects who just couldn't grasp what I wanted. All I wanted was a simple extension - just simple rooms, and they all wanted to do some kind of "design award" job on it and charge ludicrous fees (several thousand). Then an unqualified "technician" was recommended to me, who did exactly what I needed (some simple plans) for just a few hundred pounds. Needless to say, I've recommended him several times to other people - he never advertises as he works on "word of mouth" recommendations, simply on the back of doing a good job.

Finally, don't get me started on other "accountants". I just can't believe how some firms manage to stay in business. Again, doesn't seem to matter whether qualified or not. There's a book-keeping firm in a nearby town that charge stupidly high amounts for simple, shoddy work - I've taken on a couple of their clients and they've been charging thousands for basic book-keeping and payroll, but their work is still littered with basic mistakes and sloppiness. Then supposedly national/specialist firms who claim to be the best but just put their most junior staff on the job on a "production line".

At the end of the day, it seems the only way to increase your chances of getting a good tradesman/professional is relying on "word of mouth" from people you trust who've used them for their own work. We've learned to shy away from the firms who heavily advertise as they seem to just "churn" by constantly needing new customers, rather than the firms who don't advertise who are keeping busy from referrals and repeat business from past customers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: simon field
Upvote 0
That's the problem, I can't get any good tradesmen recommend to begin with. Looks like it's a case of trail and error until I find any good ones!
 
Upvote 0
I'm a tradesman with a relatively new business in an industry that is littered with cowboys and travellers. I don't advertise in anything, all my work is from word of mouth. I'm not amazingly busy but enough to get by. I get so frustrated when I see these cowboys at the suppliers spending thousands on materials and boasting how busy they are. I then see the quality of work they produce and it's terrible. All they are doing is blagging a sale then rushing the job, getting paid then off to the next, with no thought to what they have left behind. Their customers are non the wiser thinking they have had a good job done but they haven't. All they have done is paid for a job that will need sorting out again in a few years time. (Which may be good for me in the long run).
I have never had any complaints or come backs regarding my work and I feel do a good, honest, value for money job.
Is this where I'm going wrong?? Should I go out there without a conscience and just trounce every job I do in order to make a quick buck??

I was talking to a customer of mine the other day and he said something that will stick with me for a while.
He said..
"these cowboys will come in, do what they do, then they will go. If you provide quality work along with a quality service. You will always prevail and stand the test of time."

I do hope this is true because as it stands these ethics and quality of workmanship are all I have.
Regards
Glen
 
  • Like
Reactions: simon field
Upvote 0
It is so frustrating when you hear about cowboys and lazy buggers - they are usually the ones moaning about the state of teh economy and the 'fact' there is no work out there when in reality it's because they can't be arsed to do a good job for a good price.

Philip Hoyle said:
......we don't use the "handyman" types - always established businesses........
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:
What about established handymen?
I'm a sole trader running a handyman / property maintenance company - the only one in my area to be trading standards approved and am fully booked until the end of august with a renovation project just about to get rubber stamped that will take me through to christmas.

Why so busy? Because I turn up, do a good job, leave the place clean and tidy and charge a reasonable rate.

When the recipie for success is so simple, I don't understand why so many choose to make it difficult.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hedgie and simon field
Upvote 0
fisicx said:
Roofer last year was due to come on a specific day. We had taken time off work and made sure tenants cars were moved and so on. He didn't turn up - we rang him and apparently he had a hangover and couldn't see what the problem was as he could come tomorrow.

Friends were moving house (4 beds and huge garage full of stuff). One bloke turned up with a Luton van. He packed about half the house and then demanded his money stating he had had enough and was going home.

How do these people stay in business?
Click to expand...

We do removals as well as everything else and the amount of people ring us in a panic because there removal company the booked weeks in advance have not shown up.

Its crazy, the dont deserve to be in business.

Ben.
 
Upvote 0
I think the problem is that they take being their own boss a little too far. I'm all for turning down customers I think will be a bloody nightmare. I don't string them along and then let them down.

I think a lot of these self employed people feel that as they don't have to answer to anyone, they just decide on the day that they can't be bothered, so they won't show. Or a bigger job has come in, so they'll go to that without the courtesy of informing their other pre-booked customers of it.

There are probably loads of reasons, but it boils down to they don't give a crap and I'm genuinely surprised that they're able to stay in business at all. But I suppose, then the economy picks up, a lot of these jokers will get work on site and hopefully allow the proper tradesmen to deal with the domestic jobs.
 
Upvote 0
I totally agree with your points, its a headache for decent tradesmen too!

i make a huge effort on my service and for it, i am always busy, but charge a top rate for it, and for the most part, people are more than happy to pay for a decent service to someone they know will turn up, do a job right and answer the phone or come back and sort out any issues even after hes been paid

However im at the point where growing my business is extremley hard and soo slow as i refuse to take on someone who will be detrimental to the service i want to provide or lower the standard of workmanship my business delivers

Im not a control freak or perfectionist but just want someone whos competant and can be trusted and i would be more than pleased to pay a decent rate for this, but Finding decent electricians is impossible for me and i have lots of contacts in this trade, so the normal householder wouldnt stand a chance


The breakdown in proper structured training and apprenticships and the upsurge of 2 week trades courses, short cut instant fast track is destroying the skilled trades

Sites like trust a trader and rated people are the vessel in which most of these short course wonders and cowboys operate, they are not vetted or checked at all and they just ask mates to provide good reviews for them

But then again its sometimes the customers fault too as when they expect to pay peanuts etc etc
 
Upvote 0
  • Like
Reactions: Haunted Worlds
Upvote 0
Sent an email the other day asking a company 4 pretty straight forward questions. One question half answered, one not answered at all. What is wrong with people?

Too busy to care?
Simply don't care if busy or not?
Too stupid to deal with simple queries?

And to top it off the guy was the sales director! :rolleyes:
 
Upvote 0
Homer J Simpson said:
Sent an email the other day asking a company 4 pretty straight forward questions. One question half answered, one not answered at all. What is wrong with people?

Too busy to care?
Simply don't care if busy or not?
Too stupid to deal with simple queries?

And to top it off the guy was the sales director! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I think this is very easy to answer...

reasons for not answering what to the sender is a very straightforward email enquiry

1. the company is insolvent and couldnt give a sh*t
2. the company is plenty busy enough and doesnt need more work unless the work sounds profitable
3. the email enquiry suggests the enquiry is either not profitable or is a load of agro.

most emails will be received as per number 3 above imo

theres no other reason IMO for a business not to answer an email enquiry apart from they hate emails or cant type:)
 
Upvote 0
Just shocking how little real service you seem to get from anywhere these days. Where are all the people that give a damn how they treat their customers?
 
Upvote 0
Homer J Simpson said:
Just shocking how little real service you seem to get from anywhere these days. Where are all the people that give a damn how they treat their customers?
Click to expand...

They don't need to advertise so you won't find them in Yellow Pages or the local paper, nor even a website. The firms that advertise heavily often need to do so because they have so little repeat and referral business that they need a steady stream of new customers - maybe because of their poor service.

We have a "tame" decorator and a joiner - they have zero advertising nor marketing - not even a name on their vans. Neither have a website, they're not in Yellow Pages and the joiner is actually ex-directory. In fact, it's quite a pain when we need him because we have to dig out his last invoice to find his phone number. But they're both absolutely brilliant, not cheap, but they turn up as promised, tidy/clean up after themselves and do a good job.
 
Upvote 0
My brother in law has used a succession of dodgy trades people, all of whom have been recommended to him by people at his squash club. I've begun to wonder if his fellow players dont like him!

A couple of weeks ago he ordered some heavy oak railway-style sleepers to replace the rotten ones some (recommended) person had installed for him in his garden. The delivery driver turned up on his own and my 5ft tall, late 50s sister in law ended up having to help him unload them off the wagon. What were the delivery company thinking!
 
Upvote 0
We have a run of about 150ft to the sewer on the main road, you can't believe how good I've got at cleaning and unblocking drains after the cowboy I used about 10 years ago appeared to do nothing and charge a fortune.

And don't get me started on the lawyer who charged me £350 to change the Mems and Arts for my business only for me to receive a rude letter and threat of a fine from Companies House for not submitting a new set, her reply? "CH don't keep us up to date with changes"!!!!
 
Upvote 0
Homer J Simpson said:
Sent an email the other day a
sking a company 4 pretty straight forward questions. One question half answered, one not answered at all. What is wrong with people?

Too busy to care?
Simply don't care if busy or not?
Too stupid to deal with simple queries?

And to top it off the guy was the sales director! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Emailed printer for quotes for 120,000 A5 brochures in batches of 10k over the forthcoming year but with 8 variants depending on size and paper quality.

I get back 3 figures covering only one type of paper !

Too stupid, too lazy and I no longer care if they don't care. Sod them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Homer J Simpson
Upvote 0
Called a local plumber up to replace two toilets in our building.

Didn't turn up to give us a price.

Called again, and this time they came. Got a price. Told him to go ahead.

Should have arrived on Thursday. No sign. Phoned, and he apologised and said he'd come yesterday. Guess what.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: Homer J Simpson
Upvote 0
Despite not liking sites that charge tradesmen for leads, I'm about to start trying rated people. Why?

It's going to cost tradesmen to get in touch - so if they want to waste my time, it will waste their money.
They'll know what the job is before they get charged - if it's too small/big for them, they don't need to reply.
Feedback - if they value it (which on these sites they should) they'll (hopefully) do a better job.

Some people I know have had great success with it, but I've held back until now.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Upvote 0
Rather than set up another thread just to moan, I have to say that something else really gets on my nerves. It's usually only when someone does it loads...........

I can't stand listening to people who um, say a few words, then um, say a few more, then um, well um, use the word um again. The full stop and comma were invented for a reason, there is no need to use um all the time! :mad:

um, now time for a um, a cup of um, tea ! :D
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

JEREMY HAWKE
Bank account on hold as frauster made a payment
Replies
5
Views
2K
General Business Forum
WaveJumper
WaveJumper
tony84
Just a little story about a side project...
Replies
6
Views
598
General Business Forum
DavidReed
D
L
How do you actually write a business plan?
Replies
19
Views
1K
General Business Forum
EnterprisePro
E
K
Thinking about giving up my business
Replies
10
Views
850
General Business Forum
kordan.walker
K
S
Advice needed.. A director has gone rogue.
Replies
23
Views
8K
General Business Forum
Jiahua
J

Latest Articles

Top Bottom
Back