Tradespeople - Why so unreliable?

Adam

Adam

Adam

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
9,247
I'm sitting here waiting for a tiler to turn up and as I type this he is currently 26 minutes late with absolutely no apology or call to forewarn me. I don't know him, I found him via trustatrader and am therefore at the mercy of other peoples reviews.

How can people operate this way? If we agree to meet at 7pm then I expect them to be here 5-10 mins before or after the appointment. If I was to turn up to one of my clients 10 minutes late I'd be sacked unless I had an extremely good reason. Quite how this guy now thinks I will employ him I'm not sure, he literally has a minute chance unless his quote/ideas are far better than everyone elses (unlikely I say). This meeting is his chance to sell himself to me, what an awful first impression although in my experience they seem to think this is acceptable.
 
Bad time management maybe, trying to fit too many jobs in, they have probably just come from a job. I used to work in a job where i traveled to houses to work and you spend so much time traveling and getting stuck in traffic etc, but your also so keen to take any bookings that you can basically be late a lot.
 
bitslice said:
Do you expect him to leave his last job unfinished just so he isn't a few minutes late to give you a quote?
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He has my phone number, he can call and explain the situation but not to call is completely unprofessional.

jsmoke said:
Bad time management maybe, trying to fit too many jobs in, they have probably just come from a job. I used to work in a job where i traveled to houses to work and you spend so much time traveling and getting stuck in traffic etc, but your also so keen to take any bookings that you can basically be late a lot.
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Understood, if he got caught in traffic then I'd understand and luckily I'm not playing football until 9pm so have plenty of time to accommodate him. I'm not unreasonable, I think it's courtesy to explain why you are late and ask if it's still convenient.
 
bitslice said:
Do you expect him to leave his last job unfinished just so he isn't a few minutes late to give you a quote?
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His last job? He might be sat at home. He might be shopping.

Either way it's bad manners. If you can't make it then you should at least phone to apologise. I hate it when I'm made to wait and I have the good enough grace to be on time or phone if there's an emergency and I can't make it.



M.
 
Be blunt and tell him you're not going to hire him because based on this incident you don't feel you could rely on him in future. Then hire someone else. Perhaps he'll learn a lesson or perhaps he'll tell you to sod off. His loss either way.
 
[TW]Fox;22262327 said:
No, he expects him to keep him informed if he is unable to meet an agreed appointment.
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The guy is a tiler, he probably did not attend a Swiss finishing school, does not wear a tie and didn't go to Eaton. He is being asked to give a free quote to a job he may not get or isn't worth his time in doing.

I really wouldn't hold a tradesman to the same standards I'd expect from some Cisco rep.

That the OP made a thread about this is a pretty good reason not to work for the OP.
 
bitslice said:
The guy is a tiler, he probably did not attend a Swiss finishing school, does not wear a tie and didn't go to Eaton. He is being asked to give a free quote to a job he may not get or isn't worth his time in doing.

I really wouldn't hold a tradesman to the same standards I'd expect from some Cisco rep.

That the OP made a thread about this is a pretty good reason not to work for the OP.
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Regardless of his profession I expect him to be punctual if we have agreed a time to meet one another. If he cannot make it or will be late then I would expect a phone call as common courtesy. Are you really telling me that you would find it acceptable for someone to arrange to provide you with a quote and then simply not turn up? You must not value your time very highly...

As it stands now he is 55 minutes late and unlikely to turn up. I have left him a voicemail to let him know he was due to provide me with a quote and to call me. He'll now be told that I no longer require a quote from him.

As there are so many tilers in the issue I don't think it will be a problem finding someone to do it (I have 3 quotes booked in already).
 
bitslice said:
The guy is a tiler, he probably did not attend a Swiss finishing school, does not wear a tie and didn't go to Eaton. He is being asked to give a free quote to a job he may not get or isn't worth his time in doing.

I really wouldn't hold a tradesman to the same standards I'd expect from some Cisco rep.

That the OP made a thread about this is a pretty good reason not to work for the OP.
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It's ridiculous apologists like you which makes it perfectly acceptable to provide pathetic levels of service in this country. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if you have **** poor timekeeping yourself which is why you make excuses for the tradesman.
 
arknor said:
im sure you have his number also but you would rather make a thread on here than find out where he is
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It's a topical discussion on the subject of tradespeople and why they are generally unreliable. I'm sure he's more than capable of chasing the appointment, I doubt that was the intention of his thread.
 
bitslice said:
The guy is a tiler, he probably did not attend a Swiss finishing school, does not wear a tie and didn't go to Eaton. He is being asked to give a free quote to a job he may not get or isn't worth his time in doing.
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Thats business. First impression is everything. If you can't be bothered to either show up on time or communicate with your potential customers if something comes up then its unreasonable to expect them to trust your attitude to the job at hand either.

Your attitude sums up the 'that'll do' bodge it and scarper mentality of a worrying proportion of people.
 
arknor said:
im sure you have his number also but you would rather make a thread on here than find out where he is
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I do indeed which is why I called him. I couldn't care less where he is as he isn't getting the job anymore.

The purpose of my thread, if you bothered to read it, is to under why this seems to be acceptable amongst tradespeople to turn up late (or not at all). I had exactly the same issue when I asked for quotes from carpenters for my house. One of the excuses was "Oh sorry I was late I was having dinner". How is that an acceptable way of selling yourself? He didn't get the job either!
 
Adam said:
Regardless of his profession I expect him to be punctual if we have agreed a time to meet one another.
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Profession is relevant, he's not sat at a desk 9-5 ready to pop out and meet people at an exact time. A call is nice, but not a big deal.

Are you really telling me that you would find it acceptable for someone to arrange to provide you with a quote and then simply not turn up?
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It happens a lot and no I wouldn't be that bothered, you can tell by talking to the guy if he knows what he is doing. Someone who is overkeen to book a job or doesn't look very busy probably isn't much in demand.

What I don't ask for is a job to be done on a Wednesday afternoon by 3:41pm, I'll say I want it done by Saturday.
I know he will need flexibility to fit in other jobs around mine and if I'm not arsey with him then he'll do a good job.

It's obvious he isn't interested in your job and has you down as someone who is quote shopping, this is where it is better to know someone who can recommend people rather than wasting everyone's time and petrol getting lots of quotes. You already know the approximate material and time costs, so how are you going to decide how good he is from a quote, because that is what you are paying for here.
 
Adam said:
I do indeed which is why I called him. I couldn't care less where he is as he isn't getting the job anymore.

The purpose of my thread, if you bothered to read it, is to under why this seems to be acceptable amongst tradespeople to turn up late (or not at all). I had exactly the same issue when I asked for quotes from carpenters for my house. One of the excuses was "Oh sorry I was late I was having dinner". How is that an acceptable way of selling yourself? He didn't get the job either!
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We use the site called rated people. I've used a local joiner and a roofer from there and they have been fantastic. There is normally quite a lot of reviews for their work so gives you a little bit of reassurance.
 
Bear said:
It's ridiculous apologists like you which makes it perfectly acceptable to provide pathetic levels of service in this country. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if you have **** poor timekeeping yourself which is why you make excuses for the tradesman.
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You know squat about the subject, sorry.
You can stuff your assumptions too, pompous ***

[TW]Fox;22262650 said:
Thats business. First impression is everything. If you can't be bothered to either show up on time or communicate with your potential customers if something comes up then its unreasonable to expect them to trust your attitude to the job at hand either.

Your attitude sums up the 'that'll do' bodge it and scarper mentality of a worrying proportion of people.
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I'm interested in getting a job done to a timeframe and a budget. To do that you can't expect everyone to jump around to your random timetable when they have other, possibly bigger, jobs on.

Getting the best people doesn't happen from picking random names and giving the job to the most punctual person, IME they are not in demand because they are ****

Actually I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to building work, so again your assessment of me based on nothing at all is incorrect. It's a good job I like you more than Bear :)

Just for context I project managed a house restoration as well as doing a lot of the skilled work.
 
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bitslice said:
Profession is relevant, he's not sat at a desk 9-5 ready to pop out and meet people at an exact time. A call is nice, but not a big deal.
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Then don't arrange to meet me at 7pm on a Monday night. Without this guy providing quotes he has no work, it's part of the job. To get work, you quote the price you would charge the job and provide ideas. Part of being a tradesman is being a salesman, why else would he advertise on a trustatrader and provide pictures of his workmanship? Part of the selling process is being selling himself as a person including his professionalism which includes his punctuality. I can now no longer take this guy seriously and trust him. He therefore doesn't get the job.

bitslice said:
It happens a lot and no I wouldn't be that bothered, you can tell by talking to the guy if he knows what he is doing. Someone who is overkeen to book a job or doesn't look very busy probably isn't much in demand.

What I don't ask for is a job to be done on a Wednesday afternoon by 3:41pm, I'll say I want it done by Saturday.
I know he will need flexibility to fit in other jobs around mine and if I'm not arsey with him then he'll do a good job.

It's obvious he isn't interested in your job and has you down as someone who is quote shopping, this is where it is better to know someone who can recommend people rather than wasting everyone's time and petrol getting lots of quotes. You already know the approximate material and time costs, so how are you going to decide how good he is from a quote, because that is what you are paying for here.
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It shouldn't happen a lot, it's unacceptable. I can't pick and choose when I do my job, I arrange meetings and I turn up on time and do my job to a high standard. That's why I'm paid what I am and consistently perform well in my job. Equally as I work long hours and will probably have to take a day off I will need to know this guy will be on time and turn up when agreed. I don't have that trust in him anymore.

As for quote shopping, sure I am, that's what everyone does. I pick 3/4 tradesmen in my area and ask them to quote me a price and give me ideas. The one that fills me with the most confidence at a reasonable price gets the job. How can I do this without quotes?

You either don't seem the brightest or you are a tradesman yourself. Come on, which one is it? ;)
 
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