So the wife and her sister were left a flat by their mother, this was over 4 yrs ago, its in a block of 4, and the weather boards are now in need of replacement.
We’ve got it priced up and its supposed to be done on this Monday and Tuesday coming, scaffolders were supposed to have put the scaffold up on Friday just past, middle of the day had arrived with no sign of them, I rang the installers and they said the scaffolders should be there in the afternoon and the receptionist would chase them up.4pm arrived no sign of them, rang the installers, office closed at 3-30, no scaffold up and no word on what is happening til Monday. Its not very professional, so this thread is about a moan about people and companies letting you down.
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Decent customer service it seems is a thing of the past.
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Your experience doesn’t surprise me at the moment…its just about impossible to get tradesmen of any kind they are all booked up for months in advance…my advice is smile sweetly when they arrive otherwise you might be at the back of the queue again.
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They want the money for the work it’ll be done, also waiting on a back door from the same lot, should also be done next week, they’re blaming fuel crisis on that one, its a reputable company too, local at that, well to N Devon that is.
Well, I recently renovated my kitchen.
It was interesting to say the least! The carpenter (a family friend) couldn’t understand my colour choice even though I had the exact sample!!! I had to source the doors myself 
Then, he couldn’t figure out my hardware! So, I went out and chose my own handles!
Let’s not even talk about the hinges and ‘fancy’ pullout shelves that I wanted for my pantry so that I could access them easily since I’m very, very short at 1.53cm.
Needless to say, I’m not particularly pleased with the workmanship.
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I stay in a housing association flat and a couple of years ago I had the much needed heating system renovated.
The company who lo longer work for the association were a masterclass on how not to do a job.
To make things easier they decided that all the radiators were placed in the various rooms as close to the hall as possible. The Livingroom radiator is behind the door. They cut so many joists away in the hall the floorboards had little support.
A few days later I had to get more people in to strengthen the floor.
Now a housing officer employed by the association is supposed to check all works by their contractors, never saw him so the fitters effectively got away with shoddy work.
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Oh blimey are you ready for this …
My fencing blew down 3 months ago my workman came and measured up made a start on day 7 then I didnt hear from him for 4 weeks eventually he arrived did some more work then it was 3 weeks before he came back . Hes a decent guy who had too much work on . Hes done a good job but it cost much more than expected as it is cement posts and thick heavy duty panels . Hope it stays put !
New window needed in my bedroom guy came measured up 4 weeks ago I actually heard yesterday from him the he MIGHT be here on Tuesday but he will let me know . Still at least I’ve had a phone call .
I could tell you more from my past issues but maybe later …watch this space 
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It’s the same everywhere at the moment - tradespeople are just impossible to pin down. It’s almost impossible to even get any to come out and price up a job, never mind actually do it!
We had builders in to re-render and re-plaster our hallway. That was the first week in September. Naturally they had to take the radiator off the wall and remove the metal support brackets. They also removed a section of skirting and a small section of dado rail in the lobby. “We’ll be back in a couple of weeks when it’s all dry” they said cheerily, as they left. Mr B, unfortunately, had paid them in full, so there wasn’t a lot of incentive to come back and finish the job. He’s made a couple of phone calls to them, with promises to ‘get back’ to him. Well, nothing so far. I’m fuming. They were relatively cheap, and they say ‘you get what you pay for’. Yeah OK, but we paid for the job to be finished, and it isn’t 
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We’ve asked a couple of builders for a quote , not heard back from them, its for some internal work, ideal in the winter months you’d think.
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Yes you would think so, wouldn’t you? Problem is all the jobs that were cancelled during the worst of the pandemic.
Moral of the story is never pay the full amount until happy with the job. 
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Oh don’t I know that! I was out at the time, or I would have made sure Mr B held back £100 or so. He’s far too trusting. He chats away to tradesmen while they’re here and makes the mistake of thinking they’ve become his friends 
There’s no friend’s when the filthy lucre is involved.
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It was the late MrsFraggle that paid the guys when we had a new bathroom fitted before I had chance to check it bless her.
There was so many faults, not major but if your paying five grand you want sorted.
Had to do them myself.
Ouch! Sheba that sounds like trouble! Hope you find them and drag them back by the scruff of their necks! 
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Blinkin’ Amazon!
I ordered an Actifry that was supposed to arrive yesterday but Amazon in their wisdom chose Royal Mail for their next-day delivery, the almost inevitable result being no delivery.
Maybe it will arrive on Monday?
We’re still waiting for our double glazing (ordered early in May) to be installed. In fact, we’re still waiting to hear from the bloody company - every time we call or email them they say they’ll get back to us. They haven’t. It’s got soooo bad now, we’ve given them until the end of next week to contact us or we’ll cancel the contract and, if necessary, take them to the small claims court to get our deposit back.
On the positive side, the shed I ordered (also in May) will be delivered and assembled for me on Wednesday morning and the external insulation (ordered in early August) work starts a week tomorrow.
Ah yes another one I remember
I paid a lot of money for my kitchen to be made more modern , new cupboard doors etc and flooring in a nice soft grey colour . This was 2 years ago
6 months ago I noticed the tops of two doors under the sink were scraping the top when opened and causing an issue . I rang the local company and asked for someone to come out to sort a few small issues . 6 months I waited and lo and behold on Thursday a lovely chap came out and sorted it all for me . I’m lucky as some would have ignored me or gone bust .
Im a self employed joiner and I think the biggest issue is communicating with the customers if you phone and say you cant make it today then at least they know and arent left in limbo
you got the wrong carpenter …as the customer is always right !!! I was told years ago that come the end of the day we go home…
you live with your kitchen day in day out so it should be the way YOU want it
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