Rip off workmen

And will rarely be available the next day to do a job, unless it’s something urgent. As they are busy.

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Oh yes, definitely yes! My trusted trader Kevin has completed a lot of work for me in the past 7 or so years, but although he will attend swiftly for a very urgent call, it will be only to ensure the job is safe and or watertight. The full monty will have to wait it’s turn and my tenants know this.

Sorry, but that’s no excuse at all, Bruce.
We would think much more of them if they were just honest, and said they have too much work on. And if they don’t want the job in the first place, then don’t quote for it in the first place!

Why can’t these men see that quoting silly prices instead just gives them a bad name and customers won’t ever return, nor recommend them either.

I agree with you, Muddy.
I have had more bad experiences with them, than good ones.

I am also convinced some try to con women more, as they know the majority don’t know enough about building work to argue.

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Again I agree with that, Carol.
One of these ‘trades people’ on a recommended site here, turned out to be a gipsy!
Thank God I didn’t let him and his mates round.

One worker has his own scaffolding tower or might be happy not to bother with one. The other has to hire one for a few hunderd pound’s, so he asked for more.

Exactly this. Do a good job and the customer will tell their family and friends, do a bad one, and the whole street gets to know. I have always prided myself on doing a good job at a reasonable price.

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I don’t doubt it Judd, but they are not all as honest as you.

We have had a roof tile damaged and largely blown off in the recent winds. It isn’t leaking yet, so not desperately urgent.

We asked a roofer who we have used before to give us a quote. He is the brother-in-law of the man who did a very good job of replacing our (14) front steps and other work along the front garden.
He promised to come one day, but didn’t turn up. The following day he apologised as he is very busy and said he’d come the next day. He didn’t turn up again and this time didn’t even apologise or offer to come again, so we have decided not to bother with him and told him so.

Fortunately, we have a very good local group on Facebook who have been recommending roofers recently, so we’ll have a look through what they’ve said. Preferably from people who we know of, to avoid scams!

I made the right decision.
My roofer came with his mate & between them they soon had my tiles fixed.

He explained to me that if they had used scaffolding the charge would have been a lot more. I guess the first quoter was using scaffolding … Anyway - this chap didn’t bother with scaffolding for just a few tiles. There’s sense & reason he said & I agreed.

He held the ladder while his mate went on the roof. They replaced them with new slates as the others were broken. I looked using the binoculars & they’ve made a good job.

Thanks for your replies/comments everybody.

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A gypsy is nothing … when I was 14 my mum decided to get a quote to have the outside of the bungalow painted.
At the time she worked at a Royal Ordnance Factory and had seen a group of painters there on site, doing a job. She asked their boss for a quote and liked the price and had them paint the house.

She found out, after they’d finished, that they were jailbirds out on work release or something.
Thing is I was at home alone with them all, about 6 of them … and mum said,
“Morti, you didn’t let them in did you. Tell me you didn’t … they were all criminals”.

“Nah mum”, I said, “of course I didn’t” … but of course I had, as I’d let them use the loo and make drinks.
It worried me for a bit as I had to try and remember if they might have had opportunity to nick anything.

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Or rape you! :open_mouth:

I was looking around for someone to service my Air Conditioner.
One asked for $141 just to have a look and give a quote. The amount was in addition to the cost of the job.
I found someone who done the job for $120 complete.
Many, many tradesmen charge exorbitant fees because they can. Remember, there are plenty of people with loads of money. It is these people that keep these expensive tradesmen in a job

The tradies we’ve had around the house have mostly been appalling,shoddy and expensive.Most Aussies seem to put up with just average and they know they can get away with it.We had saved up for a new bathroom but after our experiences with the minor things we just don’t trust any of them to do it properly.

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Never mind prices. I am finding it nigh on impossible to find builders who can do work when it needs to be done. The good guys are so busy and there are so few of them. Driving me nuts waiting. I want the patio extended so it can be used in the summer. There are plenty of cowboys around I’m sure but to get someone recommended there’s such a waiting list. (mutter, mutter …brexit, swear word, swear word)

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Have you looked at Checkatrade for someone in your location? Its an organisation that has always found reliable and price competitive tradesmen for me and then I recommend them to others.
Checkatrade: Book A Guaranteed Tradesperson

EDITED to add … here is an example of a plumber/gas fitter that I found via Checkatrade. He is the most reliable and cost effective plumber in my Chichester area :+1:
M T Plumbing & Heating (mtplumbingheating.com)

Sue and I went to find out how much a front porch would cost from a local company. The rep came did the measure up thingy then came the quote. It is the first time I have seen a part quote. The quote didn’t specify the groundwork that was to be added on later. Needless to say that was unacceptable a quote should be for the whole job not a part of it.

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Makes one wonder, do trades think everyone is stupid and gullible, accepting such a quote would most likely see thousands of dollars for the groundwork, plus - unforeseen problems.

There’s two sides to every story.
My Son now runs the family civil engineering company posh word for builder.

It’s quite disturbing how many customers try to avoid making the last stage payment at the end of a job or avoid VAT .

A few years ago i was looking for a reputable builder,i learnt that your local council has a list of reputable workmen,they posted me a full list of who and where.
had a great builder,did a great job at a decent price, used him for all sorts of jobs for years.

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