Tradesmen

[westwoody]

Do any of the guys and gals who complain about people not showing up ever deal with journeymen in the trades?

A guy was supposed to do my sidewalk while I was on holidays, I come home and it's all jackhammered up. I called him on Tuesday and he said he would be right over to put the edging down and start on the pavers. No show, no call. Finally reach him an hour ago. He's drunk before noon...and wants at least 1500 or more like 2000 to finish the job. We agreed on a price in July and I stupidly paid him up front. Fuck my life.

Also waiting on an electrician. No call no show yesterday, today he is actually pissed off at me for asking where he was.

Both guys were recommended by a good friend. So much for trusting people.

 

[EuroSZabina]

W

Do any of the guys and gals who complain about people not showing up ever deal with journeymen in the trades?

A guy was supposed to do my sidewalk while I was on holidays, I come home and it's all jackhammered up. I called him on Tuesday and he said he would be right over to put the edging down and start on the pavers. No show, no call. Finally reach him an hour ago. He's drunk before noon...and wants at least 1500 or more like 2000 to finish the job. We agreed on a price in July and I stupidly paid him up front. Fuck my life.

Also waiting on an electrician. No call no show yesterday, today he is actually pissed off at me for asking where he was.

Both guys were recommended by a good friend. So much for trusting people.

They should be lucky they have work...instead fuck it up instead of being responsible.
After the job done you could be referring to them more jobs
Very sad

 

[Deguire]

A few years ago, we hired the guy next door for some renos. He had moved back in with his parents who were our neighbours. He was separated and had his young daughter 50% of the time. The estimate was $2500 for labour and materials and could we pay him up front so he could go down to Home Depot and get the materials? Sure. Daft bugger deposited the cash in his bank account where it immediately got seized. I think the Feds had some order against him for unpaid taxes, child support or who knows what. Anyway, don't know what he did next but the job got done very nicely.

 

[BobbyMcgee]

Do any of the guys and gals who complain about people not showing up ever deal with journeymen in the trades?

A guy was supposed to do my sidewalk while I was on holidays, I come home and it's all jackhammered up. I called him on Tuesday and he said he would be right over to put the edging down and start on the pavers. No show, no call. Finally reach him an hour ago. He's drunk before noon...and wants at least 1500 or more like 2000 to finish the job. We agreed on a price in July and I stupidly paid him up front. Fuck my life.

Also waiting on an electrician. No call no show yesterday, today he is actually pissed off at me for asking where he was.

Both guys were recommended by a good friend. So much for trusting people.

ALWAYS 50% up front and balance on completion. Always. in your case it’s basically blackmail.
just had my house repainted interior. finished today and i have yet up pay them a cent of the $8K
lesson learned.

 

[MissingOne]

This week we had a tradesman no-show to an appointment to look at a job we're contemplating. No call, no nothing. I don't intend to bother calling him to find out why he didn't show up. If he can't keep the first appointment, I'm not interested in working with him.

We've also had some good luck with excellent tradespeople. It ain't all bad.

 

[Cock Throppled]

Business must be good, because I often find they don't even bother to show up to give a quote.

 

[westwoody]

Mr Throppled yes business is way too good, and the supply of Red Seal tradesman is tight.

The guy thinks he has me over a barrel now because it will be hard to get someone to do it. I will fill it with dirt before I hire that fucker though.

 

[80watts]

Take pictures of site, and take him to small claims court; after all he is still holding your money for a job not done. Phone the better business bureau if he has a business listed and complain. Not sure if you can complain to the society that list red trades seals?

 

[luvsdaty]

And on the other side of the ledger you have super cheap clients trying to lowball your work and never paying on time or at all

 

[Billiam]

And on the other side of the ledger you have super cheap clients trying to lowball your work and never paying on time or at all

Years ago we did a massive aluminum railing supply/install on a job in Horseshoe Bay for a family who, amongst other things, owned Park Royal Mall - had to take them to court to get pennies on the dollar - it certainly does go both ways.

 

[Gardener]

Recently finished major house renovation. 5 month project. Got quotes and references, hired the right team, on time, slightly above budget and extremely happy with the outcome.

 

[westwoody]

A couple of friends who have a homebuilding company recommended him. In any other case I would have got quotes and did 50% upfront and 50% on completion.
It's as much my fault as his, maybe that's why I am so mad.

 

[licks2nite]

Didn't have any experience dealing with contractors and looked for the "Better Business Bureau" logo when I needed some plumbing done. Got courteous service, prompt, paid when the job was done and got the best brand in the industry that I went for when I decided to do the next job myself. For a kitchen counter top replacement I went to a consultant who didn't ask for an advance and I didn't think to give an advance payment. Found the counter top that I wanted at Rona and got it home myself. Lost track of how many times that I stubbed a toe on the end of the new counter top sitting in the living room. Consultant took a couple of months to line up a contractor for me, an independent man with his own truck and tools, took him nearly 8 hours at $40 per hour for a nice solid installation. Ran into a glitch that he had no problem with. Was a long shallow curve in the back wall and he knew how to cut the back of the new counter top to fit against the wall. I was so impressed. Walked over to the consultant's home the next day to make full payment.

 

[Gardener]

A couple of friends who have a homebuilding company recommended him. In any other case I would have got quotes and did 50% upfront and 50% on completion.
It's as much my fault as his, maybe that's why I am so mad.

I hear you. Never fun when things like this go wrong.

 

[storm rider]

Do any of the guys and gals who complain about people not showing up ever deal with journeymen in the trades?

A guy was supposed to do my sidewalk while I was on holidays, I come home and it's all jackhammered up. I called him on Tuesday and he said he would be right over to put the edging down and start on the pavers. No show, no call. Finally reach him an hour ago. He's drunk before noon...and wants at least 1500 or more like 2000 to finish the job. We agreed on a price in July and I stupidly paid him up front. Fuck my life.

Also waiting on an electrician. No call no show yesterday, today he is actually pissed off at me for asking where he was.

Both guys were recommended by a good friend. So much for trusting people.

Well right off the bat I can say you were foolish for giving ANY money up front.If the guy has his shit wired tight and runs his business properly he should have money in the bank or sufficient credit to purchase materials required for new jobs.

You pay service providers up front not tradesmen/contractors.

I remember when I got my side walk replaced.I got 4 quotes and had them show up overlapping each other so I could tell the next guy the price the guy leaving was going to charge me.The first guy(in the middle of the 2009 recession in Alberta) still figured the
streets of Calgary were paved with gold and wanted $4500 for some demo work and to pour maybe 5 cubic yards of concrete.The next guy came in lower and so on and so forth.I ended up getting it done for $1400 and on time with no problems.As a bonus the work being done was noticed by neighbors and I was asked by them about getting their sidewalks replaced.The guy picked up 4 more jobs and spent 3 days on demo work and cribbing and then poured/finished 5 side walks in 1 day and made some nice coin.

Always get multiple quotes and pay when the job is done to your satisfaction.

You can bitch and complain about a shitty encounter with an SP and really it is out of your control.There is no excuse for being fucked over by tradesmen/contractors.I say this with confidence and experience after having completely renovating my batchelors paradise over the last 14 years.All told I had 2 bathrooms replaced as well as 2 kitchens.All new laminate and tile in the basement as well as upstairs.Tiled my fireplace and entry way as well as a new roof not to mention a few other repairs that came up suddenly.

Dealing with all of them was no problem with 2 exceptions.One of them being the tile being done in a bathroom by 2 Slavic guys....that literally could have been made into a Seinfeld episode for how it unfolded in a single day.The other was the guy who tiled my shower but he actually had another guy do it for him.The job turned out great and I got a quote of $1000 for both my entryway/kitchen to get tiled.Called him up 6 months later and he says he does not recall the quote and needs to stop by to assess it.He does and in passing conversation he asks how I am doing for work.I said I was busy and he responds by saying "if you are making more money then I am charging you more" and he wants $2000 for the entryway/kitchen tile job.I let him leave and went to Kijiji.I also threw his thermos cup he left behind in the trash.About 8 months later when he was hurting he calls me up out of the blue and asks if I want to get the tile work done for the original price.I told him the work was done as well as the laminate in my basement,the hardwood upstairs and the tile in my kitchen as well as the tile on the fireplace.I said he would have gotten all of those jobs and made a lot of money if he had not tried to fuck me.He was not pleased to say the least.

What can I say.....I vote with my wallet.

SR

 

[Amerix]

A lady I know is a teacher. She tells kids who are interested in the trades, go for it; all you have to do is show up on time and you'll be flooded with work.

 

[luvsdaty]

A lady I know is a teacher. She tells kids who are interested in the trades, go for it; all you have to do is show up on time and you'll be flooded with work.

There's anold saying in the trades " chicken today,feathers tomorrow "

 

[sybian]

Any trades guy looking for work, and who shows up whenever he damn well pleases should look in the Interior.
There is a shortage of manpower since the wildfires of 2017..... Some people rebuilding where put on a two year wait list.
I'm in the middle of a large project right now, and currently I've not hired anyone except for machine work like excavation, due to lack of trades people....I'm willing to pay large, but nobody shows up ,even with a verbal commitment.
A year ago I had two framing crews commit to a month and a half of work....they didn't show, so I did the work myself, saving 60 thousand.
I've since heard through the grapevine ,and smoke signals that they both assume the project is still available to them....and I have to shake my head at the complete arrogance.

 

[Mrmotorscooter]

Those people are not tradesman, they are hackers and for the most part usless. A real tradesman will always show up on time or call if he cant make it. The Job will be done correctly for the agreed upon price unless some unforsceen circumstance arises. Its idiots like these that that give the trades a bad name and there are plenty of them, they can only find employment in times of plenty. Once things slow down and get tight none of those guys will find employment.
Best to check with the BBB and look for reviews, if there are no records and all you have is the guys word take a pass. Its much cheaper to pay a little more and get a proper job done.

 

[sybian]

Those people are not tradesman, they are hackers and for the most part usless. A real tradesman will always show up on time or call if he cant make it. The Job will be done correctly for the agreed upon price unless some unforsceen circumstance arises. Its idiots like these that that give the trades a bad name and there are plenty of them, they can only find employment in times of plenty. Once things slow down and get tight none of those guys will find employment.
Best to check with the BBB and look for reviews, if there are no records and all you have is the guys word take a pass. Its much cheaper to pay a little more and get a proper job done.

Up here there are approx 5 builders ( that can actually string a sentence together, and drive a three inch nail through a plate and hit a stud) in 300 square miles.
The problem is, they have more work than they know what to do with....the ones that come from out of territory, are booked up solid within a week, and can make 200 thousand a year, with lodging and travel time.
It's a total shitshow right now around here in the construction industry, and for now they are getting away with it.
When things calm down in a few years, those builders will still be here, they will still be working for some of those people they ignored, and / or gouged....they will still have their happy little monopoly they've enjoyed for so long, even before the wildfires.
Sometimes , over the years, I cannot believe when I'm handed a bill for work......and the job isn't finished.
The client is left with no choice but to use them....or like I'm doing, complete the work themselves.