Sub contractors - Whats wrong with some people??

[dig dug dan]

just completed second part of a landscape job , which has been a really good mix of all sorts of things.
one of the jobs was a block raised bbq area and flowerbed, which the client wanted rendered.
I do not do rendering, but luckily the guy who did some plastering at home does, so i booked him to come on a specific day, 8 weeks prior to starting
The day arrived, and he didn't! no phone call, nothing. I tried him all day but got no where. Then he texted to say he had a family emergency and couldn't come, but promised to come on Saturday.
Saturday, still no sign, so he texted and promised sunday. he failed to turn up again. Then he phoned and said he had to go in hospital for a nose job, so would send his business partner on wed eve.
wed eve came and you guessed it, still no one turned up. teh client was getting really fed up and it looked bad on me.
I phoned him thursday, and got no answer, but he texts back he will be there that night. He couldn't go wed as he didnt have the address!!
Thursday came, guess what...
his excuse, the M1 was closed. (the job is no where near the M1, nor do you go anywhere near it!)
he insisted he would be there saturday at 6am to get the job done.
Saturday at 8am the customer texts me, "he is not here"
I text the guy, he replies saying he is on his way.
We are still waiting for him to show up...(must have gone via john o groats)
The customer was very annoyed as he wanted the job done by 4th July for a family BBQ. Luckily after many phone calls, another contractor was found, and he is going in tomorrow.

Has anyone else had this sort of problem???



Edited By dig dug dan on 1435608107

[lutonlagerlout]

that very first day when he didnt ring would have been his last day dan
its like battered wives,if they allow the husband to get away with it once then he knows he can do it over and over again with no response
yes, people get ill, yes, they have emergency's,yes, they may have had a better offer
but the lies mean its game over for me,leave all that crap in the playground
LLL

[dig dug dan]

I know that now tony
shame as he was a good plasterer, but plenty more out there that can do the job.

[Tony McC]

It's like a continuation of what I posted a few minutes ago about whey I won't go back into the contracting game.

Repeatedly let down by subbies, and it's my reputation that suffers, as well as the endless joy of having so-called 'men' working for you - men who wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire, even though you work until midnight each day to ensure there's work for them.

I need a bit of wiring doing at Borlochs Hall. I've now been let down by three local Lecktricians - you'd think they'd want to put on a decent show when the work is on their own patch, wouldn't you?

[lutonlagerlout]

I would take someone a bit slower or a bit costlier purely on being an honest tradesman
we have/had a great wall and floor tiler
but he told me an outright lie once and thats it for him
when i got him and asked why he lied,he replied that he just panicked
not panicky enough not to come round for his 450 quid cheque though!
which even in his blind panic he managed to express
LLL

[dig dug dan]

I need to be more ruthless. I tend to give people a long lead, but I have just shortened it after this!!

[sy76uk]

You did the right thing giving the bloke plenty of notice.
I'm with Tony, once bitten twice shy.
Same with with shoddy work too.
I can turn my hand to most things but when it comes to laying bricks, gas or electrics I get a bloke in cos I'm not quick enough on the brickwork and the other 2 can kill u.
I always pay well so I expect a proper job and no matter how many times a tradesman has done a good job for me the first time I get a bad one I move on to someone else.
It takes too long time to build a good rep but you can loose one very quickly.

[lutonlagerlout]

sometimes i wish I could go back to just being a subby bricklayer
get up at 6 go to work ,get in at 5 and forget about it
but half the time is spent massaging egos and wiping peoples noses
LLL

[London Stone Paving]

I can tolerate many things but I hate it when people don't do what they have promised. The number one piece of advice I would give to people starting a business would always be to do what you have promised.

You were a bit stuck in this situation Dan because you had booked the guy well in advance and it would have been difficult to find someone else at short notice.

[Tony McC]

My two penn'orth of advice to potential tradesmen is to never be afraid of saying "I can't do that" or "I don't want that job".

You get much more respect from fellow tradesmen by acknowledging your own limitations - I never could, and still can't, plaster/render/skim anything without making it worse than it ever was - and by telling members of the public wanting a quotation that you are just not interested/are too busy/not your kind of project, they have no reason to slag you off to all their mates for not turning up to price the work as agreed.

The number one complaint I hear about the residential building/home improvements trade is "They never turned up to look at the job" and/or "They never got back to me with a price".

[rab1]

That's the truth, be honest and the client will respect your decision.

[Tony McC]

Had a roofer come around last night to quote for some repairs to the ridges and valleys, plus fascias, soffits and gutters. He said he'd be here for 5:30pm.

5:25pm I get a text telling me he's running a bit late due to traffic but will be with me by 5:45. Brilliant! That simple act of sending a one-line text convinced me that this was a guy I could do business with.

No leaving me dangling, wondering if he's going to bother turning up at all, no breathless bullshit on arrival about how it's not his fault, just a single text being honest....and it got him the work (even though he was 50 quid more expensive than the other character).

[GB_Groundworks]

Did you speak to him few days before he was to start most trades don't keep a reliable diary just what's in their head it's annoying but happens 8 weeks is a long time to remember but yeah subies are the Bain of your life when you get busy, I'm turning work down at mo rather than trying to get big quick again to do it.

Like tony my best days are when I get a day to myself in a machine just me and no one else to flip it up or cause Agro

[dig dug dan]

Did you speak to him few days before he was to start most trades don't keep a reliable diary just what's in their head it's annoying but happens 8 weeks is a long time to remember but yeah subies are the Bain of your life when you get busy, I'm turning work down at mo rather than trying to get big quick again to do it.

Like tony my best days are when I get a day to myself in a machine just me and no one else to flip it up or cause Agro

Sort of giles. I texted him a picture of the wall once it was built, a week before the start date. I did get a reply saying it was a two day job, then the trail went cold!!

[lutonlagerlout]

dont know why but plasterers are generally the ragamuffins of the building game
you name the personality defect and they generally have it
the biggest one being not turning up and not answering the phone
digger drivers are generally the opposite
why this is I have no idea

as an aside I saw a mixamate pump and lay lorry today delivering concrete
first time I have seen one with the pump built in to the volumetric

it was going great till the builder said enough ! and the driver informed him there was still .2M3 in the pipes which had to be flushed out

great idea though

LLL