Sub contractors - Whats wrong with some people??

[GB_Groundworks]

Nowadays they're pretty good at blowing it through and getting most of it out with the new pumps

But yeah you need the experience to know when you've got enough plus that little bit in the pipes

[Captain Concrete]

Agreed plasterers are the sketchy breed in the building game I think it is to do with going home after the 2nd spread normally about 3 and straight to the pub. Out of interest how much concrete could the volumetric pump lorry carry? and how long was the boom? Cheers AC

[lutonlagerlout]

the mixamate lorry held 5m3 opposed to our usual blokes who can squeeze 10M3 on
think they guy had hoses for 60m (he was polish or summat)
but dont think he needed them all
cheers LLL

[Forestboy1978]

Hilarious! Dan, you're soft lol!

I'll tell you what it is in a nut shell..

. Some people cannot ******* say no! They just can't do it. They say yes their whole lives, you have to cajole the "no"out of them. Read their subtle facial expressions, the inner negativity and angst of a imperceptibly quivering eyebrow or involuntary facial scratching, examine their lips for the signs excessive gum licking, and then ask, "are you sure", "are you sure you're sure?" "Honestly, I wont mind if you tell me no, I wouldn't rip your ****** head off and massacre your entire family" and then they grow some teeny tiny balls and then say "no".

You only can get to this jedi level by being pissed off to the point of wanting to massacre someones entire family and everyone they've ever come into contact with several times

[lutonlagerlout]

that is very profound FB,have you considered a career in philosophy ?
LLL

[Forestboy1978]

Not edumicated enough

[lana]

Sorry, couldn't help but stick my head into this topic and share a customer perspective on this phenomena. After dealing with the building trade for a few years (with a few breaks for financial recoveries), converting my house and garden into disable friendly area, I have become a beliver that when a builder learns his trade, they also learn the tricks of no-show, so many seems to have mastered it to perfection, it must be a course on it or something! As a client, I would rather have an honest "sorry, can't do your job" then "yes, give me few days, I'll get back to you with a quote" and then dissolving into eternity...I have had so many traders showing up, promising quotes and never been seen again, I am begining to think, there must be the secret rules of the game that I don't know - maybe they all waiting on me to chase them, to beg them, or promise more money? Am I playing it wrong? I can see from this thread now that it is not just direct customers who are affected. And I can feel your pain when dealing with unreliable contractors.
Also, I've noticed how lately due to the construction business blooming everywhere, it has become much more difficult to find a builder willing to do a small job, even when they advertise "no job is too small". Again, why won't you say this when come to see the job for the quote that this job is too small for you to bother?! What frustrates me the most is not the fact that I can't find contractor to do my job, but that i wasted so much time waiting for one, then another, then a next one to come back to me with their estimates! these kind of traders can really put customers off from the rest of very few honest and reliable ones too...After such a bad experience I feel like it's better to take a course and learn the basics of a trade myself, so that I will never have to deal with any builder ever again :-/ Sorry, frustrated damsel venting off...

[lutonlagerlout]

Lana a few years ago myself and some of my erstwhile colleagues on this site took the initiative to give each customer 100% attention
this means that there is only 1 job running at any one time
however it also means that we turn up when we say and do what we say we will
I was in the pub last week and listened to a johnny come lately building type bragging
"6 jobs on the go"
"we just say yes to anything"
"rolling in work"
"10 men working for me"

you know the sort....
and then I realised I remembered him
2 years ago he was collecting glasses in the same pub for 20 quid a shift

so either he has mastered the building trade in the last 2 years
or he is a complete bodger with a lot of very unhappy clients
you pick

the ONLY way to keep clients happy is to do what you say you will
and from that they tell their friends
and that is the best advertising money cannot buy

LLL

[rab1]

what we're starting to see now that things are picking up is that all of the taxi drivers etc are now back playing a being tradesmen. when things hit the fan a few years ago they all were binned or just vanished.

[dig dug dan]

Lana a few years ago myself and some of my erstwhile colleagues on this site took the initiative to give each customer 100% attention
this means that there is only 1 job running at any one time
however it also means that we turn up when we say and do what we say we will
I was in the pub last week and listened to a johnny come lately building type bragging
"6 jobs on the go"
"we just say yes to anything"
"rolling in work"
"10 men working for me"

you know the sort....
and then I realised I remembered him
2 years ago he was collecting glasses in the same pub for 20 quid a shift

so either he has mastered the building trade in the last 2 years
or he is a complete bodger with a lot of very unhappy clients
you pick

the ONLY way to keep clients happy is to do what you say you will
and from that they tell their friends
and that is the best advertising money cannot buy

LLL

What is it with pub talk. The one near me is full of it, lots a bragging about how much work they have got. Cant have that much, they are in the pub from lunchtime till it closes!!
From experience, getting someone from the pub to do a job never works, and never will!!

[lana]

LLL, I totally can testify this is what is going on widely! Couple of years ago the guy was fitting my new kitchen. I kid you not - every hour or so he would say something like "need to pop in to the shop around the corner to the get some more fittings/somethings/etc..." and then he will disappear for about an hour or so, come back, then do the same again in an hour...and again and again...I was pretty sure he was doing another job elsewhere in parallel to mine...I felt cheated...I pay and I expect, it's as simple as that. Every client wants personal attention, who wouldn't. However, I do appreciate there can be situations when a few options are preferable - work indoors when the weather doesn't cooperate...I have no issues with that...But I do want honesty. I think, if I'm paying, I am entitled to at least know what is going on. So the same applies to the quoting process...what I often wonder is why in the business trade there doesn't seems to be a lot of sharing as such...why when a builder comes to quote a job and not quite interested in it, why can't he recommend their fellow traders operating in the same area. it's not that he's going to keep the job for himself, "just in case", right? as a customer, I would appreciate referral and advise and honesty and the builder's reputation won't suffer as much as for no-show...

[mickg]

If I recommended someone and the job went pear shaped I could held liable, that's why I never recommend another trades person to a client

[lutonlagerlout]

it has bit me a bit too mick
so what i say now is that this person has done good stuff and been honest and reliable up to now...
but your relationship with her/him is your business once the phone number is in your possession
sounds pedantic but I have explained to people that trades that can be as good as gold for us can take liberties when working direct
case in point the now historical wall tiler
did loads for me all on time and budget (until recently)
the customer asked him for his number to tile an extra bathroom( sneaky)
and then the tiler messed him around
client rang me
"your tiler bla bla bla"
I am like "but the tiling was all finished?"
I will always pass on numbers of good people but 1 lie or 1 no-show and they are finished for me
cheers LLL