Discussion
Is it me or has the building trade got the highest rate of trolls per capita?
I have a few k sitting in my pocket burning a hole, ready to be spent with a builder of some sort, essentially a building needs some plastic cladding on.
I have called several people from yell.co.uk, and recommendation from plastic suppliers, they usually say, "yep I will be there on this day or that day to have a look" and never show up, 2 people have actually shown up one I haven't heard anything from, the other I chased up and he ended up texting his quote. I didn't want to deal with someone who texts quotes so he was out there and then.
Is there something I am missing? Do I need to hire some sort of contractor to keep them in check or something?
I have a few k sitting in my pocket burning a hole, ready to be spent with a builder of some sort, essentially a building needs some plastic cladding on.
I have called several people from yell.co.uk, and recommendation from plastic suppliers, they usually say, "yep I will be there on this day or that day to have a look" and never show up, 2 people have actually shown up one I haven't heard anything from, the other I chased up and he ended up texting his quote. I didn't want to deal with someone who texts quotes so he was out there and then.
Is there something I am missing? Do I need to hire some sort of contractor to keep them in check or something?
i think builders must be immune to the downturn, can be the only explanation.
i need three quotes for a heritage grant. as i don't know anyone local to give me a recommendation, and wanted 3 quotes from builders i was satisfied with i made appointments with 10 of them over a 3 day period.
only 2 turned up.
i need three quotes for a heritage grant. as i don't know anyone local to give me a recommendation, and wanted 3 quotes from builders i was satisfied with i made appointments with 10 of them over a 3 day period.
only 2 turned up.
i am in the plastic job and if somebody rings me for a price im there as quick as,you cant afford not to be,not in this climate! we have work but the phone is hardly ringing off the wall
what amazes me most is peoples lack of ability to price a job up,i could tell you within 2 minutes of looking at it exactly what it would cost
what amazes me most is peoples lack of ability to price a job up,i could tell you within 2 minutes of looking at it exactly what it would cost
Edited by darronwall on Sunday 13th December 13:43
Yep I had the same issue - large building job needed (£100K ish were the other quotes), one(recommended) firm in Sheffield said I had to send them a copy of the architects drawings and a letter asking what I wanted and they would quote from that. A bit of a pain as the drawings were big so I had to go to a printing shop and pay for large copies to be made. Anyhow, a few weeks later I had heard nothing. Rang the builder to be screamed at (and I am not exagerating) that who did I think I was expecting a quote back after only 3 weeks. He never did get back to me either - tosser.
Vron said:
Yep I had the same issue - large building job needed (£100K ish were the other quotes), one(recommended) firm in Sheffield said I had to send them a copy of the architects drawings and a letter asking what I wanted and they would quote from that. A bit of a pain as the drawings were big so I had to go to a printing shop and pay for large copies to be made. Anyhow, a few weeks later I had heard nothing. Rang the builder to be screamed at (and I am not exagerating) that who did I think I was expecting a quote back after only 3 weeks. He never did get back to me either - tosser.
Now that's a trolling, I don't understand why they don't flat out refuse to do the work or make some elaborate excuse not to do the work, just as long as everyone knows where they stand.Not just builders. Had an electrician come over a few months back to quote a job and he spend about two hours here looking over everything. Seemed a nice chap and took his time writing notes, etc. Said he'd get back to us with a quote - never did. Same with a roofer who potentially lost a £10k insurance claim job. Wasted their own time and our time.
Our builder's worked for us for years and we've now found a decent electrician and plumber. However, their waiting times can be absolutely months and they are never short of work - you can't get them to come around for emergency stuff as they simply don't have the time. Seems if a workman is any good, they are still incredibly busy, even in this recession.
Our builder's worked for us for years and we've now found a decent electrician and plumber. However, their waiting times can be absolutely months and they are never short of work - you can't get them to come around for emergency stuff as they simply don't have the time. Seems if a workman is any good, they are still incredibly busy, even in this recession.
I've had some good tradespeople through ratedpeople and currently have a number of people working on my place that I found through www.mybuilder.com
Its very similar with plumbing and heating engineers.
My dad is a heating engineer and built up a business with upto 30 guys on the tools, he sold the business and is now back on his tools and loves it. His time keeping is bad but is getting better !!!
I think some of the problem is that there are a lot of rogue customers out there so existing customers tend to get first option. Plus sometimes the job doesnt run as smooth as he would hope
My dad is a heating engineer and built up a business with upto 30 guys on the tools, he sold the business and is now back on his tools and loves it. His time keeping is bad but is getting better !!!
I think some of the problem is that there are a lot of rogue customers out there so existing customers tend to get first option. Plus sometimes the job doesnt run as smooth as he would hope
K50 DEL said:
I've had some good tradespeople through ratedpeople and currently have a number of people working on my place that I found through www.mybuilder.com
i've used mybuilder quite a lot as well. You do get a LOT of timewasters, or people quote £1000 to do simple jobs, but good people are on there as well.ln1234 said:
K50 DEL said:
I've had some good tradespeople through ratedpeople and currently have a number of people working on my place that I found through www.mybuilder.com
i've used mybuilder quite a lot as well. You do get a LOT of timewasters, or people quote £1000 to do simple jobs, but good people are on there as well.Am having the same problem trying to find a carpet fitter to fit out a 3 bed house, so far 2 have made apointments to come and measure up and then don't turn up, 2 have not returned my call, 1 has said he will call back the next day when he gets in to the office for his diary and 1 has turned up measured up and have heard nothing since!
I'll have to check out your recommnedation sites. I've used checkatrade before and found a decent plumber on there. One of the guys had clearly been writing his own reveiws and came in at twice the price of th eother 2 quotes. He went as far as telling me I'd need to get building control invoveed to replace a sink myself if I didn't let him do it :-O
jamoor said:
Vron said:
Yep I had the same issue - large building job needed (£100K ish were the other quotes), one(recommended) firm in Sheffield said I had to send them a copy of the architects drawings and a letter asking what I wanted and they would quote from that. A bit of a pain as the drawings were big so I had to go to a printing shop and pay for large copies to be made. Anyhow, a few weeks later I had heard nothing. Rang the builder to be screamed at (and I am not exagerating) that who did I think I was expecting a quote back after only 3 weeks. He never did get back to me either - tosser.
Now that's a trolling, I don't understand why they don't flat out refuse to do the work or make some elaborate excuse not to do the work, just as long as everyone knows where they stand.If you want a builder to give you a quote, then expect to give them the information and time to do just that.....correctly scaled plans and specs etc
Three weeks is fair(ish) but if you don't put a deadline on it expect your quote to be put on the 'things to do' list
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