Unreliable Trades People

[Crusty]

Hi all.
Just want to have a bitch at another totally useless trades person in my area.
I have been working on my brew build for over 15 months now & the uphill battle continues as yet another unreliable tradesman decided to not show up after me arranging a time for him to be at my house. I had organized a plumber to plumb up my LPG gas lines this afternoon & he asked for my phone number & address & confirmed he would be there. I waited all bloody afternoon & not even a phone call to say he wouldn't make it or he's running late, nothing. The amount of useless dick heads in my home town is astonishing. Here are some of the problems I have faced & been subject to so far:

Plumber 1: Re-bent my immersion chiller to suit my tall kegs, snapped the chiller & never came back. Called him repeatedly to no avail, seems he couldn't give a shit.
Plumber 2: Asked to coil 5m copper for my Herms, after him having it for a month, I told him to shove it & went else where.
Plumber 3: Tried to bend my copper coil & split it after farting around with it for an hour, I gave up on him eventually. It seems bending annealed copper is too hard for plumbers in my area.
Plumber 4: Arranged to install LPG gas lines, no show, no phone call, jack shit.
Engineer 1: Drill a 2" hole in the bottom of my Herms & install 2 x 1/2" nipples, tig weld. Said to come back in 5 days to pick it up. 5 weeks later still not done & says I will do it this week. Waited till end of week, not done again. Another dick head that wastes everyones time. Told him to get stuffed. Abandoned the Herms altogether as it seems the local engineer in my town is only interested in $5,000.00 jobs only.
Plumber 5: Will be here next Wednesday to install my LPG gas lines, we'll see.

My last job will be wiring my control box & I have totally lost faith in any of these qualified people.

Electrician 1: Can you wire up my control box & install some controllers in the box for me.
Um, ah you can install them & I will wire it all up for you. Forget it dick head.
Electrician 2: Will come round & check out what you need done. I chose him.

I work in retail & hear on a daily basis how bad the economy is & how people are moving away from the area as the work is so scarce.
If these dick heads actually done the work, showed up when expected or gave a shit about the bread & butter cash jobs, maybe they wouldn't be out of work & griping about how quiet the area is.

Anyone else suffering the ongoing torture I am facing?

 

[MarkBastard]

Unfortunately in this country these arseholes are protected by government laws that masquerade as being for our safety. The average person who wants to take a DIY approach isn't allowed to. It sucks but what can you do?

 

[bradsbrew]

wasn't Phil Jones was it?

 

[Bribie G]

In the UK (where the housing stock is generally quite old by Australian Standards - for example Paddington, Glebe, Fitzroy and Carlton would be considered quite mainstream) a typical office conversation would be:

"Going to Greece on Holiday this year?
Nah, rewiring the house
Yup I did mine last year if you want to borrow some tools - not doing it yourself I hope?
No, Brother in law is helping and the lad as well, he's going to high school next year so about time he learned to do something useful, he already does all the electric plugs for his Mum

OK no problems then"

When I was about 13 they changed the wiring colours (used to be red, black and green IIRC) which was a bit confusing but I soon picked it up again.
"Mick, here's t'new iron put plug on theres a good lad"
"Aye Mam where's t'screwdriver?"

 

[Crusty]

Unfortunately in this country these arseholes are protected by government laws that masquerade as being for our safety. The average person who wants to take a DIY approach isn't allowed to. It sucks but what can you do?

Yeah mate, I'm really pissed off & disheartened that I keep getting let down, time & time again.
The build has taken forever due to lack of funds & a new edition to the family 4 weeks ago.
I had decided to go Herms, bought everything for it & couldn't complete it as it seems to be too difficult for the plumbers & an engineer to accomplish. I then re-spent the money & went Rims. At least I can screw it together myself. I did get engineer 2: to cut me a 300mm length of 316 stainless pipe, 1.5" & tap BSP threads on both ends for me. Come up great & have installed a 1" BSP threaded 2400watt element inside.
I just can't believe the work ethic of these people, I fail to fathom how they are still in business. It's almost unbelievable.

Not Phil Jones, maybe all his relatives.

 

[dougsbrew]

mark *******, you wouldnt be talkin about that wonderful accc that cant see instances like petrol prices jumping before all holidays...

 

[dougsbrew]

right with you there bribie g, three colours can get confusing. seroiusly though, dont mess with elec unless you know something about it.

 

[the_new_darren]

Is that the Australian Can't Care 'Cos................................................

 

[Tim F]

I just typed up a long ass rant of a reply to this but to make a long story short.. yes I agree, there is a high level of low quality workmanship/care in nearly every profession I have to deal with

 

[browndog]

Hi all.
Just want to have a bitch at another totally useless trades person in my area.
I have been working on my brew build for over 15 months now & the uphill battle continues as yet another unreliable tradesman decided to not show up after me arranging a time for him to be at my house. I had organized a plumber to plumb up my LPG gas lines this afternoon & he asked for my phone number & address & confirmed he would be there. I waited all bloody afternoon & not even a phone call to say he wouldn't make it or he's running late, nothing. The amount of useless dick heads in my home town is astonishing. Here are some of the problems I have faced & been subject to so far:

Plumber 1: Re-bent my immersion chiller to suit my tall kegs, snapped the chiller & never came back. Called him repeatedly to no avail, seems he couldn't give a shit.
Plumber 2: Asked to coil 5m copper for my Herms, after him having it for a month, I told him to shove it & went else where.
Plumber 3: Tried to bend my copper coil & split it after farting around with it for an hour, I gave up on him eventually. It seems bending annealed copper is too hard for plumbers in my area.
Plumber 4: Arranged to install LPG gas lines, no show, no phone call, jack shit.
Engineer 1: Drill a 2" hole in the bottom of my Herms & install 2 x 1/2" nipples, tig weld. Said to come back in 5 days to pick it up. 5 weeks later still not done & says I will do it this week. Waited till end of week, not done again. Another dick head that wastes everyones time. Told him to get stuffed. Abandoned the Herms altogether as it seems the local engineer in my town is only interested in $5,000.00 jobs only.
Plumber 5: Will be here next Wednesday to install my LPG gas lines, we'll see.

My last job will be wiring my control box & I have totally lost faith in any of these qualified people.

Electrician 1: Can you wire up my control box & install some controllers in the box for me.
Um, ah you can install them & I will wire it all up for you. Forget it dick head.
Electrician 2: Will come round & check out what you need done. I chose him.

I work in retail & hear on a daily basis how bad the economy is & how people are moving away from the area as the work is so scarce.
If these dick heads actually done the work, showed up when expected or gave a shit about the bread & butter cash jobs, maybe they wouldn't be out of work & griping about how quiet the area is.

Anyone else suffering the ongoing torture I am facing?

Crusty, I feel your pain mate, but his is the world we live in now. Gone is the day you take your car to the panel beaters and they beat it, the just pull all the broken bits off and replace them. Tradesmen are not what they were. I'm not surprised that a plumber could not do what you asked of them as they probably just thought WTF ? and did not have clue. I reckone you are best off getting one of the old hands around here to help you out. Surely there are some around Yamba?

cheers

Browndog

 

[dougsbrew]

maybe a little off topic but ive just dealt with 2 different bank loans people(big4) and they were both mathmatically challenged..

 

[Fat Bastard]

I just can't believe the work ethic of these people, I fail to fathom how they are still in business. It's almost unbelievable.

They're still in business because they rely on the goodwill of people who can not (or will not) do it for themselves and have no other options.

I'm a "Tradie" myself (Toolmaker, although I now have engineering qualifications and am off the tools) and although I'm not really that old, I'm disgusted at the skill level of so-called tradesmen I see around the place today, mostly working in the domestic/construction industry.

20 years ago, most of the kids who do plumbing/electrical/carpentry etc apprenticeships today, would never get past being a labourer or factory hand. Getting a trade now is a thing you do when you have no other options, and because most people are happy to leave it to the "experts" they can make a very good living.

In this day and age of the internets, the right info is close at hand, and most experts are pretty keen to pass on their knowledge. Buy the gear, have a crack yourself. Obviously, it's not worth buying a TIG welder, but buying a length of pipe and tapping it yourself is pretty easy and probably not much more expensive (maybe even cheaper when they charge 80-100 bucks an hour) than getting someone to do it for you.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Crusty

I live just down the road from you, and know exactly where you are coming from.

Plumbers are prob the worst, dont know why, but they can be bloody hard to get onto. And as far as gas fitters go, they are non existant in this area. Grafton has about 3-4 gas fitters...

Sparkies are readly available... no shortage of them here

Boilermakers/welderd/fitters... hard to find unless you know some one, but I can say that Swadlings Enginering in grafton are really good and do oneoff things...but will cost $$$$$. Had a few things done by them and has allways been first class

 

[Crusty]

They're still in business because they rely on the goodwill of people who can not (or will not) do it for themselves and have no other options.

I'm a "Tradie" myself (Toolmaker, although I now have engineering qualifications and am off the tools) and although I'm not really that old, I'm disgusted at the skill level of so-called tradesmen I see around the place today, mostly working in the domestic/construction industry.

20 years ago, most of the kids who do plumbing/electrical/carpentry etc apprenticeships today, would never get past being a labourer or factory hand. Getting a trade now is a thing you do when you have no other options, and because most people are happy to leave it to the "experts" they can make a very good living.

In this day and age of the internets, the right info is close at hand, and most experts are pretty keen to pass on their knowledge. Buy the gear, have a crack yourself. Obviously, it's not worth buying a TIG welder, but buying a length of pipe and tapping it yourself is pretty easy and probably not much more expensive (maybe even cheaper when they charge 80-100 bucks an hour) than getting someone to do it for you.

Let me say that not all tradies are bad either, just seems to be a shitload in Yamba.
I went to a couple of hardware shops & priced a 1/2" pipe threader ( di ) & it was $100.00 alone & then I needed the tool that it sits in, another 50-70 bucks. It ended up cheaper getting someone else to have a crack at it for me. The plumber I spoke to late this afternoon that will be here on Wednesday says he charges $66.00 h/r + whatever else I need for the job. I have all the parts for him, just need him to connect it all up, flare the joins & solder it together. I hope that's not too hard for him.

 

[pk.sax]

Now, if they'd stop nannifying everything maybe the tradies will have an incentive to actually work harder and protect their jobs and business. I'd militantly support the right of Australians to keep jobs in the country, but the lazy ***** bred here need to put in there place. seriously, if you can't wire up a plug, you should bot be allowed to walk out of your house, much less to drive.

 

[mh971]

Yes these guys are slack and disinterested. But you have to realise they are (possibly subconsciously in their own way) making a commercial decision regarding degree of effort versus size of reward. Most decent Sparks, Gas Fitters, Plumbers are pulling between 70-200k depending where and how much they are working, seriously your 200-300 dollar job is not going to gain their interest unles they are a tinkering hobbiest themselves.

Either way there is no excuse for the poor customer communication you have experienced. Just keep plugging away until you find someone who cares.

Having worked for myself as an electrician for a few years my actual sell line was 'I might not be the cheapest, but I am the slackest'. After I told people this and then they still accepted my quote I figured I could work for them comfortably.

Notwithstanding any of the above, there is no substitute for research, perseverance and practice and then doing it yourself, plus you get to collect some cool tools along the way. Just don't skimp on the research with electrical and gas, especially when combined.

 

[Crusty]

Crusty

I live just down the road from you, and know exactly where you are coming from.

Plumbers are prob the worst, dont know why, but they can be bloody hard to get onto. And as far as gas fitters go, they are non existant in this area. Grafton has about 3-4 gas fitters...

Sparkies are readly available... no shortage of them here

Boilermakers/welderd/fitters... hard to find unless you know some one, but I can say that Swadlings Enginering in grafton are really good and do oneoff things...but will cost $$$. Had a few things done by them and has allways been first class

Cheers mate.
Will note them if I need anything else done.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

The best place to get a tradie is at the pub, get to know them at the pub if you can.

Thats what I do..And I am a tradie. :icon_chickcheers:

For beers I will have a go at your control module

 

[Crusty]

Yes these guys are slack and disinterested. But you have to realise they are (possibly subconsciously in their own way) making a commercial decision regarding degree of effort versus size of reward. Most decent Sparks, Gas Fitters, Plumbers are pulling between 70-200k depending where and how much they are working, seriously your 200-300 dollar job is not going to gain their interest unles they are a tinkering hobbiest themselves.

Either way there is no excuse for the poor customer communication you have experienced. Just keep plugging away until you find someone who cares.

Having worked for myself as an electrician for a few years my actual sell line was 'I might not be the cheapest, but I am the slackest'. After I told people this and then they still accepted my quote I figured I could work for them comfortably.

Notwithstanding any of the above, there is no substitute for research, perseverance and practice and then doing it yourself, plus you get to collect some cool tools along the way. Just don't skimp on the research with electrical and gas, especially when combined.

I fully understand that my little piss ant jobs are very minor to what they like to earn & they can simply say that their not interested & that's fine with me, I'll find someone else. What really pisses me off is they act all friendly & interested & simply spin bullshit directly to your face.
Yeah mate, I'll do that for ya, no problems at all they say. A month later & they haven't even looked at it let alone started on it.
Then they have the tenacity to whinge about the lack of work around here, go figure!

 

[mh971]

....Then they have the tenacity to whinge about the lack of work around here, go figure!.....

No. 1 rule - Never touch tradie whinging about lack of work. There is always work for skilled people, trade trained or not, those who can't get it are either incompetant, incoherant, or just complete wankers no one wants to work with or employ.

NOTE - this rule does not apply when you live close to a major manufacturing centre that has just laid off hundreds of workers, or if the complainant is a New Australian who is likely to be being prejudiced against based on their accent or language skills. In these cases you can cut people some slack.