Unreliable Trades People

[VBisGod]

I was so shocked today that I didn't get a phone call from Plumber 5 to tell me he will be here tomorrow.
Phoned his office, Friday 23/9, & spoke to secretary ( Wifey, partner in crime ) to book him in for Wednesday afternoon & she tells me that she will call me back today, Tuesday 27/9 to confirm Wednesday's appointment. :angry:
No ******* phone call, jack ******* ****. It's easier to buy a blow torch & some copper tube & solder the ******* thing myself. I'm beyond pissed. I'm going to call his office tomorrow & tell him to get rooted. :angry:
Seems the good old Yamba lifestyle is too easy for some of these guys. They would rather smoke bongs & go surfing than to do any work.
Maybe I'm asking a bit much that somebody could possibly have the decency to call me back when they say they will or show up when they say they will.
God damn ARSE HOLES.

I really think you smell of trouble. In crime says " **** off, we are plumbers! See nothing wrong with that myself. Your expectations are very high.

 

[Crusty]

I really think you smell of trouble. In crime says " **** off, we are plumbers! See nothing wrong with that myself. Your expectations are very high.

You see nothing wrong with what???
Accepting that someone is going to call back & never does!
Is that what your talking about?

 

[yardy]

I'm beyond pissed. I'm going to call his office tomorrow & tell him to get rooted. :angry:

good luck getting any work done once that gets around the pub.

 

[Crusty]

good luck getting any work done once that gets around the pub.

I'm speakin out my arse Yardy, I'm not that silly to burn my bridges unless I'm 100% sure I'll never use him ever again.
Plumbers wifey rang SWMBO this morning & he's going to be here this afternoon.
I really don't mind them taking bigger jobs on & prioritizing but simply ask that I get notified that they won't be here instead of waiting around all afternoon for them to show up & it never happens. It's just the lack of communication that pings me off.
As stated before, it's not all Tradies that are bad as I have had some great work done by a local Engineer, Welder & Refrigeration guy.
I think one of the main problems with this area & being a local for so long, is you kinda get to know them all on a personal basis & I get a bit pissed when they let you down. Gas plumbing looks as though it will be completed this afternoon & Electrician will be here next week ( have him booked ) & good to go.

 

[Crusty]

Plumber 5 turned up this afternoon as promised. Spent a good hour plumbing up the gas lines & we had a good old talk about All Grain brewing.
He was pretty impressed with my setup & took some pictures on his mobile phone to show some friends of his. Nice fella & very happy with the finished job.

 

[manticle]

Let's hope he doesn't read this thread then.

 

[Crusty]

Let's hope he doesn't read this thread then.

Nothing to hide as far as I'm concerned.
He agreed that there is a lot of tradies here that won't do anything out of the ordinary & seem to only take on jobs that they would normally do on a daily basis. This makes sense now as a lot of people I spoke to fit into this category.

 

[bradsbrew]

Regarding the whole slack training of apprentices thing, in my 15yrs in the aviation game, invariably the guys who became instructors were absolutely **** on the tools. I'm not saying this is commonplace everywhere or knocking anyone here, it is just what I saw. Apparently you don't need to be able to carry out a task to train someone to do it.

-Browndog

Tony , thats pretty scarey that apprentices in aviation aren't trained well. Is that through the RAAF or through Aviation Australia?

I have found that you get 3 types of trainers in construction.

1. The person that would like to make a difference to their industry, has at least 20 years experience in their feild and makes a career out of training.
2. The person that is close to retirement and just would like to fill in time until they retire.
3. The person that cant get consistent work and thinks training is easier than finding work.

I know which one I would prefer training my apprentices. But as an employer you dont get to see the credentials of a trainer which is wrong.

Cheers

 

[Dave70]

Let's hope he doesn't read this thread then.

Plumbers, by and large, aren't the most genteel or thin skinned folk you're likley to meet.

If he smiles like the Cheshire cat when handing you the bill however, he may well have..

 

[VBisGod]

burst a water main in a wall on tuesday, had too remove bricks to access it for the plumber. He was there within an hour and fixed in 20 minutes...... the bill was 2 counter lunches at the pub. I like plumbers.

 

[Crusty]

burst a water main in a wall on tuesday, had too remove bricks to access it for the plumber. He was there within an hour and fixed in 20 minutes...... the bill was 2 counter lunches at the pub. I like plumbers.

You are very lucky to have reliable people like that in your area VB, where abouts are you?
It is really bad here, honestly, there's a large number of qualified people here but finding a good one amongst them is extremely challenging.
I'm pretty happy with plumber 5 though, done a pretty good job & I'm happy with that.

 

[bradsbrew]

You are very lucky to have reliable people like that in your area VB, where abouts are you?
It is really bad here, honestly, there's a large number of qualified people here but finding a good one amongst them is extremely challenging.
I'm pretty happy with plumber 5 though, done a pretty good job & I'm happy with that.

Thats the difference right there. Qualified v's tradesman.
As I tell all the apprentices that are finishing there training, 'you may be qualified after a 3 to 3.5 year apprenticeship but give it a few more years until you start calling yourself a tradesman'

Cheers

 

[VBisGod]

i must update that Crusty.
After all your anger, ALL us tradies can feel loved and trusted again. Thanks.....errr

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Tou are not really a proper tadesman unless you have 10yrs, including apprenticship in the trade

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

And you cant even spell tradesman untill you have 22yrs in the trade...which is where I am at now ...

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Actually being a long time in a trade, you get to know short cuts, but you also know shortcuts made by lazy people.

I have attended many sites and shook my head at the original job spec, and what was actually on site, and then tried to explain why i cant "just go and do the job"...

I am a tradesman, and take pride in what I do. I cannot do magic. I allways tell the customer the truth.

As a tradesman, I will not submit to inferior work, or accept it.

But I do get personal satisfaction in doing little jobs when the customer is nice.

 

[bconnery]

It's the inconsistency that annoys me.
Like anyone who works in a service industry I believe communication is the key. If I am not going to do the task I said I would, be it the actual work or a site visit I communicate this to the customer.
I have lost track of the number of times I've made appointments or bookings and just never had the tradesperson turn up.
I get that you have a lot of jobs, and that mine for the most part are small, but a phone call takes 2 minutes if that.
Many a time my qualification for selecting someone for a piece of work is that they actually turned up.

My favourite annoyance is that they send you the knowledgable guys to inspect and quote on the work, you get a feeling of trust that the person knows what they are talking about, and then they send subcontractors of variable quality to perform the grunt work. I know it has to be that way but it is very frustrating.


I had an electrical problem a few years back, the whole circuit just kept tripping over the course of the day. I had to call one of the bigger electrical service mobs and get them out.
Now there was a light circuit which we had removed until we could get a suitable light and the wires for it had been taped up with electrical tape and then covered. Dodgy yes but necessary at the time. I had taken him to that and said I really think this is probably the problem.
He said no because of blah, and proceeded to spend 5 hours inspecting every other circuit in the house.

The next day they sent another contractor to finish the job. He was an old eastern european guy who said they hadn't filled him in and where had the other guy got to. I was a little annoyed at this but I explained to him the issue and where I thought was the cause.
He took one look at the light said yes, it's xyz and proceeded to fix it and another issue in an hour. He was aghast that the worker the day before had failed to diagnose the issue, especially with my guidance.
I rang the company and refused to pay for the work the day before and he backed me up.
I would never use them again unless I knew I could get him, or someone of his quality.

 

[petesbrew]

Bloody fence guy. Booked to come at 8:30am. Turns up at 10:10 to drop off his gear and say "I've got another job I've gotta finish. I'll be back at 1pm".
Still waiting.
Oh well, at least I've got the house to myself for washing bottles without the wife complaining of clinking interrupting her crime/law/forensic investigation shows.

 

[VBisGod]

Lets hook into the fencers, plumbers are boring inconsistent and fricking hopeless, sparkies are too. Whilst we are at it lets have a shot at ethics.
Tomorrow or the next the day I may get around to the most useless wageearners of all. SALESPEOPLE. HAHAHAHA, You will love me for it, when all us tradies can give it back to the lame ass date sitters out there.

 

[manticle]

I quite like tradespeople myself.

Hare Krsnas on the other hand can go **** themselves.