Contractors/Tradespeople are so annoying...

[luvsJack]

And what I’ve found they do is skip out on your job to go start another b/c they get the down payment $.

I know it’s kind of a joke around these boards, but, perhaps, this really is regional. I think we are both in the south. Maybe it’s worse down here for things like this.

I am in the south. Not far from you. Never had that problem myself and the only time I know of it happening is after a storm when there are “contractors” everywhere.

We use people that we either know of or we can get references on. Keeps down using the fly by night folks.

It’s not worse in the south.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

Ok I’ll give you all of that (maybe), but then why do so often they not even return your call or text to tell you about a change bUt rather just don’t show up. That’s unprofessional & probably what gives them such a bad rep.

I think part of the problem is customer service is a separate skillset from what is required to be a contractor. The contractor might be great at what they do when on the job but completely lacking in the other area. Those are the contractors that make great employees of a larger firm (where someone else does the scheduling/customer interaction) but sink when they go out on their own.

 

[luvsJack]

It is always the horrible few that ruin it for everyone else.

Thus far I have had a heating and air sub contractor, framing sub contractor, electrical sub contractor, plumbing sub contractor, drywall sub contractor, and tile subcontractor who came and worked the day promised.

Then there is the insulation sub contractor and the trim sub contractor. Each were at least one week late giving dates they knew they were not going to meet.

Who do I remember?

The insulation and trim sub contractors.

Those two weeks of lies more then outweigh any good faith earned by the six trades that came when they said they would. I can't give them that much credit because all they really did was do their job by coming when they said they would come. They did not go above and beyond in anyway.

Did they do what you paid for? Did they do it correctly? Did they have the knowledge you expected them to have? What more do you expect?

If you can’t give the six credit for doing their job and doing it well; that’s on you. Sounds like you just want to gripe.

 

[kdonnel]

Sounds like you just want to gripe.

Unlike many of the sub contractors I was honest and upfront in the original post.

First world problems I know but I still wanted to complain.

 

[luvsJack]

Unlike many of the sub contractors I was honest and upfront in the original post.

“some” of the subcontractors. Wasn’t it 2? That’s hardly “many”. Again, you are choosing to continue to paint them all with one brush.

And you still don’t say what you expected of those who did their job and you still choose to gripe about.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I think part of the problem is customer service is a separate skillset from what is required to be a contractor. The contractor might be great at what they do when on the job but completely lacking in the other area. Those are the contractors that make great employees of a larger firm (where someone else does the scheduling/customer interaction) but sink when they go out on their own.

 

[LSUmiss]

You have absolutely no way to assert that as truth, just because you're not aware of all the instances where it goes the other way. Your anecdotal impressions don't constitute statistics.

At least here, as far as the law is designed, it’s easier for a contractor to disappear than the homeowner. At very least, the contractor can sue & get a lien on the property. But, the contractor can just disappear & reopen as new a business & the homeowner will never have any recourse. Different areas have different laws.

 

[Amii]

My husband and I own a plumbing company. Just one contractor or subcontractor running behind can create quite a mess scheduling wise. Say we scheduled to start a job on Monday but the contractor calls us and tells us he’s not ready for us. We can’t get in till next Monday. We should have been done with the job by then and already have other jobs scheduled. That means We can’t get there until next Thursday. The electrician, drywall guys and painters can’t go on their scheduled times because they need to wait until we are done and they already have things scheduled out. It can be very frustrating for contractors and subcontractors too. Most want the job done quickly and the homeowner happy.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

My husband and I own a bing company. Just one contractor or subcontractor running behind can create quite a mess scheduling wise. Say we scheduled to start a job on Monday but the contractor calls us and tells us he’s not ready for us. We can’t get in till next Monday. We should have been done with the job by then and already have other jobs scheduled. That means We can’t get there until next Thursday. The electrician, drywall guys and painters can’t go on their scheduled times because they need to wait until we are done and they already have things scheduled out. It can be very frustrating for contractors and subcontractors too. Most want the job done quickly and the homeowner happy.

Why not work a penalty into the contract for stoppages/delays caused by a contractor? That's what we do in my profession and people always manage to show up... probably because they're delaying your jobs.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I guess none of you have ever heard of customers that refuse to pay contractors for arbitrary reasons, leaving the contractors with very little recourse on contracts that are payment on completion.

Well down here, contractors have every recourse including the nuclear bomb of recourses, throw a lien against the property. And the property isn't going anywhere. It is the homeowners that have virtually no recourse. They can sue but all the contractor has to do is declare bankruptcy with his old business and start a new one. That's if he hasn't just skipped town. Yeah, eventually maybe the fly by night contractor will be caught up with and land himself in jail, but the money is gone.
Like I said up thread, I no longer give up front money or draws. I have found that to be extra motivation to finish on time. If he cannot or doesn't want to do business that way, that' s his choice. No hard feelings on my part. The freedom of contract means the freedom not to contract as well. But if he doesn't have the capital to carry the job, he's robbing Peter to Pay Paul at best. And if he should go under, I become just another creditor with a partially finished job. Further, other contractors are reluctant to finish a job someone else started because they know that their industry has a lot of shady characters and don't want to assume that liability. And I don't blame them one bit for that.

 

[rajak73]

Those two weeks of lies more then outweigh any good faith earned by the six trades that came when they said they would. I can't give them that much credit because all they really did was do their job by coming when they said they would come. They did not go above and beyond in anyway.

These six did what you paid for, what did you want them to? Fix you dinner? Add another A/C unit out of the goodness of their heart? Add a extra electrical panel because they didn't have anything else to do? Drywall a extra room? We just don't get why you are complaining about ALL the trades when in reality, it was only 2.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

What happened to people remodeling themselves? You can learn a lot for YouTube these days. I'd starve to death as a contractor because I'm so slow, but owning a home as forced me to develop all kinds of new skills!

I was just going to post the same thing. We have an awful shortage of contractors around here. We do almost all of our own repairs. I'd love to hire someone, but it's nearly impossible to even get quotes. As a salesperson at Home Depot told me one time "Youtube is your friend." (imagine it said with a slow, southern drawl to get the full effect).

 

[kdonnel]

These six did what you paid for, what did you want them to? Fix you dinner? Add another A/C unit out of the goodness of their heart? Add a extra electrical panel because they didn't have anything else to do? Drywall a extra room? We just don't get why you are complaining about ALL the trades when in reality, it was only 2.

Never said I expected them to do more, I said that them simply doing their job(that is all I paid them to do) is not enough to offset the disappointment and annoyance I have felt because of the other two.

 

[Floridaman999]

I bet a better title would have been "Some contractors-tradespeople are so annoying".

or

"1/3 of contractors-tradespeople are so annoying".

 

[nkereina]

I hear you, OP. My parents just built a house with a popular, reputable builder in a subdivision where lots are selling like hotcakes. One would think they'd have the building process and timeline down to a science, but it still took them over a year to complete the house and they moved in 7 months after the timeframe they were originally quoted. They've been in the house for about 12 weeks now and are still dealing with contractors and punch list items, which are even harder to get taken care of.

We have a guy in our neighborhood who does decks and fences as his full time job. He was the nicest guy, great work, great pricing, but he was so scatterbrained and disorganized that it was a chore to work with him. He would miss appointments, voicemail box full, wouldn't return texts. He lost the business of at least three of my neighbors because of this. Its mind boggling how people operate this way when it comes to their livelihood.

 

[JAMIESMITH]

As a salesperson at Home Depot told me one time "Youtube is your friend." (imagine it said with a slow, southern drawl to get the full effect).

I'm in Mississippi, no imagination needed

I'm not sure where you're from, but the shortage of good contractors is very real here as well. Now, there are plenty of drunks/drug addicts who will gladly steal your money, but most of those people aren't even certified contractors.

 

[luvsJack]

I'm in Mississippi, no imagination needed

I'm not sure where you're from, but the shortage of good contractors is very real here as well. Now, there are plenty of drunks/drug addicts who will gladly steal your money, but most of those people aren't even certified contractors.

I am also in Mississippi. I actually read the pp's home depot quote with that drawl! LOL

You have to ask for their license, or ONLY use word of mouth references from people you trust and know have used them.

There is a shortage everywhere because there was/is a shortage of people going into the trades rather than college. Drug addiction is everywhere too. Certain counties in MS have it bad though. You really have to do your due diligence before hiring anyone.

 

[luvsJack]

Never said I expected them to do more, I said that them simply doing their job(that is all I paid them to do) is not enough to offset the disappointment and annoyance I have felt because of the other two.

You make it sound like the ones that did their job are responsible for "making up" for the ones that didn't. That's not the way it works.

You have a gripe with 2--then complain to those two or to their boss or to your contractor.

 

[RamblingMad]

I'm amazed by how difficult it is to get contractors to even return a phone call. I'm literally trying to give them money and they don't care.

When we hit the next recession, they’ll care.

 

[Miffy]

if we really were able to drill-down into the individual situations we would invariably find numerous contributing issues that are 100% caused by the customers/homeowners themselves.

Yes, I agree. As a customer/homeowner I have to say that the situations we faced when we had our kitchen and bathroom gutted and rebuilt were 100% caused by us, because we didn't fire the contractor after the first week, when it was blatantly obvious that he didn't care about the quality of the work, getting anything done on time, or making sure his crew wasn't drinking as much as he was. He was a jolly fellow, though, and really enjoyed getting paid. DH and I had never dealt with this kind of situation before, so we were nice to him. Foolish us. 100% our fault.