Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Getting A Tradie 22Nov 09, 2013 1:11 pm tjilpi I have been involved with horses for many years. If I chose by your methods I would have missed out on the best in the business. Horses trainer/breeders arent tradies...they dont actually build anything for you. Just thought I would point that out. Its no surprise that people have different methods of vetting. The OP asked for ideas - they may choose your, mine, or someone elses techniques, or ignore them altogether. Re: Getting A Tradie 24Nov 10, 2013 8:19 am I am a tradies wife so I can give another view. He is a maintenance plumber, owns his own business. He does a great job and relies mainly on word of mouth. He has the freedom of choosing who to work for, and if he is busy, he doesn't need to work with people who don't treat him well. He usually does the job though, hoping for the best, thinking that their kids need hot water, or the old lady who won't pay still needs to use her toilet. Usually it all balances out in the end. However, please consider this. We don't take long holidays. A week at a time is usually it, as he needs the business to keep turning over and to keep clients happy. We can guarantee the phone will ring on a Friday at 4 pm with a blocked drain. When he gets there, he is told 9 times out of 10,that the problem was noticed earlier in the week, but the client was hoping for the best. We can also bet that either Saturday or Sunday will include callouts to urgent jobs. That's our family time gone. If he cancels a job, it means he is called to a nursing home or hospital which is a priority. It could also mean that someone's home is flooding from a burst pipe, so changing some washers can wait. And while you must think we are rolling in the $ from all these callouts, sorry. He doesn't charge weekend rates as we live in a small area, and outrageous bills usually are of great interest to any friends relatives etc. he tries to be fair. That would ruin any work of mouth benefit we have. He spends $15k a year on insurances, licences etc. He leases a ute, and has to often buy new expensive tools, pay his own super (lol) sick pay and holiday pay. By the way, I still don't like having other tradies in my house. I feel like I don't know enough to have an opinion on their job, do they want a coffee, should I ask. Etc, etc. He loves his job, and likes interacting with people from all walks of life. Pls just treat tradies as you find them. Re: Getting A Tradie 25Nov 10, 2013 12:10 pm lynny-jane Word of mouth - if you get a good tradie on the job, ask him for referrals for other trades. Be polite and patient (we waited many an hour for trades to turn up as promised but didn't time and time again) but not a push-over, be there when they are doing the job.....beer in the afternoon sometimes helps (but not a guarantee lol) Understand that trades have a different way of looking at things (ie: punctuality) Don't pass over someone because they seem too young - some of our best tradies were under 25.....fit, keen, and eager to please (not yet jaded) Word of mouth and trial and error, I have found a very reliable plumber. Also I have had the same mechanic for about 20 years (word of mouth). I am not trying to defend tradies (and I am not one) but for repair work they are dealing with a lot of unknowns which adds to their unreliability but they also often over book themselves to maximise their income. I have a proper espresso machine So I make coffees, had 2 delivery guys show up delivering some furniture we bought on a very hot day ..... I gave them cokes and a $50 tip. Re: Getting A Tradie 26Nov 11, 2013 7:52 am becc I am a tradies wife so I can give another view. He is a maintenance plumber, owns his own business. [snip] He loves his job, and likes interacting with people from all walks of life. Pls just treat tradies as you find them. Your guy must be one in a million. If i could find a plumber like that, I would be happy. Never have. Re: Getting A Tradie 27Nov 11, 2013 9:33 am I must admit becc, your guy must be a very special person. I live in Sydney, & reckon it's so hard to find a good honest tradie, like someone said, it's trial & error. I'll give you an example, the freezer in my fridge decided not to work, so I looked up someone to come out, everyone wanted to charge $90 just a call out fee plus parts plus labour. I found this guy with a very impressive website, with lots of feedback comments about his work, so I called him, he said yep, I can come out in a couple of hrs. His call out fee was $55. The guy says to me I'm 84yrs old ( yep, you read that right, it's not a typo error, 84yrs old! ) & have been in the business for well over 50yrs, so I know what I'm talking about, well, to cut a long story short, the guy came , fixed the fridge & charged me $380!!! . I was dumbfounded, I guess it's partly my fault for not asking before he started how much it was going to cost, & my fault for trusting an elderly gentleman who I thought would have had the courtesy to mention that BEFORE he started Re: Getting A Tradie 29Nov 11, 2013 1:19 pm The fee was $55, he stayed for 1hr & parts were $180 . So he charged me $145 labour. All I'm saying is for $380 I could have added $200 & got a new fridge, I'm not disputing the labour, parts or call out fee. All I'm saying is he should have told me how much it was going to be, & it was partly my fault for not asking. All I'm saying is appearances can be deceiving. Here I am thinking this is an elderly gentleman, so I placed "too much " trust in him . I know better now. Re: Getting A Tradie 30Nov 11, 2013 3:03 pm I think the moral of this thread is that Tradies are people, their customers are people (shock horror!) and people are varied... some are great, some are just, well... real jerks. Whilst I totally agree anyone you hire SHOULD be the utmost professional at all times and meet expectations, the fact is the human element will always come in to play - from both sides of the coin. The sooner we all learn to accept the things we cant contol (ie: other people and what they do) and just do what you can to ensure the best results, like use someone who has come recommended, or has been refererred to you, has a good reputation, is licenced etc... Be a good customer, Be fair and reasonable in your expectations, pay for jobs etc You can only do so much to guarantee a good result - there is always going to be a risk that you'll be let down or disappointed. But every bit as much that you'll have a great experience and be very happy! Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66299 Slab: 16/6/14 Frame: 4/7/14 Roof: 22/7/14 Lock Up: 20/8/14 Fixing: 26/8/14 PCI: 9/10/14 Handover: 20/10/14 Re: Getting A Tradie 31Nov 11, 2013 3:16 pm As someone who has spent a lifetime working with trades i can tell you that vast majority are ordinary decent people who just want to work, earn their money and support their families. However I am saying that from builder's advantage of being able to build repeat business and ongoing relationships. I have had tradies follow me for a decade. It also means that vast majority of trades are soaked up by builders from the available pool. So when you pick up yellow pages it will be a hit and miss and four things are a must: 1 Do your homework and check them out and their references, then you will have a better chance of a good job 2 Strike a decent deal, if you bargain too hard for a lower price don't expect that he will break a leg for you or he may play along and just let you fall in a hole. 3 Know exactly what you want and ensure your expectations are realistic. 2 Project control is about monitoring and correcting, trust is just mist in your eyes. Good luck Foremost Building Expert in Australia,assisting with building problems/disputes, building stage inspections,pre-contract review advice for peace of mind 200 blogs http://www.buildingexpert.net.au/blog Unless there were unforeseeable issues with the site, I dont think you should have to pay for contractors errors or poor planning. I'd probably try and be reasonable and… 5 4527 Use a product like Equisol's Vitalise to clean the deck then coat with a penetrating timber oil. It will look 10 years younger and add value to your home. Visit for… 1 15792 How much are you ahead in payments compared to where the build is at? Have you fully drawn down the loan? 5 11916 |