Todays Tradesman

[DirtyDawg]

Well The house is in turmoil at the moment as I have removed all the 70's slate and having professionally installed jarrah floor boards, not that floating crap the real deal old style boards...
Well I get home from work today as the floorboard guys are finishing the laying outisde next to my motorcycle is a pile of refuse from the 2 days of install, crap timber pieces, empy 20lt buckes of glue, a complete mess.
They pack up their tools to leave and I say what about the mess, the younger of the 3 says "its yours mate you paid for it"..
oops Irish in me comes out to play. Slamming him into the wall I tell him nicely that if he doesn't clean up his phuking mess I will not pay the other 50% to his boss and if he wants to be smart I will phuck him up here and now.
Well he apologized for his smart mouth and they proceeded to fill the back of their van with the crap.
What if I weren't there and just the wife was they would have left it,
If I was to leave a site full of ship everywhere I would be backcharged for the cleaning but private jobs they seem to get away with it.
Plumber I got one in to disconnect the water from the wood heater as I was to remove it prior the floors being laid..He just cut the pipes and left it all in situ, he phones up saying his $250 payment hadn't gone thru and I confirmed it wouldnt till he did the job to my satisfaction.
Anyone else having these sort of dramas with lazy bastarrds
If I do a private job I take care not to make a mess and take the crap with me when I leave as a part of the job, where have the real tradesman gone?

[weeds]

yep its hard to find tradies that will do the complete job to ones satisfaction

we had our floors polished and the contractor left the big plactic bags full of sawdust on the back deck, to late the job was payed for, i ended up having to dump at my cost, we pay by the kg in brizzy

[sclarke]

I only use tradesman that have been recommended by others.....

most are lazy turds who dont know the meaning of respect or Honour.

What happened to the handshake deal and Gentlemans agreement. i stopped using those 2 after i was ripped of the 900th time....

[Bigbjorn]

I had a concrete hardstand laid out front of my workshop. Came home from work to find the concretors had left about a 1/2 cubic metre of excess concrete in a heap behind the shed. We dont have fences & unfortunately they left it in the next yard, not ours. The neighbour was absolutely off the air. In the past, before I wised up, I have had tradesman leave behind all sorts of electrical leftovers, large pieces of timber, bulk bricks, concrete, fibro, paint tins with varying amounts left in them, appliances which the installers totally refuse to take away (they say they are independent contractors and are only paid to install the new one). Aside from old appliances for which I have not yet found a solution, I now send a written acceptance of a quote which contains a phrase in bold upper case that payment will not be made until I am completely satisfied withe the standards of workmanship and performance of the items concerned and until all refuse is removed from site to my satisfaction. Gets some funny replies and some refusals of the job too.

[B92 8NW]

Hmm on the upside we just had a nice bloke install four split system airconditioners. Turned up on time even though it was raining, put them all in in a day, took EVERY bit of packaging/cabling/piping/junk with him and cleaned up:eek: .
Then gave a tutorial on replacing filters etc, excellent work... but then for $9k so it should be:wasntme:

[Reads90]

well as a sort of tradsman i was always taught to clean up behind you.
I am a floorlayer / carpet fitter by trade. But now I am a Manager of a flooring shop in Brisbane. If i heard reports that my fitters were leaving rubbish on a job. They would be sacked. Its our name they are tarnishing

[ATH]

Possibly a lot of tradesman's view of the public buying their services has been soured as well.
I know the pr*ck next door to me when building his house just didn't pay anyone small he could get away without paying............ bricklayers. painters and for some bathroom equipment.
Most small contractors (size of their company not physical size) can't be bothered going through the long process in the courts to get their money as it costs even more in lost time.
But some get their own back OK.
In the case of the bathroom equipment I was enjoying a refreshing glass of something amber at the front of my place one day when a car pulled up next door and some large gentlemen of south seas appearance got out.
Bang went the front door, crash bash and smash noises came from inside and out they came with arms full and put it in the back of their car.
They went up the road and turned round and had obviously seen me sitting there as they looked over at me and I carefully averted my eyes with a big smile on my face.
He didn't complain to the cops because he knew why and who and he would hopefully have got a good hiding from them if he'd tried anything.
You may have gathered him and I don't get on and you're right and if I can get away with it I'll give the tip to anybody not to do any work for him.
I think a bit of respect is necessary on both sides and tradesman should be told beforehand that a complete job should include rubbish removal before payment.
Alan H

[dungarover]

Welcome to my world. We put up with this sort of **** daily and I'm a plasterer, but unfortunatlety the attitude and arrogance of our contempories is a lot to be desired.

I just finished platering a house and the 'stoner' chippies leave al there lunch rubbish in the garage as well as there timber for me to break my bloody neck on (so much for Occupatioonal Health and safety. What a load of crap, never see them on jobs esp. residential work) I didn't say a word, but we just finished we left it in a small pile with a little note to boot which will fall on deaf ears as usual.

We always tidy up the mess and put the rubbish where it belongs. I mainly work on new homes so we have big skips on the job but have done some renovations in the past and take the rubbish with us.

It doesn't hurt to be polite and act in a professional way and not be a total ******. But as a word of advice, nere aggravate a tradie as you'll be sorry in the hip pocket (known a few blokes to put the price up if they encounter irate customers, which I don't condone or encourage ;) ).

Trav

[crump]

I,ve got a 3 year old house with cracks up to a foot long in the walls and a ceiling caving in from roof leaks, I imagine the builder will blame the dry weather and I'll have to foot the bill, supposedly I have a 6 year warranty, but I know how much use that will be, FA.:mad:

[Phoenix]

I,ve got a 3 year old house with cracks up to a foot long in the walls and a ceiling caving in from roof leaks, I imagine the builder will blame the dry weather and I'll have to foot the bill, supposedly I have a 6 year warranty, but I know how much use that will be, FA.:mad:

Yup, housing indemnity, and i'd be a little surprised if they can wrangle out of damage like that, especially if it's on stable soil (I deal with this kind of thing with conveyancing)

[Tyrepower]

I know the pr*ck next door to me when building his house just didn't pay anyone small he could get away without paying............ bricklayers. painters and for some bathroom equipment.
Most small contractors (size of their company not physical size) can't be bothered going through the long process in the courts to get their money as it costs even more in lost time.
But some get their own back OK.
In the case of the bathroom equipment I was enjoying a refreshing glass of something amber at the front of my place one day when a car pulled up next door and some large gentlemen of south seas appearance got out.
Bang went the front door, crash bash and smash noises came from inside and out they came with arms full and put it in the back of their car.
They went up the road and turned round and had obviously seen me sitting there as they looked over at me and I carefully averted my eyes with a big smile on my face.
He didn't complain to the cops because he knew why and who and he would hopefully have got a good hiding from them if he'd tried anything.
You may have gathered him and I don't get on and you're right and if I can get away with it I'll give the tip to anybody not to do any work for him.

Sad thing about this type of *****, is that if he had of complained the trader would have been in trouble. Because the item is a fixture of the house (This includes plaster, paint ect) it's considered theft. Even though the goods/labour haven't been paid for. In this case it could have been a charge of theft, burglery or even an agg burg if the owner was at home at the time.
The law can be an ass...I don't make em, just do the best I can with what there is.
Cheers Tyrepower.

[blitz]

What did plumbers use before silicone
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tradesmen

Ah hahahahahahahahaha oops I might get in trouble for that one

As a burnt out tradie who now teaches one of the biggest things that I promote to apprentices is that of house Keeping, and do their best not just adequate, generally they accept the sense in the lesson!!

blitz

[DirtyDawg]

I learn't my best lesson for non payers from my grandad when I was a young apprentice, the site foreman refused to pay us for our work we had completed on a big city building, we had built a wall about 2.4m high and 4 mtrs long out of stone , some sort of office feature wall, price was agreed on and when the job was done the price had changed (foreman wanted his cut I think) grandad picked up a shovel and proceeded to whack the guy several times in the knee, dropped the shovel and we all pushed the wall over on our way out. grandad was 6'5" and a ex Heavyweight Boxer , he didn't punch the guy as he said he might have killed him:eek:

[Blknight.aus]

Yes I had a tradesman try that with me while I was driving cranes in townsville...

His company was based in the lot next to ours...

I asked him nicely to do the right thing and fix his mess... it was in the contract... site to be left in state similar to when he arrived ... lots of swear words ensued....

he came back to find his personal car sitting about 30 feet up ontop of a set if ISO containers and a message from his boss..

"we have been advised that your poor preformance at a customers site has caused our crane hire contract to be placed under suspension pending OH+S investigation.. you are required to rectify these faults."

pity he didnt know his boss and my boss were good mates... The pearler of it all is I didnt do it.. the boss heard me bitching about it during smoko and I came back to find a very irate tradesman abusing me to get his car down...

He also got fired the next day... for the unauthorised use of a company vehicle... he drove it home after cleaning out my yard....

Some times things work out in that way that just make you want to smile....

and it cost him $500 to hire a crane to get his car down...

[George130]

I tend to ask for how much less if I do that sort of grunt work. But then I will also do anything I can get away with doing myself first.
I know the inlaws rang the contracter doing their job and simply said if they don't return that day and finnish what was agreed to then they would put up a sign next to his listing all their issues. Turned out the contracter didn't know the guys had buggered of so was around quick smart with his son to finnish and then sent the guys back to appolagise.

[MickS]

....grandad picked up a shovel and proceeded to whack the guy several times in the knee, dropped the shovel and we all pushed the wall over on our way out. grandad was 6'5" and a ex Heavyweight Boxer , he didn't punch the guy as he said he might have killed him:eek:




:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :clap2:

[LandyAndy]

Hey Nigel
Oneday I would love to set you off just for a laugh.
On Ya mate,take ccccrrrraappp from nobody:cool: :cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:
Andrew

[Johnsy]

I have had a bad run with a pool builder....
We signed a contract on 7 Jul 2005 with the pool to be finished in 90 working days....Yup thats nearly 18 months ago!!!!!:mad:

Well to cut a real long story short... he has lost his BSA Licence, sold up and left town, I have a concrete pool with no pebbles, no pump or chlorinator and have paid him one progress payment (about $6k) in advance.
So if anyone knows a reliable renderer in the Mackay area willing to do a cash job to complete the pebblecrete in my pool please PM me!!!!

Oh yeah did I mention the lawyers fees to persue a civil action against him???? yup bout $6k as well... Its hardly worth it:(

Scum like him give all the decent tradies a bad name, at least I have learned the value of patience and not gone round and applied a baseball bat to his stinking lying cheating face:twisted: .......... its been a learning curve for me anyhow.:mad:
(should have got Nigel round to do the *NEGOTIATIONS*;) )

Johnsy

[HangOver]

I think we all have those crappy tradies stories.

Diane got her car from a main dealer with a warranty, as per usual.
We were told that we have to get the services there or the warranty would be void. One of the services was quoted for over $600.
We asked around and got the work done for $350
We were told we have lost our warranty, I said for what you charge anything that goes wrong I would save money even if I fix it myself so stick you warranty (other words).

Diane used to take car to the same garage for a service, the bloke was polite and even vacumed the car when he had finished.
During the service he told her that it needed new spark plugs and it would cost $90 to replace them all. That doesn't sound too bad does it?
She drives a Dawoo Matiz it's 800cc with only three cylinders.
Thats $30 per plug !!
She called me, I told her to say no, I bought the plugs for $7.50ea and never went back.

That would have been $67.5 for labour for three plugs, say 5 mins a plug at most. 15 mins total.
That's $270 an hour labour !!!!!!

[Blknight.aus]

Depends, I know the mechanic I used to send my wife to when the disco or bug needed work when I couildnt do it he used to quote about that but the car always came back with new plugs, new leads, a points inspection and replace if needed and timing adjust.

There was always a small box in the back with the old parts in it and I dont think we ever paid the full quote price... I suspect his quoting was for incase everything went wrong with the job.

[hiline]

So if anyone knows a reliable renderer in the Mackay area willing to do a cash job to complete the pebblecrete in my pool please PM me!!!!

i'm your man :D :D

but sorry i'm not in Mackay:(

[CraigE]

I think we all have those crappy tradies stories.

Diane got her car from a main dealer with a warranty, as per usual.
We were told that we have to get the services there or the warranty would be void. One of the services was quoted for over $600.
We asked around and got the work done for $350
We were told we have lost our warranty, I said for what you charge anything that goes wrong I would save money even if I fix it myself so stick you warranty (other words).

Diane used to take car to the same garage for a service, the bloke was polite and even vacumed the car when he had finished.
During the service he told her that it needed new spark plugs and it would cost $90 to replace them all. That doesn't sound too bad does it?
She drives a Dawoo Matiz it's 800cc with only three cylinders.
Thats $30 per plug !!
She called me, I told her to say no, I bought the plugs for $7.50ea and never went back.

That would have been $67.5 for labour for three plugs, say 5 mins a plug at most. 15 mins total.
That's $270 an hour labour !!!!!!

There is a fair amount of lying on behalf of car dealers over warranty breaches. The trade practices act allows you to take your car to any licensed workshop and have servicing and repairs done, just make sure they stamp and sign your book. All warranty work must be carried out by a manufacturers authorised dealer though.
:)

[Bigbjorn]

I think we all have those crappy tradies stories.

During the service he told her that it needed new spark plugs and it would cost $90 to replace them all. That doesn't sound too bad does it?
She drives a Dawoo Matiz it's 800cc with only three cylinders.
Thats $30 per plug !!
She called me, I told her to say no, I bought the plugs for $7.50ea and never went back.

That would have been $67.5 for labour for three plugs, say 5 mins a plug at most. 15 mins total.
That's $270 an hour labour !!!!!!

That is probably their minimum charge for labour. Hourly rates today vary, in my experience, from $60 p/hr upwards, with most good shops charging around $90. When you consider the money outlaid in equipment for a well equipped modern workshop, these rates are understandable. A friend had Shell servos. for almost thirty years and in the early 90's, his site was being rebuilt and he was asked if he still wanted to have a workshop, or an expanded retail section. He had a good workshop business and a good name for it. He naturally said 'workshop". Shell said, "OK, all Shellshop stations are required to have identical equipment for marketing purposes. Here is the list". The list was of sufficient equipment to diagnose & repair most of the cars then on the road, electronic test bench, diagnostic and tune-up equipment, four wheel aligner, etc. Around $300,000.00 quoted in total by trade suppliers.
Add to this a lathe, decent drill press, bench grinders, welding & cutting equipment, valve refacer, hand power tools, special tools not normally provided by mechanics or fitters and you have some idea of the capital outlay. For the record he went for the bigger shop, no workshop, and sold petrol, bread & milk, as he said he would need 4 to 6 mechanics booking 35+ hours per week paid labour each to pay the lease charges on the equipmentand a modest profit.

These hourly rates are why once cheap and simple tasks like cleaning spark plugs are no longer performed commercially. It is cheaper to remove & replace, rather than repair a $4 item at $80 per hour.

[Reads90]

That is probably their minimum charge for labour. Hourly rates today vary, in my experience, from $60 p/hr upwards, with most good shops charging around $90. When you consider the money outlaid in equipment for a well equipped modern workshop, these rates are understandable. A friend had Shell servos. for almost thirty years and in the early 90's, his site was being rebuilt and he was asked if he still wanted to have a workshop, or an expanded retail section. He had a good workshop business and a good name for it. He naturally said 'workshop". Shell said, "OK, all Shellshop stations are required to have identical equipment for marketing purposes. Here is the list". The list was of sufficient equipment to diagnose & repair most of the cars then on the road, electronic test bench, diagnostic and tune-up equipment, four wheel aligner, etc. Around $300,000.00 quoted in total by trade suppliers.
Add to this a lathe, decent drill press, bench grinders, welding & cutting equipment, valve refacer, hand power tools, special tools not normally provided by mechanics or fitters and you have some idea of the capital outlay. For the record he went for the bigger shop, no workshop, and sold petrol, bread & milk, as he said he would need 4 to 6 mechanics booking 35+ hours per week paid labour each to pay the lease charges on the equipmentand a modest profit.

These hourly rates are why once cheap and simple tasks like cleaning spark plugs are no longer performed commercially. It is cheaper to remove & replace, rather than repair a $4 item at $80 per hour.

:D :D :D You should try and book a landy into a dealership in the Uk .
They charge 90 pounds ($225) an hour labour for a defender. 120 pounds ($300) an hour for a disco, and 150 pounds ($375) an hour for a rangie


But before you have a go at Land rover they charge you $250 an hour to service a Holdern Astra , at a Holdern dealership. (well apart from the fact we call them Vauxhalls and they are wifes cars they are the same )

[HangOver]

Depends, I know the mechanic I used to send my wife to when the disco or bug needed work when I couildnt do it he used to quote about that but the car always came back with new plugs, new leads, a points inspection and replace if needed and timing adjust.

There was always a small box in the back with the old parts in it and I dont think we ever paid the full quote price... I suspect his quoting was for incase everything went wrong with the job.

If only all mechanics were like that!!

Up to now I think I have only used three mechanics that weren't full of crap one was a main dealer, (belive it or not) the other two were mobile mechanics, one of which frequents this forum.
(If you are a mechanic please excuse this comment, it's from my personal experience, I'm sure there are good mechanics and bad)

[HangOver]

There is a fair amount of lying on behalf of car dealers over warranty breaches. The trade practices act allows you to take your car to any licensed workshop and have servicing and repairs done, just make sure they stamp and sign your book. All warranty work must be carried out by a manufacturers authorised dealer though.
:)

There's something I didn't know.
Thanks mate, I'll tuck that one away for later, if I need to use the warranty.

[HangOver]

That is probably their minimum charge for labour. Hourly rates today vary, in my experience, from $60 p/hr upwards, with most good shops charging around $90. When you consider the money outlaid in equipment for a well equipped modern workshop, these rates are understandable. A friend had Shell servos. for almost thirty years and in the early 90's, his site was being rebuilt and he was asked if he still wanted to have a workshop, or an expanded retail section. He had a good workshop business and a good name for it. He naturally said 'workshop". Shell said, "OK, all Shellshop stations are required to have identical equipment for marketing purposes. Here is the list". The list was of sufficient equipment to diagnose & repair most of the cars then on the road, electronic test bench, diagnostic and tune-up equipment, four wheel aligner, etc. Around $300,000.00 quoted in total by trade suppliers.
Add to this a lathe, decent drill press, bench grinders, welding & cutting equipment, valve refacer, hand power tools, special tools not normally provided by mechanics or fitters and you have some idea of the capital outlay. For the record he went for the bigger shop, no workshop, and sold petrol, bread & milk, as he said he would need 4 to 6 mechanics booking 35+ hours per week paid labour each to pay the lease charges on the equipmentand a modest profit.

These hourly rates are why once cheap and simple tasks like cleaning spark plugs are no longer performed commercially. It is cheaper to remove & replace, rather than repair a $4 item at $80 per hour.

I see your point but .........
The last time I went to a main dealer I was charge about $90 an hour and I got the car back when they said I would.
This bloke was a one man band $270 an hour it just doesn't add up.
It was in for a service at the time so he couldn't even say it was minimum rate.
I think it was just because Diane took the car in and he though he could charge her whatever .... you know for topping up the headlight fluid and replacing the window clutch ;)