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Why are so many contractors. . .
mlincoln
Member Posts: 5,039 ✭✭✭
all screwed up? I know it is a generalization and generalizations are usually not a good idea, but I simply do not understand why so many contractors / home repair / home remodeling guys have such trouble getting their poop together.
Of the folks I have used over the years, I would say about 50 to 60% did a satisfactory job. Not a great job, but a we agreed on this amount of money for that amount of work, and you did that amount of work to a pretty good standard, enough that I'm good with paying you. And I have a had a few folks do very good work that I have been very pleased with. So that part is good.
But that means 40 to 50% of the people did an unsatisfactory job. And by unsatisfactory, I mean really unsatisfactory. I have seen outright fraud (guys hired to replace and coilwrap trim and putting coilwrap right over the old rotten boards and saying they replaced the rotten wood, guys doing driveways with lukewarm asphalt that never sets up right and crumbles immediately when driven on, etc.) to generally just lousy work.
And that's when the work gets done. The neighbor had a pipe burst and hired a guy to replace dry wall. That's pretty darn simple job as home repairs go. The guy showed up one day and screwed up a bunch of dry wall, but never came back to tape it or mud it. Just left. Another neighbor had about 20 cases of tile in her front hall for about a year. I finally asked. "That's my new bathroom," she said. "We paid the guy, he brought the tile over, did one wall, and we never saw him again." My sister once waited a year and a half to have a brick walkway built. A year and a half. After a year and a half of monthly phone calls she finally called and fired the guy (he was a family friend) and he came over the next day and actually did the job in one day.
And I have tried to hire people several time to do work on what I consider pretty big jobs, $2000 to $5000 jobs, and people don't return phone calls, they say they'll show up to look at it and they don't, etc.
So what the heck is going on? Why are so many folks who swing a hammer very fouled up? Is there some secret hidden part to this that I'm not getting? And no, I do NOT go with the lowest bidder or try to grind people down on price. I often go with the highest bidder in hopes that good work will be done. So why are they so flipping fouled up?
Of the folks I have used over the years, I would say about 50 to 60% did a satisfactory job. Not a great job, but a we agreed on this amount of money for that amount of work, and you did that amount of work to a pretty good standard, enough that I'm good with paying you. And I have a had a few folks do very good work that I have been very pleased with. So that part is good.
But that means 40 to 50% of the people did an unsatisfactory job. And by unsatisfactory, I mean really unsatisfactory. I have seen outright fraud (guys hired to replace and coilwrap trim and putting coilwrap right over the old rotten boards and saying they replaced the rotten wood, guys doing driveways with lukewarm asphalt that never sets up right and crumbles immediately when driven on, etc.) to generally just lousy work.
And that's when the work gets done. The neighbor had a pipe burst and hired a guy to replace dry wall. That's pretty darn simple job as home repairs go. The guy showed up one day and screwed up a bunch of dry wall, but never came back to tape it or mud it. Just left. Another neighbor had about 20 cases of tile in her front hall for about a year. I finally asked. "That's my new bathroom," she said. "We paid the guy, he brought the tile over, did one wall, and we never saw him again." My sister once waited a year and a half to have a brick walkway built. A year and a half. After a year and a half of monthly phone calls she finally called and fired the guy (he was a family friend) and he came over the next day and actually did the job in one day.
And I have tried to hire people several time to do work on what I consider pretty big jobs, $2000 to $5000 jobs, and people don't return phone calls, they say they'll show up to look at it and they don't, etc.
So what the heck is going on? Why are so many folks who swing a hammer very fouled up? Is there some secret hidden part to this that I'm not getting? And no, I do NOT go with the lowest bidder or try to grind people down on price. I often go with the highest bidder in hopes that good work will be done. So why are they so flipping fouled up?
Comments
I have never had a call/complaint, much less an action/fine by the state against my license. I have never had a complaint filed with the BBB, or the local Chamber of Commerce either. Not even an insurance claim needed in all that time.
While I did a lot of advertising, most of my residential work came from word of mouth. Many of my customers are 'flipping out' since I have started telling them I plan on retiring soon.
Unfortunately people like you mention exist. When they are in my trade, they make me sick and I do everything possible to help get rid of them.
Like us, we are a very small, but high end welding/Blacksmithing shop, (Gates, Handrails, stair cases, fixtures, etc.) We are booked out almost 16 months. We have under bid the huge shops that have a history of crap work.
References and work history is your friend!
I'm not the best, but I do take pride in my work and do most jobs like I would do work on my own home. I am probably faster than most, and try to get the job done the most cost effective way I can. I have never had to advertise, word of mouth spreads fast.
This must be the nitch I have been looking for all of my life. I get tons of work from folks that say their last 'Handyman' didn't even call them back, or didn't show up or charged too much, or did shabby work. And a lot of folks just don't know who they can call or trust with their stuff.
At times when I have been overwhelmed with work, I have tried to find helpers, or even called other 'Handymen". I very seldom got a call back - and I was just trying to hand them a job. Good helpers are few and far between, most unskilled or don't have a car or can't make it to work on time, or whatever.
So I do what I can, and most people don't mind being booked 2 or 3 weeks out as long as they know they will get the job done by someone they trust.
I often have folks very appreciative that I conduct myself professionally and often get positive comments on the fact that I do what I say, when I say it, and don't have tattoos or cuss up one side and down the other.
That's my experience here in T-Town, but back to the original question I guess it is just a sign of the times. It is getting more and more difficult to find anyone that will just do their job!
I have to call a lot of different contractors to arrange work for the buildings I manage. Even when I have preferred vendors I need to get competitive quotes to keep everyone honest and do due diligence.
I hate trying to call contractors and getting no answer at half the numbers I dial.
If you are advertising and want business answer the phone.
And if you have not figured out how to use the internet yet learn, because the "Yellow Pages" are dead.
Not 1 Complaint Of Poor Workmanship Or A Problem Period On A job
I Never Advertised My Company Only Word Of Mouth And lettering On My Truck
Satisfied Customers Are Your Best Advertising....
If You Do Good Work And On time You Will Stay Busy.
I Get A lot Of Repeat Jobs Where I Get Called back To Do
Other larger Projects With No bids Required.
Also I Work Around Money Jewelry And Other valuables All the Time
They are Not Mine to Look at Touch Fondle Or Steal
You Need to be Trustworthy.
An Unqualified Man With A Hammer And Saw Can Cause More Damage
Than A Fox in a Hen House!!!!!
Every Tom Dick And Harry that gets Laid Off
Grabs a Hammer & Saw & Magnetic Sign And Is In Business The next day
I Have Seen them Come And Seen Them Go..............
Woody[^]
And I'll add why the heck can't they get someone to answer their phone!
I have to call a lot of different contractors to arrange work for the buildings I manage. Even when I have preferred vendors I need to get competitive quotes to keep everyone honest and do due diligence.
I hate trying to call contractors and getting no answer at half the numbers I dial.
If you are advertising and want business answer the phone.
And if you have not figured out how to use the internet yet learn, because the "Yellow Pages" are dead.
Question.If you have a preferred vendor does the job go to the low bid or the guy you have worked with before?
Now a days they hire one good man to be the superintendent and give him crap for workers and expect him to make it happen. I've seen it over and over again. These days some of the best contractors are some of the smaller ones that have employees that's been with them for many years. A lot of large contractors treat employees like their tools, they're expendable.
.................most of my residential work came from word of mouth.........
Used to have rentals and also a real estate license. Kept a list of good contractors and also bad contractors. It saved time, money and reduced aggravation.
quote:Originally posted by skicat
quote:Originally posted by mogley98
And I'll add why the heck can't they get someone to answer their phone!
I have to call a lot of different contractors to arrange work for the buildings I manage. Even when I have preferred vendors I need to get competitive quotes to keep everyone honest and do due diligence.
I hate trying to call contractors and getting no answer at half the numbers I dial.
If you are advertising and want business answer the phone.
And if you have not figured out how to use the internet yet learn, because the "Yellow Pages" are dead.
Question.If you have a preferred vendor does the job go to the low bid or the guy you have worked with before?
Bad attitudes, alcoholism, no sense of time, these guys have SOME skills and pray on old people to support themselves.
Then again, the good guys are just the opposite. Reliable, trustworthy and honest. They tend to exhibit superior workmanship, too.
If you want a good contractor, do a drive by of their home. It will tell you a lot about the person.
Having said that, most of the contractors around here, I wouldn't hire to walk my dog. They are either drunks or drug addicts and support their habit by doing what you described. They get a down payment and you never see them again. The other problem we had, was after super storm sandy, a lot of out of state contractors came in, took deposits and disappeared. Either that or they started the job and never finished or did jobs not up to code. They would then call a local contractor and we all refused to finish someone's else s poopty job. I am not about to guarantee someone else s mistakes.
Check, double check and triple check their references. If they don't or wont give you some, walk away. FAST. Oakie
The first company was sent over by the insurer, said they had a negotiated rate with them. The estimate came in and it used every penny of the proposed settlement for only 1 of 3 rooms affected. They later admitted they didn't like the agreement they'd made with the insurance company and were trying to get out of it, so every job was bid over the top. That wasted a good ten days of my time.
Next I interviewed several more, checked references, checked licenses and complaint histories. Took estimates and looked at their past jobs. Hired a guy who seemed really good. Even met his wife and kids one day, nice people. He knew and agreed in advance, and it was on paper, that he had to submit an itemized labor and materials bill weekly so the insurance would pay up. I had some cash to start but he knew I'd run out if he did not give me itemized bills.
Well he worked to the end of the first payment and walked away. Left a big pile of trash, unfinished plumbing and rooms. Claimed I had stopped paying him. Told me if I wanted a bill I had to pay the last one, which he had not itemized and the insurance company wouldn't accept it.
To get the money to finish the job I created a letterhead for his company using a scan of his business card. Went over the outstanding bill with him on the phone and created an itemized billing document from the conversation. I tell ya' it was like pulling teeth to break out labor and materials.
Then tracked him down at another job he was doing and got him to sign his own bill, even gave him a copy. I submitted that to the insurance company and they paid me up to date. I fired the idiot and completed the work myself.
The worst was dealing with contractors doing renovations following a water line break.
The first company was sent over by the insurer, said they had a negotiated rate with them. The estimate came in and it used every penny of the proposed settlement for only 1 of 3 rooms affected. They later admitted they didn't like the agreement they'd made with the insurance company and were trying to get out of it, so every job was bid over the top. That wasted a good ten days of my time.
Next I interviewed several more, checked references, checked licenses and complaint histories. Took estimates and looked at their past jobs. Hired a guy who seemed really good. Even met his wife and kids one day, nice people. He knew and agreed in advance, and it was on paper, that he had to submit an itemized labor and materials bill weekly so the insurance would pay up. I had some cash to start but he knew I'd run out if he did not give me itemized bills.
Well he worked to the end of the first payment and walked away. Left a big pile of trash, unfinished plumbing and rooms. Claimed I had stopped paying him. Told me if I wanted a bill I had to pay the last one, which he had not itemized and the insurance company wouldn't accept it.
To get the money to finish the job I created a letterhead for his company using a scan of his business card. Went over the outstanding bill with him on the phone and created an itemized billing document from the conversation. I tell ya' it was like pulling teeth to break out labor and materials.
Then tracked him down at another job he was doing and got him to sign his own bill, even gave him a copy. I submitted that to the insurance company and they paid me up to date. I fired the idiot and completed the work myself.
Change the owner, location and circumstances of the damage and his story describes a lot of these "contractor" guys to a T. They may have a great skill set with their hands but could not run a business under any circumstances, no how, no way.