Drive getting redone bloke not turned up
Discussion
This bloke has given some ridiculous excuses, and has messed you about. He has taken a deposit, thats where he went wrong.
Im a paving company and i never ever promise exact dates, or take a deposit.
The reason i can't give exact dates is the following.
People who work for me not turning up, having to have days off etc. Really really messes up my plans as i obviously plan everything out.
Weather, can sometimes be a real problem.
Jobs taking longer than anticipated. This happens fairly often, ground might be harder to excavate for example, more has come out than anticipated, muck away people messing me about, not turning up when they say they will.
Customer adding extra work, oh would you be able to do that fence? or a step etc etc, makes no sense at all to come back at a later date, meaning they would have to pay more and ultimately i earn less.
tools, plant and vans breaking, really messes plans up. for example some one tried to nick one of my vans, they didn't get it but damaged the ignition and eco somehow, the main dealer had it for nearly 2 mths. i kept being told it would be done 'next week' so didn't bother hiring one. caused me lots of aggro.
And god forbid the worst one of them all..........maybe i need a day off? in the last 18mths I've had a daughter born, i was then told she had cystic fibrosis (she hasn't really but it messed me up), my dad getting cancer, having our dog put down because he bit two people in a week, moving house ( i had 1 day off). we've all got problems but it feels for me like unless theres a death its beyond ridiculous that i could have a day off. i get people calling and texting at all kinds of hours, had one at 8:30 on bank holiday sunday recently, a customer i did a water feature for is pissed off with me because his water feature is leaking, what he fails to remember is he supplied the hose which is leaking.........however to avoid a problem I'm paying to replace it......
i never rush an existing job just to get to the next.
I've just come off a big job, i expected to be there for a month, was there for 2, every day we went we had to do extra work, we even had to dig a lot of it back up to put services in they had forgotten. i had one customer who literally got angry with me, totally furious he was. what he forgets is i haven't taken a penny and every single day I'm waking up and panicking all day because i know I'm causing upset. however through no fault of my own, i can not work or try any harder.
thats why i never take a deposit. its a recipe for disaster and like a lot say theres no reason (apart from securing the job) to take one.
oh and while i remember heres an example of how s
t the building trade is and how bad most of the people are in it.
A muck away firm i have used for over a decade and given hundreds of thousands of pounds of work to was asked to deliver 6t of 20mm white shingle to a job yesterday.
stone gets there and its 10mm. lad who's at the job phones him (god forbid I'm off that afternoon to take my dad chemo). boss of firm goes mental, shouting swearing saying he's going to charge me more to take it back and take as muck, he says i ordered 10mm.
anyway i get hold of him and he's going mad, i hang up.
i ask when the 20mm is coming? tomorrow now, first thing.
so great, they can't finish the job. they leave a load of tools there.
today no stone turns up, apparently he can't get it ( i reckon thats why he thought he'd try 10mm). however i need some of the bits at the job, so i have to drive a 35 mile round trip to get them.
i then have to go back again to spend an hour spreading the stone.
luckily the customer is fine but i end up in the middle, getting abuse because they have fked up. at the same time I've probably lost a day of productivity and haven't been paid yet because i haven't finished.
theres a lot that goes wrong in the building trade as you spend a lot of time relying on others. the trick is to not commit to dates or take deposits, then most people are very reasonable.
i think a lot of trades feel they have to give exact dates to look professional, well it might sound good making that promise but id wager 99% of them know its not going to happen. They then have to lie to keep people happy. I find in all walks of life telling the truth is easiest, sadly though a lot of people still think your lying
Im a paving company and i never ever promise exact dates, or take a deposit.
The reason i can't give exact dates is the following.
People who work for me not turning up, having to have days off etc. Really really messes up my plans as i obviously plan everything out.
Weather, can sometimes be a real problem.
Jobs taking longer than anticipated. This happens fairly often, ground might be harder to excavate for example, more has come out than anticipated, muck away people messing me about, not turning up when they say they will.
Customer adding extra work, oh would you be able to do that fence? or a step etc etc, makes no sense at all to come back at a later date, meaning they would have to pay more and ultimately i earn less.
tools, plant and vans breaking, really messes plans up. for example some one tried to nick one of my vans, they didn't get it but damaged the ignition and eco somehow, the main dealer had it for nearly 2 mths. i kept being told it would be done 'next week' so didn't bother hiring one. caused me lots of aggro.
And god forbid the worst one of them all..........maybe i need a day off? in the last 18mths I've had a daughter born, i was then told she had cystic fibrosis (she hasn't really but it messed me up), my dad getting cancer, having our dog put down because he bit two people in a week, moving house ( i had 1 day off). we've all got problems but it feels for me like unless theres a death its beyond ridiculous that i could have a day off. i get people calling and texting at all kinds of hours, had one at 8:30 on bank holiday sunday recently, a customer i did a water feature for is pissed off with me because his water feature is leaking, what he fails to remember is he supplied the hose which is leaking.........however to avoid a problem I'm paying to replace it......
i never rush an existing job just to get to the next.
I've just come off a big job, i expected to be there for a month, was there for 2, every day we went we had to do extra work, we even had to dig a lot of it back up to put services in they had forgotten. i had one customer who literally got angry with me, totally furious he was. what he forgets is i haven't taken a penny and every single day I'm waking up and panicking all day because i know I'm causing upset. however through no fault of my own, i can not work or try any harder.
thats why i never take a deposit. its a recipe for disaster and like a lot say theres no reason (apart from securing the job) to take one.
oh and while i remember heres an example of how s
t the building trade is and how bad most of the people are in it.A muck away firm i have used for over a decade and given hundreds of thousands of pounds of work to was asked to deliver 6t of 20mm white shingle to a job yesterday.
stone gets there and its 10mm. lad who's at the job phones him (god forbid I'm off that afternoon to take my dad chemo). boss of firm goes mental, shouting swearing saying he's going to charge me more to take it back and take as muck, he says i ordered 10mm.
anyway i get hold of him and he's going mad, i hang up.
i ask when the 20mm is coming? tomorrow now, first thing.
so great, they can't finish the job. they leave a load of tools there.
today no stone turns up, apparently he can't get it ( i reckon thats why he thought he'd try 10mm). however i need some of the bits at the job, so i have to drive a 35 mile round trip to get them.
i then have to go back again to spend an hour spreading the stone.
luckily the customer is fine but i end up in the middle, getting abuse because they have f
ked up. at the same time I've probably lost a day of productivity and haven't been paid yet because i haven't finished.theres a lot that goes wrong in the building trade as you spend a lot of time relying on others. the trick is to not commit to dates or take deposits, then most people are very reasonable.
i think a lot of trades feel they have to give exact dates to look professional, well it might sound good making that promise but id wager 99% of them know its not going to happen. They then have to lie to keep people happy. I find in all walks of life telling the truth is easiest, sadly though a lot of people still think your lying
Edited by m3jappa on Thursday 27th April 21:18
The truth is there is nothing wrong with taking a deposit. If I were a tradesman and had to shell out for materials, unless the customer was known to me then I would take some money as a sign of intent and honesty.
The real problem here is poor communications, something that unfortunately happens rather too often with tradesmen. Perhaps because they are not too bright on the whole or perhaps for other reasons only they know. If they were to keep the customer up to speed then in the majority of cases this wouldn't happen.
The real problem here is poor communications, something that unfortunately happens rather too often with tradesmen. Perhaps because they are not too bright on the whole or perhaps for other reasons only they know. If they were to keep the customer up to speed then in the majority of cases this wouldn't happen.
cmaguire said:
The real problem here is poor communications, something that unfortunately happens rather too often with tradesmen. Perhaps because they are not too bright on the whole or perhaps for other reasons only they know. If they were to keep the customer up to speed then in the majority of cases this wouldn't happen.
Absolutely. As in most types of business, good communication is key to everything.threadlock said:
cmaguire said:
The real problem here is poor communications, something that unfortunately happens rather too often with tradesmen. Perhaps because they are not too bright on the whole or perhaps for other reasons only they know. If they were to keep the customer up to speed then in the majority of cases this wouldn't happen.
Absolutely. As in most types of business, good communication is key to everything.
OP not the end of the world, im sure it will get done
Just learn the lesson of not giving out deposits
II would be happy in paying for a job halfway through and then at end
If the company wanted deposit before hand I wouldn't pay more than anything I could afford to lose and would probably choose a company that was happy with payment at the end
Just learn the lesson of not giving out deposits
II would be happy in paying for a job halfway through and then at end
If the company wanted deposit before hand I wouldn't pay more than anything I could afford to lose and would probably choose a company that was happy with payment at the end
wjwren said:
Digging now underway though they have stopped for fag break at the mo. He rang the bell and said 'alright mate can you move your car'.
Ye and about bloody time for starting the job!
To tradesmen, it's a day at the office. They don't really realise/or want to care about the fact people work their schedule around work that's getting done; taking time off, rearranging plans etc.Ye and about bloody time for starting the job!
wjwren said:
Digging now underway though they have stopped for fag break at the mo. He rang the bell and said 'alright mate can you move your car'.
Ye and about bloody time for starting the job!
Please keep a count on the number of breaks. I'm going to say 7 for the day with a 3.30pm finish. Ye and about bloody time for starting the job!
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