There's no need for comments like that, some of us are well able to deal with dirt and better than many men.Women don't make good tradesmen they're not able to handle the dirt on their high heels
what recession
- Thread starter bizincork
- Start date
I'm not a tradesman but I've never really understood this.
Surely you just increase the price to cover whatever makes the job 'not worth it' ?!
If the job needs doing, it needs doing - they are presumably going to pay someone for the job - why not you?
We are in manufacturing and quite often get service or custom jobs that are a total pain and that ideally we would rather not do for one reason or another - but we absolutely never turn any business down - we just charge a premium to cover any extra time/inconvenience or whatever.
In the last couple of months we have:
-had 4 tradesmen simply not bother turning up for pre-agreed appointments to service our boiler ( one of these did not turn up twice so in fact it is 5 appointments not kept!) 2 of these days were on Saturdays, at their suggestion and 2 we had to each take a days leave to wait in...the other was a day I was off anyway but again was wasted sitting in waiting.
-tried to buy an item of sale furniture to be told it wasn't in stock and if we wanted to secure the sale price we had to pay in full there and then, then wait an unspecified time for it to arrive or order it in but pay the higher price later. They lost the sale.
-arrived at a pre-booked hotel to be told the room price was actually €30 higher, despite having an email confirmation of the price and the hotel's website still advertising rooms available for that night at the lower rate, only after much arguing did they agree to honour the original price but moved us to a smaller room!
So yes, I do have to wonder at times what these companies/people are thinking and how bad is it really they can still lose business or try to overcharge like the example above.
-had 4 tradesmen simply not bother turning up for pre-agreed appointments to service our boiler ( one of these did not turn up twice so in fact it is 5 appointments not kept!) 2 of these days were on Saturdays, at their suggestion and 2 we had to each take a days leave to wait in...the other was a day I was off anyway but again was wasted sitting in waiting.
-tried to buy an item of sale furniture to be told it wasn't in stock and if we wanted to secure the sale price we had to pay in full there and then, then wait an unspecified time for it to arrive or order it in but pay the higher price later. They lost the sale.
-arrived at a pre-booked hotel to be told the room price was actually €30 higher, despite having an email confirmation of the price and the hotel's website still advertising rooms available for that night at the lower rate, only after much arguing did they agree to honour the original price but moved us to a smaller room!
So yes, I do have to wonder at times what these companies/people are thinking and how bad is it really they can still lose business or try to overcharge like the example above.
S
S.L.F
Guest
Bronte I'm not a sexist perhaps if you look at my post again you'll see a
smilie, this smilie is to show I was being sarcastic.Funny really that all the really dirty jobs like plumbing, bin collection, KP, butchery, fishing, county council clean up crews are all most exclusively done by men.
S
S.L.F
Guest
I trust my instincts with people because it serves me well, the times I haven't listened to my gut have been the times when things go baaaaadley wrong and I end up out of pocket, temper and patience.
There are some people who are just not worth working for.
Being a tradesperson is very different from manufacturing. You may meet the client a hand full of times over the course of the job,. A tradesperson will meet this person, maybe on a daily basis depending on job. Also in manufacturing you would probably deal with other business's, with this brings a formality. When you work for private people the rules are different.
With regard to pricing, not commuicating with potentail clients is a sure way of going out of business. I spend a large amount of time quoting, and sometimes it is a pain esp when you know the client doesn't really understand a whole lot on the subject matter. They look at the bottom line and cheapest usually gets the nod. Compare like with like.
A quote should be detailed outlining every thing one plans to do for price . If requested I will split the quote into labour and material cost,no part by part details.
I understand what you are saying but TBH I still don't really get it.
There are ways around ill informed customers, pricing issues or customers who change their minds etc.
And what's wrong with breaking down a quote: X for materials + Y for doing the job - if it's an awful job or one you're not 100% confident about just charge Y x 2 - if you feel iffy about payment ask for half in advance...etc etc
OK, some people are just terminally awkward and you have to allow for that but it's just this idea of turning down work that I find bizarre I suppose.
There are ways around ill informed customers, pricing issues or customers who change their minds etc.
And what's wrong with breaking down a quote: X for materials + Y for doing the job - if it's an awful job or one you're not 100% confident about just charge Y x 2 - if you feel iffy about payment ask for half in advance...etc etc
OK, some people are just terminally awkward and you have to allow for that but it's just this idea of turning down work that I find bizarre I suppose.
S
S.L.F
Guest
Yes but when you are trying to get this person to see sense you could have other customers who know exactly what is going on and will pay a fair rate and not whine or go on about things that are not important.
This is the whole crux.
You know this person is going to be a pain so why bother quoting for the job if you reckon he or she'll just go with a cheap quote.
Basically why waste time
It's not turning down work it's just not being bothered to quote people you are unsure of.
Over the years I have wasted so much time trying to get work from difficult customers, difficult about the job and difficult about paying at the end of it.
The ways around difficult customers all take time and effort, which is better spent working for people who appreciate our skills
PetrolHead
Registered User
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- 300
I recently told a customer to take their business elsewhere... (I got the impression they felt they needed to be an This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language with people to get anything done and that life was such a hassle and dealing with these sort of people just such a nightmare... you know the sort... nothing their fault and the world is against them...).
Anyway...
After much attitude and abuse from the (potential) customer while I was still only quoting it was arranged we would collect a deposit and take the final required measurments on site. We agreed to arrive between half past and the hour and duly turned up at XX:55... The customer, most put out that we were "late" informed us that the other company that came to quote that morning were on time...
WTF???
Some jobs just aren't worth it... a previous poster mentions putting in a price to cover the hassle and difficulties involved... I've done this before... I call it an F.O. Price... I'll leave it for you to work this one out!
But sometimes... very infrequently... there comes along a person that you decide it is just not worth working for...
Don't expect a tradesperson... or anyone you deal with for that matter... to bend over backwards and take it quietly just because you're holding the purse strings....
The customer is not always right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
R
rabbit
Guest
Re : "What recession"
I know several self employed tradesmen who say the only people who have any disposable income now -or can afford to pay - are the public service workers or employees in some of the big companies....the public sector are the only ones spending as they feel they have job security.
I know several self employed tradesmen who say the only people who have any disposable income now -or can afford to pay - are the public service workers or employees in some of the big companies....the public sector are the only ones spending as they feel they have job security.
I quote jobs all the time, some quotes can take weeks. Unless I know that we cannot do the job I will always quote (I get less than 50% of what I quote on). I don't understand why anyone would refuse to quote unless they couldn't do the job or they felt that the customer could not pay.
As for turning up for a meeting 25 minutes late; I would call ahead and apologise for being late, giving a reason for the delay. I go to meetings on three continents and always make sure I am there on time. 5 minutes is OK, 25 minutes is very unprofessional.
S
S.L.F
Guest
They call us for our expertise and then start to tell us how to do our jobs
You are obsessed with Public Service workers
Tell me Purple how long do your meetings last.
Most of mine last less than a half hour.
Most tradesmen are working from day to day not for weeks at a time, we have tight schedules, we can't top off to wait somewhere for a while so we can be on time.
Complainer
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You can tell the tradesmen that their last remaining customers will be disappearing shortly, if this unfair levy proceeds.
I have often travelled to other countries for half hour meetings.
I haven't heard about that levy, the only one I know about is the pension levy which is very fair.
PetrolHead
Registered User
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- 300
Did you read my post properly?????
And as for travelling to another country for a half hour meeting... have you ever heard of video conferencing??? I'm glad not everyone has your Carbon Footprint.
No, I didn't. My apologies.
Couls you quote a job over the phone/ on a video conference?
BTW, from first meeting to first job can take up to two years.
Bronte I'm not a sexist perhaps if you look at my post again you'll see a
Funny really that all the really dirty jobs like plumbing, bin collection, KP, butchery, fishing, county council clean up crews are all most exclusively done by men.
I knew you were being sarcastic, nevertheless I made my post. Men tend to do those jobs because they are more powerful physically. I disagree that these are the really dirty jobs.