Been in my new house six or seven weeks now. The days rush by in a whirl of work — the kind I do and get paid for, the kind I do and don’t get paid for (except in satisfaction and sweat equity) and the kind of work I have to pay other people to do. Can you guess that the latter is outstripping the former right now? Ouch.
Still, nothing to be done about it. I’m at that stage of things where I have to pay contractors to do some fairly heavy lifting. Some jobs I simply can’t do myself. Some jobs I could do if I had time, but I’m scrambling to get them done before the heavy rains come and scrambling to get them done for the insurance company. Roof repairs. Gutters. Replacing windows that have lost their air-tight seal, etc.
One part of me loves the thought of not doing everything myself (as my desert rat friends do). But another, deeper part quails at the thought of relying on other people. And not for any high-minded reason, not because of some DIY ethic. But simply because I have a deep-down, in-the-gut fear of putting my reliance on people who will let me down.
And OMG, do they ever. It always seems as if half the people in the construction trades take the concept of “independent contractor” a bit too far to the “independent” side — meaning they do what the heck they want, when the heck they want. Which would be okay if they just looked me right in the eye and said, “Well, I might be there tomorrow. But if it’s sunny, I’m going fishing,” or “Hey, I’ll be there tomorrow if I don’t get drunk tonight.”
Instead they say, “I’ll see you at 8:00 a.m.” Then when I finally call them at 9:00 or 10:30 or whenever I finally admit to myself that there’s no point waiting any longer, they’re just dragging themselves out of bed. Or they’re on another job. Or they just plain forgot. Or they’re fixing their wife’s car and can’t even imagine why I think they should have called me if they weren’t going to show up.
If this happened once in a while, no problem. I definitely understand that anything to do with construction can be unpredictable. But I’d say about 50 percent of the time people tell me they’re going to be here, they don’t show — and don’t communicate. That’s the really sucky part. That they change their plans and see no need to say something. Plans do change, no problem. Just pick up the phone and clue the other person in.
But no. Their time is important to them. My time, to them, is inconsequential.
There never was any good excuse for that, and in the age of cellphones there’s less than none.
When this first became a problem, I used to try to tell people upfront that reliability and communication were as crucial as the quality of the work. Figured things would get better if I clearly stated my expectations — or that if they were the kind who were “relaxed” about schedules, they’d tell me upfront and we could part ways or make some accommodation on both sides. But I merely found that guys would look me right in the eye, say, “Oh yeah, me too. I really believe in doing what I say I will” — then do whatever. People who are reliable will be reliable, because that’s who they are. People who aren’t reliable will just go on not showing up — or showing up unprepared — or showing up drunk — or showing up but leaving early with the job half done and no word about when they’ll be back — no matter what I say. In fact, if I dare complain, I become “the nagging woman.” So I lose, either way.
Hire somebody better, you say? Tell me the magic formula for finding the guy who does what he says or takes the initiative to communicate when he can’t. It’s a mystery to me.
Whatever happened to the concept of a man’s word being his bond? When did “being a man of his word” become so utterly, utterly unimportant?
I loath that you are going through this! I’m retired now because I did keep my word and used the phone /a lot/. Referrals was my primary source of new customers for those very reasons.
No kidding Claire, if I wasn’t racing the rainy season too (residing my house) I’d head over and do this stuff for you just to be neighborly… unless you planned to feed me that diet of yours.
This usually gets mentioned in regards to construction projects, but being old (LOL) I’ve noticed this “new attitude” appears in so many other areas, just as often…..I dunno what’s happened to etiquette, or personal pride in work, it seems to get worse as each year goes by….It doesn’t seem to be just one age group or type of job, either…..
I think those of us who still have high standards tend to notice it lacking in others….it’s not just the annoyance of the disruption it causes us, it bothers us that lack of consideration and poor ethics is becoming rampant…..
But like you, it bugs me when sometimes things are beyond our scope of abilities and we end up at the mercy of other persons’ to get it done….there’s that little voice inside that says “If you could do it yourself you wouldn’t have to put up with this s**t”…..because we know we can’t change other’s ways of operating……Unfortunately, it seems we have to plan to have things NOT go as planned, along with all the planning of what needs to get done…..
Hang in there, luckily alot of these reconstruction projects won’t have to be dealt with for a long time, after the first time….then there will always be a new situation you run across that involves inept people…..
Just treat the job like a big corporation would–have a written contract up front, with penalty clauses for being late, not showing up when agreed to, etc. Of course, most contractors would laugh at you and walk away before they’d agree to such, but it might be worth a try.
What I find most irritating about such people/attitude is that they complain the loudest when someone else is late.
A large part of the problem is that communities are much larger these days. A bad rep can’t reach everybody in a given town so these hacks are still able to make a living by faking sincerity with the next person who hasn’t heard just how unreliable they really are. Crime may or may not pay but apparently being a half-ass often does.
I remember watching my dad get burned by unreliable contractors. I agree with the written contract idea, the honest ones will most likely have no problem signing, especially if they get a copy and it includes your side of the agreement, too.
Even now with so many people looking for jobs, employers all over keep saying they can’t find reliable workers. If a company with trained psychologists screening their hires still can’t tell which ones are unreliable, I’m afraid the rest of us are stuck with hit-or-miss.
Unfortunate Truth #2- Nothing is ever as important to the other person as it is to you.
Unfortunate Truth #3- People never do what they assure you they will do, and the more they assure you, the less likely they are to actually do it.
We live in age of lies. Big lies and small lies. Lies everywhere, as far and as deep as you dare to look.
Our politicians are liars.
Our leaders are liars.
Our laws are a lie.
Our churches are lies.
We go to war for lies.
Our money is a lie.
Our stock markets are lies.
Our employment and economic statistics are lies.
Our news is lies.
Banksters are liars and worse, so they get trillions.
People who lied about their income and their savings to get loans for houses they could not afford got help.
Honest people who kept their word and paid their debt got more debt heaped upon them.
In this age, liars get ahead, honest people are suckers.
Honesty brings important rewards, but in an age of lies telling big lies and little lies has become the norm. This will change, but for right now liars rule.
I had used a plumbing company that had those kind of issues. I only used them because they did excellent work. Finally the owner retired and sold the business to his kids. Wow, they became punctual, efficient, called to see if they could reschedule if an emergency call came in etc. We went from gritting our teeth to looking forward to working with them. Still expensive though, but now worth it.
in our 16 years of country living on 3 different farms finding out who to trust, who NOT to trust was/is the most exasperating part
like you, Claire, we kept trying to be more clear in our expectations … did not matter
Now, we simply tell folks – if you do not show up, if you mess up this job, if you try to screw us on the billing – keep going, don’t let the doorknob hit you in the ass on the way out, and don’t look back!
Does not allay our shock at how low the bar has fallen – especially in these economically tough times!
Maybe we should send them to DC … that way their failure to ‘show’ would be better than we have had there!
Well spent thirty years in the remodeling business and I can’t tell you how many times the homeowner was surprised when we showed up on time.
I was expensive, about 30% more than the others but I would give a written promise that once the job started we stayed there every day till completion. The only thing that could change that, was a customer custom order that was late.
Never spent a $ on advertising in 30 years, never had to. We did high quality work, always had what we needed on the job, and finished usually before we said we would.
But granted that ethic is long gone. Sorry to hear about your travails Claire. Need any more tools? 😉
F42
Well, I see this topic touches some experienced nerves!
Sam, thank you for your neighborly impulse. But really, all is well. I did have to borrow equipment and spend several days doing sweaty labor that someone else should have done. But now almost all the immediate needs are taken care of. I’m only waiting for one stray contractor who has failed to show up for many days now. But since he’s already put a lot of time and materials into the job, he has some incentive to return — eventually. In the meantime, that’s a thousand bucks I can hang onto for a little while longer because he didn’t ask for any money upfront [big evil grin].
Yeah, as lwoots says. I wonder how some of these guys would feel if my payment was as unreliable as their work schedules?
I also think some of you hit on the truth when you noted that reliable contractors earn — and I do mean earn, bless youre hearts — top-of-market prices. I’m pretty much bottom-of-market, so I shouldn’t complain so much. (There are exceptions, though. I know that the highest price electrical contractor in these parts is probably the most unreliable; he gets by by being part of the good ole boy network, so I hear.)
And I suppose that, even in some olden days of high work ethic and “men of their word” were the exception, not the rule, in certain businesses. But -S, you’ve made an eloquent point.
The written contract … that’s not a bad idea. Just something simple that basically says if you show up and do the work, you get paid. For every no-show without a call, pay will be delayed by x days. Something like that. It might help.
t s not just in the field of construction.
Ever had a doctor show up late?…a lawyer?…real estate agent?
I have and all of the above. I was beginning to wonder if it was my breath!
My experience with contractors (over a longer time period) has been the same as Claire’s, including being referred to as a nagging woman, too picky, and a few other more colorful names. In the state where I live, contractors are not licensed (it would be government regulation and control of private businessmen and we don’t want that), there is no consumer protection for shoddy, bad or incomplete work, and contractors will not sign contracts. They stand with arms crossed over chest, legs apart, make a noise like hmyahhh, and tell you that if they say something, it’s good enough and you can depend on it. Or maybe they don’t want to work for you (hmmmphhh) if you are so suspicious and want a contract. hahahahahahaha They make appointments to look at a job and don’t show up, don’t call, and I’ve taken time off from work to meet them. They won’t work on weekends. They talk about how important it is to do something right the first time, and quality work, and efficiency, but all it is is talk. Most of the time, their work is substandard by any reasonable evaluation (and yes, I’m qualified to evaluate it) or they just don’t know how to do what they hire themselves out to do, but their prices are at big city levels. They are slobs and leave all kinds of messes for me to clean up – cleaning up after themselves is not their job. As Claire said, they show up when they jolly well feel like it, leave when they want to, do whatever they feel like doing even if it isn’t what you and they agreed to, and don’t tell you when if ever they will be back. They are often drunk or appear to have substance use issues. The helpers/crew are lined up waiting for beer early in the morning at the local convenience store. Beer is the local breakfast of champions. There have been many times when I’ve wanted to tell a contractor to just pack up his tools and get off my property, the work has been so bad. Where I live, it seems to have a lot to do with age. The most competent, reliable, dependable contractors are older – like over 65. Older contractors show up on time, on the day they said they would, work almost nonstop, do outstanding work, clean up, finish the job, charge reasonable prices, shake your hand and leave. Of all the contractors I’ve had to unwillingly hire, only one under the age of 42 has had any kind of professionalism and work ethic and did outstanding work.
In our electrical business, husband, son and son-in-law are WHERE they are supposed to be, WHEN they are supposed to be, or are CALLING the homeowner or business owner telling them they’re on their way!
Only time we missed a call was the day after husband had his heart attack two years ago and I talked on a cell phone with the woman from Cardiac Intensive Care to let her know why some of the guys would have to be at her house the following week….I think that was an excused absence…..but I can think of few other reasons why ANY contractor shouldn’t keep his or her word!
Unfortunately a lot of contractors suck. I’ve heard of a guy whose whole business was coming in and fixing stuff other contractors messed up.
My father deals with a wide variety of contractors. He always does two things. First he plans on having 110% of the price of the work just in case. Something often happens or he wants to add something, etc. Secondly just like someone said they do a written contract with incentives for finishing early and disincentives for finishing late.
This avoids the ‘get the job, arrive, tear everything up and then go off to work somewhere else for a week’ type situation. No excuses and no BS. If being late is going to hit their payout on the contract they are a lot more realistic about when it can get done.
Sorry to hear you had a hard time.
I don’t know what planet you’re living on, but every contractor I’ve ever dealt with demanded a written contract (if only to make sure they could sue me when I didn’t pay them).
If they don’t want a written contract something isn’t right and don’t deal with them.
Tom, I’ve found that to be true on big projects. The roofers had a contract, for instance, and I had them write in a clause for timely completion of the work. When I had the shell of Cabin Sweet Cabin built, of course there was a contract. But on this planet guys who do smaller jobs don’t “do” contracts. No contracts for cutting back overgrown trees, hauling away tree trimmings or trash, installing gutters, replacing one window with a new one, etc. All small stuff costing from under $100 to under $1,000.
The jobs might be small. But the waiting for people to show up and do the work stretched on and on.