Lanlord contract gone pearshaped.

[Bazdaa]

My point exactly Thermo, just the way I like to do it.

Wife - I can understand what your saying and that your trying to run a business. But it SHOULD not exist. It might be nice if it did, but is not neccessary.

I know I might be going a bit overboard on this. But I'm fed-up with being told what to do and not to do. As well as bodies being setup to do this.

It's also my experience that these bodies end up costing us more, because they know we are clueless anyway!

 

[Bazdaa]

Im going to try and gather some statistic on this.

They only represent what the author wants them to!

 

[hermes]

Yes Freddie, Handbags are out! But please do not chain yourself to downing streets railings on my account!

Freddie loves going to Downing Street, he is a great fan of our politicians.

I was a landlord for a few years and I agree with Bazdaa, I think that 'Associations' and suchlike are best avoided if possible. I think that the best person to look out for your interests is you yourself, and this includes tradesmen. I get invitations to join organisations such as the Chamber of Commerce (or 'The Chamber' as they now seem to like to be known) or the Guild of Master Craftsmen and they will offer all sorts of incentives to join, such as free legal advice or discounted insurance, but it's not really cheap because they want to charge you £100's per year to be a member and most of these so-called benefits can be found quite easily by shopping/looking around.

You need to be prudent about who you deal with and how you deal with them, and who you give credit to and how much. Inevitably there will be bad customers but you can drastically reduce your exposure to them by being careful.

I'm sorry to hear about your difficulties and I hope you manage to get things sorted out.

 

[TheWife]

OK. Scope : More protection for the Tradesman, to safe guard against rogues.

I have been talking with my MP on this issue and.....

1. suggestion was an online ebay style feedback rating service.

I propose an extension to my service where a check form is submitted by the tradesman for say something like a £1.00 per check. (The check can contain address details or name details or even contact number and we will run a database search.

ultimately, the populating of this would have to come from tradesmen feedback. So, they have the option to add any new landlord(s) to the listing with details.

Possibly a text service could be incorporated for instant checks within certain reasonable hours of course.

HOW DOES THAT SOUND?

By the way....we've decided to take on second jobs to see us through this.

 

[Thermo]

i can see where you are coming from, but if a landlord is likely to be a rogue, hes unlikely to join, or if a good payer suddenly has cash flow problems, he wont pay regardless of his standing with an association. I wouldnt really take any more notice of it than i do of tradesman who plaster their van with member of this or that, when all they do is pay a yearly fee to be a member. I still go with gut instinct and other factors, no matter how good an egg everybody tells me someone is.

 

[TheWife]

i can see where you are coming from, but if a landlord is likely to be a rogue, hes unlikely to join

He doesnt have to join. Only the tradesman. It would be the tradesman who provides the feedback and the listing.

or if a good payer suddenly has cash flow problems, he wont pay regardless of his standing with an association.

Then that is reflected in the history associated to him.

I wouldnt really take any more notice of it than i do of tradesman who plaster their van with member of this or that, when all they do is pay a yearly fee to be a member.

Thermo...ive lost track...I think your a landlord! sorry..... if correct then you would not need you to take much notice of....this would be inplace for tradesmen.

I still go with gut instinct and other factors, no matter how good an egg everybody tells me someone is.

Yes....agreed ultimately it is your decision or the tradesmans decision to check. But would act as a grapevine for the tradesman but using technology to do it.

 

[Thermo]

Thermo...ive lost track...I think your a landlord

dont insult me!

 

[TheWife]

ok - which be thee?

General Public
Re: comment about "not taking notice of association logos".

Some can be of use. IE: FENSA, if you've got a tradesman that says theyre not registered with FENSA and he replaces your door for a cheap fee, be aware that when you contact the council to inform them there is a fee to record the details. So some logos can provide extra cover for you. IE under fensa I believe you have got to provide insurance backed guarantees, handy if say.....

the tradesman was someone like me going bust (ok maybe not yet ) then the window they installed was damaged. That insurance cover offered would cover you to get it fixed even though im nolonger trading.

Each association should be weighed up on its own merits. But granted I agree that there are a lot that are pure scams and I get calls and leaflets inviting me to join and as a tradesman begrudge it...however, a review of them and decision on joining one should never be dismissed.

In only a member of FairTrades and im happy with them for what they offer me. I dont stick their stickers on things because like you say.... unless its clear what that means on the logo..its not worth it.

 

[Thermo]

Tradesman!

most association are there to generate money. they fool a lot of the general public when they see the badges, but frankly most arent worth it. Most people have problems if they have to go to them for any redress and get nowhere.
As a tradesman ive lost count of the number of appraoches ive had from schemes that i could join for X hundred pounds a year. Some when i first set the company up, write the cheque send it off and suddenly im a member of the guild of most rightous tradesman. What do they offer for the money, reduced insurance rates, lists of suppliers and legal contact for problems. To be frank if i had to rely on someone else for any of these then i think i would need to take a serious look at how i ran my business.

 

[TheWife]

Fair comment Thermo....I know a lot of tradesmen that feel the same.
Some associations are a requirement based on the service your providing as mentioned above.

So then the answer to this chat isnt that.....far too many objections from all......

I'll continue to persue my listing service.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Tradesman!

most association are there to generate money. they fool a lot of the general public when they see the badges, but frankly most arent worth it.

But surely there are exceptions. For instance this fine organisation:

 

[teeroe]

ban-all-sheds

Surely you're kidding?

This fine charitable organisation who happily put it about that unless you are not one of their club, you shouldn't be used.
Where their inspectors can tell you to change something just because they prefer to see it done that way, even though it complies, or they'll wipe you from their list.
A group that encouraged the regulations to be changed to a BS so that contractors could be pressured to join them - to protect against the new weight of the BS!!!.
Celui qui vit sans folie n'est pas si sage qu'il croit
-The one that lives without madness is not so wise that he believes
Very apt !!!

To the wife: I've read this posting with interest and sympathise with your predicament.

Many people fail to realise that you don't just lose the initial ammount, it costs you afterwards in pursuing the money, not to mention the loss of sleep and stress.

I know this is of no help to you right now, but I've found in life that as one door closes another invariably opens.
If you are good at your job there is plenty of work out there.

I wish you luck

 

[TheWife]

Thx Teeroe for the lift.

Things looked bleak this morning. The feeling of your whole world crashing down around you can push you over the edge. This is probably why its a mans game and not for the likes of us women.

But a swift visit to the doctor and the solicitors has set me on track again.
And all I can say is im up fighting....Ive got Freddies heels on and ready to go into battle.

The solicitor was excellent. He went through every detail and I even drew pretty pictures.

I REALLY RECOMMEND "THE LAYWERS 4 BUSINESS SCHEME" set up by the law society. Its suppose to be about £60 for a 1/2hr consult but the guy drove down to see me on the same day, spent 2hrs with me and he is going to write a hardline letter (all for the £60)......And, failing that he will help me sort out going through the small courts if I need any help....for free.

There is a god up there.

And I have learnt that this man goes by various alias' and has been up to a lot of scams.

So could be very slippery.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

ban-all-sheds

Surely you're kidding?

This fine charitable organisation who happily put it about that unless you are not one of their club, you shouldn't be used.
Where their inspectors can tell you to change something just because they prefer to see it done that way, even though it complies, or they'll wipe you from their list.
A group that encouraged the regulations to be changed to a BS so that contractors could be pressured to join them - to protect against the new weight of the BS!!!.

Yep, that's them - cowboys with a badge....

 

[TheWife]

Ban-all-sheds... I remember the NIC EIC org when I reported this.....

//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=30699

They were most unhelpful. So for what you get there is mountain of redtape to go through to anything done.