I'm very sorry if this seems like an inappropriate post. It *is* a bit of a rant, but I'm at my wits' end.
My partner and I own a 100-year old terraced house in East London. For nearly ten years, we have been trying to get various problems with our house sorted out. We have engaged numerous firms to do pieces of work, and have encountered similar problems with nearly all of them.
The first problem is what I would describe as an 'unprofessional' attitude. They make appointments and then don't turn up, or turn up late, without even calling you to let you know what is happening. Or alternatively they turn up without having made an appointment. They make other promises they fail to keep (e.g. to provide a written quote, to call you the next day). They don't return phone calls, texts or emails. When a firm operates like this, it really puts me off using them, whatever the quality of their workmanship.
The second is simple ineptitude. Pretty much every tradesman we have used has started off by looking at the work of the tradesman before him, sucking his teeth and saying, "That last lot were a bunch of cowboys weren't they?" Frequently they have then gone on to make a complete bodge of the job themselves. For instance, one concrete floor was relaid twice and still ended up being uneven and not remotely level. On another occasion we had to let a guy go after he tried to install pipes in a floor without digging deep enough holes.
We've tried every suggested method for finding reliable tradespeople - personal recommendation, internet sites like TrustATrader and MyBuilder, trade association websites - but we are yet to find a firm which offers a truly professional level of service, such as one would expect when dealing with (say) a solicitor or even a garage. As a result we are left feeling helpless and hopeless about the possibility of ever getting our house sorted.
My question to the tradespeople on this forum is, are we doing something wrong? Or is this just an East London thing? If anyone out there can shed any light at all on our situation, I'd really appreciate it!
Many thanks,
Gareth
My partner and I own a 100-year old terraced house in East London. For nearly ten years, we have been trying to get various problems with our house sorted out. We have engaged numerous firms to do pieces of work, and have encountered similar problems with nearly all of them.
The first problem is what I would describe as an 'unprofessional' attitude. They make appointments and then don't turn up, or turn up late, without even calling you to let you know what is happening. Or alternatively they turn up without having made an appointment. They make other promises they fail to keep (e.g. to provide a written quote, to call you the next day). They don't return phone calls, texts or emails. When a firm operates like this, it really puts me off using them, whatever the quality of their workmanship.
The second is simple ineptitude. Pretty much every tradesman we have used has started off by looking at the work of the tradesman before him, sucking his teeth and saying, "That last lot were a bunch of cowboys weren't they?" Frequently they have then gone on to make a complete bodge of the job themselves. For instance, one concrete floor was relaid twice and still ended up being uneven and not remotely level. On another occasion we had to let a guy go after he tried to install pipes in a floor without digging deep enough holes.
We've tried every suggested method for finding reliable tradespeople - personal recommendation, internet sites like TrustATrader and MyBuilder, trade association websites - but we are yet to find a firm which offers a truly professional level of service, such as one would expect when dealing with (say) a solicitor or even a garage. As a result we are left feeling helpless and hopeless about the possibility of ever getting our house sorted.
My question to the tradespeople on this forum is, are we doing something wrong? Or is this just an East London thing? If anyone out there can shed any light at all on our situation, I'd really appreciate it!
Many thanks,
Gareth