Plumbers
Oct 1st 2014, 6:39 am
#1
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2006
Location: in the Sydney asylum
Posts: 20,690
Plumbers
God I am losing the will to live here! needed a plumber phoned about 100 local ones how the hell do they make a living?
half didn't call back, some turned up gave us a ballpark figure then never turned up again.
One turned up gave a quote came back did 2 things insisted on cash payment but the price was always more than the quote and he had to come back several times to do the simple jobs, flooded the house and ruined the carpets but didn't even say sorry!. so we ditched him
tried several others who wanted to charge 100 dollars for a written estimate and I am talking an e mail here.
Eventually found an honest one who didn't charge extra for anything, was polite, cleaned up after him and took his boots off when they were caked in mud!!
talk about having to kiss a hell of a lot of frogs before you find your prince
half didn't call back, some turned up gave us a ballpark figure then never turned up again.
One turned up gave a quote came back did 2 things insisted on cash payment but the price was always more than the quote and he had to come back several times to do the simple jobs, flooded the house and ruined the carpets but didn't even say sorry!. so we ditched him
tried several others who wanted to charge 100 dollars for a written estimate and I am talking an e mail here.
Eventually found an honest one who didn't charge extra for anything, was polite, cleaned up after him and took his boots off when they were caked in mud!!
talk about having to kiss a hell of a lot of frogs before you find your prince
Oct 1st 2014, 7:55 am
#2
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: Sydney, NSW
Posts: 7,580
Re: Plumbers
It took a while for us to find a decent plumber. Tradies are a law unto themselves sometimes....still waiting for the bill from the plasterer.
I always spend several hours cleaning up after the tradie has "cleaned".
I always spend several hours cleaning up after the tradie has "cleaned".
Oct 1st 2014, 1:38 pm
#3
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2006
Location: in the Sydney asylum
Posts: 20,690
Re: Plumbers
but how do they make a living? They seem to have a sod you attitude
Oct 1st 2014, 3:23 pm
#5
Account Closed
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 0
Re: Plumbers
I'll fix it for you Ash, as long as you don't mind afew puddles around the house
Oct 3rd 2014, 3:49 am
#6
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 9,397
Re: Plumbers
DIY and get it done properly.
Our builder used a plumber who was a complete waste of airspace. He was so mean he would join half a dozen 6" bits of 15mm copper so as to avoid buying a longer bit. And so stupid he didn't realise that the joints cost more than a longer bit.
Our builder used a plumber who was a complete waste of airspace. He was so mean he would join half a dozen 6" bits of 15mm copper so as to avoid buying a longer bit. And so stupid he didn't realise that the joints cost more than a longer bit.
Oct 3rd 2014, 4:39 am
#7
has lost The Game
Joined: Apr 2005
Location: Chippendale, Sydney
Posts: 8,735
Re: Plumbers
Yeah, I've done most of my plumbing in my place. I won't touch the bog though.
S
Oct 4th 2014, 3:13 pm
#8
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: Sydney, NSW
Posts: 7,580
Re: Plumbers
My OH tried to plumb in the kitchen sink in our first house.
FAIL.
In the end I called in a proper plumber, who nearly died laughing at the Heath Robinson pipework.
He's good at electrics though not allowed to do them here as no license. He's only electrocuted me once!!
FAIL.
In the end I called in a proper plumber, who nearly died laughing at the Heath Robinson pipework.
He's good at electrics though not allowed to do them here as no license. He's only electrocuted me once!!
Oct 4th 2014, 4:31 pm
#9
Banned
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 22,348
Re: Plumbers
Had a similar thing with mobile auto/caravan electricians. Filled out and sent about 5 enquiry forms on the web asking for a quote for a medium piece of work and with the suggestion that several other bits of work will follow. Not a single response. 
Oct 5th 2014, 2:16 am
#10
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,695
Re: Plumbers
I think what the issue is with some tradies is they just aren't prepared to do the small jobs. I think a lot of them just want big jobs that will take them X amount of weeks to complete, with the promise of a big lump some at the end. It's exactly the same in the UK.
The problem being however is the time will come again when beggars can't be choosers, just like perviously when Britain went into recession. Tradies weren't being fussy then, they were fighting each other off for the most menial of jobs.
At the beginning of the recession we were half through a huge extension on our house and at the start of the house build, trying to get hold of good tradies was a mission in itself, by the time the recession had kicked in we had them knocking on our door, almost begging for some work.
Moral of the story is, they need to stop being bloody fussy about which jobs they take on and just be thankful they have one.
Oct 5th 2014, 2:30 am
#11
Banned
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 22,348
Re: Plumbers
It's annoying isn't it?
I think what the issue is with some tradies is they just aren't prepared to do the small jobs. I think a lot of them just want big jobs that will take them X amount of weeks to complete, with the promise of a big lump some at the end. It's exactly the same in the UK.
The problem being however is the time will come again when beggars can't be choosers, just like perviously when Britain went into recession. Tradies weren't being fussy then, they were fighting each other off for the most menial of jobs.
At the beginning of the recession we were half through a huge extension on our house and at the start of the house build, trying to get hold of good tradies was a mission in itself, by the time the recession had kicked in we had them knocking on our door, almost begging for some work.
Moral of the story is, they need to stop being bloody fussy about which jobs they take on and just be thankful they have one.
I think what the issue is with some tradies is they just aren't prepared to do the small jobs. I think a lot of them just want big jobs that will take them X amount of weeks to complete, with the promise of a big lump some at the end. It's exactly the same in the UK.
The problem being however is the time will come again when beggars can't be choosers, just like perviously when Britain went into recession. Tradies weren't being fussy then, they were fighting each other off for the most menial of jobs.
At the beginning of the recession we were half through a huge extension on our house and at the start of the house build, trying to get hold of good tradies was a mission in itself, by the time the recession had kicked in we had them knocking on our door, almost begging for some work.
Moral of the story is, they need to stop being bloody fussy about which jobs they take on and just be thankful they have one.
Hopefully things are still going well for you now that you're "two months in".
Oct 5th 2014, 3:23 am
#13
snɐןɔ ʎʇıuɐs
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 6,558
Re: Plumbers
The joke is they make it such a closed shop ("of course you aren't allowed to do it yourself") that tradies become so obnoxious that people do it themselves anyway.
It's a textbook example of perverse outcomes to bad regulation - the more regulation, the lower the average quality. Frankly I wouldn't trust most tradies with most household jobs - do NOT look behind the walls ...
It's a textbook example of perverse outcomes to bad regulation - the more regulation, the lower the average quality. Frankly I wouldn't trust most tradies with most household jobs - do NOT look behind the walls ...
Oct 5th 2014, 5:46 pm
#14
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2006
Location: in the Sydney asylum
Posts: 20,690
Re: Plumbers
We have put in a new toilet ourselves and new storm drains simply because we couldn't wait for a plumber to decide if it was worth his while or not.
so fed up with shoddy work. The light fitting was connected by an electrician apparently, maybe that's why it was shorting and burning the cable
so fed up with shoddy work. The light fitting was connected by an electrician apparently, maybe that's why it was shorting and burning the cable
