Let down & cheesed off

Discussion in 'Carpenters' Talk' started by TangerineDream, May 22, 2021.

  1. TangerineDream

    TangerineDream Active Member

    At my property I have fire doors and a lodger who resides on an upper floor.

    New carpet was laid two weeks ago & the fitter told me Id need to have the door resized as it was catching on the carpet. I a joiner the same day, impressing on them the legalities of getting it shortened urgently bc of fire regs. They said theyd fit it the following day. They didnt turn up & wouldnt answer my calls.

    Telephoned another joiner who said they would come do the job some days later, Im already frustrated by then. Again, they didnt turn up.

    Third joiner arranged, explained I had been messed about. Joiner promises he will fit the door today. Its now 9pm and again doesnt show up.

    surely if they accept the job they have a legal responsibility to do the work especially as fire regs play a crucial factor in this job?

    What upsets me is if they had turned up & done the work there wouldve been a 1k job out of it for them as I need bespoke cupboards making & fitting.

    Is this common for this kind of thing to happen or have I just been unlucky?
     
  2. jonathanc

    jonathanc Guest

    There is nothing practical you can do legally to enforce anyone to turn up for a job like this. In any event you’ve been unlucky
     
  3. Teki

    Teki Screwfix Select

    Rather than mention that you just want a door resized, ask a joiner to quote for bespoke cupboards then also mention the door resizing job when they come ;)
     
  4. Wayners

    Wayners Screwfix Select

    If someone asks me to do a small job with possibility of further work, that will sound alarm bells.
    Translated it means do this quick and cheap and no chance of any more work from me because you will add the money to quote to cover the smaller job cheap price.

    Also most trades won't start with a small job for new customers as its just not worth the effort, as often end up chasing money and wish you never got involved.
    I'll go do small job for half a day's pay if a known customer, but not one I've never worked for before. Been burnt so too many times in the early days and I learnt quick.
    Too many trades just say ill come tomorrow then decide not to bother as easy way out. Plenty of work about for £170 plus a day so who would go do small job for say £70 and be £100 down on the day? Only an idiot.
    Hope that helps you understand a little. The answer is to get a good tradesman and develop a business relationship with them, and maybe then you can get some smaller jobs done quickly if you also pay quickly.
     
  5. koolpc

    koolpc Super Member

    Take the door off and trim it yourself. Not too difficult
     
    TangerineDream likes this.
  6. kitfit1

    kitfit1 Screwfix Select

    Yep, found much the same myself over the years. The only time i do small jobs is for a customer i have already fitted a kitchen for. That customer will then come back to me for another kitchen when they next move house.
    Customer relationships and trust is actually what what keeps both customers and tradesmen happy. The "promise" of a bigger job off the back of a smaller job is for the most part, pie in the sky and never materializes.
     
    Dan dan the man and Astramax like this.
  7. TangerineDream

    TangerineDream Active Member

    When I initially contacted them, it wasn't just to quote for the door, there was other work mentioned too such as boxing in, other doors trimming, bespoke shelving and the cupboards. The heavy fire door and the boxing in were the most important jobs out of the lot, with the fire door being urgent. I obviously hadn't explained that in my original post. I get what you're saying in terms of the small job then cancelling the rest, but I have a professional reputation here I have to protect & when I hire someone & they agree to doing the work, it makes no sense why they would just not bother especially when they know I'm held to fire regs & the door is top of the list.

    & for any tradesman who has been burned by a client like that, inexcusable.
     
    Wayners likes this.
  8. TangerineDream

    TangerineDream Active Member

    I can trim the door, I cant rehang it, koolpc, its too heavy for me. I need to start lifting weights :D Ive now telephoned for someone to give me a hand tomorrow. I'll trim, we can both rehang. I cant do all the other stuff I need doing such as the boxing in & cupboards, thats way past my remit of capability & itll look like a 4 year old was given some wood to play with
     
  9. TangerineDream

    TangerineDream Active Member

    Building a trusting relationship with a joiner is exactly what I want, there work is here for everything I need doing & ive made that clear to the joiners. I just dont get why they would want to bother coming to view the work, quote, then not turn up. & as I clarified in my reply to Wayners, bc of fire regs & having a lodger I needed that fire door done first. I even listed the jobs in order of priority: Fire door, boxing in of long length of pipe, other door resizing, replacing skirting, bespoke shelving for dining room & bespoke bedroom cupboards. How/when they wanted to do all that was left to them, except the fire door/boxing in which is what they said theyd do on the days they stipulated only to then be no shows. That is what doesnt make sense to me. I would even have happily paid a deposit had I been asked.
     
  10. Astramax

    Astramax Super Member

    Mark the door where you need to trim it before removing it!
     
    TangerineDream likes this.
  11. TangerineDream

    TangerineDream Active Member

    Thanks, Astramax, will do. I just looked up a video on how to do it & I have one of those multitools with a wood/metal head, so should be able to do it plus a sander. I think its time I invested in a proper planer so if I need to do this again I can without much trouble. Would love to have a proper workshop for home projects but dont have the space unfortunately
     
  12. GrahamTaylor

    GrahamTaylor Active Member

    I often do small jobs like this although I am always a bit suspicious when the customer talks about 'other big stuff' at the same time since it sounds as though they are trying to take a negotiating position before they've even started. When I look back at my customer base from almost 20 years I see that several of my biggest and best customers started off as little jobs of this scale.

    On the flip side, though, I have been burned several times by customers who wanted a little job doing and chose to 'dangle carrots' to get it for free. I know other carpenters who have been burned like this and then sworn never to do it again.
     
  13. TangerineDream

    TangerineDream Active Member

    As I have a business here, I always have lots of projects ongoing & wanted to hire someone I can have trust in who will do as they say (fitting in with their schedule for most of the jobs). If I had telephoned a joiner & had just requested a door resizing, I would expect them to be upfront and say whether they would do it or not. If not, I have the option of ringing someone else if I wanted to go that route. What cheeses me off is accepting the work (as mentioned above, there was a lot of other work as well which wasnt a carrot to getting the door done, it was requested at the time with the door being the first priority), making me wait a week for them to turn up, reply to my reminder text to say they will definitely be coming only to then not turn up having wasted a week of my time. For this to have happened 3 times in a row by 3 different joiners is demoralising
     
  14. Tilt

    Tilt Screwfix Select

    I don't think I would be attacking it with a multitool........

    Curious......... where's 'here'????
     
  15. Astramax

    Astramax Super Member

    You require a plane not a multitool.
     
  16. TangerineDream

    TangerineDream Active Member

    Lancs
     
  17. TangerineDream

    TangerineDream Active Member

    Now you can tell why I wanted a pro in the first place :D
     
  18. The Happy Builder

    The Happy Builder Screwfix Select

    Why would someone who makes and fits bespoke furniture be interested in trimming a fire door?

    A handyman who trims doors won’t be interested in making and fitting bespoke furniture.

    It’s not an attractive package of work.
     
  19. TangerineDream

    TangerineDream Active Member

    Why wouldn't they? If it was only a single door trimming, Id agree.

    But its not, the work I require includes bespoke oak bedroom cupboards spanning 15ft, bar shelving, boxing in of entire hallway pipework, skirting board replacement and x 2 door resizing, 1 of which is a firedoor which needs to be done first bc of fire regs as Ive already explained, isn't an attractive package of work. I would not want anyone with a level of arrogance who thought resizing a door was beneath them & they were too good for that.

    Doing any work for me which would also then lead to replacing laminate flooring in several of my rooms & at the end of the year, building a bar, replacing joists in downstairs & stairs. If someone can afford to turn down thousands of pounds of work more power to them. The joiner, who I didnt contact initially as they work big contracts is happy to do my door, & delighted I want him to do the rest of the work I need when he can fit me in

    There is no excuse for accepting a job, giving a date & then not turning up.
     
  20. The Happy Builder

    The Happy Builder Screwfix Select

    You’re having a laugh if you think you are going to get one person to do the bespoke built in oak furniture and all the other stuff.

    Find yourself a handyman.
     

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