why are contractors such azzholes?

[Stop Making Cents]

My apologies to the contractors on the board but seriously wtf?

Its just a nightmare dealing with them. They dony return calls they dont show up they do half ass work. I just dont get it. One guy came out to give me a tree trimming estimate and i accepted then i never heard from him again. A few weeks go by and i call and ask if he had been able to schedule my job and he acts all itritated that im calling. Never showed up. Why waste my time and his time to come out for the estimate?

It really makes me want to learn a trade bc i think that any contractor thats honest does a good job and treats people with respect would have more work than they could possibly handle. But its so rare.

[Dogman]

Fred or 41 ?


In a possible answer, did your rely on a contractor. did you have a solid connection with him?
Depending on where u live, timing and for sure money comes into play.

It does suck to rely on others, because they may or not be in sync with you.

Most construction contractors go for the money, high to low, sadly unfortuanlly you could have been low on his list..which sucks.

[Cebu_4_2]

Dude, your doing it ALL wrong. PM me man. Been there done that 30 years ago.

[Tumbleweed]

My apologies to the contractors on the board but seriously wtf?

Its just a nightmare dealing with them. They dony return calls they dont show up they do half ass work. I just dont get it. One guy came out to give me a tree trimming estimate and i accepted then i never heard from him again. A few weeks go by and i call and ask if he had been able to schedule my job and he acts all itritated that im calling. Never showed up. Why waste my time and his time to come out for the estimate?

It really makes me want to learn a trade bc i think that any contractor thats honest does a good job and treats people with respect would have more work than they could possibly handle. But its so rare.

I had a guy take down some trees for me a year or so ago. He came and did the estimate but told me he was pretty busy at the time and would be able to do it later on. I was also busy and had a tractor down that I'd need to pull the logs away. I contacted him about three months after the estimate had been done. We set up a day and he showed up with a crew.

They did a hell of a good job and it was interesting to watch how they used a truck with a bucket that would extend forty feet. They used ropes and pulleys to direct the fall of the trees and short chunks of the trees they took down to keep them from hitting my house. These trees were cottonwood that were over a hundred years old my greatgranddad had planted.

The guy that did it was about my age and was the owner of his tree trimming business. He told me he'd probably never retire because he enjoyed what he was doing. He said his hobby was cutting down trees and he had all the work he could keep up with and more if he wanted it. He took down a couple more trees than we had planned in the estimate but he did it for the same price we'd agreed on earlier. Some people are easier to work with than others. The contractors I've hired that are the easiest to work with and the best are the ones that love what they're doing and show up right along with their crew to do the work.

[Ponce]

A "contractor"? hummmmmmm, you mean he would bring his tommy gun and blast away the branches?, I would rather bring in a "tree trimmer" hahahhahahhahah.

V

[Tumbleweed]

A "contractor"? hummmmmmm, you mean he would bring his tommy gun and blast away the branches?, I would rather bring in a "tree trimmer" hahahhahahhahah.

V

I've pruned some of my trees with a 12 and 20 gauge and #2 shot. Worked pretty well and it was fun.

[hoarder]

Just typed a long reply and when I hit enter it disappeared. crap.

[horseshoe3]

My experiences have matched up with the OP. After trying to deal with several of them, I've come to the conclusion that most of them are in that business because they can't or don't want to work steady. They like being able to do a job here and there when they feel like it.

Fortunately for me, there are a lot of Mennonites in my area. They are skilled in construction and have a great work ethic.

[milehi]

I just do it myself. If I don't know how, I'll teach myself with a youtube tutorial. I don't want anyone at my house anyway.

[woodman]

I've pruned some of my trees with a 12 and 20 gauge and #2 shot. Worked pretty well and it was fun.

Shotguns do a fine job of trimming trees. Gotta set the choke right and use the right shot, but it is amazing the size of branches you can fell.

[hoarder]

I use a 12 guage to knock dwarf mistletoe off Fir trees. A fun chore.

One problem with independent contracters is that they are...independent is not cooperative. Most people are not self-starters and that spills over to contractors. They learn that they can make as much as they did at a 40 hour a week job in 15 hours and that's all some of them will work. They also learn some types of jobs pay much better than others so they don't return calls on the lesser category. Some even learn that the most desirable customers are the ones that have tons of money and no brains. If you don't pass that screen your calls don't get returned.

Without a boss man constantly stinging and pointing, many develop bad habits.

Business is all about agreements. The first basic is that both parties fulfill their obligations. The next basic is that both parties disclose everything relevant concerning the agreement. Only a small percentage of contractors get both those basics correct.
When screening references, ask the customer if there were any surprises, even if he liked the contractor. If there were surprises, then the contractor did not pass the second basic.

[zap]

Quote from Hoarder :One problem with independent contractors is that they are...independent is not cooperative. Most people are not self-starters and that spills over to contractors. They learn that they can make as much as they did at a 40 hour a week job in 15 hours and that's all some of them will work. They also learn some types of jobs pay much better than others so they don't return calls on the lesser category.

Nice Hoarder ! I agree