Do others filter the potential time wasters?

[peterhyper]

I am sure there are far more time wasters contacting me than a few years ago, or is it just me being grumpier in older age. I think I'm usually good at sussing out the time wasters and I would say that around a third of the people who contact me I don't even arrange to quote them as I believe they will be wasting my time. I will dismiss anyone that sounds obnoxious and perhaps I'm fortunate that I don't need to work 5 or 6 days a week anymore, so just 3 days work a week I'm happy with (I don't do rewires anymore as I can't be ar**d with the hassle).

I get the majority of the jobs that I actually quote for which is good, and hopefully my filtering out the potential time wasters saves me a lot of time.

Do others do similar to me with regards filtering the potential time wasters out?

 

[HappyHippyDad]

Not at all Peter. I arrange to quote for 'nearly' everyone that rings me and I find that very few are time wasters. Just out of interest what is a 'time waster'? Guessing someone who's just looking for a ridiculously cheap quote?

It sounds like you may be a bit cheesed off with the job

 

[Octopus]

Most people that find me on "the internet" are the ones I don't waste my time on .....

Repeat business and referrals are best ....

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

Its the people who seem offended when you give a really competitive quote and then turn around and say i will think about it or ask you to reduce it more. they dont realise you have overheads, taxes, professional fees and insurance to pay for. its not all going in your pocket. they seem to think you are out to have them over. Its better when people refer you as then they seem to feel comfortable.

 

[Rpa07]

It’s all about where you are getting your leads from as well. Recommends and word of mouth will never be time wasters but ‘trust a trader’ or ‘rated people’ may bring in the types that think you owe them something whereas we know it’s the other way around - right kids?

 

[buzzlightyear]

me my self if they want my service ,their will have to pay the price .
like today customer ring up not one but two times .I have a fault on the alarm system .drive 8 miles to the job .get in the house
customer I have been up three night in a row ,me what a shame
me would you like to be up in the middle of the night again .
customer, no .disconnection then. he paid.
some customer think us sparks fly on magic carpets with the fuel
paper work and so on .

 

[Octopus]

Its the ones that ask if its cheaper for cash - I simply say the price is the same however you pay me ....................................

 

[buzzlightyear]

Its the ones that ask if its cheaper for cash - I simply say the price is the same however you pay me

has long it is not 5 magic beans or a cow because my name in not jack!

 

[peterhyper]

I do agree that repeat business and referrals are the best and fortunately I get a fair amount of them.

A time waster comes in many forms and agreed the internet browsers often fall into that category. They will usually be someone that wants really cheap, buys their own cable, switches and sockets and "just" wants me to put them and/or insists that the job they want me to do is a "little, quick or easy job" when usually it's anything but that.

Someone who has a fault and wants me to give them an actual quote as they can't understand why I would charge by the hour, or doesn't understand that I cannot promise to fix the fault on my initial visit and just doesn't get that I will still want paying.

Someone that can't understand why I can't give them a price over the phone to fit an extra socket or an outside light etc without me having no other information or having never been to the property.

The ones that tell me when I will be going to quote them, so they tell me that they want me to be at their house at 7.30pm tonight or 9am on Saturday (not asking me but telling me), they don't ever get to see me.

People that are rude or abrupt, or the ones that tell me if I give them a good price they will get me more work will never see me.

Despite the impression I'm giving, I'm actually a happy friendly bloke and I almost always have a good rapport with my customers and I do take pride in my work and do my best to do a good job (which most customers appreciate and recognise). I don't travel too far nowadays for work and I am lucky that I can be as selective as I am (mortgage paid and no debts). I turn down lots of work from genuine customers because I have learnt to say no (something I used to struggle with). Next week I have only booked 2 days work in (I could have work all week if I wanted) because I have a couple of bits to do and family comes first.

I guess if things dried up completely I might have to consider adjusting my potential time waster filter, but fingers crossed it won't come to that.

In reply to being chessed off with the job, I am definitely not chessed off with the work but my tolerance for time wasters, rude and obnoxious people isn't as high as it once was. Most of the time I am genuinely happy doing the job.

 

[rolyberkin]

I am amazed by how many people who seem to think I will turn up and do their work for a cup of tea and a slice of cake? They actually seem offended when the card machine comes out for payment for a small job I think there are many people who honestly believe they can just have a go having bought the stuff at screw fix and in all honesty are in way over their head. They then get the hump when they have to pay for someone to come in and sort out their mess. I would never dream of having a go at doing the brakes on my car and then call a mechanic in when it doesn't work. However everyone seems to be happy to have a go at their lights and then want me to come out on a Saturday when the RCD keeps popping or the light is permanently on. As for the Facebook donuts who want everything done for a fiver............!

 

[NDG Elecs]

I'm quite fortunate in that I get roughly 30% of my work from an estate agent, 30% from a local dentist who for some reason thinks I am ace and has given my number to so many people it's unreal - she is basically my pimp! And the remaining 40% is largely word of mouth. I do obviously still get new customers, whom I assess when looking at the job; if I think repeat work is likely I start off lowish with my price and bump it up subsequently after they have succumbed to my powers!

I don't not quote anyone, it's very rare it happens, but if I don't get the job I chalk it off to being part and parcel of being self employed.

I have had a funny situation recently where I did quotes for two properties opposite each other. They were completely unrelated and around a month apart. I got neither job. The first one I found rude and demeaning in nature who said my job was very easy and that her boyfriend plasterer would have done it all but it needed signing off. I put in a daft price and waffled on like crazy in the quote about Zs's, trip times, RCD testing etc just to annoy her! The second house literally across the road tried to knock my price down, I did double check it and it was competitive. So I told him to find someone who fits Lap and Marbo and enjoys working for next to nowt! I may blacklist that end of that particular street!

I'm in the process of getting a new website, and I am going to put a bit on it about how trades are actually not that expensive when all things are considered.

 

[NDG Elecs]

Its the ones that ask if its cheaper for cash - I simply say the price is the same however you pay me ....................................

Bizarrely I can't recall anyone saying that to me. Maybe I just have one of those faces!

 

[Wilko]

I will go once for a quote, but that's it now. My learning was a guy who used me to understand what was needed and then gave the work to someone else or diy'd it. Nowadays they get a quote and a link to the Forum .

 

[Rpa07]

I do work for my dentist and he passes my name onto his customers as they chat with his hands in their mouths! It’s just how it happens.

 

[rolyberkin]

I do smaller jobs and charge £30 an hour and don't budge, I was shocked when I took my mower in to be serviced and was charged £40+VAT per hour!

 

[Rpa07]

I try and make my first hour £30 but sometimes the job is too easy and in those instances that I lose out a bit I always end up getting more work within a week or two. It’s another word of mouth as well which is (near) priceless.

 

[PEG]

Never advertise,never work for anyone unknown-unless brokered through an outfit that will stand any unpaid costs,never use find-a-whateverthing,never fail on an intended task,never barter.....the list is lengthy

Can i be the new government small business adviser,yet?

 

[Risteard]

I'm sick of all the idiots who think that it's reasonable to ring today about a new kitchen which is going in in a day or two's time and other such nonsense.

 

[sparkdog]

I always give estimates, never quotes.

 

[The Ghost]

People ask for my card. I always say never had or need one I have enough work. I have always got work in London, Scotland and Bristol and wherever I go. I suppose I have been very fortunate. Over forty years I have had three "memorable" customers which odds wise is way beyond incredibly lucky considering some of the stories and frequency of troubles I have heard from other trades. There is a class of person out there who are premeditated, professional welchers who know they are not going to pay and know how to use the law and spurious complaints to stymy any redress. I can just about spot them now.
Contract and deposit is a golden rule with me especially domestic. Under contract law standard terms commercially are advances for "materials on site" (JCT) which I usually insist on, but have never had trouble in a commercial context.

 

[peterhyper]

Some interesting feedback, I like the one where you only give estimates and not quotes, but the only problem in my experience is that people want to know what the actual cost will be. With faults I only charge by the hour, or with replacing lights I do the same. I often give people 2 quotes for the same job depending if let's say they are hanging a big/heavy light and I have to go above to support it if sufficient support isn't present.

I also love the people that say "how much for cash." My reply is the "same as a cheque or bank transfer."

I don't take deposits from people as most people don't like giving them and filtering out the time wasters it usually works. I don't mind people cancelling me at the last minute when they have a genuine emergency, but I don't book a second visit if they cancel with a silly reason.

I don't mind doing a little extra 5/10 minute job for a decent customer especially if they offer to pay you (I don't usually take extra for good customers), but the ones that want you to put their new lights up for free when you have finished the little job you went to do get the cold shoulder from me (I tell them I have another job to go to and I can book them in another day - usually when they realise they will have to pay they tell me they will get back to me and never do).

I occasionally get people who try to con me into believing that parking is fine where they are ("you should be able to park outside okay") but I usually know the area and that they are surrounded by permit parking or meters so I wind them up and tell them how much extra I charge for any additional time finding a parking space and walking to and from their property from my vehicle. If someone is honest about the parking situation near their property I will try and accommodate them if I can, but I hate the liars who know it's as good as impossible to park near their home.

I could go on n forever, but in reality most people are decent and willing to pay the going rate, but we always remember the idiots.

 

[Wilko]

I'm sick of all the idiots who think that it's reasonable to ring today about a new kitchen which is going in in a day or two's time and other such nonsense.

Perfect, isn't it !
Friend of Wifey manages a kitchen and bathroom business. She's all set up so there's been no work for Wilko so far. Then she rang late in December desperate for help that day ... love to (I said) but I'm a bit far away today, sorry. Still no work for Wilko

 

[JK-Electrical]

Its the people who seem offended when you give a really competitive quote and then turn around and say i will think about it or ask you to reduce it more. they dont realise you have overheads, taxes, professional fees and insurance to pay for. its not all going in your pocket. they seem to think you are out to have them over. Its better when people refer you as then they seem to feel comfortable.

Like the landlord who called me earlier in the week to get a price for an EICR on a two-bedroom house. I quoted him £125.00. He then tells me that he's already got a quotation from someone who'll do it for £80.00 and asks me if I can match that price. I tell him that I have a fixed-price tariff for domestic EICRs and my price is final. He enquires as to why I am £45.00 more expensive than the other guy. My reply was that my price is correct and that he should phone the other guy and ask him why he's £45.00 cheaper.

He then asks me for to quote for installing two hard-wired, interlinked smoke alarms and a hard-wired, interlinked heat alarm. I tell him that I can't quote prices over the phone for jobs that I haven't seen and that he should budget between £175 and £250. He tells me that he's got a quote for £125.00 so is going to go with that. At this point I said "okay" and terminated the call. I've better uses for my time than to waste it on haggling skinflints who want everything done on the cheap.

 

[peterhyper]

I just had a guy call me at 7.59am today (it's Sunday) for me to to around and give him a quote as a couple of sockets haven't worked since he moved in. I told him it's not quite 8am on a Sunday morning and I thought it might be a family emergency getting a call so early on a Sunday morning, so I don't want to give him a quote and he can find another electrician!

Fair enough if it was an emergency call out, but for a bloody quote that time on a Sunday is ridiculous. Anyone that calls me at silly times for a quote gets filtered out with their number blocked, because you know you aren't dealing with somone reasonable to start with and I won't waste my time.

 

[RWJ]

Love those customers that get you round to do a simple job, then when you turn up they want another 4 "simple" jobs doing for the same price!!! Knowing full well this was the plan all along.

As above people that ring on a evening thinking you want to give advice about their new sockets they want to buy from B&Q.

Had one a while ago, we'd already done a few jobs for the customer EICR for the property they were selling, supply to shed in new property, additional sockets, new bathroom light etc.
Sunday evening at 7:45 I get a call on my (work) mobile from the customer, I'm not on call so they hadn't rang the office number. They leave a voicemail saying they were thinking of having downlighters in the kitchen. The next day I called the customer, it was about 10:15 while your love song was on, I wanted to get in before POP Master! The customer tells me "not to bother" as the other electrician had already been out had a look and was doing the job on Wednesday. From her attitude I was obviously wrong for not answering the phone / going round there and then to have a look. Good riddance!

I've also had others ring at 8 on a Sunday morning just wanting advice.

 

[Wilko]

Sunday evening at 7:45 I get a call on my (work) mobile from the customer, I'm not on call so they hadn't rang the office number ... I've also had others ring at 8 on a Sunday morning just wanting advice.

I've had a few jobs where 24/7 was expected, but not paid. In the end it did my head in as it was often abused by the Customer. I'm sure I'm not on my own in this experience... I recall that an NHS after hours Doctor got called out to a home to provide emergency health care to their wifi

 

[Pete E]

Sadly, you also need to consider the other side of the coin. People are tired of being ripped off by dodgy "tradesmen" whether its builders, plumbers or sparks.

I am not sure whether shows like "Rogue Traders" help or whether it blows such problems out of proportion.

Personally, over the years, I have found many plumbers and electricians unreliable ie don't turn up to do work when promised and compound the problem with little or no communication.

I try to be understanding given that its not always easy to plan a working day and I appreciate they can get stuck on jobs, but a phone call or even a txt to say they are running late or can't make it at all would go a long way to alleviating that.

A few years back, I was recommended a plumber and used him two or three times, but while he was a really personable guy, his work was shoddy and he was unreliable. He got the hump one day when I eventually got hacked off and binned him off without paying for his last shoddy work....

As for quotes ect. from a customers point of view, some tradesmen do seem to "negotiate" ie start by chancing their arm with a higher price and then come done, and many do offer a better deal for cash, so don't be offended when a customer tries these approaches.

Since moving into my present house, I have found a local plumber who I trust. His quotes seem reasonable, I have been more than happy with his work and his time keeping while not 100%, is better than many...I pay in cash on the day, and always make sure he has something for a drink as well plus I have recommended him to a couple of friends as well..

He must be happy with me as a customer as although he is always busy, he usually manages to fit me in if the job is urgent....

So before people here moan about customers, remember its a two way street although you personally might be a good tradesman, there are many out there who are not...