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Re: Why is it so hard to get contractors to do work?
[Re: hallb]
#2252646
10/10/17 04:03 AM
10/10/17 04:03 AM
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 7,945
north Alabama
biglmbass
14 point
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14 point
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 7,945
north Alabama
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The problem is, a lot of times guys that are good with their hands, can frame a house in their sleep, throw up gutters w/out thinking about it, etc - they are just poor communicators. He's obviously tried to use his wife to address that, but sounds like she's not much better. I think it's mostly this. They know their trade be it swinging hammers, plumbing, electrical, etc, but very few are really good at representing their business in a professional manner by staying on top of timely quotes, meeting customers on time every time, & returning calls. The G'friend recently went through this when she had her kitchen remodeled and again when I wanted some concrete work done at my place. It was shocking the number of folks that won't call back or even show up to quote a job. I'd just rather be told up front that they're slammed and can't quote it at the present time. Didn't hear that a single time.
The left lane is for the the purpose of moving the flow of traffic forward regardless of the speed limit. If your impeding the flow of traffic get your ass in the right lane. It's really that simple...
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Re: Why is it so hard to get contractors to do work?
[Re: Irishguy]
#2252684
10/10/17 04:37 AM
10/10/17 04:37 AM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 24,852
Buc-ee’s Beach Express
leroycnbucks
Freak of Nature
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Freak of Nature
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 24,852
Buc-ee’s Beach Express
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Communication is the key to anything successful in life. Rather it be work, hunting, fishing related or a personal relationships with your wife and kids. When I was a contractor I wasn't perfect by any means. Not every job went well and you are only as good as the folks working for you and supervising them. Unless you do everything yourself which is hard to do and build a customer base. Depends on how much volume of work you need to do to meet your overhead. But I always returned phone calls. If you're busy be honest and tell the customer. Don't tell them what they want to hear just to get them off your ass.
I bought my first truck mounted cell phone in 1989. I had a beeper, a home and office phone with a answering machine. All these numbers were on my business card.
I've called several sub contractors the past few months to have some work done and was surprised at some that either didn't call you back, voice mail was full or wouldn't commit to a meeting time to go over the scope of work. Then I've had some that did what they said they would do when they said they would for the price they said it would be. But I have noticed those types are few and far between these days for some reason.
Proud Army and ALNG veteran
God Bless America!
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Re: Why is it so hard to get contractors to do work?
[Re: leroycnbucks]
#2252697
10/10/17 04:42 AM
10/10/17 04:42 AM
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Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 22,700
Lickskillet, AL
Irishguy
OP
a.k.a. Dingle Johnson
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OP
a.k.a. Dingle Johnson
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 22,700
Lickskillet, AL
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Communication is the key to anything successful in life. Rather it be work, hunting, fishing related or a personal relationships with your wife and kids. When I was a contractor I wasn't perfect by any means. Not every job went well and you are only as good as the folks working for you and supervising them. Unless you do everything yourself which is hard to do and build a customer base. Depends on how much volume of work you need to do to meet your overhead. But I always returned phone calls. If you're busy be honest and tell the customer. Don't tell them what they want to hear just to get them off your ass.
I bought my first truck mounted cell phone in 1989. I had a beeper, a home and office phone with a answering machine. All these numbers were on my business card.
I've called several sub contractors the past few months to have some work done and was surprised at some that either didn't call you back, voice mail was full or wouldn't commit to a meeting time to go over the scope of work. Then I've had some that did what they said they would do when they said they would for the price they said it would be. But I have noticed those types are few and far between these days for some reason. Everything you say is true.
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Re: Why is it so hard to get contractors to do work?
[Re: Yelp softly]
#2252723
10/10/17 05:00 AM
10/10/17 05:00 AM
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 5,151
Satsuma, AL
Robert D.
12 point
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12 point
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 5,151
Satsuma, AL
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No, it’s a simple lesson in economics. If you feel the competition isn’t sufficient, maybe you should jump in yourself. Or maybe you’re not willing to put your money where your mouth is. It’s easy to criticize from the sidelines, that’s all. If people were making money hand over fist, there’d probably be more people doing it, you think? NO, it's a simple lesson in business ethics. If the job will not be profitable to you, or you don't have time, or you just don't want to do it.... TELL THE CUSTOMER! UP FRONT. Don't jack people around and not return phone calls or miss appointments. That doesn't mean you're too smart to waste time with the small jobs, it means you're a dumbass and a poor businessman. Capitalism 101- If there's more work than you can get to, no competition, etc. RAISE your prices. The market will tell you when to stop.
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Re: Why is it so hard to get contractors to do work?
[Re: s1nger1]
#2252747
10/10/17 05:17 AM
10/10/17 05:17 AM
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Joined: May 2015
Posts: 6,363
On the X
TickaTicka
12 point
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12 point
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 6,363
On the X
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I have been getting ready to do an addition to my house and renovation work. I am guessing the job to be $60-100K. I can't even get a contractor to come to the house and give and estimate. I have contacted 6 highly recommended companies and 5 weeks later not one of them have shown up or called since the first call. All of them say they want the job then fall off the face of the earth. Time and time again, same story. Its impossible to get a hold of anyone. In this day and age of technology, no one seems connected. How does that work? If you can get someone to call back, I've been stood up or the worst is come and look at a job and never offer a quote. When it starts tearing up my time and schedule to try and get someone who I want to pay a fair dollar for a job they do and all they have time to do is waste my time? Well, I'll just stop there....
Public Land Owner
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Re: Why is it so hard to get contractors to do work?
[Re: TickaTicka]
#2252834
10/10/17 06:36 AM
10/10/17 06:36 AM
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Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 3,850
Dothan/Hartford,Al
87dixieboy
10 point
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10 point
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 3,850
Dothan/Hartford,Al
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I have been getting ready to do an addition to my house and renovation work. I am guessing the job to be $60-100K. I can't even get a contractor to come to the house and give and estimate. I have contacted 6 highly recommended companies and 5 weeks later not one of them have shown up or called since the first call. All of them say they want the job then fall off the face of the earth. Time and time again, same story. Its impossible to get a hold of anyone. In this day and age of technology, no one seems connected.
How does that work? Bet ya if you sent a text or an email you would get an immediate response.
Only accurate rifles are interesting.
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Re: Why is it so hard to get contractors to do work?
[Re: Irishguy]
#2252879
10/10/17 07:17 AM
10/10/17 07:17 AM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 18,137
North AL
AU338MAG
Old Mossy Horns
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Old Mossy Horns
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 18,137
North AL
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Irish. I know your cabin is not in trussville but have you contacted Duncan gutters? They are a good company located in trussville and they may travel or be able to recommend someone else closer to your build.
Dying ain't much of a living boy...Josey Wales
Molon Labe
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Re: Why is it so hard to get contractors to do work?
[Re: AU338MAG]
#2252895
10/10/17 07:30 AM
10/10/17 07:30 AM
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Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 22,700
Lickskillet, AL
Irishguy
OP
a.k.a. Dingle Johnson
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OP
a.k.a. Dingle Johnson
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 22,700
Lickskillet, AL
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Irish. I know your cabin is not in trussville but have you contacted Duncan gutters? They are a good company located in trussville and they may travel or be able to recommend someone else closer to your build. Yeah that guy is a great guy to deal with. Big time hunter too. The gutter on my mini-cabin came from them. They built it, I put it on my truck, hauled it up there and installed it myself. I'm thinking about doing the same thing with the big cabin. Just have them make the 3 gutters, 26', 24' and 8' and nest them and I have a utility trailer with a rack on it that I believe can haul the long pieces up there and then just install the damn things myself.
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Re: Why is it so hard to get contractors to do work?
[Re: 87dixieboy]
#2252996
10/10/17 09:07 AM
10/10/17 09:07 AM
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Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 9,541
Montgomery, AL
jbc
14 point
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14 point
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 9,541
Montgomery, AL
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I have been getting ready to do an addition to my house and renovation work. I am guessing the job to be $60-100K. I can't even get a contractor to come to the house and give and estimate. I have contacted 6 highly recommended companies and 5 weeks later not one of them have shown up or called since the first call. All of them say they want the job then fall off the face of the earth. Time and time again, same story. Its impossible to get a hold of anyone. In this day and age of technology, no one seems connected.
How does that work? Bet ya if you sent a text or an email you would get an immediate response. I’m bad about not answering phone numbers I don’t have saved. I do call 100% back that leave a voicemail though, usually immediately. If you don’t leave a voice mail, it goes down the list
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Re: Why is it so hard to get contractors to do work?
[Re: 87dixieboy]
#2253118
10/10/17 10:40 AM
10/10/17 10:40 AM
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 40
s1nger1
spike
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spike
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 40
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I have been getting ready to do an addition to my house and renovation work. I am guessing the job to be $60-100K. I can't even get a contractor to come to the house and give and estimate. I have contacted 6 highly recommended companies and 5 weeks later not one of them have shown up or called since the first call. All of them say they want the job then fall off the face of the earth. Time and time again, same story. Its impossible to get a hold of anyone. In this day and age of technology, no one seems connected.
How does that work? Bet ya if you sent a text or an email you would get an immediate response. Doesn't work. They ignore that as well. Email. NaDA
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Re: Why is it so hard to get contractors to do work?
[Re: Irishguy]
#2253176
10/10/17 11:46 AM
10/10/17 11:46 AM
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 9,177
B'ham
Goatkiller
14 point
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14 point
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 9,177
B'ham
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I deal with this all the time because we do construction in your more rural areas all the time.
It has to do with competition. I'm not going to say it is being lazy but the guy probably has enough work to pay his bills and more so... the incentive to answer the phone and take small jobs and go that extra mile becomes a real problem.
Same is true of other areas like mechanics that have too much work. They still roll the shop door down and head home at 5:00 regardless of how many days they are backed up.
This is just the way America worker work in 2017. It isn't that people don't work hard they just don't put in the extra effort in a lot of cases.
No government employees were harmed in the making of this mess.
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Re: Why is it so hard to get contractors to do work?
[Re: Irishguy]
#2253231
10/10/17 12:46 PM
10/10/17 12:46 PM
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Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,515
Eclectic
DoeNut
8 point
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8 point
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,515
Eclectic
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Just have them make the 3 gutters, 26', 24' and 8' and nest them and I have a utility trailer with a rack on it that I believe can haul the long pieces up there and then just install the damn things myself. Prb what I'd do as well, as long as you secure them to the rack so the aluminum doesn't twist. Have them punch the holes for the downspouts and you'll have em hung pretty quick unless they are tough to access. Ones less than 25' are pretty easy to hang but the wind can surprise you. A fifty or sixty footer in the wind will look like a banana in a second if you let it stretch or worse get into a twisted mess.
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