topic Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job? in Community Chat

Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

chiclet — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 10:42:03 GMT

I remember when I used to have something fixed or something new like carpet etc. and it was so great to get that done. Now it seems it is always a nightmare. It is so hard to find people who will do a good job and warranty it. If they give a warranty it they probably won't be in business for long so that means little or somehow it is your fault with whatever went wrong. They do shoddy work, show up late if they show up. I know it is not fair to group all repair and installers the same box however at my age 67 I have not found many to recommend. There have a been a few and I almost want to cry when they leave and they were courteous, clean and did a good job. We have used Home Depot and Lowes for carpet and both were disasters with bringing wrong carpet or rolling it out and finding it was messed up. Also had lowes do cabinets and what was supposed to be a couple of days without the kitchen turned out to be weeks. I get so tired of fighting to get a fair treatment.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

151949 — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 10:52:15 GMT

I think you are using the wrong vendor. Forget about Lowes.They use whoever gives them the best price. Ask around among your friends, use professionals whose only job is carpet or flooring etc then look them up on Angie's list. Don't just buy the least expensive. Go with who has the best references.Stay home while they are there and watch them as they work. Don't be afraid to ask them what they are doing and why. Make sure they guarantee their work.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

chiclet — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 11:13:04 GMT

@151949 wrote:
I think you are using the wrong vendor. Forget about Lowes.They use whoever gives them the best price. Ask around among your friends, use professionals whose only job is carpet or flooring etc then look them up on Angie's list. Don't just buy the least expensive. Go with who has the best references.Stay home while they are there and watch them as they work. Don't be afraid to ask them what they are doing and why. Make sure they guarantee their work.

That is a lot easier said than done. I do stay home and I don't get the least expensive. I rely heavily on references and reviews. Trust me I have learned my lesson with Lowes and Home Depot. At least with them you do have a company to fight with. With these small companies they just ignore you or dissappear. I had a national company put in new windows. Had them come out in the winter to measure and price so we could have it done in the spring before a/c had to go full blast. They measured wrong and sent people who could not speak English to install them. They had to reorder correct size and were finally installed in July. They have warranted the windows and have been nice but it was a mess getting the job done. The roofer did not attach the top of skylight and it blew over and water came in bathroom but that was not his fault (according to him) and he copped an attiude and we had to pay someone to fix his mess. I could write a book... I really think apartment living might not be so bad.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

Vivian — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 11:23:45 GMT

I agree with the O/P. There are rare cases when people show up when promised and do a good job (those two traits often correlate). However, most of the time I find myself calling, setting up an appointment, and if I’m lucky I get someone to come to my home at all. If I leave a voicemail message, I usually don’t get a call-back. I have actually had someone recommend his competitor, whom I called and never heard from again. I have to call the landscapers every time we need the lawn mowed. We fired them as our snow plow people because we had to call them when it snowed. Don’t they want our money?

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

151949 — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 11:26:53 GMT

We had a contractor do a huge remodel job , including a new roof. When they ripped off the old roof they left nails all over the yard & driveway. The next morning when I went to leave for work at 6AM I had 2 flat tires. I called the contractor at home and told him that due to his men's careless work he was going to have to drive me to work & pick me up.He came right over - in his robe & jammies to drive me to work and when he came that afternoon to pick me up he said he made them crawl all around the site on their knees to get every single nail picked up.We stopped on the way home at Costco where my car was waiting with 2 new tires. I've always given this contractor exceptional references - he made a mistake but he made it right and learned from it.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

Jtdmum — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 11:28:29 GMT

I feel your pain! The year I bought the house I'm in now my plumber and electrician both retired. I still work so I have to take a day off and wait for somebody to come and more than once I've had no-shows.

I had a list of things I needed done. (plumber) so I took the advice of a friend and hired another plumber. They sent an apprentice, showed up with gloves on standing at the door with a plumbers snake in hand. Looked at the comode and told me to "just get a new toilet."

Proceeded to the dishwasher-took an hour to get it disconnected and out from under the counter. Broke the cabinet taking it out, fixed the pipe (after announcing he would NOT fix the pipe back to the cast iron) pushed the dishwasher back in, reconnected it improperly so It stopped working 3 weeks later (another story) and left telling me I was lucky I had him and not somebody else because nobody would do "that kind of work"

(it was a basic pipe repair in an akward spot.

This kid was in his mid 30's. Really bad attitude, not good at his craft at all. My bill was close to $1000.00, not including the $150 (and second day off) to have the dishwasher fixed.

DId I mention during this, he blew out an electric breaker (the refrig) and I had to have a callout electrician on OT come so I didn't loose my food in the freezer???

I could go on....It was a week long nightmare...Bottom line, I couldn't agree more with you about getting qualified help to come and work here. If I had kids I'd encourage them to go into a trade and be sure they have a strong work ethic. It doesn't seem anyone is hungry for work - When the economy changes they'll be sorry.

Please don't ask why I didn't throw the plumber out..I had water leaking down into my basement (finished) and had to get it fixed, I was concerned about mold and other water related issues.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

panda1234 — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 11:32:12 GMT

@Vivian wrote:
I agree with the O/P. There are rare cases when people show up when promised and do a good job (those two traits often correlate). However, most of the time I find myself calling, setting up an appointment, and if I’m lucky I get someone to come to my home at all. If I leave a voicemail message, I usually don’t get a call-back. I have actually had someone recommend his competitor, whom I called and never heard from again. I have to call the landscapers every time we need the lawn mowed. We fired them as our snow plow people because we had to call them when it snowed. Don’t they want our money?

@Vivian

I was just looking at jobs online. In the description it said must be on time for work and willing to work. That is so sad that they felt that needed to be put in.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

PINKdogWOOD — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 11:50:37 GMT

It's very sad that no one cares about the quality of work they do for others regardless of how much we are charged for a job done well or not.

No one cares anymore.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

CAcableGirl2 — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 13:30:46 GMT

That's really sad when people who are being paid have to be told to do their job.

I have been very lucky so far, had a granite installer do a terrific job at the original stated price, and attic insulator do a great job too. I even had a roofing contractor checking for a possible leak remove some tiles when I thought a had a leak and confirmed that my roof was fine and my issue was in the insulation (at no charge).

Most of the small jobs I end up doing myself. There is a ton of information on you-tube that will walk you through a lot of home repairs. I fixed my leaking freezer and replaced the motor in my jacuzzi - both took less than 45 minutes and were unbelievably easy.

My issue with employees who don't care is more in the retail environment. I guess the wages are low, so they take who they can get. Some is a result of bad management and there is no loyalty (on either end). In the past, employees would stay for many years and build up some loyalty to the employer (and the employer would appreciate the experience and dedication), but now, most employees leave after a few years to "greener pastures", and some employers figure they can replace a long term employee with someone new for lower wages.

I dealt with a company at work who kept shipping items to the "bill to" corporate office, instead of the work site, and when I tried to explain where to ship to in order for us to get the order, their comment was "well, we do have a proof of delivery", and didn't care that the customer actually got the items or that the items could be sitting at a corporate office with no specific office to re-direct too. That speaks volumes about her work ethic - concern for her companies reputation and concern for her customer - zilch.

If anyone has seen that show "Undercover Boss", that should be a annual exercise for the CEO, CFO, and other major senior leadership at least once a year. Make them work along side some of the entry level employees that deal with your customers for a few days, it would be an eye opener.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

esmeraldagooch — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 13:47:18 GMT

@chiclet wrote:
I remember when I used to have something fixed or something new like carpet etc. and it was so great to get that done. Now it seems it is always a nightmare. It is so hard to find people who will do a good job and warranty it. If they give a warranty it they probably won't be in business for long so that means little or somehow it is your fault with whatever went wrong. They do shoddy work, show up late if they show up. I know it is not fair to group all repair and installers the same box however at my age 67 I have not found many to recommend. There have a been a few and I almost want to cry when they leave and they were courteous, clean and did a good job. We have used Home Depot and Lowes for carpet and both were disasters with bringing wrong carpet or rolling it out and finding it was messed up. Also had lowes do cabinets and what was supposed to be a couple of days without the kitchen turned out to be weeks. I get so tired of fighting to get a fair treatment.

Have you considered calling a top realtor in your area? Unless you know one. We have only had good luck using realtor recommendations with repair people.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

queendiva — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 13:52:49 GMT

@chiclet: I hear you!

Prepping for house sale, so I have been using many services. Best were a handyman and a tree trimmer recommended by good friends and an amazing cleaning crew found through Home Advisors.

ITA with previous posts: ask friends, use Home Advisors and/or Angie's List.

I used a hauler who I was not pleased with, but his crew was great. Mixed bag.

Take your time, interview before the hire where possible, Get prices in writing before the work, avoid those big box stores. Ask at your local small hardware, carpet and paint stores for recs. to put the odds of a good outcome at a fair price in your favor.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

queendiva — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 13:59:16 GMT

As previously mentioned I am prepping to sell my house. Hired a great listing agent who I used seccessfully in the past. I approved his copy for the listing. Someone else in his office posted it. OMG- the grammar, syntax and typos were all over a single paragraph! I had to make all the corrections. The person responsible was duly embarrased and made the changes promptly- but really?! This was not a kid. He's a man in his mid-60's who says he has been doing this for many years.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

RetRN — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 14:01:53 GMT

It should not have to be difficult to find honest and reliable workers. The poor work ethic, lack of caring, and laziness says something about our country and how children have been groomed for the workplace. So many are on their phones and texting when they are being paid to do a job, all they want is a big paycheck. Many just don't feel that they should have to work. They need to get over themselves.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

Witchy Woman — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 14:06:53 GMT

@chiclet

My husband is a builder and I can tell you it is near impossible for him to find helpers that live up to his standards of doing any job -- from the smallest to largest.

If they don't do things his way, they don't stay around long. If he has to check behind them all the time, he just does the task himself. He is a stickler for cleaning up as he goes along and leaving the workplace spotless when it is done.

Consequently, he is in constant demand because he shows up when he says he will and does not quit until the job is done to the satisfaction of those paying him.

His work is mostly word of mouth and repeat business, and he is always busy.

Mostly, the shoddy work is caused by people trying to do jobs when they don't have the skills. He sees it all the time. Things done wrong, or half way and let go. Drives him crazy!

Oh, and I cannot even get him started on the workers used by Lowe's or other places. He turns into a raving maniac

Someone says they are a carpenter or can lay tile and they don't have the faintest idea how to do a job right.

I've seen a lot of his work and it is impeccable. But, he is old school and honest.

A dying breed for sure.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

Annabellethecat66 — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 14:31:35 GMT

Ahhh!! You've hit on number one of my biggest gripes!

My problem is that I used to be married (I'm a widow) to a man who could fix anything...and did.

Dryer goes out? No problem. He put new heating elements in the dryer (fixed). Build me a new house after a big fire? No problem. He supervised everything and when (in the beginning) we were told it would be months to get the roof materials, he made some phone calls and it was less than 1 week.

My late husband was an investor (he loaned people money) and he was a builder. He had contacts.

He used to say, "People anymore don't want to work on something like it was their own and do a good job. They just don't care anymore". And he was right!

After he died I decided to get all of the locks in the house reset so I could just use one key. I picked the biggest add in the phone book (remember those) because I figured.....'this is a big company. they must know their 'stuff''. WRONG!

What I found out is these days people buy franchise to companies. If you have the money and you USED to be an accountant; but suddenly you decide to be a locksmith...but know zip about locks...No problem! You pay for a franchise and get all of the equipment...one thing...you don't know what the heck you're doing or have the talent.

That's what happened to me! It was taking forever and the guy was still on one lock...I said, "What's the problem?" He came back with a snark remark and it was downhill from there.

Finally, I said, "Just get out of my house, please". Long story short....all of the locks require different keys....

And so it goes. I have so many things (my husband died in 2004) to be fixed and the money...but I don't trust people to do a good job..so it doesn't get done!

I have friends (married and otherwise) and they're in the same predicament. It's just frustrating.

No one cares to do a good job. Like the OP said, they just move on and (because they've done poorly) they've either been sued or just 'gone away'. There's no going back to get it fixed (what they messed up the first time).

I think if it happened every now and then most people would forgive and forget. But the problem is this is the norm....SCREW UPs...

I think I'm luckier than some though because I have some really good friends who help me a lot. My one best guy friend (he and his wife) has lived in the same house since he was born. He knows everyone and can fix lots of things. (Once he and I took my entire toilet apart 2 times). But that was about 3 years ago. Now we're both 71 and between his (stomach ....large) and my knees (new), we can no longer do like we used to.

He and I were always do it ourselves fixers. I papered, painted, stained my entire house when it was built. I could do anything with a drill and hammer.

But age has taken over. I always say, "My brain says "go go go" and my body says, "no no no". Ugh!

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

SeaMaiden — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 14:38:22 GMT

These nightmare stories are why when I sell and move from my home of going on 30 years with no update... I will sell as is. The new homeowner can fix it up as they choose and have all the headaches for themselves. Good riddance!

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

SahmIam — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 14:48:09 GMT

I'm sure you'll all agree (then again, maybe not), that you see this "I don't give a flip" attitude in all professions, not just contractors. I see it no matter where I go. There are, of course, those that DO do a fantastic job and take pride in all that they do; the difference is it was once the NORM. Now, it's the EXCEPTION.

Why? When did that "attitude" towards doing your best change? I just know that NOW, I have to be concerned that ANYTHING I contract to have done (car, bakery, house, etc) will be done poorly. Neighbors have commented on this, in-laws, their friends, co-workers....so it's obviously something that everyone is experience yet no one knows why.

Perhaps the realization that companies don't give flip about you. Perhaps it started when benefits started being cut back/eliminated. Perhaps it's a state of mind that life and the world suck so why bother. I REALLY don't know. I DO know that it gets old quickly and I rarely contract out for anything anymore. I have to be DESPERATE to do so. Youtube has become my best friends for fixing things (hello dryer that stopped all of a sudden) because having to pay $100 JUST for them to come to my house and then pay for everything else.....nope. Too much for my blood. Especially when it stops working a month or so later and then I have to RE-PAY for it to be fixed again...and again. Now I do it myself and it stays fixed.

I don't know. It's easy to get annoyed and fed up every which way you turn today; even ordering a sandwich at the deli usually results in the wrong item being handed to you. It all just adds to the frustration of Life.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

NickNack — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 15:38:01 GMT

I've had a terrible time this year finding someone reliable to mow my yard and pull weeds, spread mulch, etc. I had the same person do this for many many years. He showed up like clockwork once a week and left me a bill at the end of each month. He only raised his price one time.

My problem with him was that he wouldn't keep the weeds pulled at the same time. I had to get him to do that separately and pay him separately. I didn't know how good I had it.

I decided to find someone else this year. The first man I got showed up the first time and then the next week I had to text him. It was close to two weeks between mowings, and then he told me that he was having to quit doing that "due to unforeseen circumstances."

The man I have now I have had to text each time, too, or it would be two weeks. I need to find someone else but it's too late in the season to get someone good. I would take my old guy back in a heartbeat but I can't find his number. It was in my old landline phone that I've replaced. I also kept his invoices but have thrown them away. I would crawl back to him. :::sigh:::

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

happycat — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 15:45:35 GMT

I understand. I have been there myself. Its so very hard finding quality people to do any work.

Lately, it seems like we hire people to do work then he ends up fixing/re doing what they didn't do right later on. The ones we use to know who did a great job have retired or passed away. I feel for anyone building a house in the area where I live right now. I wouldn't even want to try it.

Re: Why so hard to get people to do a good job?

Spurt — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 16:02:32 GMT

@chiclet

I understand what you are saying, these days a lot of companies and people do the absolute minimum that they have to and/or do a lousy job and don't take pride in their work. It's rare to find a company that seems to care.

I used to use a place for simple home repairs, and they did a great job, plus they also did a good job cleaning up. But the last time they came out to fix my toilet they left such a mess!!! Even left the old pump for me to throw away...

Ive been a good customer over the last few years, and I even took time to call the company and compliment their workers and even told them I was so pleased that I referred people to them....BUT the last 2 times, they didn't do a good job, and they had to come back because they didnt do something right the first time!!!, they left a mess!!! So now I won't use them again, and I'll have to find someone else....

Even at my mamogram place, I gave them my new insurance info when I made my appointment, confirmed it with them, and what do they do---bill the OLD company....

And I won't even go into how the grocery stores bag groceries these days.............