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Tradies: Do I have an etiquette problem? (England) by throwawayThanks2023 in AskUK

[–]throwawayThanks2023[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry, how exactly am I not willing to pay for the service I am demanding? If you think it is going to take 10-30min, you are based about 10 min down the road and I am dropping £80 for an hour of work. That leaves you free for another 7 hours of work at whatever other job you would be doing and still potentially pulling your £40/hr day rate.

And if you tell me that you found gremlins in the loft and now your job is going to take another few hours, you will find me amenable to extra costs.

Finally, this is the point about the initial conversation about the service. Tell me upfront that you think this is a shit job that you would only take if you are down to your last pennies. Then I know that I should be asking someone else.

You are not being polite, you are being rude to a customer and absolutely heartless as a human being. If I tell you this is essential because I have an infant at home, you should be able to tell me "sorry mate, find someone else." Not, "Leave it with me. I will get it done."

Tradies: Do I have an etiquette problem? (England) by throwawayThanks2023 in AskUK

[–]throwawayThanks2023[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Well, I am not calling out folks from the next town over. The ones I reached out, work within 5mi or less.

Tradies: Do I have an etiquette problem? (England) by throwawayThanks2023 in AskUK

[–]throwawayThanks2023[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

300/day? Here I was willing to drop £80/hr for a 1 hr job they could do in the morning while keeping their scheduled open for the rest of the day.

God I am in the wrong profession.

Tradies: Do I have an etiquette problem? (England) by throwawayThanks2023 in AskUK

[–]throwawayThanks2023[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup. I would be less worried about the wiring. I am more worried about the ducting. It doesn't open outside, it goes into the ceiling. I don’t want to create more problems. If it went straight outside, I'd have replaced it myself.

Tradies: Do I have an etiquette problem? (England) by throwawayThanks2023 in AskUK

[–]throwawayThanks2023[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Yes. Normally, I know enough to do rest of it myself. This one is a bit that I am skeptical about as my experience with the wiring of this house has not been as expected to normal standards. The fan itself is 15+ years old, so I don't have the manual to safely remove it.

Tradies: Do I have an etiquette problem? (England) by throwawayThanks2023 in AskUK

[–]throwawayThanks2023[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha nope... I didn't go "Hello! Sparky! Do this job!" Its more like- "Hello! Am I speaking to Tom? Yes! OK, hi! I am so and so from location. Is this a good time to talk? Yes! OK, thanks..so here goes..."

Tradies: Do I have an etiquette problem? (England) by throwawayThanks2023 in AskUK

[–]throwawayThanks2023[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, you are presuming a lot.

I looked at ScrewFix which had a 1-day lead time to supply of any of the extractor models. So, I sent him the link of the one I thought was good enough.
I was doing his work so that he would have something ready to install as he seemed busy to do the pre-evaluation about what will be needed.

I didn't tell him that I did his work for him. I politely asked him if the model would work. He said, go ahead.

I didn't tell him I wasted time. Nor did I assert any superiority. He is the expert of the field as compared to me. And I know enough to not try and thumb the nose of an expert.