Whenever you’re working with clients, there are likely to be a few little hiccups along the way. We’ve chucked a list of the worst things that clients do to piss off tradies – feel free to pass it along as a point of reference for anyone who needs to hear it!
1. Haggle with the pricing
This is a very common thing that clients do, and it’s a surefire way to piss off a tradie. Unless you’ve gone with a rubbish unaccredited company, the quote a tradie provides includes everything that actually needs to go into the job, including their own wages and material costs. Would you like it if someone wanted to pay you less wages for a project at your workplace?
2. Try DIYing it, f*ck it up, then call in the experts
Tradies work bloody hard but you’re just making their job ten times harder by giving them a mess to clean up before they even start. Working from a blank canvas and methodically doing a job the way it’s meant to be done is much better for you and them both money- and time-wise. Unless you’re qualified, get the professionals involved in the first place.
3. Peer over their shoulders
If you don’t trust a tradie to get the job done, don’t hire them. Surely you know how annoying and stressful it is having someone watching you work and telling you how to do your job. Tradies know what they’re doing, so let them do what they do best, otherwise you’ll end up making the job take longer and potentially causing mistakes to happen.
4. Ask for a quote ASAP but then don’t respond
A lot of work goes into creating a quote for you – every client and project is different and tradies will need to factor in materials, time, and wages. Sometimes a site visit will also need to be involved, taking precious time out from both you and your tradie’s day. If you decide not to go ahead, don’t be an ass about it, just say thanks but no thanks. Otherwise the tradie then needs to spend time following up and their budgets and forecasting get all screwed up.
5. Be super rude and treat them like sh*t
This one is far too common for the fact that the tradies are doing work you can’t do yourself – yes you’re paying but without them you’d be screwed! They come to your home to make life easier and fix your problems, and then you don’t let them even use the bathroom? We’re not saying you need to put on a buffet lunch or anything, but a bit of common courtesy goes a long way!
6. Don’t pay for the work that’s been completed
This one is an absolute no-no! If the work’s been completed, that’s your turn to do the work and pay the tradie. They’ve spent a lot of money and time getting the job done for you, and they need to be compensated for their time and materials. You’d be pretty pissed if you didn’t get paid for your work, so get it sorted!
Any we missed?