I think my house has been blacklisted by all repairmen in the area.

[Rick Lee]

I cannot get anyone to return calls or return after an initial visit. The regular pool guy just disappeared after he told me he'd by with some chemicals I needed to treat mustard algae and replumb my leaking pump. Phone calls and emails went ignored. I called another guy who came out the next morning, took a look, said he had to go back to the shop for some pvc pipe and would be back to do everything that afternoon for $85. Never heard from him again. Voicemails and emails went ignored. Finally got another guy to come out and he fixed it and has been very responsive.

Getting my wife's car windows tinted took calls to five local tinters before one called me back. He did a good job, but one window is peeling now and he won't call me back. I even said in my text to him that I have another job for him while he's here to make it worth the drive. Nothing.

Had a roof leak that was getting pretty bad, though it was coming through the drywall in my outdoor front porch. I decided to call the contractor I used last year. Couldn't find his number anymore, didn't show up on Craigslist anymore, so I did a Google search. It came back with his mugshot. Yup, in jail for driving on a suspended after DUI.

Called another guy who said he could come right out. And he did. He and his buddy charged $25 for gas, $24 per hour and I paid for materials. They fixed the roof leak, replaced ceiling drywall and said they'd be back for mudding and painting yesterday. Now's they've gone off the grid. No voicemails or texts returned.

WTF is going on? I pay these guys in cash, refer them other customers, usually give them a very good beer or two when the job is done and bring them water while they're working. Is there a database out there where some houses are blacklisted, perhaps due to previous deadbeat owners? I think my rating with any repairman would be A+. I think I treat them all very well. WTF?

[kach22i]

I hope I have better luck with my hot water heater.

Hurt my back last month and don't want to keep giving the chiropractor my money.

[svandamme]

did you post pictures online bout how you were smitten about yer roofer?

[Zeke]

It 's not the house....

[juanbenae]

Originally Posted by svandamme

did you post pictures online bout how you were smitten about yer roofer?

dam! beat me to it.....

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by milt

It 's not the house....

What am I doing wrong?

[stomachmonkey]

Have never used it but have you tried angieslist.com?

[azasadny]

Rick,

Same thing here... I can never get 3 bids, i go with whoever shows up to work. It seems that tradespeople these days are not reliable at all. With today's economy, I just don't get it...

[motion]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

What am I doing wrong?

Maybe your not-so-concealed carry weapons are scaring them away? I personally wouldn't want anything to do with someone walking around with guns in their backyard.

[Rick Lee]

I have not used Angieslist. Sounds like something for women.

Honestly, I try to chat with the guys who come over. I like to get a feel for how busy they are, if they have other day jobs or are doing this on the side (using their boss's truck and equipment). My first pool guy said he has 90 customers, a lot of whom are realtors or banks and he takes care of their REO listings. But he does major repairs too and runs a repo business. I live exactly on the route between his supply shop and his house, so I'm not out of the way at all.

The drywall/roof guys who came on Sunday were from very far away, hence the $25 gas charge. But I didn't beg them to come and their ad said "serving the entire Valley." I figured they had to be slow and hungry enough that my small job was worth their while. And who the hell doesn't need a good, reliable contractor on speed dial? The guy also does plumbing and, had it not been getting late, I'd have thrown him some more business there.

Seems to me there is a ton of business and a ton of competition. How is it so hard to get reliable people?

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by motion

Maybe your not-so-concealed carry weapons are scaring them away? I personally wouldn't want anything to do with someone walking around with guns in their backyard.

Most ignorant post I've ever read. What has happened to you? You used to be cool and level headed. Sheesh.

I don't have any guns laying around and surely wouldn't let strangers see them. FWIW, some of the contractors I've had have shown me their own truck carry guns. I doubt they're scared to work here. Otherwise, they'd move to CA.

[svandamme]

I'm busy redoing my house, asked 2 contractors for their quote, wasn't even about to haggle , just wanted somebody decent to do a job..

They both did not bother to send me the quotes. I had to chase em, stalk em , beg em, pleeeease can i get a quote ?!

One guy, when i called him was " oh, yeah, i forgot, you know what, send me a text this evening at round 9PM so i don't forget again".

I'm like, sure, but can you first give me your adress
he's like why?
So i can send you my bill for managing YOUR to do list.

Contracters around here are terrible.. I'm sure they may be good at their work, but they are **** organisers.. But they all want to be self employed, none want to fork over a cent to somebody else to provide them a service, Instead of investing in a service to handle customer service so they have minimal organisation, nah.. they rather stay small and amateuristic.

The good ones are invariable the ones who just happened to have married a girl who knows how to organise things, do the accounting, billing, scheduling..

I knew a plummer who grew his company in no time... big reputation, good quality.
till his wife got fed up, divourced him, and now he's got a big company with 8 plummers working for him, and it's all turning o ****.
But no way he will hire somebody to do what the wife did for him, no way, that would eat in his own profit..

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

What am I doing wrong?...

...Using idiots for your repair jobs. Or, call them by another name if you want, but they aren't worth using. Reputable companies don't work this way. On the other hand, most reputable companies in the construction business (and related businesses) do commercial work, not residential. Residential jobs are usually too small and (no offense intended, I'm generalizing here) most clients are only interested in how cheaply they can get something done. They don't know what quality work is and they aren't willing to pay for it.

JR

[Gogar]

Maybe you're an azzhole.

Love,
Sammyg2

[Cloggie]

Originally Posted by javadog

...Using idiots for your repair jobs. On the other hand, most reputable companies in the construction business (and related businesses) do commercial work, not residential. Residential jobs are usually too small and (no offense intended, I'm generalizing here) most clients are only interested in how cheaply they can get something done. They don't know what quality work is and they aren't willing to pay for it.

JR

Ding ding ding ding! We have a winner. Small residential jobs are a pain on both ends of the spinal cord and the ones who would do it competently want to do more and bigger chunks of work. I have had much more luck going through the service arms of large retailers (in Holland someone like Praxis, similar to Home Depot in the US). Effectively you get the best of both worlds....the tradesman is fully employed with the retailer, they take the accountability for your satisfaction and you get your thing done. Costs are usually a little higher but you have a single throat to choke if it goes sideways.

D.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Have you stopped bathing again????


Our house was "blacklisted" we found out after we moved in. It took referrals from friends, meeting with people so they knew we were the NEW owners not the OLD owners. It was a trip for, well, still on-going. People find out where we live and don't want to come out or even talk to us.

Some people work on a margin. I need so much cash NOW, oh, I now have that much cash so I will start working again once I need cash again. It would have nothing to do with you.

Do your neighbors have the same issue? Are these people ending up in trouble with the police? So many possibilities...

I do wish you luck! We've done everything ourselves that we can and continue to do so. We have worked up a list of contractors who can do specific types of jobs for us. It took time.

[LakeCleElum]

Originally Posted by milt

It 's not the house....

HA.......Was thinking about my neighbor. When I was building my house, every Sub knew him and the word is out that he is blacklisted for sure...Not saying this is Rick's issue, but I know my neighbor and understand what they are sayin'.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Maybe you're an azzhole.

Love,
Sammyg2

OK, I actually just laughed out loud. Not a fake "LOL" - I laughed out loud.

[Rick Lee]

If the guys I'm calling are so fly by night, how are they organized enough to have and monitor a blacklist my address might be on? The guys who came for the roof leak have regular day jobs installing solar hot water heaters. The roof leak work is a side gig. The pool guys are a lot more fly by night, but again, I just wanted some small repair stuff done that I didn't have the time, patience or knowledge to do myself. I would think it can't be that hard to find someone willing to make $200 for about two hours of work. I paid that pool guy $300 and I think $100 went to materials. To make that money elsewhere would have required him to drive all over the place and clean at least 10 other pools. These guys aren't making money while they're driving and Phoenix is huge. I just don't get it. It'd be one thing if I had some really unknown or half-done job that I needed someone to track down or re-repair for me. I just hire guys for stuff I don't want to do myself, but I usually have a good idea of what is needed.

[stomachmonkey]

Go find some cops.

At least in NY where they work a few on/off a lot of them run small construction/handyman businesses on the side.