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One of the biggest is if he were to fall off a ladder... hope your Home Owners would step otherwise it could get real expensive fast.
This is the numero-uno reason I do things by the book. Is anything likely to happen? No. But if an accident takes place, the homeowner can be on the hook for a staggering amount of money. And most of the unlicensed "dudes in the parking lots" know this.
I will be honest. I called one general contractor who has done work at my current place (we haven't yet moved to my new condo) and he neither picked up nor returned my message.
Since we wanted to get the repairs and painting done ASAP, we called this handyman, who has done work for a few relatives in the past.
He seems knowledgeable when it comes to fixing/adding/removing stuff, but we learned the hard way that painting is not his strong suit. Had I known he was so lousy at it, we would have hired a professional painter and used my handyman for the repairs, which he seems better at.
He charged $850 for a few fixes (fixing screen door, adding door stops, changing toilet seats, fixing kitchen sink leak, adding metallic strip below main door and balcony door, fixing the length of the balcony door, fixing blinds and shelving) and painting the 1,050 sq ft apartment. This, of course, doesn't include what we paid for actual parts.
That's probably a better deal than a pro would offer, but I got what I paid for. If he finishes this week, it will have taken him 8 days, and don't forget that we did some of the painting. Otherwise, he'd probably be there another 3 days.
Again, what irks me is how we told us on day 5 that he felt he could be done the next day, but here we are going on 7 days.
I will use professionals from now on, even if it means paying more.
I have noticed that when you go with small mom and pop type businesses for anything from repairs to photography, you wind up disappointed.
This could indicate he is very busy, he is lackadaisical, or, having worked for you in the past, does not want to in the future.
I have noticed that when you go with small mom and pop type businesses for anything from repairs to photography, you wind up disappointed.
A self employed person that doesn't take things seriously usually doesn't realize the importance of expectations. The only thing more important than fulfilling them is to establish them. Customer expectations must be well managed because the customer lacks the professional (not handyman) experience and knowledge to do so.
I acquired a commercial customers a dozen years back who's still a great customer. During our initial meeting he was bad mouthing the previous contractor, I guy I know very well and consider a friend. The customer went on and on about his dissatisfaction of outcomes as we did a walk and talk. The problem was that the customer thought he was smart enough to simply ask for what he thought he needed and the previous contractor simply fulfilled his requests. The previous contractor underestimated the need for personally setting the expectations, and frankly isn't really a thinker..more of a do'er. In the beginning, the customer tried to handle me the same way as the previous contractor and would go on and on about what he wanted. I'd let him exhaust himself until he went silent, then break the bad news to him..."you have no idea what you're talking about". He'd argue about why his strategies were sound and I'd shoot down each and every misconception that he'd anchor himself to and how horrible the outcome would be. I had to rub his nose in it a little but he has a healthy ego and survived. Before long, he only asked for outcomes and lets me offer the best solution.
BTW- You're the common denominator to all the mom & pop transactions you find discouraging so you might want to become a better consumer. I don't see fortune 500 companies offering cookie cutter services for home repairs, pictures, etc. anytime soon
Quote:
Originally Posted by kokonutty
This could indicate he is very busy, he is lackadaisical, or, having worked for you in the past, does not want to in the future.
Great points.
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