I hired an electrician to do some work in a commercial building that I’m part owner of. I’m a abit frustrated over how things have gone with him and I’m wondering if others think his performance has been reasonable.
He started two days after he said he would. His guys did minor work the first two days, only working a short while before disappearing. By the end of the second day they had brought in materials and drilled some holes.
What he had told me would be about a two day job was done about two weeks after the original promised start date. They somehow called in the inspection knowing that they were missing two mud rings for 4 11/16″ j-boxes. Inspection was rejected. Contractor didn’t go to check if he’d failed (know it seems that he may have known that he would). Four work days later they showed up and installed the two mud rings and recalled the inspection. The inspection passed three weeks to the day from when he said he’d start the “two day job”.
The bill for rough-in was $2,400. It seems reasonable enough for what was done, but I have a hard time with the time delay.
I know several readers here are contractors and I am wondering if this is typical service nowdays, or not, where you folks are.
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” Voltaire
Replies
I don't do commercial but from the stories of the friends who do, your experience sounds par for the course.
Their mantra if they really need something done is always keep on top of the guy like a hawk. Sad to say but the squeaky wheel PITA gets the grease. If time's not really an issue, save your three wishes for when it is.
As an added thought, sounds like you as owner were satisfied that the price was a fair price and the final job was done well.
The sparky you found may actually be a real gem and that's why he is so busy.
"Let's get crack-a-lackin" --- Adam Carolla
Edited 4/14/2006 1:39 pm ET by philarenewal
Exactly.
I find that most contractors worth a damn are spread way too thin to get anything done timely.
As a customer or home owner or business owner.......the world revolves around me. I want it done now and cannot understand why they don't show up until it is done.
As a contractor, I am getting more work than I can handle and move the crews around just to make an "appearance". After many "appearances", the project will eventually get completed.
(btw, that is not how I work)
Grunge on. http://grungefm.com
Absolutely not. I do both commercial and residential. I never have this problem. But then again, I have a very good electrical sub. He may not be able to schedule me exactly when I want, but he is always punctual and the job gets done pronto. As promised or earlier. Every time.
One of the things that owners (both business and home) don't seem to understand is that hiring the right sub is not trivial. It's what good GCs do and part of what you're paying for when you hire a good GC. It takes years and many failures to develop good subs in every trade.
Another thing that makes a tremendous difference is that my electrical contractor gets 100+ jobs from me a year. If yours was a one-time deal, well... not much to motivate him, is there?
DG/Builder
It doesn't sound reasonable to me.
Delays are common and I could forgive the two day delay to start the job. Once the job starts, I would expect someone there every day till it passes inspection. If the guy thought it was a two day job, I'd be very unhappy if it took four. Three would be okay.
You are getting jerked around.
I'd be thinking of replacing this character.
blue
I guess you could pay him 3 weeks later than when he asked to be paid...
no sense lowering yourself o his standards though
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
unfortunately, it is all too common, especially with plumbers and electricians - the licensed trades!
I do foind that the ones who keep a professional scedule and demeanor also charge more - and are worth every penny of it.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
I manage the maintenance department of a large manufacturing plant. I've been at a couple of locations over the last 20+ years. We hire out major electrical work from time to time. When we hire out it is to one of several major local electrical contractors who employ IBEW electricians.
If the timing of a job is critical (say, during a production downtime) all the contractors are right on the job and meet our schedule without exception. If the project has more flexibility then moving a start date around some is reasonable.
We would not tolerate a contractor who nickle and dimed his way through a job. Once on it we expect diligent work through completion. Occasionally the most recent contractor has had some problems with workmanship, such as running lots of sealtite when we expected rigid conduit. We have had problems over the years with some workers and foremen with attitudes, but generally we get great service as far as meeting schedules.
Of course, they expect to form a long term relationship with us for repeat work, and we do a couple hundred thousand dollars with some when we have major construction projects every few years. It would be uncommon to get service that good if you were a small customer, I'd expect.
You may want to consider, though, trying some of the largest union firms to see if you get more professional treatment than you got on this job.
Thanks for the input, everyone. As often happens, venting a bit about a frustrating experience helps cool it down whether or not any actual solution is reached.I sometimes forget that most of the population of the world lives in urban areas and that things may simply be quite different where others live than where I live. Some of the posts in this thread are not really applicable here.I guess that living in a rural county where there is only one licensed electrical contractor may give the guy a sense of business infallibility.After this job, I'll probably go back to getting someone out of Pueblo, CO (50 miles away). I've had good service from a couple of those outfits already. So much for keeping the business as local as possible!++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." Voltaire
Exactly why i do as much as i can myself... I'm much harder on others than i am on me... If they do it everyday they should do it faster & better than me... just usually isn't the case
p
If this wasn't commercial electrical I'd be doing it myself.If he'd said that it could take two or three weeks to get a "two day" job done I might have looked further. Oh well, life is good.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." Voltaire
If you normally hire the electrical work on a job-by-job basis, tell him how many jobs you could be using him for and that he hasn't given you a great impression. Make it clear to him that by being local, he got the job THIS TIME, but probably won't get much, if any, future jobs due to his stretching this one to three weeks. If he's way too busy, that's one thing but he should have let you know why he wasn't showing up and why it ended up not being a "two day job".
Next time, maybe you could tell him (or whatever sparky you use) that you'll pay $XXX.XX if it's done on time and subtract some if it's not done on time at budget unless he can prove that there's a valid reason. If he can do what he says in the time he says, it could end up being a good business relationship for both of you.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Hey hasbeen, good to see someone from my part of the world. I'm building on Cuchara Pass, on the SW face of the West Spanish Peak at 11,000 ft. Showup help among the locals is nonexistant. My roofing is being done from an outfit in Pueblo which is 2 hours north of us. Please post if you know of anyone closer.
This topic hits a nerve right now. I live in a smallish mountain town that's getting bigger by the day. Most everybody in the trades has as much work as they can handle, but I don't see it as an excuse for no-shows.
I met a drywall guy that mostly does texture and touch up work etc. on a job I was trimming out. My buddy was remodelling his own place and need a guy to match some older plaster and I recommended this guy, based on nothing, big mistake.
This guy is now over a month late, and like the original post, he came in one day and did about an hours worth of work, then nothing for another week. My friend, who is not in the trades, asked what tack he should take. My advice, and I'm curious to hear other thoughts on this matter, was that the guy gets three phone calls...
First call is cordial but could be summed up with "When can I expect you back?"
Second call is not cordial but not quite an ultimatum, "I'll expect you tomorrow at 8:00am, call me if you aren't going to be here."
Third call is "All your **** is out on the front lawn, you should pick it up before it gets stolen."
My buddy is at stage two; the guy said he'd be over on Friday and finished by Tuesday, well it's Easter, and the guy hasn't been there yet.
I had the same problem with a plumber on my own house. I finally called the guy after giving him the benefit of the doubt several times, and asked him if he could recommend a reliable plumber that I could hire to finish off his job. He was over at 7:00am the following day.
kh
What I don't get is how anyone can make any money boncing around between 5 or 10 jobs, hour here, hour there. They're spending all their time going between jobs and setting up - no money in that! Our HVAC guy was like that (good work but took forever). Maybe it's just me, but I like to focus, motor and move on...
>>"What I don't get is how anyone can make any money boncing around between 5 or 10 jobs, hour here, hour there.
I have to agree.
But in remo there used to be a saying about "visual progress" or something like that. Customer wants to see someting happen each day. Maybe that's what they're trying to do and not realize how much they just pizz people off by actually not making any progress.
Anyway, where I am this is a story I've heard over, and over (and over).
"Let's get crack-a-lackin" --- Adam Carolla