By putting ourselves into their shoes, we can appreciate the concerns they might have in working for terrible clients. Sure, undergoing renovations on a property can be fraught with stressful issues – from organising budgets, to sourcing materials – and the pressures can mount up and leave you with little left in the realms of patience. But that doesn’t mean you have to make life harder for those actually doing the work for you, does it?
Here are seven ways you might be driving your tradie crazy!
1. Asking for Mate’s Rates
Favours amongst friends are common. Helping each other move house, proofreading applications, lending advice in difficult situations, there’s nothing better than when someone close to you offers a helping hand. Unfortunately, it can lead people to think they can ask their tradie mates for cheaper work on a project. Remember, it is still their profession, and they rely on it to pay bills, so asking for a discount can put an unfair pressure on them.
2. Expecting an Immediate Response
In many places across Australia, a skills shortage is gripping the trades industry. As a result, tradies are pre-booking work and may not be able to get to your project as soon as you request it. Growing frustrated and creating hassle for your workers won’t help matters. Best practise would be, if you need a job done by a certain date, leave plenty of time in advance to cater for any unexpected delays in availability.
3. Being Unwelcoming
It might be your home, but for the time being, it has become your tradie’s place of work. If you wrinkle your nose at their dirtied clothes, or prevent them entry into your home simply to fill up a water bottle or use the bathroom, you can make them feel uncomfortable, and unwilling to go that extra mile on your project.
4. Requesting Additional Work for No Additional Charge
You might be extremely happy with how your tradies are handling your project, so much so that you would like them to keep going on something else you’ve been mulling over. Unfortunately, your budget doesn’t stretch that far, so as they are already there with their equipment, you ask if they can simply include it under the price you originally agreed upon. What you aren’t considering, is the labour hours of employees, cost of materials used, and the further time spent away from their families. There is nothing wrong about asking for more work, although be prepared to negotiate around a price that is fair for both sides.
5. Not Expressing Yourself Clearly
Renovations can be tricky work, and without specific instructions on what the client is after, a tradie runs the risk of putting in plenty of work in creating a finished product that nobody wants. Be sure that you are frequently checking in with how their work is coming along, maintaining an open and honest dialogue, so all parties are aware of expectations moving forward.
6. Refusing to Pay
As a consumer, you do have the right to refuse paying if you do not feel work has been completed to an acceptable standard, but this might be due to miscommunication or mistakes of your own. Payment should still be made to the professionals doing their job, unless there is clear signs of negligence and failure to meet what was agreed upon.
7. Hovering
Would you like someone breathing down your neck and meticulously scrutinising every piece of work you do? No? Well, neither does your tradie, so if you are – stop.
