wrote in message
...
On 04 Jan 2005 03:08:25 GMT, ojunk (Kim) wrote:

My husband has been remodeling our house himself for the past 5 years.
On the
3 occasions we needed someone to do some work, 2 out of 3 made
appointments and
didn't show up or call, and one showed up once, then never showed up
again.

Is this the norm?

No. It is not the norm, nor is it particularly unusual.

Yes... it IS the norm.

The ones who don't show probably couldn't find a polite way to tell
you over the phone they don't want your busienss; with the fellow
who did show, I'd guess you said something that made hime decide you
were not worth the trouble of following up.

How can they decide that when you haven't even described the job to them?
I've tried the yellow pages, newspaper ads, even asked for contractor's
phone #'s at Home Despot. Just trying to get a return phonecall can be a
hassle!

This is not going to make me popular here ... but I'm a remodelling
contractor, and I get a lot of people who want me to rush right over
and give them a free estimate. Even after I give them a ballpark
over the phone .. in the hope of establishing that they at least have
a realistic budget in mind.

I never expect "right away". If they call back I always say, "I'm looking
for a ballpark idea of what it would cost to do xxxxxx. If you'd like to
come take a look to get details, just let me know when is good for you. I
can fax or email a drawing/floorplan/etc if it would help." At that point I
usually get, "Sounds doable, but I should take a look. I'll look at my
calander and get back to you."... and that's the last I hear from them.

Amazingly, they don't believe their project will cost nearly as much
as the last ten identical ones did.... why, their brother in law told
them not to spend more than five thousand ... on a twenty five
thousand dollar project.

Labour is the expensive part of a project. Most people can't understand how
something that uses $1,000 in material can cost $5,000 or more to do. I
understand it, but I don't like it so I do the small projects myself
(changing a faucet, building a deck, etc.). When I'm calling a contractor
it's for a large project that is very worth their time.

I won't make an appointment and not keep it. But I will come to your
home, take a look, come to the conclusion that I don't want you or
don't want your job .. and vanish. I'm not going to spend several
hours costing out a project I have no desire to do.

Then just SAY SO! Any contractor who leaves the customer hanging should have
their nads stomped on in public. If the job is too small or you're too busy,
tell them! My garage contractor told me he was too busy to take the job on.
I told him "no problem... let's plan for it next year." He was happy and so
was I.

We are currently finishing a kitchen remodel and need to have a granite
counter
installed. Called a guy who was recommended, he made an appointment to
come
today at 1:00 and show samples, etc. And never showed up or called.
What gives?

Why would you not go to him with a sketch of your counter tops,
including their dimensions? At his show room you can see any number
of edge treatments, quality of granites, sink treatments, etc. And
you can see the raw slabs ... and even the saw they use for cutting
them.

I agree that a home is not a showroom. Customers can't expect someone to
pack up the whole store and bring it to their home. Customers should go to
their showroom, make some choices and once rough ideas are hashed out
someone with some experience should show up in the home and do the
measuring/estimating/etc.

No. As I said, my guess would be there is something in your approach
that is not sitting well with prospective contractors. But that is a
guess only.

Yup... we're breathing. That really ****es off contractors. That's the only
thing I can see in common with all the folks I talk to who have the same
issues.