In article , John A. Weeks III
says...

In article ,
Paul Pluzhnikov wrote:

How is it that in a capitalist society there isn't someone who can
fix this problem? Hire well-qualified people, have stringent quality
control, make sure they are all on time, and charge 20% over the
"going rate". I'd pay 20% extra just to know that the guy will show
up and I wouldn't waste the day waiting for him, and several people
I know would gladly do the same. The word would get out, and this
company would put all the "****ty work" people out of business.

There are lots of well qualified people that do good work.
The problem is that there is currently a large shortage of
people due to the building boom. If you are a talented
tradesperson, who would you want to deal with...joe public
who has one job for you and is trying to chisel the price,
or jack builder who promises a stream of work that will
keep you busy for a year or more? No talented tradesperson
is going to waste money dealing with consumers and doing
little projects here and there when there is big money to
be made in finishing starter castles for large scale builders.

Your idea of paying 20% over is on the right track. But
you haven't factored in risk. If the tradesperson stops
working for jack major builder to do your little job, he
risks losing the jack major builder contract. That could
cost a year of revenue. The tradesperson would have to
get at least double for your job to even make it worthwhile
to take the time to come talk with you.

I've had better luck, partly because I built a relationship with a really good
general contractor before the boom. But, yeah, he's not the cheapest. He's
totally word-of-mouth now, and I've had two friends initially collect bids on
jobs, find him on the high side, and go with him anyway. Some of the OP's
problem may be a problem with going with bottom bidder. If you don't really
know the contractors (new to the area, perhaps), a rule of thumb is do three,
and tend to the middle. The bottom guy may be cutting corners, the top guy may
not really want the job unless he can sucker you. Or maybe not - it's just a
rule of thumb. BTW this particualr guy is kind of bad about schedule. Over the
past eight years I know why - he just can't stand cutting corners to finish a
job. Might not be the right guy for a lot of people (if you want to have your
new bathroom before MIL visits so that you can impress her - well, dont' hire
this guy, but, hey, I don't worry so much about that stuff.)

I don't go by references unless I *really* know the reference personally. If
you ask a contractor for reference, sure, they all got a bunch of good
references from people you don't know and might owe them favors. So what.

I tend strongly to go with the bidder with whom I find good communication. I
recently with the high-side bid (by more than I really want to think about....
:-/ ) for an extensive foundation repair job. I might have been suckered a bit
as to price, but I tell you, this was the guy that was all over the job when he
looked at it, listened and talked, didn't try to add on, and wanted right away
to talk to the engineer who I had hired earlier to look at the problem (frost
heaving, totally inadequate footer, house built before code). So I went with
him. Job went well. He was on schedule, coordinated all the excavation, all
the materials, all the pouring, smooth as silk, and had a pleasant crew to boot
(including his wife doing a lot of the pointing!). BTW, this mason is also
totally word-of-mouth - I knew about him only because I used him *years* ago for
a little parging job.

There's a lot to be said for the customer being flexible and realistic in
attitiude. I think the contractors are vetting the customer, too, and can pick
up on some things just like I can pick up on some things while I talk to a guy
during an estimate.

I dunno - one can't of course always know these things, it's a bit of a leap of
faith. But if one repeatedly has problems, one should look at what one is
doing wrong. And I dont' think it's possible to expect to always get the
optimal quality vs. price. I certainly can't swear that I have! Over the long
run, though, I think a bias for apparent quality is the best value.

I'm in an area which is hugely booming as far as new construction, BTW.

Banty