OhPinchy said:
From this thread, and umpteen complaints from friends, family, colleagues etc, it seems that my experiences are fairly representative of tradesmen as a whole: there definitely seems to be more bad apples in this bunch than in most others (I would say all but know someone will come back and say politicians, taxi drivers or something like that, are worse).
I can understand you being wary of a tradesman that you don't know, I am the same myself in fact, but I believe that people are generally much more critical of tradesmen than of other professions. Maybe it is something to do with the fact that a lot of tradesmen carry out work in your home/haven and as strangers you tend to view them with some suspicion right from the start, maybe it is something to do with the fact that certain trades involve work that is highly visible and therefore more easily assessed (unlike many professions, where the service/product is a lot less tangible), maybe it is something to do with the fact that the tradesman may be carrying out work that appears on the surface to be straightforward but the details of which you view as a bit of a black art so you are wary of being charged for imaginary products/work in an effort to exploit your lack of understanding (in this sense it is similar to many other professions, in fact, which I think many people forget), etc.
Whatever the reasons, I think that many people approach tradesmen almost with the expectation that they are going to be ripped off. They have heard all of the bad stories, and have taken them as representative of all tradesmen. It doesn't help when people expect top quality work at bargain basement prices. Even a very good tradesman is likely to feel under extra pressure when faced with small potential profits, and the person paying them looking over their shoulder every few minutes. Pretty soon, expecting to be ripped off becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Personally, I don't know how the good tradesmen manage to maintain their enthusiasm for their work, and their high standards, when faced with a commonly touted view that they are most likely to be lazy, unqualified, overpaid, shysters. As for the bad tradesmen, I think that people should take every step they can to avoid an unhappy outcome from the start (such as agreeing exactly in writing what work is to be done, paying only a portion of the cost up front, etc.), and pursuing those tradesemen that do not hold up their side of the bargain (report them to the relevant organisation, take legal action against them, etc.). Unfortunately, in a lot of cases I suspect that the bad tradesmen are just left to exploit the next misfortunate customer, as previous disatisfied customers don't have the heart, or energy, or maybe even the finances, to take action against them. One dodgy individuals gets away with it again, while their industry gains another black mark.
Rather than label the majority of tradesmen as bad, it may be more beneficial to take a more proactive approach by campaigning for better regulation.
