When Did Work Ethic Become Virtually Extinct?
Have you noticed lately how work ethic seems to be a thing of the past? If you’ve been anywhere lately — a restaurant, a retail store, or just in public at all — I’m sure you’ve noticed. It’s pretty hard to overlook these days.
Yesterday, I was reminded once again why it’s so hard for me to pay people to help me with anything around my house. Because work ethic seems to be extinct, that means I’ll just end up having to do the jobs (or do them over) myself anyway. Here’s what happened.
I finally made the decision to hire a handyman to help with small- to medium-sized projects around the house that I just don’t seem to be able to work into my schedule. I made a long list that included things like finishing the faux stone skirting on the front porch…
Other things on the list include moving all of the desktop-level outlets and switches up about three inches in the studio…
Since I changed my plans and decided to go with IKEA cabinets instead of built-from-scratch cabinets, the desktop is going to be about three inches higher than I had originally planned, which means that all of the outlets need to be raised to make room for a higher countertop.
Other things on my list include small things like rehanging a shutter (one of these that I made a while back) that fell during a storm with high winds, and installing two outdoor outlets, and installing the lights in the carport so that the beadboard ceiling can finally be installed and finished.
About four weeks ago, my mom was over at my house helping me with some things, and she called a handyman to come to my house to haul things away. He came and got half of it, and then texted me to see if I could go ahead and pay him since he had to pay to take the things to the landfill. And then he said he’d be back the next day to get the rest. I went ahead and paid him since he had done work for me before (just installing a toilet) and he seemed like a nice guy. But then he never came back the next day, and now four weeks later, he still hasn’t come back.
Like I said, this was actually a guy who had installed a toilet for me a while back. While he was here that first time, I showed him some other projects I’d like for him to do. He gave me a price and said that he would get back to me soon to schedule the work. That was probably a year ago, and I never heard back from him.
So obviously, I wasn’t going to call him to do more work. I ended up putting a request on Nextdoor, making it clear that I’m a perfectionist 😀 and wanted someone who was conscientious and took pride in their work, and who actually had time to do the work. Almost immediately, I got two or three responses from men offering their services, and almost immediately after that, I started getting private messages from people (mostly widowed women, as far as I can tell) warning me about one particular handyman.
The common theme of their stories is that he’s a very nice man, but he makes promises that he doesn’t keep. He may say that a job will only take a few days, but then he doesn’t show up when he’s supposed to, or he drops off other people to do the work who don’t really have the skills for the job, and 45 days later, the job is still not finished.
I skipped right over that handyman and looked at the rest. One in particular stood out to me, so I called him. On the phone, he seemed very nice, professional, and organized. We set an appointment for yesterday at 3:30, and I could hear him typing all of my contact info and address into what sounded like a laptop computer. I was so hopeful!
So yesterday, I made sure that I was ready and waiting in the living room at about 3:20 so that I wouldn’t miss him. I waited. And waited. And waited more. By 4:00, he still wasn’t there, so I gave up waiting and changed into my work clothes so that I could start working on the studio. I was furious. And I honestly wouldn’t have been bothered by him being late if only he had communicated with me! But he just left me sitting there wondering if and when he was going to show up.
At about 4:15, I got a message from him through Nextdoor saying, “I think we had an appointment at 3:30 today. Call me and we can reschedule.” Ummm…what? There was no explanation of why he didn’t show. There was only an assumption that I’d be willing to reschedule. I just responded and said, “I’m afraid I don’t have time to wait around for people who don’t respect my time and no-show for appointments. My time is also valuable.”
I just don’t understand why this is such a common and acceptable thing with contractors and handymen. And I’m not so much frustrated for my own sake, although it does make me angry when people don’t show since I rearrange my schedule around them. But as far as the work goes, I’m still young-ish, and I’m a very capable DIYer who has the ability to do all of these projects myself. I was just wanting to hire them out for the convenience, and so that things can get finished faster.
But I’m especially frustrated on behalf of those older women and widows who wrote to me and shared their experiences. I know that for each one that contacted me, there are many more who have similar stories. I’m sure that they’re not DIYers who are capable of getting those jobs done themselves. They’re actually counting on other people to do them, and if those people don’t show up, the jobs don’t get done. I feel so bad for those women. I wish I could go over and help them myself. It is a terrible feeling to be at the mercy of someone who has made commitments, but doesn’t seem to give a care in the world about other people’s time, or promises made, or schedules, or anything like that.
I just can’t wrap my head around it. And I know that probably every single one of you has a similar story about how a handyman or contractor didn’t show, didn’t do the job right, didn’t seem to care about promises made, didn’t seem to care about the quality of work done, didn’t stick to a schedule, showed up hours late without contacting you to let you know when they’d be there, and the list goes on and on. I truly don’t understand what has happened to make these things so acceptable now. What happened to work ethic, and how do we get back to that?
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
I totally agree with your assessment that work ethic/commitment seems to have disappeared. It is very frustrating. I would have been steaming waiting around for someone to show up that didn’t and then didn’t even have the decency to apologize.
Amen!
Oh Kristi I have definitely had my share of those experiences. But weirdly my last 2 experiences have been exactly the opposite:
We needed to have a new fence installed so I called someone who was recommended and, I kid you not, it was less than 6 days from when I called him to when our beautiful new fence was installed exactly as we specified. And he asked for NO money up front.
The second experience was getting our landscape lighting installed. After a little bit of a rough start getting the consultation scheduled, the lights were installed as I wanted, but within a month bulbs started going out. All I had to do was text the installer (also the owner) and he would come out within the next day or 2 and replace the bulb, including on THANKSGIVING DAY. After the 3rd bulb, he came and replaced ALL of them at no charge to me. Then when a squirrel chewed through a wire and he had to come replace that he STILL didn’t charge me even though I told him to! He said, just give me a good reference on Google Reviews! So of course I did. So the bottom line is that there are still some really good workers out there…you just have to weed through some to get to them, but REFER THEM when you can!
I’m so glad you had those great experiences! They seem to be so rare these days. Believe you me, if I ever find a good, reliable handyman who actually does great work, I will be shouting his name from the rooftops! (And on Google, Nextdoor, Facebook, etc.)
I’m so jealous. I too have issues with good work being done. Found a group who could do my 2 story chimney. They did great. I paid them. Even have them a $20 tip to get some supplies that I didn’t have. When I noticed that part at the top needed a 2nd coat and for them to come and clean the siding, they ghosted me. Thank God my 16 yr old daughter isn’t afraid of heights and was able to fill in what she could from the 2nd coat. The siding hasn’t been cleaned yet but it’s not noticeable unless you’re super close.
Do not hire anyone from Angie’s. Contractors can pay to have negative reviews removed.
I’ve had shoddy workmanship done by three contractors even had jewelry stolen. Had one group show up stoned. Been to court with one and I won but work still needs to be done. I’m retired and have severe back issues. I remember the days I could go the work myself.
My opinion too much weed consumption. Or worse. Just my opinion. I’m sorry and wish there was as an answer. As connected as we are with the internet it seems ridiculous that people can’t be honest. The truth is going to be shared online eventually. Lol!
I dont get it either. At least 3 handypersons made appts, gave a estimate and never showed. In 2017 we had an addition and the company was below average. They got the work done but it was sloppy and lazy work. But passed inspection. I was shocked angry and appalled because all our savings went to it. I expected decent B plus work not C minus. Since then and especially since covid it is impossible to find a decent trustworthy handyperson, let alone a trustworthy contractor in a mid size sub – urban area. It’s truly bizarre.
Seems to be an all-too-common theme. My bro in CA complains, My SIL and daughter in FL complain and it’s here in GA too. Are they too busy? Too lazy? It saddens me to see the lack of kindness, morals and integrity in people.
I just make sure when I receive good customer service (anywhere I receive it) to acknowledge the person and/or post online if possible.
I thought I had found a handyman….really liked him and he did anything I asked. Until he messed up my metal front door putting in a deadbolt because he had tools for a wood door. I told him 4 times it was a metal door. So he said, he needed $40 more dollars. I gave him a check…he had done quite a bit..Anyway, next thing I know the check had been changed to $80! I was furious! And of course he never answered the phone after that. What is wrong with people? I got it starightened out with the bank. but Geesh…
I had that happen to me. I was desperate for help at my sons house who is ill and the guy wanted to reschedule for the next morning early. I was so mad and told him I didn’t live there, so please show up. He did, and was an excellent worker. My son and other men just shrug their shoulders, and say that’s the way that business is. As a woman, I don’t get it. I must add that I was stood up by a woman who was going to do some gardening for me too. She never contacted me again. I am one who has to depend on others and pay.
I thought I had a great handyman but I guess the Daily Cash I was paying him refueled his drug addiction. His wife messaged me to Venmo her from that point on and I never saw him again. Job left unfinished.
Sadly, it’s not just contractors. Every restaurant, retail store and service industry (including healthcare!) is experiencing this. Working hard is not being taught to our children at home or in schools anymore. Nor is it portrayed as a value. It is truly sad and it’s going to be the ruin of our country.
Could not have said it better myself. Besides loving Kristi’s aesthetic and color palette, part of the reason I love her blog is that she really explains how to do things so I can get them done myself.
This has been frustrating me for several years. Even companies do this now, not just individual contractors. Heck, I have a signed contract that just fell by the wayside, none of the work has been done and NO WORD from the company at all. What happened? Who the heck knows?? This is with a company that has done other work at my house very well and reliably. Then suddenly POOF! (crickets) Fortunately, I can do the things I want done myself, though at higher materials cost since I don’t get wholesale rates or the discount associated with a company who works on multiple homes. Also, doing it myself will take a lot longer as I only have weekends to work on it and am only a little woman doing the work instead of 10 big strong men. SO frustrating and annoying. /end rant
When I lived in Conn. I never had a problem with finding a good handyman. Word of mouth is the best way. So far. Now I live in Florida. Enough said. Does asking at Home Depot or Lowe’s help? Neighbors? Maybe they have someone they hire that is dependable. Your problem is widespread, unfortunately. Good Luck!
I have found that the key to not being frustrated with contractors etc is to get recommendations from friends that have personal experience with these people. Maybe some members of your church have people they would recommend. When I moved back home after being gone over 25 years I had no idea who to call for plumbing,painting,electrical work etc in the house I bought. But I had friends who made recommendations of people they used and/or personally knew and I have now a list of reliable people I have used that I can refer to anyone who asks me. People who showed up when they said and did a good job at a decent price. I think there are some duds out there but in my experience I had not had a problem recently. I doubt this has anything to do with it but I lived in Texas for over 25 years and I found that people did not show up when they said they would 9 out of 10 times .
I was fortunate to be referred to a contractor during my last few years there that was exceptional and had exceptional subs. I wish you luck in finding someone to get these jobs done so you have more time to finish your work space.
My dad has worked in the construction/handyman industry for decades, and a common theme with these workers is they have some kind of addiction. He has always complained about issues with workers not showing up, then he gets stuck doing everything himself (and he is now almost 80 and still doing this kind of work, so he really does need the help!), and usually it comes down to addictions. I think people with addictions get into construction because it’s fast cash, often can be under the table, is unstructured/make your own schedule, and they don’t have to answer to a boss. It is SO hard to find someone reliable!
I love your reply to the handyman. Maybe if more people did that and said those things it would improve the situation.
I’ve been waiting since 1990 for a man to come back and hang a chandelier! Haha
You are absolutely correct that there is no work ethic anymore.
If I need work done, I ask my realtor for a recommendation. She works with lots of contractors and handymen, and she gets feedback from her clients, so she generally knows the best people to call. We’ve not had a bad recommendation from her yet.
This is true for us too. Years ago we bought a vacation home in an area where we didn’t know anyone. Our realtor recommended a contractor to us who was the best we’ve ever had. We currently have a rental and when we’ve needed work done on our own home, we’ve asked the rental manager for recommendations for appropriate workers. They know who actually gets the work done as they don’t have time to mess around with flakes.
I think my realtor recommended whoever gave him the biggest kickback–their work was terrible, promises made and broken, and the workers they had to scramble to get were very scary.
WOW. I thought it was just here. Here they not only don’t show up, they have no work ethics, and even licensed and insured would be unusual. Honesty and Integrity are gone these days. In Florida, especially after the Hurricane Ian, people here are getting ripped off every day. They put down deposits because they are so desperate to get something done, and the person disappears! I have friends right now trying to find a window guy. Work is substandard, as sometimes the person you hire is not the one that shows up. I think it’s all greed as they really don’t have the time to do the job, but they take the job, and the deposit and then find some “body” to do the work and/or disappear. Right now there are thousands with tarps for a roof, and Hurricane season started yesterday. We don’t need another to cause more damage in these homes…just the summer thunderstorms will be enough to leak. Thank God my husband can do some of our work, but we are getting older, and it will be harder. I too feel so sorry for women alone that have to hire someone. Kind of like going to a car dealer to buy a car by yourself. Plan on getting screwed with that! It’s all very sad.
I needed some cement work done, like a carport and sidewalk. I called a guy recommended by a neighbor and he said I’ll come Friday to give you a quote, he never showed. I waited a week and called again and he said, call me next week. So, there you go. Nobody wants to work anymore. How do they stay in business?
This is why when we remodeled a few years ago the only thing we hired out was install of the granite counter tops and pouring the concrete for the new patios.
I had issues with the concrete contractor. They had to come back out and fix a spot that wasn’t up to par and to top it off one of his crew left a half full can of beer in my backyard where my kids play. I was livid!
I moved into an apartment three years ago and, while it isn’t cheap, the maintenance staff is very helpful and fast at fixing things. I also don’t worry about yard work. They are here every Tuesday and the maintenance staff has the snow removal done by early am when it snows. Such burden removed. I admire your abilities. I hope you find reliable people. So difficult now.
I don’t think it is a work ethic thing, I think it is a woman thing. Girls are taught to put up with this treatment. Be nice, or people won’t like you. I had a burst pipe in my house and it ruined the hardwood floors I had installed. Everyone said let the tradesman do it insurance is paying. He claimed he was an expert and did a crappy job. I was angry until I sold that house at how I had been treated by this clown. Now at the age of 67, I won’t even hire a painter because they will try to get away with anything they can. Your reaction was perfect, unfortunately, there are other women who are willing to be treated that way because they are conditioned to put up with it.
I respectfully disagree. I do believe it is a work ethic thing. And it’s been going downhill since before “C” hit. It’s just gotten steadily worse since then. Everywhere you go there are “now hiring” signs and no one wants to work. I don’t believe women are “conditioned” to put up with it.
I agree with you, Linda.
Sounds like anyone with a GOOD work ethic could make a very GOOD living!
Totally agree and I’m confused as well. It is like people just expect bad service and accept it–it makes no sense to me.
As a 72-year-old woman and having moved from KS to Lake of the Ozarks 2 years ago after my husband passed, I can empathize. I bought a home here and needed a handyman and still do but I have given up trying to get someone to do the small jobs. It is as you said people just don’t have a work ethic or even basic respect and manners with others. I am sorry you are going through this and hope you can find someone to do the work.
Mine left in the middle of a complete remodel in my master bath. He decided he needed a vacation and left for 2 weeks. Thankfully he did come back when he had another opportunity for vaca so he left again. I was trying to list my house for sale and timing was crucial.
A different guy asked for up front money to buy all the materials for a job- thousands of dollars. So I releunclt paid him (lesson learned) and he never came again. Off with our money😖
Everyone says if they ask for payment up front, show them the door — FAST! Sorry you had to learn that lesson with your money.
I asked on NextDoor for someone to move some tiles that were left by the roadside instead of up my long driveway to the house. I’m old and not up to such heavy work. A young man answered close to my house, showed up with his teenaged daughter and took care of the problem right away. I paid him what I would have paid Home Depot to actually deliver to my door, and he seemed satisfied. Called him once again for handyman work, he stated what I felt was a reasonable price. Recently I purchased steel shelving units for my storage shed. They are 4ft wide and fit together with tabs. I’m so short I couldn’t span the length to fit the tabs together without the side I already connected from falling. I called the gentleman and he showed up with his daughter and the two of them put the shelves together without a hitch. There were 4 units. He charged me $150.00. He said he is now charging $50.00 an hour. To me, a widow on Social Security, charging $50 an hour for putting shelves together sounds outrageous. Am I so old I’ve lost sight of present prices? Is that reasonable? Am I completely out of touch? He messaged telling me he had free time if I wanted him to help move boxes or something. I didn’t respond, and I feel bad for ducking the responsibility instead of just telling him I can’t afford him anymore. This is not New York; I’m in Arkansas.
I’ve had similar encounters and issues so I’m in complete agreement. Feedback is so important! Taking the time to submit an honest review is crucial. Recommendations are also very important. Good luck hiring someone… most of the people I find are lazy or have some kind of criminal history.
I am with you in this. People are lazy and inconsiderate. It is maddening to have something planned to hire done and nobody shows up to work. Never pay anyone before the job is done until you are pleased. People who can’t pay the dump fee aren’t really in the business. Some people drink so they just want booze. Some people are not reliable. Ask for references and actually call them. Seriously it is easier to do it yourself.
Sorry this happened to you.
It’s the case in all fields of occupations. There are a lot of entitlement when it comes to customers/patients. And, workers (service industries, healthcare, manual labor, etc) don’t want to work but want to get paid. They are on their phone most of the time, not ding their work, and it’s a constant micromanaging issue. The stay-at-home time during covid really trashed the work ethic, and people think they deserve to be paid when it is something that is earned. I was at a doctor’s appointment and another patient asked the nurse whether they are open on Memorial day. When the nurse stated that they are closed, the patient huffed and puffed asking why. I was flabbergasted because healthcare workers are also people with families and would also like to take time off. This new era of entitlement and poor work ethic is really off putting and I hope I can raise kids that have good work ethics unlike what I am seeing these days.
Wow. I just can’t believe so many people have had issues with handymen not showing up or worse yet, taking money and then disappearing. Certainly not the work ethic I was raised with.
Wow, back in the days of Angie’s List when it had real reviews, I found top notch handymen in Raleigh and Pittsburgh on there. Your terrible experience gives me concern. I still think there are good skilled trades workers and hope you find one. I’m not crazy about Nextdoor anymore and I’m an admin!
Kristi…when you are done with your beautiful house, you start a Handywoman for Hire business! Of course, your employees would all be talented, superpowers…just like you!
Yes, this!!!!
It is a difficult thing to find a competent handyman, much less one who is affordable. If a construction worker is skilled and responsible, it is more likely he will be working already for a general contractor. In our area, the San Francisco Bay Area, a construction worker is paid $300 per day. You read that right.
Also, the number of people who are working in the trades has decreased over the years. It is harder for contractors to find good workers as well, and when they do, they pay them handsomely to keep them.
That said, I have had good success finding handymen and specialty workers from time to time on Nextdoor. But I am not looking at replies by people who do the work, just looking for recommendations by those who have successfully hired people. And I ask all my neighbors directly. One recommended a remarkably reasonable and skilled painter, and another, a wonderful gardener who we have used for 15 years.
I have also had good results using Angi (used to be Angie’s List), but I always call references and get at least three people out for bids. Of course, we do not always have the time to do that, especially when you have a broken furnace or busted water heater. In which case, ask your friends and neighbors!
One last thing: When you use a licenced contractor, you have a lot of additional protections you do not have with someone who is not licenced. And when I use a licenced contractor I ALWAYS look on my State Contractors Licence Board website to double check their licence, to see that they are paid up on their workers’ comp insurance (for their workers), and that they are bonded. Once, I discovered that an unsatisfactory tiling contractor did not actually have a licence, that he was illegally using another contractor’s licence number, and one who had a different trade at that! Because he wasn’t actually licenced, I couldn’t file a claim with his bond for poorly done work that needed to be ripped out and redone.
Another point: A reputable contractor, licenced or not, will not expect to be paid upfront. If materials need to be purchased, pay for those yourself, with the supplier, or reimburse the contractor when the materials are delivered. And get the receipt.
Here is what our California State Contractors Board suggest for consumers. Worth a review and a reminder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sish_2olDLQ
This same thing had happened to us several times in the last five or so years. I’m fortunate that my husband is still capable of doing most things so we don’t have to hire help often, but we usually only need professional help, like taking down trees or repairing appliances. And we can’t seem to get them to either show up or be capable of doing the job at all!!! It’s beyond comprehension! I tend to rely on referrals from my few realty friends. They seem to know trades people who are dedicated and reliable, and will sometimes even make calls and set times with them for us! Glad I have kept those connections close, they have been great friends.
Iunderstand how you feel. I also worry that they will not do what I asked them to do, my way. I am also a perfectionist. We are having a new roof installed and I am worried. The sales people say one thing but the workers don’t do what the contract said.I am happy that I have a husband that can do the little jobs, he even helps neighbors with their little jobs.
They are all looking for work but they never show up or do some work and leave.
Kristi,
This is happening to my mom, a 76 widow, right now in South Carolina. The next door neighbor had hired the same man and finally had to fire him. My mom is giving him one more chance but we are not hopeful.
It absolutely does seem to be rampant.
It’s that way here in Louisiana also. Last week i had a pipe from my washing machine leaking under my house. I crawled under it to see for sure it was the one i thouht. Turned main water off first.
It was flooded under there so i spread plastic over the concrete slab under there. I called 6 plumbers and got 2 calls back. The first one said he could maybe come next week. The second one is a guy i know. He knows i could fix it myself and told me what to buy at the hardware store. He said he could send someone in about an hour. I chose to let his workers fix it. They were there in half an hour and took 5 minutes to fix it.They turned my water back on to be sure. I’m sble but I’m 73 and choose not to do some things myself. I never heard back from the other 4 professionals. It’s hard to find anyone who wants to work anymore. Very frustrating for me as i get older. Good luck Kristi!
My experience with contractors is this….first it was hard to find anyone here in east Tennessee to do the work. I searched for months. i needed a bathroom renovation. I am 78 year old widow. I needed to convert from bathtub to walk in shower so I could use a shower chair. Didn’t want one built in as I needed to be able to move it. Wanted to change my hot water heater which was in this bathroom to one of those instant heater things…can’t remember what the name is. I do not use enough hot water to make it cost worthy of a large water heater storing hot water and also taking the space in there. I finally was able to get a man out to see what and how much. He was a nice man it seemed and so hired him. I gave him print outs from Lowes for each fixture and sink and shower head . He could have no doubt as to what I wanted. He quoted me a price of $7000.00. so I hired him. He had a profession looking truck and trailer with signs for his business. He installed the shower and it is beautiful. But he did not hang sheetrock as I asked he installed cheap paneling and split a 2 x 4 to make the trim for it. Never changed the ceiling squares for sheetrock….just left as was. Was not the sink cabinet I gave picture of…and my medicine cabinet is a joke. Flooring is beautiful. He was angry and was slamming things around on last day….which I knew he did not have finished. Put a regular hot water heater in rather than instant one. Anyway I was so scared of him on that last day I paid him….could not argue over anything because of my fear of him. And so ended up paying him $9990.00 for this incomplete and “not what I asked for” job. Still is not finished as I cannot get anyone out here to do it for me. Shower i great for this old lady but otherwise is a huge mess…Sorry to rant but still gets my grits. So I know of your frustration in hiring out for odd jobs.
If you’re in the trades and are skilled and reliable, you’re not picking up half day jobs here and there. Unemployment is essentially zero, so it’s an employee’s market.
This week, mine isn’t contractor work but office people at the oncology group where my husband gets treatments. His labs are never scheduled before his chemo, though they should be, and every week I must insist he has to have labs before they can give him his chemo (they know this); the most recent chemo day, they hadn’t scheduled the next 4 treatments, and asked if he wanted to ring the bell since that day was his last…no, he has 4 more before next scans…well they aren’t scheduled…well, they should be! Plz call his doc. Then I had to call the doc. 5 hours later the nurse called apologizing and will get those scheduled. He got his copy of his lab results and came home. I looked at the end of the report as I always do first to check a specific number that reflects how the tumor is doing. The number was on the low end of normal, down to 21 from 185! I tell EVERYONE! We are all rejoicing and praising the Lord….100s of people in the cancer group I’m in were uplifted by this news! Then I find out, that second page isn’t his but another patient’s! (Wonder what patient was devastated that his numbers were up when they got my husband’s paper!) It’s just too much! I will let them know, that even if their job is simply answering the phone, or hitting the button on the printer, or stapling correct pages together….it is important work! Their mistakes hold great consequences…so please be present and conscientious!
I mean… sure I’ve had contractor frustrations too but there’s so much more than “work ethic.” These are all small to medium projects that YOU care about 100x more than a random from Nextdoor and YOU haven’t finished them in months or years. It’s your prerogative to hire things out but after seeing a dozen or so posts from you over the years of your trash filled rooms or disasters mid project I think you should turn some of that work ethic rant to yourself. Rolling my eyes hard at the “I’m a perfectionist” mantra when you’re leaving things unfinished for so long and complaining about others instead of doing the thing.
So because I have unfinished projects in my home (a home that I’ve pretty much single-handedly been remodeling myself), I should be perfectly fine with a business owner making an appointment with me for a specific time on a specific day and then standing me up? Or I should be fine with someone committing to do a job, coming over and doing half of the job while I paid them for the whole job, saying that they’d come back the next day to finish the job, and never showing up to complete the job even four weeks later? Well, sure. That makes perfect sense. 🤣🤣😂😂 I’m sorry, but if you can’t see the difference in a homeowner having unfinished projects in THEIR OWN HOME, and business owners making appointments and standing people up, or getting paid for a job and never coming back to finish the job, then perhaps it’s time for you to stop commenting on the internet. No doubt you’ve left a string of equally unintelligent comments all across the internet that you would be embarrassed about if only you had the intelligence to know that you should be embarrassed.
You know, I get that some of you have been hate reading my blog just looking for the perfect opportunity to leave your FIRST EVER comment letting me know how just how you feel about me, but at least try not to make a complete fool of yourself when you finally do find that opportunity. This comment is not only completely stupid and nonsensical, but it’s also incredibly transparent.
Oh, wait. Never mind. I see that you actually HAVE left comments on my blog before, but you just left them under a different name. So you’re actually just one of those cowards who decides to leave a comment insulting me, but doesn’t have the backbone to do so under the name that you usually comment under because you think that if you only comment under a different name, I can’t see who you are. Stupid person –> stupid games –> stupid comment.
And upon further inspection, I see that this is actually the SECOND time that you’ve done this! If you want to be nice, you leave your comments under one name. If you want to really put me in my place, you leave your comments under this name. 🤣🤣 Thanks for the entertainment this morning.
Personal recommendation from family/friend/neighbor is supposed to be the best, but the person has to have the same standards as you! My neighbor uses someone regularly and he’s perfectly happy with the work and keeps using the guy. I’ve seen the work and it’s ok but not up to my standards, so I wouldn’t use the same guy.
Personally, I wouldn’t get a contractor from NextDoor or Facebook – there may be good ones, but I always see posts on Nextdoor from people warning that they found someone there but got ripped off or he did a bad job.
I found a couple of people on Yelp (house painter and roof repairer) after reading allll the reviews and they were both good: The house painter did the job and it was fine, although not amazing, but they did what they said they would, when they said they would, for the price they said. The roof repairer was excellent, and considering one of the other guys who gave an estimate said we couldn’t just repair and would have to re-roof the whole house (at huge cost), I was really happy that the much cheaper repair-only job worked.
I might have been just lucky with Yelp, but as I said, I tried to be careful and read alllll the reviews before anyone even made the shortlist for me to phone them. I know you shouldn’t have to do that just for some small jobs, but sadly it looks like that’s the way things are now.
I wish I knew. People have no pride anymore. Not in work, or dress, or anything.sad
I’m sorry that your are having to experience the lack of work ethic that seems to be increasing these days.
We also have a “neighborhood” facebook page where I have posted requests such as yours. But I request responses only from people who have used them and whom they recommend. And it also helps if I recognize the people who respond with their experiences. So far, the responses have been helpful.
I don’t know who “Kay” is (both posted and pseudonym), but that is a jerk move.
Thing is, we all seek to hire someone who has the skills and know-how to accomplish a task we don’t.
Time = money. We are willing to spend our own hard-earned money for someone’s time, AN D the time they learned their skill set that we are paying them for.
I have a small space that has needs to be changed from non-usable to a closet, but because it’s a small project, no one wants to spend their time to work it. MY thinking as a customer is, Look, do great work on this, something small. And if it looks good, I would love to hire you to remodel my bathroom or laundry room/pantry. I am willing to spend the money, because I don’t have the skills.
I’m frustrated for you, and frustrated for all of us dealing with this. Post-2020, it IS a contractor (licensed or not) market. And I genuinely believe it is a work ethic. They just don’t make ’em like they used to.
Oh Kristi, You are preaching to the choir on this topic!! When my husband and I were newlyweds and hubby had lost his job he decided we would save money if he painted the house (lol). After 1 day my husband decided it wasn’t as fun as he thought and he met a friendly painter at Home Depot and let him paint our house. My normally gentle giant 6’5 husband almost had a heart attack trying to explain to the painter that when a client asks for 2 coats of paint, that means let first coat dry then paint a second. This guy dunked the paint brush up and down twice (counting out loud while he did it) and said see, 2 coats of paint! We are the poster family for bad contractors: our house hit by a tornado in 1989, flood 1999 and our neighbors tree tomahawked our house completely in half 2017. Contractors you find on nextdoor, craigs list and catalogue
advertisements 90 percent of the time the time they give you is merely a suggestion.
I never hire someone without them signing a contract, making a copy of their Drivers License and will not make a check out to cash but only their companys name, plus I now do background checks. If you tell them all this upfront hopefully the bad ones WILL NOT come back.
Try HOUZZ.Com we’ve been pleased so far
It’s not just handy men it’s all types of service people. I wanted to extend a stone patio and a very nice young man came to my home looked over the site and said he’d get back with an estimate. Never heard from him again. Needed my pool replastered and took about 8 months to find someone. Several would make appointments to come look at it never show up. One thing I will not do is pay in full for a job up front. I will make a partial payment if I have to but most stable established businesses don’t require payment up front.
Good morning Kristi, I loved your response back to him…!!! How rude was he not to show up then expect you to reschedule with him without a explanation of why he hadn’t shown in the first place.
Now I think I/you have a answer to your future once your home has been completed..
wink, wink….
You can be the person who helps the elderly with some of their projects that need done.. Just a thought.
A thought: As you live in Waco, where the Gaineses have multiple businesses and seem like decent and fairly publicly accessible people, would it be possible to make contact with Chip Gaines as a means of ID’ing some workers who are trustworthy and good at what they do? I know Waco isn’t tiny (pop. 139.5K) and that the Gaineses probably don’t stand behind the counters or personally answer phone calls at any of their businesses, but I’d guess they’re reachable and that finding good and dependable workers is an issue they deal with constantly.
At this point, I’m tempted to start a Handy Ma’am business and only hire 40+ yo women who still have a work ethic.
When we first moved to this neighborhood, one of the neighbors warned us about the local “problem” contractors.
After a past hailstorm, we avoided a problem roofer. Watched the neighbor have a tarp over her compressor get covered with roof debris for two days. We did walk down the block to see the “finished roof and cleaned yard” filled with nails both in the paper rolls and loose in the yard, sidewalk and street. We paid a bit more for the better roofer that time with a new roof in 2.5 days.
In Temple, the best roofer was booked, so we went with Home Depot dude. 14 days to get a new roof, left the trailer where they were told not to, and dawdled with bad weather. They were *still* finishing when my spouse returned from the long conference and had to explain to him about all the delays.
The number of hail chasers ignoring my answers over the phone and at the door is truly appalling; “little woman doesn’t know anything about roofs and roofers”.
SNORT.
Quotes for the new deck and fence were just as funny. We chose the midrange price with the guy who listened and priced what *we* wanted. I made sure his company name is easy to see on our fence.
Our plumber works indoors only, M-F 8-5. His wife handles the phone and scheduling.
There are good workers, just takes far more work to find them and longer for them to get to you because they are fully booked.
Work ethic? Respect? Are u kidding me? Those are from days of Yore!!!
I am a pet sitter and believe if u do a good job, it is your reputation. Today’s youngsters don’t care. I am 74 and would be embarrassed. My husband being retired started teaching as a second language to foreign adults……Respect to the max. AHHHH
Good luck