Customer Service

[marty]

and they wonder why we buy off trademe/ebay etc.

i have just finished building a $600k house, and here's a list of things that have really pissed me off. i understand that there will always be a few things that need attention, but i work in an industry that second chances, or poor quality first time aroud can have fatal consequences, so maybe i'm a little picky....

plumbers. every single thing they installed/fitted, leaked. they have been back 4 times to fix things.

tilers - put underfloor heating and tiles in 2 places we didn't ask, and were expecting carpet (20 squares in the dining room @ $80/square to lay!! at their cost!!) they also forgot to lay a feature trim in the ensuite, and had to pull up about 20 tiles, and re-lay u/f heating.

sparky - pretty good, but of the 16 halogen lights in the lounge/kitchen, 4 did not line up, so had to be removed, re-gibbed and reset.

curtains - 10 grands worth of curtains, and the curtain rail mounts were placed at random spacing along the rail - causing the rail to flex then fall off, causing $500 damage and needing the painters to come back out.

painters - while they were here for that, they put the second coat on in the toilet, and tidied up about a dozen places they had missed

appliances - hob that turned up was the wrong one. $4500 fridge blew up within 5 minutes of turning on (no refrigerant in it) and when i rang and told them, they refused to come out and fix it, saying it was too dangerous, and that they would either replace it or fix it only in their workshop. the fridge is in a walk-in pantry, and has to be completely pulled apart to get out, but they wouldn't come and do that. my problem apparantley. ups to the F&P rep for coming out, then surprisingly the service guys were suddenly available to come and fix it....

garage door - wound itself off the chain - stops set up incorrectly - fuckin lucky it didn't drop on my bike, damaged one of the cedar panels.

spouting - falls either the wrong way, or is too flat, and doesn't drain quick enough.

sky guy - tapped into my cat 5 broadband line, (instead of putting a splitter in) causing it to drop quality by 60%. he is not happy about coming out and fixing it.

if these guys had feedback, they'd be out of a job. admittedley (almost) everyone has come back to fix their fuckups, without complaint, but for self-employed people, that has to be an expensive exersize

[crashe]

Shite, that surely is expensive stuff ups....

Stupid errors, if only they had read the plans on a regular basis and not assumed of what you wanted.


Glad its all been sorted out now... and hope you have no more problems..


Winter is coming... so hope you dont get a leaky home or floods.



Oh yeah when is the house warming party?????????????

[RantyDave]

I'm crap at DIY. Not only am I crap at it, but I hate it too. I'm more than willing to pay people to come and fix stuff up.

Of the *four* builders we've had in (actually, three builders and a roofer) only one was what could broadly be described as competent, and he was great. I got so sick of the roofing guy not coming in to fix up his foulups that eventually I did it mysef. The two other builders were absolutely fucking shocking.

The thing is that I'm not actually completely devoid of the ability to fix things. I used to sail loads and got good at fixing boats ... and my few attempts at fixing the house have all gone much better than getting the builders in, other than the guy who knew what he was doing. I obviously just need to get over it.

Anyway ... a builders rant. We need some way of finding out who are the good ones. BTW, did you use a project manager for the house?

[marty]

house was built by a building company, the owner lives 5 doors down, and is building a million $$ house out the back of my place. he's getting sick of my face i can tell you

house warming is tonight

[Storm]

Good onya for not taking any shite

[Timber020]

How were the tradesmen chosen? Often guys are hired because they have the lowest hourly rate, or they say they will get the job done the quickest.

[smokeyging]

Industry at the moment is having trouble finding reliable labour, every buggers heading overseas chasing the almighty dollar

[SwanTiger]

You're a lucky bastard.

I know of a (dumb bitch) lady who had major rennovations performed on her house by a building company. Basically they were lazy bastards, took forever to get a fraction of the work completed and eventually, after receiving her complaints, threw it in and now they're both arguing it out in court.

If I ever get a house built, each day they're working, I'll make a point of walking around the construction site with a shotgun over my shoulder making sure the works done right first time.

[Gremlin]

If I ever get a house built, each day they're working, I'll make a point of walking around the construction site with a shotgun over my shoulder making sure the works done right first time.

I hatesssss those sort of customers. Buy the bloody house when its finished. Stop visiting every single day.

But I work as a labourer, so I don't handle the shit either Just fix/do what I'm told.

The big companies that build houses from start to finish generally offer guarantees (not just masterbuild propoganda), and have no interest in building houses that aren't going to last, as it only costs heaps more in the long run.

Don't look at me about renovations though. It is a very different kettle of fish, and most of the chippies I work with take a small pay cut for a good reason. They have standard jobs, level floors etc, and know what they are dealing with.

[Brian d marge]

As A mechanic I stuff up sometime. I like Carrol shellys attitude. Dude ya F#$ed up

Yes Im sorry I learnt and Ill do my best not to allow it to happen again.

( at this point Dude is feeling like shyte, and 2 feet tall )

Conversation over.

if dude replys yes I thought it would happen. Dude is looking for a new Job. period .

My wife is the person who I look up to with regards to business relationship and work standard.

She gives clear expectations and time lines AND NEVER have I seen her go over. Can you do it ??? Yes /no. When will it be done by?? Next tuesday, come in wed morning. Job done.

I am expanding by day Job, as a "bike shagger around with fella", and I really want to aspire to her level of customer relations , its natural for her and it doesnt come across as cheezy. ( though a low cut and high heels arent so appealing on me )

We are in business to Serve the customer, the customer doesnt serve us, its our Lucky oportunity to have the CHANCE to do business with you the customer.( thats my feelings )

There are to many cowboys in all trades, and it makes everyone look bad.

So no, as you may of guessed , I am on you side you the customer !

Stephen

[madboy]

It's the old if you want it done right do it yourself thing. But it's true what is said about the shortage of skilled labour. My parent's plumber doesn't advertise, doesn't take on new customers, wouldn't even do an emergency job for me, the son of his existing customers of 20yrs+. He took six months to get to my parents house for the last two day job. But he was clear from the start that he didn't have time for a while, and when he did do it, he did it right, it even looks right and didn't have to come back and fix anything!

It's just a shame building a $600k house isn't the sort of thing you can do yourself in a sensible timeframe.

[Lou Girardin]

It'd be great to be in the building trade, they must be absolutely creaming it.
There's no other explaination for not even bothering to phone back with a quote, showing up when they feel like it and so on.
We're lucky we found a good 'un.

[marty]

the builder himself did a great good job - it's all the extra subbies that cause the stress.

i'm curently argueing with the plumber over a $65 account at the moment. dishwasher was showing a waterflow fault after 1st day in. rang the appliance shop, they said 'it'll be the flow meter - common problem, they forget to put the magnetic pickup in in the factory, we get 1 a week'

appliance guy comes over, swaps pickup out, problem still exists.

further investigation finds the feed hose from the tap is twisted, and restricting the water. naturally, not an appliance fault, but an installation fault. so they billed me $65.

plumber reckons i should have called him first, but then says it's unlikely that HIS guys would have fucked it up, as they are installing stuff like this all the time.

hang on mr plumber. remember your guys have been out 4 times to fix every other fucking thing they installed cause it leaked or didn't work. although, saying that, maybe i should have called you first.........

police came round at 0300 this morning to ask us to quiet down a bit. hi neighbours - we're here!!! lucky we didn't get the singstar out