No, it isn’t just you Mars (I think you already knew that of course🤨) F’rinstance we have a jobbing gardener/odd job person who only communicates by email - and only at weekends. Anyone insisting on using Whats App is a no-no as far as I am concerned as I don’t use such, face book and other social media are completely lost on me as well so companies going down that route are not known to me. Years ago it was contact via a mobile (and rates were very much higher then!) I don’t mind a text message but don’t appreciate the ‘texting abbreviations’ that many are fond of. Then there are those who send a message (4-6 hours after their promised arrival time) saying ‘can’t make it today’. (Don’t get me started Mars - though I think you have already😟)

As for timekeeping, I believe that some traders use their very own timezones! Regards, Toodles.

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Instead, you end up keeping an entire day clear because somebody might appear at some unspecified point, and you feel like a nuisance for asking whether the person you’re paying is actually planning to turn up.

Is this just the reality now?

Yes.

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We’ve got an electrician who is notoriously difficult to get hold of in the first place, but once you actually pin him down and he says, “I’ll be there at 10am on Tuesday,” he is there at 10am on Tuesday. Almost to the minute.

I'd rather be like this, than answering all the calls and emails and feeling obliged to take on more than i can cope with. Then letting people down when the quick jobs inevitably turn into basket cases. Although I say 09:15 - 09:30 for my morning jobs and 13:00 - 13:15 for the afternoons which is a realistic window to meet.

Posted by: @editor

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Instead, you end up keeping an entire day clear because somebody might appear at some unspecified point, and you feel like a nuisance for asking whether the person you’re paying is actually planning to turn up.

Is this just the reality now?

Yes, and I would suggest likely to get worse with more apps and road condition challenges. 

I must say our heatpump install was unusually precisely timed..

When we ran our own home improvement company I put a huge emphasis on customer service - from the time of initial lead contact right through until the money was in our bank account, and beyond. It was relatively easy for us to do that: I'd spent most of my working life in a customer facing corporate role (having been through TQM in the early 2000's) and understood what customer service meant. My wife handled the back office as well as the other staff. That allowed me to focus upon the sales and marketing. We quickly established a decent reputation and were able to charge premium prices on the back of the customer experience.

A sole trader, having to do everything, alone, without support, is a totally different proposition. A tradesman cannot be expected to answer the phone immediately if they are on site with noisy or dangerous tools or in the middle of a sales negotiation. It can also be a headache to follow up once they have finished a hard working day. In addition, many tradespeople say they understand customer service and what is necessary but, actually, are clueless because they have never provided or received decent quality customer service from which to set a reference.

In offering defence to sole traders (and small limited companies) however, it doesn't mean that they shouldn't try to offer decent service to their customers and to learn from their mistakes. It also doesn't mean that it is OK to leave a potential customer dangling until they have a gap in their schedule and want to fill it. It doesn't give them the right to grunt like a neandertal when they answer the phone or carte blanche to turn up hours or days late and without an explanation.

Few people seem to realise that offering good service generates work through recommendation and at a relatively premium price and, so, with good margin. Good customer service doesn't add massively to the workload or deplete the bank account. Make it part of the culture of the company and it becomes automatic. Just don't say you are good at it and then fall very short every time you visit a customer!

When we engage tradespeople now (long since retired), if we get no response within, say, 24 hours, we move on to somebody else. I'm willing to give people a chance to redeem themselves if they slip up once, but I am on my guard thereafter. Such an approach can be harsh and leave me short of opportunities (as we live in a rural area), but I find that this is the best way to achieve a decent outcome in the end.

I am also quick to praise good service on social media and be less enthusiastic about a company if they fall short.

Where we live now, results are pretty variable - some don't call back or don't turn up (and get binned), but most seem to make a decent effort.

@ian33a Due to our advancing years of age (I’m 79 now) we have worked our way through several generations of artisans. When I have found a service provider (plumber, electrician, builder or decorator etc.) who provides a good standard of work, is contactable, reliable, amenable to working to my idiosyncratic requirements and is affordable, I embrace their services whenever the need arises and don’t bother to try and ‘shop around’ for other providers. I suppose I started employing artisans for my requirements some 60 years ago and have worked my way through two or more complete sets!

On top of the generational progression, there has also been a few good workers who have themselves moved on or started to specialise and thus focused their interests and skills and no longer cover the range of work they used to. I am on my fourth electrician, fourth plumber, third builder and third decorator.

When I have found a good supplier as outlined above, I am prepared to pay that little bit extra for the good service - the term ‘gold dust’ isn’t too far away. Regards, Toodles.

My experience, backed up by opinions from various friends who have been tradespeople, is that many plumbers, sparkies, chippies, brickies and so on go into the trade almost precisely so they don't have to deal with people. They get a lot of fulfilment from working with their hands and social interaction is often a distraction to be endured rather than an enjoyable part of the job. I do realise that's a huge generalisation but it does explain why a lot of the least accessible tradespeople are the ones who are best at their jobs; people who're a real effort to do business with but whose work is precisely what you want in your home.

As @ian33a says, though, that's not an excuse. The customer has certain minimum standards they should be able to expect in the business relationship, and most tradespeople these days are, imho, better aware of this than they used to be. My experience is that standards have actually improved slightly rather than dropped. That's not to say, of course, that the issues of time-keeping and communication aren't a huge lottery these days; it's just that when I take off my "when I were a lad..." glasses off I have to admit that I found the previous generations of tradespeople even less approachable.