ROTHENBURGER: Why is it that so many trades people don’t return calls?

Home maintenance doesn’t end during a pandemic. If anything, it increases. The stores have been encouraging call-in orders and curbside pickups but a lot of people still want to get inside.

Lumber and building material stores are a big industry in Canada. Main-street hardware stores of old have morphed into suburban big boxes that carry everything from 2X4s to kitchen appliances, shower stalls, lawn mowers and Number 3 deck screws. They are a mecca for every home owner who’s ever had something in the house break down.

We assume the reason these stores are so popular is that they save us money and provide for our aspiration to be self-sufficient, but I submit there’s another reason.

Why, for example, are power tools such a staple gift? Finding one under the tree on Christmas morning is the dream of every home handyperson. Who among us wouldn’t want to unwrap an electric saw or drill, or maybe a hammer or new set of screw drivers?

There’s a good reason for that — we can never find a trades person when we need one. Oh, sure, they’re out there, big companies and one-person operations, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, roofers, furnace repair people, and so on.

But how often have you needed a small job done and had to make the rounds for days or weeks before you found someone who would even return your call? This isn’t a pandemic phenomenon, it’s just part of life.

I’ve gone through it several times over the past year. On one occasion I received a cheerful promise the guy would soon be available and would get back to us to line something up.

Four months later, after several reminders, he confessed he wasn’t going to get around to it. And this was a fellow who had done a lot of work for us in the past.

More recently, we were trying to find someone to do a job that cost what, to us, was a pretty big deal. After three phone calls to the company we’d dealt with previously, we were told our job was too small for them.

We did manage to find somebody else, who provided a reasonable estimate and then got too busy with other jobs to attend to our needs for several weeks. When he did get around to us, I must say, the work was top notch. I recognize he was busy because he’s good at what he does, and sometimes we just have to accept that. It’s the ones who can’t be bothered to communicate who are the problem.

Being in the trades in Kamloops must be very lucrative since so many feel they’re doing you a favour if they work for you.

That’s why it’s such a thrill when you find somebody who calls back, does an estimate promptly, and provides a firm start and finish time for the job.

The reason being in the trades is such a good way to make a living is that our homes are money pits. Things go wrong. There’s always a tap that drips, a furnace that makes clunking sounds, a roof that leaks, walls that need painting.

Frankly, most of us would rather have somebody else do anything that involves more than the basics, and that’s where the trades folks come in. The ones who advertise excellent customer service and 30 years of experience, which is pretty much all of them.

Words are cheap. We want action. Start returning phone calls. When you say you’ll show up next Tuesday, don’t take until Friday. When you give an estimate, don’t submit a much higher bill with the explanation that you ran into some unforeseen problems with the job.

I’m betting trades people swap some good stories about bad customers. Such as those who are slow paying their bills, or who don’t let the crew use the bathroom, or never offer a glass of water or a cup of coffee, or who keep adding things to the job and expecting the extra work to be done for free. And, worst of all, the self-professed expert who thinks he or she knows more than the trades person they’ve hired.

So, it’s a two-way street, but to the trades folks who treat customers like they’re important, are professional, courteous and prompt, I say thank you on behalf of your clients. To the rest, you’re one of the reasons building supply stores are such a big industry.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

—

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.

by Mel Rothenburger

ROTHENBURGER: Why is it that so many trades people don’t return calls?

Our Community