what to expect with repair-people

[Zoe Girl]

Argh and double argh, and not because it is talk like a pirate day either.

So the electric guy finally got back today, I had the feeling he was coming thursday but he called when I was with middle schoolers doing homework. It was probably that he was talking to the landlord that day. I spent a chunk of last sunday with him working on some important electrical issues and I have faith in his work, and he didn't goof around or talk my ear off, all that good stuff. There was a big issue of how the power line came into the house, that needed to be supported much better than it has been and I have told the landlord about that for a year. Then the breaker issue took some tracking down but I feel much safer with that. Still no heat on stove or oven.

So today I get several calls and it gets much later than I originally expected. I wasn't going anywhere and the kids had the car for the day so that was okay. But I really thought he could get my stove/oven working. Well he found the problem, after the problem in the breaker box then some wires must have gotten messed up because on one end there is like 110 volts and the other end that the stove is on has 10. He needs to pull out and replace some wiring it sounds like.

Now the problem became that he needed an okay from the landlord to do the work, or I could have paid him and then take it off my rent he said. I claimed to have low funds and said no. I would also want that verified by the landlord. I told him I have things to do tomorrow and my normal work schedule is on-call or at work anytime between 6 am and 6 pm. Is this just what happens when work needs to be done? I feel the landlord is making this harder because she does not like to fix things. Or I could just misunderstand how much time it takes to get things fixed in an old house, I just want a darn stove and to not drive back and forth.

[Mrs-M]

In our experience, trades people, along with their scheduling of jobs, can work both ways. Sometimes you get lucky, and one will take care of your service call right away, while other times you'll be left waiting, making reminder calls, and calls to find out out when (and if) they're still coming. PITA!

If you have time, do a little homework (for the future) and see if you can secure a trader person with triple-A credentials. They're usually the ones who pride themselves in attending service calls and jobs (on time), and aside from doing quality work, you'll get honest rates.

[bunnys]

Expect to be ripped off. You may not be, but there's a good chance they'll try it--because you have no knowledge and they hold all the cards--so they have an incentive to try and maximize their profit for the least amount of effort.

Also, usually repair people aren't going to try and find the problem but to treat the symptom so they can get in and out and get their check and head on down the road.

[SimplyL]

My dad is a tradesman, and some weeks it can be really challenging accomodating everyone's schedules. He also has the added factor of commute, time of day, weather (because depending on what you need done, if there's heavy rain or lightning - it may not be safe for him to perform). With that said, he is fantastic at what he does, works primarily on repeat business because he is professional, reasonable, honest. Those are great qualities. So, if you do find someone where the scheduling could be a little frustrating but you know that you're not getting the run around (and even in a rental, let's face it, that affects us very much if the tradesman isn't repairing things properly or angers your landlord - then, the landlord says 'no way' and ends up calling a cheap fix it guy who may not do quality work). Ugh. And you definitely, don't want to be without for too long while they go back and forth.

If you're at work, I'd suggest requesting a 2 hour call ahead (or whatever timeframe is reasonable) if you have to break from work to meet him. This is how we usually operated in the real estate office, when I had to meet contractors at jobs (when they couldn't set a specific time) and even with the cable man, which they also give you this huge window.. I have customer service put a note and usually use serious language that I will absolutely not be home if they do not call me with a heads up first! That usually prompts a call first thing in the a.m. to touch base with me and another call before they come. I've done this with cable, Sears repair, termite guy.. never had a problem.

Sure that there could also be an element of the landlord not understand or making an attempt to delay. I worked in real estate and property management, for many years. And it was not unusual for the landlords to depend on the rent roll to cash flow their repairs from their monthly net proceeds (Rent minus mortgage minus property management fees and other expenses). So, when repairs would come up at the end of the month, they would try to delay the repair until after the 1st of the month, when their rental income would process. Believe me, I know it's rude and inconvenient.. and for some, because it would affect our reputation and just bad business in general to leave tenants hanging, we would modify their contract, requiring to keep a repair escrow account with pre-authorization for us to perform repairs under a designated amount. If you're working with a landlord (and no property manager), that very well could be that she needs the money from your rent check to pay for the repair. :(

[SteveinMN]

As both a renter and now someone who knows other individual landlords, I know that many times the job goes to a "buddy" or to whoever will do it for the "right" price (regardless of their ability or schedule). I don't mean to tar all landlords with that brush; I just know that us small-time landlords typically are not flush with money to pry the best tradespeople out of their schedule to work right away on our problems. I think many landlords also tend to hold rental property to a lower standard than the homes in which they live, which influences the quality of the work done. (Actually, I kind of see it the other way around. Cheap materials don't last as long, and the material is often much less expensive than the labor, so I try not to put "builder-grade" anything in my rental property.)

Not excusing this electrician, Zoe, just providing a viewpoint on why he may be working the way he is. I certainly understand that some jobs take waaaaaay longer than originally estimated. And I would not be pleased if a tradesperson dropped my job in the middle to be on time for another appointment. But I do not think it's at all out of line to expect a call from the electrician as soon as he is confidently sure of when he will be at your place.

[Zoe Girl]

Thanks all,

I think it did end up a much bigger job than expected. An older house has those issues. But I think i got through to everyone that it really needs to be taken care of now, after allowing another week since it was a bigger than expected job. Communication certainly is part of it. I think the guy is trying but he may underestimate what things take quite often. I got a call last night when I was at church asking when I would be home. I was just leaving an event so I didn't get to talk to the presenter one more time and rushed home. The next I heard from the guy was 8 am saying he would be there at noon today. I am regretting rushing home but very happy I picked up what I needed to put a roast in the crock pot tonight.

[goldensmom]

This is based on my lifetime experience of interaction with home repair/service people:
1. It takes twice as long as estimated.
2. It costs twice as much.
3. There will be unexpected problems.
3. The service/repair person will not be there at the stated time or day.
4. There are exceptions.

[Float On]

Doesn't Denver have a housing athority to deal with landlords in the city limit staying up to code on things like....electric wiring? That needs addressed pronto. Doesn't she also have a key to allow entry to the workman when you are working? I would think she would need to be there to sign off on the workorder.

[Gregg]

Not much I can offer about landlords and/or their effect on work, but as a nearly 30 year veteran of the construction industry I can tell you a few things about the trades...

~Any type of renovation is hard simply because you never know for sure what is lurking inside a wall until you open it up.

~Almost every trades person is an optimist and the ones who aren't still want to give you good news, not bad. That means their "best guess" of what's wrong before that wall is opened up will probably fall short of what is really needed.

~Other than real emergencies (which do happen) there is no excuse for being late for work or for an appointment.

~Unless you have been told exactly why a job is going to take longer or cost more than was estimated, it shouldn't.

~There is never any excuse for leaving a mess in your home, cussing in front of customers, throwing more than a wrapper in your trash, etc.

~You should have a copy of their contractor's insurance policy before they ever unload a tool at your house. Some reputable trades people will even supply that without being asked.

~Estimates for the cost of work and a scope of what is included for that price should always be in writing and should be signed by both the contractor and the customer. No exceptions. It protects you both.

There's a few different ways to do business. There is the guy with a pick-up and a puppy. Some of these guys know what they're doing, a lot don't. A lot also skip those cumbersome little steps like getting insurance or a license. Be wary. Then there's the mom & pop kind of operators with a few employees that were trained somewhere else and ended up in this job. They normally cost more than the first kind because they normally pay taxes, carry insurance, etc. (but still check). In my experience these are the ones who most often caused us to be delayed because if they got behind they just didn't have the manpower to catch up.

Last are the professional companies (my words). They will have multiple employees, company vehicles, a solid parts inventory and provide a specific range of services. The successful ones take the time to train their employees in customer service as well as the hands on work. Hiring a company like this is going to cost more because they have to cover a lot more overhead than the smaller outfits do. The advantage, and this comes true far more often than not, is that they will show up when they say they will, know what to do to fix problems, have set policies and procedures designed to take care of customers, will be able to bid accurately, will be able to explain and offer options if unforeseen problems arise. In general, they will be professional and will get in and get out. For me, the cost of dealing with someone who may or may not show up when I took the time to be there is just not worth the headache
.

[Zoe Girl]

That part about not knowing what the entire job will entail, I really understand that and don't blame the guy. And tonight it is getting even more complicated. It seems that in the process of replacing a wire he found that it was put through a part of a wall that he did not expect. Good news it seems that this wall is in the laundry room and not the kitchen, the bad news is that i have a lot of storage in that area that needs to be moved. Further stress, my oldest is moving home this week and tends to keep a lot of stuff. She was planning on putting things into the storage area, like tomorrow, and I am not sure when he will be able to come back to keep working on this. I think my daughter is going to need to rent a storage unit for some things, and i have had storage units twice in the last 2 years since we moved, each time spent some serious hours purging to get back out of a storage unit, and now do not really want to go back to it. However the stacks of boxes that are already in the front room are now not going anywhere for some time. my bedroom I worked so hard on is again filling up with boxes or work type materials, books and craft suplies and all that. Not that this is the most important part of the deal, it just is the thing i deal with daily as I trip over stuff. And I have an issue helping my daughter keep all of her stuff while I am getting more into the painful level of purgin myself.

Okay I think he does quality work, I think that he is really doing his best to communicate with me, I think that this job complication could not have been predicted by anyone and I think there have been about a third of the times I expected him to come or come within a couple hour window that he did not. My week is pretty strictly booked in some areas so he is going to have to work with me. And I give ourselves one more decent eat out night plus getting some higher quality frozen meals this week. I may even call the kids' dad to take them out to eat. I need to ask the landlord at the end of this about adjusting my rent for the month, if that sounds fair, but being out of a stove/oven for a couple weeks has an effect. I know this is part of renting an older house, if I didn't need all the room I get for this amount of rent I would look at moving. It was 54 degrees in my bedroom the other morning, with the heat on!

[SteveinMN]

Zoe, I certainly would approach the landlord about adjusting the rent because you did not have appropriate electric service. I would keep in mind that the fact that the electrician can only work within your schedule is not within your landlord's control. I guess I don't understand (or maybe even know) why the landlord cannot let the repairman in to work on the problem while you're away, but if that's the way it is, that's the way it is. It does seem to have lengthened the time to fix this problem.

[Mrs-M]

Originally posted by SteveinMN.
I certainly would approach the landlord about adjusting the rent because you did not have appropriate electric service.Excellent point!

[Zoe Girl]

I agree. I expected to give some time because of my own schedule, but past the first week I think i can ask for an adjustment. The reason I would really ask is because of things like rushing home on Sunday night to not have him show up or continue to stay in contact. Having a couple hours window or only being able to get there on weekends because of my schedule is perfectly understandable.

Now just good thoughts for no more new issues!!