Alarming New Research Warns Tradespeople about Consumers!
7th April 2014
In the wake of modern TV consumer viewing, such as ‘Cowboy Builders’, contractors in all sectors of the construction industry can suffer the ill-effects of malpractice by unscrupulous individuals.
A new report, produced by Direct Line for Business discovered that contractors within the industry can fall foul of consumers with the boot very firmly on the other foot!
Figures have shown that:
> 52% of tradespeople in the UK attended a call-out to find no one home
> 35% of these call-outs resulted in a no-show of the customer
> 18% were given the wrong address for a call-out
> 14% found that the wrong type of tradesman had been called
> 12% arrived to find another tradesperson carrying out the work
In addition to these shocking figures, it has been uncovered that tradespeople can face problems with getting paid for works carried out if the customer is indeed in. One in five electricians, plumbers, locksmiths and other tradespeople completed jobs in the last 12 months for which they have not been paid. This can be a tough issue to address for the self-employed tradesperson, who is left with the option of taking civil litigation action that has to be paid for, in addition to recovering the money themselves once the issue is dealt with. Often, the cost of action will outweigh the cost of the work, leaving the tradesperson in a difficult position with no legal back-up.
Tradespeople are often blamed for damage to property and goods while carrying out works, the survey discovered. A carpenter was called to a property to fit a bathroom window and was subsequently blamed for causing a dripping tap, while another carpenter was recalled to a property where he had recently fitted a new lock and told that it didn’t work. Upon investigation, he found that the customer had continued to use her old key.
These interesting new insights into the construction industry should serve as a warning to tradespeople across the UK.