General Inflammatory Statement - you know me

Off-topic
1

I have had it up to my sodding neck with British workmanship

I had a plumber in a few weeks back to fix our sink.
The new one he installed was DEAD LEVEL, so the water doesn’t run off the back, it just sits there. He installed a DOUBLE u-bend so the water draining out doesn’t go anywhere. And I’ve just discovered this morning that the useless tosser hadn’t properly fitted one of the water inlet pipes so the sodding thing has been leaking underneath the brand new bathroom floor for the last 3 weeks. I’ve only discovered this latest problem as the vast lake of water has emerged from UNDER the tiling to start soaking into the wooden floorboards of the hallway. And this nasty little turd of a cowboy had the nerve to charge us £350 for his work.

Now you may ask why I am accusing all British workmanship for this crime?

Well, I grew up in Germany, but moved back to the UK about 15 years ago. Now bearing in mind German standards of “do the job on time, when we say we will, and do it properly” may mean I’m a bit spoilt, but in ALL the 15 years I’ve been living in this country, I have NEVER received satisfactory service from a British workman. The leectrician whose work nearly set fire to my house 2 years ago. The 4 different plumbers NONE of whom, could fix the radiators in our building and who tried to claim it was my fault that they didn’t have the right parts to do the job. The incompetent moron from HOmebase who tried to install a power shower which was such a farce that we actually sued them and got our money back and stuck with a bath instead. And the brilliant carpenters who we hired to do a £3000 kitchen re-fit, but jsut never bothered to turn up… they didn’t rip us off, they just decided the work wasn’t for them and never came round.

You useless lot all pally pally and cup o’ tea mate, but frankly you’re about as skilled as I am, and I’m TOTALLY UNTRAINED AND WOULD DO THE JOB FOR MYSELF FOR FREE. Furthermore the word professional doesn’t even come close to describing ANYBODY from ANY OTHER COUNTRY better than British workmen, I AM SODIDNG FURIOUS!

It may **** off a lot of people, but I am seriously pissed off with the third rate, “corner cutting” tight arsed, unskilled, lazy rubbish attitude and mentality of people in this country. Moaning that they haven’t got enough money, whilst rippin each other off. This attitude runs through the industry I work in as well, Production managers are constantly telling senior well-trained cameramen, that the AP can do their job… why, cos it saves them a few quid… the fact that the picture quality immediately goes down explains why we’re all now watching HOME VIDEO on TV all the time…

Its a RUBBISH Attitude and it explains why we all deserve to be SCREWED over in a recession. This country needs to SORT ITSELF OUT. You’re third rate cowboys, the lot of you. Get your act together.

MONUMENTALLY EFFIN SODDING DOWNRIGHT FURIOUS AND CERTAINLY NOT ABOUT TO FORGIVE IF YOU JUST SAY SORRY. YOU HAVE GOT A LOT OF WORK TO DO TO GET BACK IN MY GOOD BOOKS! NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!

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The same can be said of customers like you. :slight_smile:

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Not a happy bunny then ?

4

Cowboys? YEEEE-HAAARRRR:)

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I got some German friends who used these guys, reckoned the were ace :wink:

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Yeah Rant over. Doesn’t mean any of those S0DDING Cowboys are forgiven though. Did anyone ever see that House programme where a German company had been brought over to instal something, and they were delayed by 3 days cos the English construction workers hadn’t ordered the right kit, and were just generally late… its indicative of a real crap and unprofessional attitude… its no wonder everything’s being farmed out to cheaper economies…

I do also have to say Debz, the idea that “customers like me are just as bad” is a bit daft… what’s wrong with complaining about not getting the service you paid for? To me that IS the English problem. Service providers are GROSSLY unprofessional and bad, precisely because they know the English are too “polite” to complain… to me that’s just dumb. I pay for a service I expect to get exactly that… if you walked into MacDonalds and asked for a cheeseburger and 45 minutes later the cashier came back and said, oh we haven’t got any rolls today, or beef for that matter, but here’s some Cod between two stale Ryvita… would that be ok for you?

7

You been reading my mind again Toby :wink:

I never said a word about your sweeping statement :stuck_out_tongue:

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Doh stupid Stokes, sorry Debz. IN my hilariously rational ranty style I mis-quoted you I do apologise!

That comment/question was intended for GSXRAng…

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Sorry to hear about your bad luck with the work you’ve had done :frowning:

I watched one of those house renovation programmes before where this German lady bought over a team of German builders to install a flat roof on her new extension becuse she said that British builders were crap, not long after team Germany had installed flat roof and gone back home the roof started leeking all over the place, moral of the story, you get crap tradesmen and good tradesmen all over the world so don’t tar all British builders with the same brush :slight_smile:

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Its true, it was a sweeping statement, but I’m just SOOO sick of getting something done, and then two weeks later having to deal with the bad or incomplete job they’ve done and get someone in to repair the damage… why can’t they just do the job properly in the first place… where have BRITISH STANDARDS OF QUALITY gone?

If I was doing a big job, I really really wouldn’t hire a British company based on my experiences of working with them… that’s all I’m saying… foreign quality tends to be closer to better than what I’ve experienced here… in every case.

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No it cannot! They’re customers. You do the job right and you like it.

And that there is something else that is wrong. Not the kind of customer who wants something for nothing, and nothing is ever good enough for them. But just wanting the right job, done properly, for the right price. When you don’t even get that, that’s a sh!te state of affairs.

I’ve worked in hospitals most of my career. I like to imagine people who complain about the NHS are plumbers, electricians etc. During their day job, they’re cutting corners, hiding mistakes and generally performing not to expectation.

Then they stub their toe. Or their auntie gets cancer. Then they’re God on Earth in the outpatients department. Just think if some p!ss poor paid receptionist or notes clerk cut some corners there. Or didn’t give a sh!t about the customer.

Aye. Jog on.

12

well as a gas-fitter (plumber) who spent 5 years in apprenticeship and the next 25+ years constantly retraining and keeping up on the regulations and trends I say … you get what you deserve! I constantly lose jobs to people who undercut me due to the customers willingness to pay less rather than pay to get it done right first time! you people who bitch about the cowboy trades should look more closely at yourselves, did you really do your research on the tradesman? was he qualified AND certified to do the job? did you get other quotes and chose him because he was cheap? I personally am sick to my hind teeth of putting a quote together for a boiler replacement to be told that my price is too high and that they are getting someone who will do the job in less than a day using a boiler that they the customer have bought of the internet, for christs sake ! it takes most of a day to properly clean a system before fitting a modern boiler, yet a lot of people think this is not something they need to pay for? pardon me but I think I might know more about it than you sir! if you pay peanuts you will get monkeys, in this country and all others! strangely despite my “exorbitant” costs I have 3 generations of customers from the same family, and 90%+ of my business is repeat! if you have a problem with a tradesman take it up with his trade organisation (if he doesn’t belong to one then why did you employ him?) you may think you have touched on a raw nerve, you may be right :wink:

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thats a specious argument ! the two situations are totally different ! in one you go into a fixed retail location and ask for their stock in trade, the other you get someone in with a limited available stock of spares (how big a van are we expected to drive?) to fit something that may or may not have the correct fitting kit for your site. If you have a problem then complain, and it would be nice if you didn’t stalk around looking for a reason to avoid paying as well! (well if you can fling dirt then can’t I :slight_smile: )

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@Kenny

I agree. Different trade but working for myself a huge amount of new customers, who don’t give you a chance to show how good you will serve them, demand the earth and then insist on a discount saying they can get FAR cheaper :ermm: Those folk get politely ushered now :wink:

You do get what you pay for and we now charge for our estimates which we discount from the bill if they use us. I’ve rectified many a cheap lash job :satisfied:

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I’m not even going to waste my time replying to you Gruntman, Kenny has hit well on most points.

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I thought all Plumbers like us in the Motor Trade could afford to go private and not use the NHS :P:Whistling:

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Toby you’ve been pretty unlucky there what with the fires and floods etc. sorry to hear about it.

Unfortunately it can often come down to instinct when taking on a tradesman to do a job. I always ask for references from his previous customers. Had a tradesman round here to quote for something today. He turned up 45 minutes late…no apology or excuse offered. NO WAY is he getting the job :slight_smile:

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You certainly can. In answer to your questions, re the sink, yes we had three quotes, the guy we went with WASN’T the cheapest, he was the one who said he could get the parts we wanted. He was also recommended by someone I thought I could trust, which turns out now to be testicles. So by your argument, I went for the references, and didn’t hire the cheapest yet still got screwed…so what do you suggest.

And sure, asking for a burger and getting cod is a quite hilariously daft metaphor, but asking for a sink, and getting a basin full of water that only leaks on the floor and never drains away feels pretty bloody hilariously daft to me considering I asked a recommended AND expensive plumber to do the job… so agin… what do you recommend?

19

Why do you think that brits are pissed of the number of polish that are in UK.
They are the closest thing from a German worker that you would get over here.
They are stilling all brits jobs. And not because they are cheaper because they are not.
But value for money, one pol can take on 5 brits while he is still sleeping…
I have never shag brits because the are too easy and I like being part of an exclusive club and I have never used a british worker because I only like to be **** by women and when with my prior agreement.

So my point is, stop nagging. You hire the brits. I know you are normally not to much on the stupid side so this is all your fault.
Sorry to be so blunt

20

What a load of b0llocks, wont waste anymore time on this thread.