ghosting is the new normal

[retire-early]

I had contacted a handyman with good reviews on Thumbtack about replacing my front door. This was Sept 1. I messaged him a photo of the front door.
I messaged him on Monday Sept 20 asking him if he was still interested.
he : Yes, I am available Wednesday afternoon.
me: I do not have the door yet. Do you want to see it for yourself before finalizing quote.
he: Ok please send me your address
me: <address> ; I will be available after 3pm
he: SILENCE

I thought there was an small chance he would still show up today, but he hasn't
and probably won't.

I am guessing he figured he'd just drop in on Wednesday and put in the door

 

[Amethyst]

People show incompetence in different ways.

I hired a guy to do some minor landscaping in our back yard. One of his selling points was the wide variety of colored flagstones I could choose to make a small path through the front lawn to the pool gate (basically, just half a dozen flagstones laid in the sod). We agreed on $1800.00 for the whole job. He brought in a crew who did some of the work, then said he was having trouble getting the color of stones that I wanted for the little path. I said I'd wait.

A month later, he said he still couldn't get the stone, and would I please pay $1400 for the work he'd already done? Like a sucker, I agreed. Then he ghosted me.

The funny part of the story is that, six months later, I went through Home Advisor to get someone to design a shrubbery bed, and lay sod in a large bare patch. I got only 2 bids...and one of them was from Mr. Ghost!

I've since heard, from the irrigation guy, that Mr. Ghost is known in the landscaping biz as someone who is always starting businesses...but something always goes wrong.

 

[rodi]

Unfortunately, in our area, contractors often ghost. It makes it hard to get 3 bids if you can't get any of the three to show up. My sister recently went through this with a large backyard structure project. Another friend went through it with a solar project.

 

[Golden sunsets]

Contractors are in the driver's seat right now. There is way more work than people to do the work. Small jobs are not money makers, so a homeowner will be at a disadvantagein this environment. Having a "go to" electrician, plumber, handyman would be ideal if you can find these folks who know you and are called upon with some regularity.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Contractors are in the driver's seat right now. There is way more work than people to do the work. Small jobs are not money makers, so a homeowner will be at a disadvantagein this environment. Having a "go to" electrician, plumber, handyman would be ideal if you can find these folks who know you and are called upon with some regularity.

Except as far as I know, most folks don't want to call these folks "regularly" as they tend to be pretty darn expensive.

 

[Masquernom]

Oh yeah. I'm actually surprised these days when a contractor shows up! I always get the initial response they're interested in the job. Maybe 1 in 3 or 4 show up to look at the job. Maybe 1 in 3 or 4 that looked at the work and gave me a price will actually then show up to do the work.

 

[Mark1]

Contractors are in the driver's seat right now. There is way more work than people to do the work. Small jobs are not money makers, so a homeowner will be at a disadvantagein this environment. Having a "go to" electrician, plumber, handyman would be ideal if you can find these folks who know you and are called upon with some regularity.

This is what I do. I have a go-to plumber and electrician. I NEVER ask for a quote and work with them on timing for their benefit. Two of my 3 last plumber visits have been free as he was in the area and did a text and stopped while passing by the house for a "quick" visit. Much like at w*rk, personal relationships do matter.

 

[sergio]

Ghosting in the trades has always been an issue, I recall my dad complaining when they were looking to build a fence around their yard in the 1990s... same story - called 5 guys, 3 picked up, 2 came out, and only 1 gave a bid.

If you have the time, learn how to do small jobs by yourself.

For small jobs, I've had the best luck with the shops closest to where I live. Often they could squeeze in a quick service call early in the morning before their larger jobs, or at the end on the day when the plumber/electrician was on the way back to the shop.

For larger jobs, generally once I get a bid from a reputable contractor, I'll check online on various forums to see what others are paying and if it's a reasonable price, and accept it if it looks good. Trying to get 3 bids on some projects means you could be waiting weeks, even months these days.

 

[Midpack]

Contractors are in the driver's seat right now. There is way more work than people to do the work. Small jobs are not money makers, so a homeowner will be at a disadvantagein this environment. Having a "go to" electrician, plumber, handyman would be ideal if you can find these folks who know you and are called upon with some regularity.

The good ones have more business than they can handle, and they’re going to take care of regular or repeat customers first. Would anyone blame them?

 

[retire-early]

The good ones have more business than they can handle, and they’re going to take care of regular or repeat customers first. Would anyone blame them?

One guy who actually showed up has a big renovation project with a repeat client from what I can tell. I get the impression he is lining me up for when that finishes unless he gets another big project.

Some are looking to squeeze you in when they have a few hours to spare.

I told the guy who showed up that we wanted the door painted and the wood frame around the transom and the sidelights painted to make a full day of work to make it attractive. He promised me a quote, but that was 10 days ago.

 

[Aerides]

I don't think it's new, it's been like that for years, especially when you start with those outside the more established companies.

 

[MC Rider]

Plus one on diy it if you can.
We did most of our big jobs here 9-10 years ago.
No problem getting competitive quotes back then.

 

[pdxgal]

This is why I end up doing most household projects myself. My jobs are too small for many contractors to bother with, and the ones who do respond often aren't really qualified or turn out to have other issues (like ghosting). I actually like doing DIY but now that I FIREd am more open to 'blow that dough' on contractors to free up time for travel. Will be hiring a local woman's company to get some of my original 1920 double hung windows working again. I could do myself but it's tedious and time-consuming. Won't be cheap but will be great to have fully functional windows after 22 years. She's booked up 6 months ahead, so won't happen until December.

I try to use woman-owned businesses when possible. They tend to be more responsive IMO, and quality is usually high too.

 

[travelover]

Once you have been fired from every job you've ever had, the alternative is to go into "business" for yourself. Like be a "contractor".

 

[Surewhitey]

Sometimes getting 3 bids is wasting their time, especially for small dollar items.

I've seen some really bad quality lately, too, with some of them. They have been calling me for the "clean up". I really struggle with wasting time driving and spending an hour just to hear the 3 bid schpeel, when I immediately lose interest in doing the job.

Jobs are expensive right now as much due to material costs... Not my labor rates. Postpone it if you can, YouTube for simple stuff.

 

[Sojourner]

I actually haven't had too many ghosting incidents with contractors over the years. Probably just dumb luck. The only ones that really come to mind are small/independent HVAC installers and maintenance guys. Their response rate (or "show up when scheduled" rate) has probably only been about 2/3 over the years. I get the impression that these guys are very, very busy and can pick and choose their customers and jobs.

Luckily for me, though, I have carefully observed everything these HVAC guys have done to maintain and repair my units over the years. So I'm able to handle just about every routine issue that comes up myself and only need to call someone out for the bigger, more complex problems. Probably have saved $1,000+ in service call fees over the past 10 years.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Happy we chose a family business.

We are repainting and installing new carpet and flooring upstairs. Opposite of ghosting. We were away last week. Our salesperson is out of town this week. DH texted her when we got back about a carpet color issue based on an email he received while we were gone. She responded instantly. Oh…her last name is the same name of the company. We’ve used them for years.

 

[Safire]

I hired an attorney a month ago to help me navigate my son's IEP. Until I signed the retainer, I heard multiple times from him. Once I signed and paid... RADIO silence. Maybe he'll call me once the IEP date is announced. Let's see.

 

[pdxgal]

+1. Years ago after a friend and I were both laid off we decided to get contractor licenses. Not to go into business but to be able to get discounts on supplies for remodels. The class prep and exam are all about the business/legal aspects of being a contractor. So you could have no clue about stuff you're building and yet be licensed. Same thing goes for being a plumber.

In my state there are about 7 different 'grades' of plumber licenses. Only for two of them do you actually have to have any formal training. One plumber I interviewed was like me, worked in marketing but was handy and did plumbing stuff for friends. They encouraged him to go into business as a plumber, so he did. He seemed competent enough but didn't work with cast iron, which requires training. Tried to get me to use ABS plastic instead. But I insisted on cast iron drain line, so had a heck of a time finding a qualified plumber. Finally found a guy I love.

Caveat emptor!

 

[harllee]

I was self employed during my career and I developed a very successful large business and I was able to charge a premium for my work. It was not that my work was better than anyone else's--my work was probably average. What made me so popular was that I did not ghost people. I always returned calls within 24 hours--even if my call was to say I am sorry I have not gotten to your project yet. If I had an appointment and was going to be late I always called.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I hired an attorney a month ago to help me navigate my son's IEP. Until I signed the retainer, I heard multiple times from him. Once I signed and paid... RADIO silence. Maybe he'll call me once the IEP date is announced. Let's see.

Just send a quick email letting them know that you are considering contacting the state bar association for "failure to communicate with client"... you will most likely get them to respond...VERY QUICKLY.

 

[retire-early]

Happy we chose a family business.

We are repainting and installing new carpet and flooring upstairs. Opposite of ghosting. We were away last week. Our salesperson is out of town this week. DH texted her when we got back about a carpet color issue based on an email he received while we were gone. She responded instantly. Oh…her last name is the same name of the company. We’ve used them for years.

The family business that replaced my shower door was a hoax.
The wife and husband moved back to Texas in July 2021.
Their website and Facebook page made no mention and still has the old information.
The guy who came to replace the shower door was not discreet and gave me the real scoop.
Fortunately the guy did a good job.

.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Family business but multigenerational and brick and mortar.

 

[John Galt III]

Yes, I think I was ghosted by my handyman.

I got 2 bids on minor trim work around my french door. $650 by hman 1, $225 by hman 2. Yes, big difference.

Went with hman 2.


Nice guy. Even cut a custom wood piece out of a 2 by 4 to replace bottom of rotted centerpost. I was impressed.

But he ghosted me afterwards when I wanted him to come back to check out a leak coming in from the same french door. He didn't cause it, it was already happening. But he said the new trim would have a 90 percent chance of fixing the leak. I wasn't trying to blame him, just trying to get his expertise concerning how I might fix the leak.

Whenever I call him now, the call goes straight voicemail. Doesn't call me back.

 

[jollystomper]

I have learned to only go with friends who are contractors, or people/companies they recommend, particularly if they are people DW and I will see around in our community activities (that alone makes it worth getting involved in some local activities).

The last person who ghosted us cost them the job. We used HomeAdvisor (never again) to get bids on repaving our driveway. Of the three outfits that were selected, only one contacted us. We asked them to come out for an estimate on a certain day and time , we agreed, but they did not show up. A day later they said they came at another time, assessed our driveway, here is the bid. It was actually quite reasonable, so we contacted them and said we would like to pursue, when could they start. Silence.

Meanwhile, when out and about we noticed a couple we were acquainted with had their driveway repaved. The job looked great and the outfit had their sign up. We contacted the couple who had nothing but good things to say about them. We contacted the outfit, the next day they were at our home to look things over. they stated "we might not be the lowest bid you get, but we make sure it gets done on the schedule we agree to". They gave us their bid, it was $1000 more than the first outfit, but they also called and told us what the schedule would be if we went with them. There was no hard sell. We agreed, and on schedule a week later they showed up and did the driveway.

A day after the job was done the first outfit called to return our messages from 2 weeks prior... we told them sorry, you did not respond or even acknowledge our messages, we have gone with someone else. That extra $1000 was worth it, several times since the job the second company contacted us to say hey, we are in the neighborhood, can we stop by just to check our work. They did a couple of minor fixes for free that I would not have noticed. That is customer service.