Sites for tradesblokes doesn’t fix the problem

This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times)

Everyone has a tradesman story, whether it’s a tale of woe or, just occasionally, a legend of derring-do and well-finished woodwork.

The latest online buzz in the world or tradesmen (or women) is My Tradesman, a site where you, the client, get to rate the work of your local tradespeople.

It’s an interesting concept but I don’t know that I’d trust the opinion of some total stranger any more than the advertisements run by the companies involved. Sure, the site’s owner has safety nets in place to try to stop the unscrupulous giving themselves good reviews or their competitors false bad reviews but it’s never going to be 100 percent effective.

A better site might be one that focuses on the second most elusive of tradespersons, the One Who Turns Up. The rarest is, of course, the Veni Vidi Velcro tradesman (the one who came, saw and stuck around to finish the job).

Over the past few years I’ve had need of a tradesbloke on several occasions. When I was a filthy capitalist landlord, the rental property needed repairs after every tenant but each time I hit a brick wall getting anyone to even turn up to give me a quote. In the end, my well-insured other half and I packed up our ladder and did the repairs ourselves. Although I did manage to get a plasterer to finally turn up after stalking him for a month.

Two years ago, when we needed repair work done on our roof, I was stunned when the roofer turned up the day I phoned him, gave me a quote on the spot and managed to squeeze us in to do the job that same day. Well done Yeo Contracting.

Our latest adventure has been trying to get builders to give us a quote for an extension we’re planning. For six months we’ve been phoning builders. In that whole time only two have turned up and of those, one has given a quote, so thank you Howley Building.

Last month, we went through the newspaper and phoned every builder who was advertising for work — not one called us back. Why waste money advertising if you’re not actually going to answer the calls of potential customers?

(Did I mention that I’m going on holiday? So, six sleeps to go. Not that I’m counting. I’ll send you a postcard.)