Tradesmen abuse

Seanachai

Hi, I have a brother who is a tradesman and he works in industrial and domestic buildings, he says that in the past year himself and some of his workmates have noticed an escalation in abuse from customers ranging from verbal to being grabbed by the neck in some cases. I'm not a tradesman but I have to deal with the public over the phone and I think people are becoming more unreasonable in their expectations and just rude in general. I have friends that work as plumbers, sparks etc and they agree. Has anybody on here been subjected to abuse while working in people's homes?.

listermint

Em thats not abuse, if someone grabs you by the neck then its assault.

I have family in the industry and i have never heard this sort of carry on.

Who are these lads working for ??

Seanachai

listermint wrote: »

Em thats not abuse, if someone grabs you by the neck then its assault.

I have family in the industry and i have never heard this sort of carry on.

Who are these lads working for ??

They work for an alarm installation company and yes both have been assaulted in the past year. They've also been accused of ripping lino and breaking cabinets when they weren't near them, they now photograph their work area and have proved that they weren't responsible for the damage.

I have another brother who is a carpenter and he just wants to get into bespoke furniture and stop fitting kitchens and shops etc due to people's behaviour in the home. My dad sold up his company recently and said that he could have went on for another few years physically but the way that people have changed since the boom has just turned him off it altogether.

I know from my job that people that don't deal with the public would hardly believe the things that customers say or the ridiculous expectations that they have about what they can do for them. Then there's the bizzare trait of making it personal and blaming you for the fault even though you didn't make the product.

listermint

Seanachai wrote: »

They work for an alarm installation company and yes both have been assaulted in the past year. They've also been accused of ripping lino and breaking cabinets when they weren't near them, they now photograph their work area and have proved that they weren't responsible for the damage.

I have another brother who is a carpenter and he just wants to get into bespoke furniture and stop fitting kitchens and shops etc due to people's behaviour in the home. My dad sold up his company recently and said that he could have went on for another few years physically but the way that people have changed since the boom has just turned him off it altogether.

I know from my job that people that don't deal with the public would hardly believe the things that customers say or the ridiculous expectations that they have about what they can do for them. Then there's the bizzare trait of making it personal and blaming you for the fault even though you didn't make the product.

Honestly I dont know where the experiences are coming from, But ive not once heard any of that from any im my family 3 Electricians and 2 Fitters.

Only gripe you get out of them is working in the cold the odd time, and doing work that is outside their norm. Ripping up tiles etc.

Your lads may be taking on the wrong jobs from the wrong people.

Seanachai

The most recent case with my brother was with a guy in Wexford, he wanted him to start work but didn't have other work done that they needed to do the job. When my brother said he would need to leave and come back when the other work was finished he turned on him and cornered him in the room and called him a 'Thick c**t', he then shoved him and told him he wasn't to leave and to start the work. My bro phoned his boss and told him what happened and he was shocked, he then saw this same guy outside screaming at a truck driver who was delivering blocks on a truck.

The driveway to the house was very twisty and the truck driver said that he might get stuck so he'll load them off with a teleporter. The house owner demanded that he drive down to the house and sure enough the truck got jammed, it ended up with the two of them squaring up on the driveway. At that stage my bro just loaded up the van and left.

Seanachai

listermint wrote: »

Honestly I dont know where the experiences are coming from, But ive not once heard any of that from any im my family 3 Electricians and 2 Fitters.

Only gripe you get out of them is working in the cold the odd time, and doing work that is outside their norm. Ripping up tiles etc.

Your lads may be taking on the wrong jobs from the wrong people.

What province do they work in, is it mostly around Dublin?

listermint

Seanachai wrote: »

What province do they work in, is it mostly around Dublin?

It would be Dublin right out to the midlands and around. So alot of the East Coast.

Seanachai

listermint wrote: »

It would be Dublin right out to the midlands and around. So alot of the East Coast.

The guys I know are in South Leinster, they go to Dublin from time to time but I've never heard of them having problems up here. One of them was accused of stealing ornaments when there wasn't a word of truth about it, they turned up in a box somewhere as the couple were moving. I worked with my da when I was a kid up until I was 18 and I rarely encountered any hassle. It was towards 2000 when the construction was getting crazy that I noticed people has much less patience and were getting more demanding and cheeky.

Youngblood.III

I think it's people in general...A guy jumped in his parked car yesterday and pulled out without looking and nearly drove straight into the side of me as I passed him...gave him a beep and he goes ape-****e out the window! !!

People are nuts...

Wanderer78

are we seeing the stress of the last few years building up in people?

Seanachai

Wanderer78 wrote: »

are we seeing the stress of the last few years building up in people?

That's definitely part of it but there's also a group of people in their 20's-40's that are a nightmare to deal with, you're in the house ten minutes and they're asking when you're going to be finished. Sometimes they'll actually stand over your shoulder which is a surefire way to drive a worker nuts!.

I remember in the 90's working with my da most people would just let you get on with it and would appear with tea and biscuits now and then. We worked everywhere from priest's houses to council estates and the homes of wealthier people and rarely got any grief.

Mrs OBumble

I suspect that your da just knew how to pick his customers.

Mr OBumble has certain people who he won't even answer phone calls from, far less accept jobs.

Wanderer78

Seanachai wrote: »

That's definitely part of it but there's also a group of people in their 20's-40's that are a nightmare to deal with, you're in the house ten minutes and they're asking when you're going to be finished. Sometimes they'll actually stand over your shoulder which is a surefire way to drive a worker nuts!.

I remember in the 90's working with my da most people would just let you get on with it and would appear with tea and biscuits now and then. We worked everywhere from priest's houses to council estates and the homes of wealthier people and rarely got any grief.

i do think some people is this category are very impatient and can be very ignorant to. im this age bracket myself. some people would want to get over themselves. mate is a plummer. has a few stories over the years.

Youngblood.III

Ya....and no one's wife wants to shag us tradesmen anymore...damn snobs :-p

mada999

Maybe people have just snapped after having to deal with cheeky, overpriced and unreliable cowboys? (not saying your brother is this type though)

Seanachai

mada999 wrote: »

Maybe people have just snapped after having to deal with cheeky, overpriced and unreliable cowboys? (not saying your brother is this type though)

There are cowboys that do shoddy work and leave muck and rubbish in your house, when I was working with my da I used to go around with a dust devil after the drilling and picked up the cable ends as I went along. My brother does the same, I think that some of our population got ahead of themselves during the boom and now think that they have the right to abuse workers as they're somehow above them or something. The thing is these people tend to be the hardest ones to get money out of too, they have flash homes and cars in the driveway but you get the impression that it's all borrowed money.