Incompetent or Dis-Interested Sparks of Today.

I think a lot of trades are very choosy about which jobs they quote for or accept. They decide whether the job is profitable and worth their while or not. This applies to all trades and not just sparks. My neighbour recently asked around 4 carpenters for quotes to build a set of wardrobes for her. Not a single one turned up...

In the past I had about 3 gas safe guys out to fix my boiler. All three went away and promised a quote but not one came back to me even after countless attempts to contact them to chase.  I've also had friends endlessly chasing builders for quotes for work needed that never materialise....

In fact the only one I can rely on is my car mechanic... 

So from a personal perspective I think it's always been a 'thing' and nothing new. 

Lisa Miles said:

In the past I had about 3 gas safe guys out to fix my boiler. All three went away and promised a quote but not one came back to me even after countless attempts to contact them to chase. 

Hi Lisa, did you ask for a quote up front? Or did they advertise "free quotes"? 

I don't advertise, and a site visit to diagnose a fault is chargeable time in my opinion. Also giving a quote implies that you are guaranteeing that the boiler will be fixed after you leave, which may not be the case. Isolation valves spring leaks, you get the boiler working and another fault appears etc.

Some manufacturers guarantee a set (expensive) price to fix one of their boilers, but they can afford to do that, and have the parts at cost.

it is understandable that people want to know how much it is likely to cost, so they can compare with the cost of replacement

I have heard of people charging for their time to look at a job, then "refunding" this cost if they get the job after quoting, although not for boiler repairs.

OlympusMons I had a combi boiler and suddenly I had no hot water. I think it was a fault with the heat exchanger but not being gas safe myself, I was reluctant to mess with it. I had fixed a few things myself though such as swapping out the main circuit board and sorting out a faulty flow switch. I called the first guy and asked him to come out to take a look and quote me for a fix. He came out, took a look and promised to get back to me with a quote. After a week of chasing and leaving messages on his answerphone I gave up and called out another. Again exactly the same experience so called out yet another a week later and the same again. After a month of having no hot water (thank God we have showers at the Stevenage office!) and let down by three tradesmen I finally made contact with a guy through a friend who came out, told me that the heat exchanger needed replacing but as it was not an easy job and the part is expensive, it would be more economical to swap out the entire boiler. Gave me a quote on the spot and got the job on the spot. He came back three days later (had to order the new boiler and wait for it to come in) and fitted it for me. Made a fantastic job so much so that I when I moved house, I called him out to inspect the boiler there to ensure it was in good working order. Fantastic guy and I've passed his name on to countless friends and contacts since and they've all been really happy with his service. 

Well that's what I call good business. If you have enough customers to turn it away, all well and good, but don't take it for granted.

Good reliable tradesmen are hard to find. Step-daughter has had a right old nightmare getting them to turn up even for repeat business. If business is that good, why don't these people take on more staff? Then they could be rich as Croesus just like Mr Pimlico Plumbers.

If you've ever employed staff you'd know full well Chris!

If you've ever employed staff you'd know full well Chris!