I've had my fair share of subcontractor woes over the last several months. My hubby and I rehabbed a 4 unit building in New Orleans and went through 4 electricians and 3 plumbers. Despite the referrals and on time original appointments, many still turned out to be bums! I understand your surpise and frustration. Check out my blog entry on a similiar topic: http://seekwisdomfindwealth.blogspot.com/2009/0....

Good Luck with the project!

It's like you said…sometimes even someone just smiling and asking how your day is going can make a big difference, especially when it's someone's first introduction to your business.

I've found out firsthand how much of a problem drainage can be, so that's why I'm not doing it myself. I want to make sure this gets fixed.

I've also seen the undercutters first hand. One contractor was someone not much older (or knowledgeable) than myself, and his bid was less than half of what the others have been. I won't even consider him.

That's interesting that the margin is so low on redisential work… I had no idea that it was so difficult.

It does seem like common sense. The guy that showed up on time started out as an immediate favorite, especially after he suggested solutions that channeled water away from the house instead of trying to catch it.

If he does keep his word, and do what he says, I probably will use him again. We've got a laundry list of projects for the next 5 years. It would probably add up to a good chunk of cash.

Keep calling contractors, get references from ones that seem professional, if they seem offended by that keep looking. Drainage is no joke, don't hire a hack.

Like amy said the contractor will be lucky to make any money on a $5000 job. To you it's a big chunk of change, to the contractor it may not be worth the run around necessary to make it happen.

Many contractors are bad at business. The margins in the residential market can be great, but for the most part you get undercut my unlicensed hacks or the HO will have their brother in law come and help them once they get the estimate of what it will cost for a professional company to do it.

I owned a landscaping company for 2 years and my business model collapsed. I provided great service, we had someone answer the phone almost all the time during business hours, showed up for every appointment on time or called and rescheduled with plenty of time in advance, but all that stuff costs money. Maybe not hard cash, but opportunity cost. After barely making any money for two years, we determined what prices we needed to charge to make things worthwhile and all our customers who had loved us, disappeared.

Well you live and you learn.

Contractors are hit or miss. I ran a home improvement business as a sideline several years ago and I found I got plenty of repeat business and referrals because people liked that I did things:

Showed up on time
Did what I said I would do
I was honest

Seems like common sense– doesn't it?

However, if they were that busy, they should have just suggested a different time.

I was more surprised with how the places that did call me back acted. In my mind showing up on time is one of the biggest things you can do for a first impression.

As a minimum courtesy, they should get back to you and tell you if they are overbooked. At least that would leave a good first impression in your mind for next time.