working for friends and neighbbours wot a pain

[kevemo]

did a job for my neighbour the other day tilling a kitchen splash back have now decided its the last one i do for a friend at mates rates
was supposed to be able to walk in and get going straight away everything there and all prepaired and ready to go as discused so said £80 ,thought wont take more than half a day how wrong i was ,walk in at 8 in morning half the wallpaper still on wall guy says just tile on top of it it will be fine wot a wally. looked across at window old tiles half taken off wot a mess ,nothing taken of work tops still used cups . i should have walked away but my stupid pride in doing a top job i couldnt,ended up stripping rest of wallpaper of plastering round window etc . ended up 2 days work i thought they will see me right cos of extra work but no £80 is wot i got and to cap it all a complaint it took me twice as long as i origionaly said it would couldnt believe it.
A lesson learned for me no more mates rates they just take the ****

[Dave]

Deffo a lesson learned eh..?...

[brian c]

ungreatful!They were wanting it done for free by the sounds of things.Walk away the next time..easier said as you then go home and sit in the house,but lesson learned .

[kevemo]

the best bit for me is the guys expert advice " tile on top of the wallpaper it will be alright" that has to be the best i have ever had

[Leatherface]

mates rates are good when you are first starting out for experience, but there comes a time when they have to stop, you are in business after all.
I have one mate only who gets all his tiling for free, we have been good mates for as long as I can remember, the favours come back my way whenever needed :
He is a fabricator, so have an indestructible security post outside my garage and 2 bomb proof metal tool boxes in my garage, anything else when I want it.

Mates rates are for proper "Mates" , of which, most people can count on the fingers of one hand. I am talking about the mates who would come and collect you if you were stranded with no money fifty miles away at 3 in the morning,no questions asked and not ask you for any money for petrol !
Everyone else pays the going rate !

[kevemo]

i did some training with darren on the NETT course last year he forgot to mention about tiling on top of wallpaper i better get in touch and let him know incase he ever goes back on his tools

[david campbell]

don't do mates rates what so ever,had a serious fall out with a mate a few years ago cause of the same kind of problem you had,now when mates want something done i charge nothing or the normal price,they all know the score about what happened anyway and think i'm right!

[lawrenso]

Mates rates are for proper "Mates" , of which, most people can count on the fingers of one hand. I am talking about the mates who would come and collect you if you were stranded with no money fifty miles away at 3 in the morning,no questions asked and not ask you for any money for petrol !
Everyone else pays the going rate !

I called on a relative when I ended up getting on the wrong train from the smoke and ending up in Warrington instead of Chester - and was going home to see my kids as a treat as it was my birthday, needed a lift to Chester to get my car. Ended up costing £40. The relative - Father in Law who is a part time taxi driver and he charged full whack

The same man who is covered on my wifes car at a cost of £70 so he can drive it when they go on days out

Steve

[Dave]

I called on a relative when I ended up getting on the wrong train from the smoke and ending up in Warrington instead of Chester - and was going home to see my kids as a treat as it was my birthday, needed a lift to Chester to get my car. Ended up costing £40. The relative - Father in Law who is a part time taxi driver and he charged full whack

The same man who is covered on my wifes car at a cost of £70 so he can drive it when they go on days out

Steve

NOW that is shocking....

[user123]

Wow, Kevemo, the mind boggles. When I still had my practise, so called friends would just call on a Sunday night and all hours any time telling me what's wrong with them can I fix it, for free of course...now I just say "I don't do medicine anymore, don't want to know" to keep it all on my terms only. Good grief...

Tiling on wallpaper, you're right, Darren could do with this gem...he likes a bit of a laugh..

[user123]

NOW that is shocking....

So it is....

[lawrenso]

Aren't I the Lucky one - Crap in-laws - crap tiler.....

What did I do in a previous life

Steve

[Bolter]

did a job for my neighbour the other day ...

Just send them a bill for another £80 explaining there was 2 days work involved due to the lack of preperation on their behalf, and £80 per day is a steal of a price.

See what happens

Aren't I the Lucky one - Crap in-laws - crap tiler.....

What did I do in a previous life

Steve

Whoever you were in your previous life, I bet you pulled the wings off bugs lol

[bonemachine]

mates or not, really should av checked the job out first.......have you any photos?

[kevemo]

didnt take any pics just wanted to get out of there but will get one of finished job.
went in a couple off days before and told them wot prep needed doing before i got there turns out the womans other half couldnt be arsed to do it,been asked to do a loft conversion for them now so will be dotting every i and crossing every t and also gonna put a big price in

[IvegotsTILE]

I just say I'll get them trade discount and my price doesn't change,had my fingers burnt too many times

[doug boardley]

ask a mate to take a day off work,unpaid, to help you unblock a toilet, if he/she will do that, they're a mate and deserve mates rates, anybody else pays the full ££ kerching

[CJ]

Nobody likes doing Friends or family jobs

[sanny]

im a diyer and know what you mean, usually its crap adhesive thats been lying in the garage for months they want me to use,mate or no i would want something for the effort,the same as i would pay him ,swings and roundabouts

[sanny]

another thing just crossed my mind ,he will be telling all his family how cheep you were,,,expect a lot of enquires,on the lines how come you charge me £££ and you only charged ? £

[cornish_crofter]

Did a job for a mate a few years ago. It was one of my first. He wanted some replastering and skimming. I had got some practice as I had been doing quite a bit of plastering in a house we had refurbished

The agreement was that he would put the plaster board on the ceiling, prepare the wall the needed re rendering, ie get render off it, then I would basically just put stuff back on.

Got there. Half the plasterboard was not on, the wall hadn't been touched and much of the plasterboard he had put up needed to be redone.

The job took much longer to do than anticipated, ending up earning not much more than min wage. I stuck with it though and finished the job.

I got a few extras out of it, which I was pleased about. But more importantly, he and I both knew he had not done the job properly. He is however a very good mechanic (City and Guilds distinction). I charged as per estimate but he gave my Land rover a full service FOC. I've since replaced his loo and basin, and I've now been asked ot do some lining for him ASAP.

We still joke about that fist job today, and all the hassle I had!

[doug boardley]

Did a job for a mate a few years ago. It was one of my first. He wanted some replastering and skimming. I had got some practice as I had been doing quite a bit of plastering in a house we had refurbished

The agreement was that he would put the plaster board on the ceiling, prepare the wall the needed re rendering, ie get render off it, then I would basically just put stuff back on.

Got there. Half the plasterboard was not on, the wall hadn't been touched and much of the plasterboard he had put up needed to be redone.

The job took much longer to do than anticipated, ending up earning not much more than min wage. I stuck with it though and finished the job.

I got a few extras out of it, which I was pleased about. But more importantly, he and I both knew he had not done the job properly. He is however a very good mechanic (City and Guilds distinction). I charged as per estimate but he gave my Land rover a full service FOC. I've since replaced his loo and basin, and I've now been asked ot do some lining for him ASAP.

We still joke about that fist job today, and all the hassle I had!

and, hopefully, remained friends

[lawrenso]

Whoever you were in your previous life, I bet you pulled the wings off bugs lol

And then their legs

[cornish_crofter]

and, hopefully, remained friends

Yes, we have.

He's a good bloke and very useful to know.

[faithhealer]

Did a job for a mate last year, told him it would be a full professional quote and wouldn't be offended if he went somewhere else. Did a cracking job for him and got a call on sat to do more work for him!

[whitebeam]

The neighbours suddenly want to be your best friend when they need work done, my two brothers are the only ones I would help out for free

[Jason S]

Havent read the whole thread but i never, ever work for friends or family.

Just isnt worth the aggro

[cornish_crofter]

There are family members that I wouldn't work for.

Not because they are tight, but because it is near impossible to be in the same house as them for more than 30mins!

They would pay very well I'm sure, but the way I see it is that non family members won't suffer the same fate as I would. For example, and aunt who just won't shut up about how concerned she is of other relitives etc. Tradesmen who are not family members don't have the same connections so they are not affected. I've found this with some of my customers. I get on with them very well but I can understand why family members may not

[python]

i also have a job tomorrow for my girlfriends mate. hope it all ends well.