The builders are coming in!

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The builders are coming in!

Discuss The builders are coming in! in the UK Tiling Forum area at TilersForums.com.

P

Pebbs

That said you have pulled the plug on them at short notice which isn't great. Think how you would feel if your lads got told not come the following day and you couldn't fill that slot?

Your right, I would have done my nut, you've made me feel bad now about doing that. I could try and justify it and say that being a Friday we finish of early, but everyones not the same. They were ok about it because they had another job to finish of in Putney which they were going to do tomorrow, but it doesn't excuse the fact I shouldnt have done that.

I'll try and give them more notice if something crops up...my wrists have been slapped.

Lynn
 
C

Colour Republic

Pebbs said:
Your right, I would have done my nut, you've made me feel bad now about doing that. I could try and justify it and say that being a Friday we finish of early, but everyones not the same. They were ok about it because they had another job to finish of in Putney which they were going to do tomorrow, but it doesn't excuse the fact I shouldnt have done that.

I'll try and give them more notice if something crops up...my wrists have been slapped.

Lynn
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Oi stop it, or i'll feel bad for making you feel bad:mad2:

To be honest, if they are trying to finish another job they were probably grateful for the situation, but you get my point. If you mess them about (even if it benefited them by accident) it then becomes harder to argue your case if something does go wrong. I hate being in a weakened position at any point.

I don't need to tell you all of this, I know some of the meetings you have with GC's.

The domestic market isn't that much different, it's just you just have to be a bit more polite about it rather than having a dust up. It sounds like your guys just aren't very good at putting your mind at rest, which more than likely stems from them earwigging you phone conversation and such. I here conversations all the time, but I certainly would let on I had, even if i could benefit from it, as i know it's an invasion of privacy of somebody that is already trying to come to terms with strangers in the house.
 
J

jay

think you guys and gals are holding out on me
see if i get this right working in U K
you dont need to turn up on time
when you arrive theres a cuppa and scones waiting
coffee and tea whenever
lunch is at least an hour
you leave your rubish on site for client to get rid of
and you do bugger all
and last but not least the women wear no nickers when they expect tradies

can someone point me to moving to U K thread ta

and pebbs can we have some pics



















of the work to date :smilewinkgrin:
 
M

mikethetile

Lynn

dont know which borough your in but it makes little difference, rubbish disposal is a nightmare in London and you cant expect them to shift part loads from your property at the end of each day, if theres somewhere to drop a skip on your property they would have done it as thats the most cost effective way of disposal, as it is the truck will come and collect it at some point , but dont let it get too big.
 
P

Pebbs

Ive decided to take the rubbish to the tip tomorrow, and Ive done a bit of a clean up today, in all fairness they are making progress, when the paper came off the walls are full of cracks, and they have been all filled and plastering has begun. It seems like one of them is the grafter and the other one is the gob a lot, I will also take them out to breakfast at the cafe on Monday morning, so we are all clearer and normal working can re-commence.
Roll on Monday!

Lynn
 
U

user123

Pebbs said:
Ive decided to take the rubbish to the tip tomorrow, and Ive done a bit of a clean up today, in all fairness they are making progress, when the paper came off the walls are full of cracks, and they have been all filled and plastering has begun. It seems like one of them is the grafter and the other one is the gob a lot, I will also take them out to breakfast at the cafe on Monday morning, so we are all clearer and normal working can re-commence.
Roll on Monday!

Lynn
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Gawd, must be different in London, here it would be seen as over the top molly coddling... I mean you're paying these guys, aren't you? And you are paying for their breakfast?? During working hours? Seems mad to me... actually, it would be construed as a come-on up here for sure... and you're taking the rubbish away... they must think they've died and gone to heaven... and progress is a side effect of getting the job done, Jeez....
 
C

Colour Republic

Mosaic Girl said:
Gawd, must be different in London, here it would be seen as over the top molly coddling... I mean you're paying these guys, aren't you? And you are paying for their breakfast?? During working hours? Seems mad to me... actually, it would be construed as a come-on up here for sure... and you're taking the rubbish away... they must think they've died and gone to heaven... and progress is a side effect of getting the job done, Jeez....
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You might be looking at it the wrong way though G, £10 on a breakfast is a tiny tiny fraction of the budget but we are all human and an act of kindness goes a long way, even a customer giving you a biscuit with a cup of tea can go a long way, such a tiny guesture but it makes it all the harder to then cut corners or take the mick when you are working for someone that you are grateful to.
 
U

user123

Colour Republic said:
You might be looking at it the wrong way though G, £10 on a breakfast is a tiny tiny fraction of the budget but we are all human and an act of kindness goes a long way, even a customer giving you a biscuit with a cup of tea can go a long way, such a tiny guesture but it makes it all the harder to then cut corners or take the mick when you are working for someone that you are grateful to.
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Tea, coffee, biscuits, sandwiches, yes all that, Strummerman will vouch for it, I like feeding people (just he doesn't eat anything! :lol: ) but cafe, nope, would never occur to me... as said, maybe it's different down South ... I just asked Howard about it and he just laughed and said no way! He's a Yorkshire man...
 
D

doug boardley

Mosaic Girl said:
Tea, coffee, biscuits, sandwiches, yes all that, Strummerman will vouch for it, I like feeding people (just he doesn't eat anything! :lol: ) but cafe, nope, would never occur to me... as said, maybe it's different down South ... I just asked Howard about it and he just laughed and said no way! He's a Yorkshire man...[/QUOTE]



and how do you cure a yorkshireman of seasickness????................hang him overboard with a penny between his teeth!!:lol::lol::thumbsup:
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U

user123

doug boardley said:
Mosaic Girl said:
Tea, coffee, biscuits, sandwiches, yes all that, Strummerman will vouch for it, I like feeding people (just he doesn't eat anything! :lol: ) but cafe, nope, would never occur to me... as said, maybe it's different down South ... I just asked Howard about it and he just laughed and said no way! He's a Yorkshire man...[/QUOTE]


and how do you cure a yorkshireman of seasickness????................hang him overboard with a penny between his teeth!!:lol::lol::thumbsup:
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:lol: I'll pass it on... actually, he's pretty generous with tips, and I am the one who happily feeds and waters people at home, - but I 'd like to know who apart from Pebbs it would ever occur to to take people who are doing a job at their house to a cafe... find that really odd...
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C

Colour Republic

Mosaic Girl said:
:lol: I'll pass it on... actually, he's pretty generous with tips, and I am the one who happily feeds and waters people at home, - but I 'd like to know who apart from Pebbs it would ever occur to to take people who are doing a job at their house to a cafe... find that really odd...
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It is rather odd G but Pebbs is in the industry so knows how it works. It's psychological, most workers are use to there boss taking them to the cafe and picking up the tab, it's not expected but the boss normally pays.

So in a round about what Pebbs is saying 'i'm boss', all for a £10 breakfast

I would never expect a domestic customer to take me or the lads to breakfast, I would find that odd, but if I was doing work for a fellow builder it wouldn't. Or if I had guys in my house I might
 
Last edited by a moderator:
U

user123

Colour Republic said:
It is rather odd G but Pebbs is in the industry so knows how it works. It's psychological, most workers are use to there boss taking them to the cafe and picking up the tab, it's not expected but the boss normally pays.

So in a round about what Pebbs is saying 'i'm boss', all for a £10 breakfast

I would never expect a domestic customer to take me or the lads to breakfast, I would find that odd, but if I was doing work for a fellow builder it wouldn't. Or if I had guys in my house I might
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Ah, that makes sense, thanks, Rob, ... phew, I was quite stressed about this... :lol:
 
H

hillhead

Mosaic Girl said:
In Germany, when I grew up, Jay, you will love this, you would never feed builders or decorators, but you'd always offer them a beer... :lol: beer was king of considered the right thing to give, and they never said no... :lol:
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Funny you say that G, when i was over in Germany in '94 even in the factory i was training we had beer at lunch time etc. Brilliant we thought but were well hung from nights before too,lol.
 
U

user123

hillhead said:
Funny you say that G, when i was over in Germany in '94 even in the factory i was training we had beer at lunch time etc. Brilliant we thought but were well hung from nights before too,lol.
Click to expand...

yep, and binge drinking didn't really happen, did it, different attitude and more sensible drinking habits... you were well hung? Do you want to rephrase that?? :lol: sorry, being naughty, I know you meant hung over... :)
 
C

Colour Republic

I think i've mentioned this before on here. But many years ago when I was working at the French embassy in London most of the workers were french and at lucnch time they would gather a load of boxes and sit round eating and drinking wine, more often than not that was them set for the day just getting on it!. The site was a disgrace for H&S but UK laws did not apply inside the building and as such had no one who could say a thing!

it was a right pain as it goes 'cos we just wanted to be in and out but the site was in such a state it slowed us right down
 
P

Pebbs

Whoohh..........a whole new debate! bacon and eggs or no bacon and eggs that is the question! Since I started, every problem, arguement, conflict has been sorted out over breakfast, it must be the smell of the bacon frying or just getting away from the dispute on site that does it. A couple of full english's and a few mugs of tea are not going to skint me out, and the lads appreciate the gesture. At my meeting on Friday, they laid on tea and coffee and bacon and sausage sandwiches, I went away thinking how nice was that?! too many times we are treated like some kind of scumbags just there to be ignored. I shouldnt have stopped them working on Friday, I need the house doing, and it was thoughtless of me to hold them up, I dont want any bad feelings.

Lynn
 
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