2 August 2011

Tradies in Canberra - are they worth it?

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Without question, the majority of tradies who work in Canberra do a pretty decent job. They are well paid and work long hours, effectively keeping the ACT economy afloat in these difficult economic times. However, there is a rumour circulating Canberra regarding shoddy workmanship carried out by inexperienced and under-qualified tradies. Indeed, as the rumour would have it, the tradies in question are of European origin, who have forged their work documents in order to carry out tasks in Canberra. Given the housing shortage in the Nation’s Capital, they are almost guaranteed work.

Are there any fellow rioter’s who have experienced shoddy work carried out by these tradies, in particular electric work in the newer suburbs? Hopefully these rumours are not true, but if they are, the fault certainly lies with the ACT Government for allowing this activity to flourish. It will be interesting to observe peoples reactions.

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Stevian said :

Jim Jones said :

Thoroughly Smashed said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

I’m sick of people at the drive-thru who can’t speak english and get my order wrong every time

I don’t spend a lot of time in drive-throughs but I can’t say a messed up order has ever been a result of the ethnic background of the staff member on the intercom.

wildturkeycanoe said :

“doctors” of eastern-middle east appearance who take one look at sore throat and prescribe anti-inflammatories.

What would you prefer for your viral infection, antibiotics?

Doctor Macca prescribes bourbon and coke, wearing the flag as a cape and a Southern Cross tattoo.

I’d prefer the anti-inflamatories, call me un-Australian, but wearing the flag as a cape is a sign of disrespect to our great country

Acting like a small-minded racist dickhead is a sign of disrespect to *any* country.

Jim Jones said :

Thoroughly Smashed said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

I’m sick of people at the drive-thru who can’t speak english and get my order wrong every time

I don’t spend a lot of time in drive-throughs but I can’t say a messed up order has ever been a result of the ethnic background of the staff member on the intercom.

wildturkeycanoe said :

“doctors” of eastern-middle east appearance who take one look at sore throat and prescribe anti-inflammatories.

What would you prefer for your viral infection, antibiotics?

Doctor Macca prescribes bourbon and coke, wearing the flag as a cape and a Southern Cross tattoo.

I’d prefer the anti-inflamatories, call me un-Australian, but wearing the flag as a cape is a sign of disrespect to our great country

Thoroughly Smashed said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

I’m sick of people at the drive-thru who can’t speak english and get my order wrong every time

I don’t spend a lot of time in drive-throughs but I can’t say a messed up order has ever been a result of the ethnic background of the staff member on the intercom.

wildturkeycanoe said :

“doctors” of eastern-middle east appearance who take one look at sore throat and prescribe anti-inflammatories.

What would you prefer for your viral infection, antibiotics?

Doctor Macca prescribes bourbon and coke, wearing the flag as a cape and a Southern Cross tattoo.

Thoroughly Smashed11:17 am 03 Aug 11

wildturkeycanoe said :

I’m sick of people at the drive-thru who can’t speak english and get my order wrong every time

I don’t spend a lot of time in drive-throughs but I can’t say a messed up order has ever been a result of the ethnic background of the staff member on the intercom.

wildturkeycanoe said :

“doctors” of eastern-middle east appearance who take one look at sore throat and prescribe anti-inflammatories.

What would you prefer for your viral infection, antibiotics?

pptvb said :

Stevian said :

It’s their attitude that pisses me off. We’re paying through the nose and they strut around like they’re doing us an enormous favour. I now do most of my own repairs, plumbing etc, and do a better job than any tradie has ever done. All you need is time and confidence.

Hahaha….Back when I was a sparky I used to charge people like you double when your DIY lights wouldn’t turn off!

Q.E.D.

Thanks for proving my point buddy.

Electrics are the easiest jobs I’ve done.

girliesmummy9:12 am 03 Aug 11

What about the building companies involved in “affordable housing” in the newer suburbs? We’ve visited friends renting one of these “affordable houses” and the workmanship and materials leaves much to be desired…

I should have clarified – the unit had to be replaced because due to the dodgy wiring job the whole unit had blown and could not be repaired despite getting replacement parts (which were thankfully free as it’s under warranty) from Tastic. When it still wouldn’t work Tastic replaced it and our friend installed it all at no cost to us so I guess I’m not terribly put out by it, but it was frustrating moving into a new home and having stuff not work as intended.

I should probably also add that when we did get the new unit the builder did relent and offer to install it for us which we politely declined, haha. And as I said, we were very happy with the rest of the house, it was just the electrics that were the issue.

Bennop said :

Rasist much bro?

Not that I disagree, but…

Spell much, bro?

wildturkeycanoe said :

I’m sick of people at the drive-thru who can’t speak english and get my order wrong every time, telecommunication salespeople who promise the black box does something when it actually doesn’t and “doctors” of eastern-middle east appearance who take one look at sore throat and prescribe anti-inflammatories.
Everywhere you look there are shonky people trying to rip you off and doing incompetent jobs of things. That’s life, get used to it.
As for ACT Government letting this practice flourish, try getting ACTPLA to do an inspection on electrical work. The wait is around 2 months, so if you need your house powered up, don’t hold your breath. If the inspectors of something that simple are under the pump, how can you expect them to screen all the licensed tradespersons with any kind of real scrutiny?
Remember the news about 20 odd illegal workers being rounded up at a job site in the parliamentary triangle last year? I was there the next Monday, when they inducted another 20 migrants, of which at least half couldn’t understand a word of the safety induction. Whose to blame? Not the government, they have procedures in place. Site safety coordinator? As long as the workers filled out the paperwork properly, his hands are tied by anti-discrimination laws.
It is a sad situation, not only for the consumers like yourself, but also for the tradespeople doing the right thing, as these frauds also undercut the rest of the industry with cheaper prices, dragging our pay rates down and making it harder to get work. “Real” action by ACTPLA should be a priority and perhaps a call to them, or Fair Trading Australia may be a possible step toward sifting out the weeds of the industry/s.
Stevian – Any electrical or plumbing work should be done by a licensed tradesperson. Yes, it’s been said before, mainly by sparkies and pipe benders, but if something does go wrong and they find you did it without accreditation – insurance won’t pay. It’s like putting oversize wheels on a car and crashing into someone else – the lawyers will find a way to void their responsibility and blame it on you.

Rasist much bro?

wildturkeycanoe6:30 am 03 Aug 11

I’m sick of people at the drive-thru who can’t speak english and get my order wrong every time, telecommunication salespeople who promise the black box does something when it actually doesn’t and “doctors” of eastern-middle east appearance who take one look at sore throat and prescribe anti-inflammatories.
Everywhere you look there are shonky people trying to rip you off and doing incompetent jobs of things. That’s life, get used to it.
As for ACT Government letting this practice flourish, try getting ACTPLA to do an inspection on electrical work. The wait is around 2 months, so if you need your house powered up, don’t hold your breath. If the inspectors of something that simple are under the pump, how can you expect them to screen all the licensed tradespersons with any kind of real scrutiny?
Remember the news about 20 odd illegal workers being rounded up at a job site in the parliamentary triangle last year? I was there the next Monday, when they inducted another 20 migrants, of which at least half couldn’t understand a word of the safety induction. Whose to blame? Not the government, they have procedures in place. Site safety coordinator? As long as the workers filled out the paperwork properly, his hands are tied by anti-discrimination laws.
It is a sad situation, not only for the consumers like yourself, but also for the tradespeople doing the right thing, as these frauds also undercut the rest of the industry with cheaper prices, dragging our pay rates down and making it harder to get work. “Real” action by ACTPLA should be a priority and perhaps a call to them, or Fair Trading Australia may be a possible step toward sifting out the weeds of the industry/s.
Stevian – Any electrical or plumbing work should be done by a licensed tradesperson. Yes, it’s been said before, mainly by sparkies and pipe benders, but if something does go wrong and they find you did it without accreditation – insurance won’t pay. It’s like putting oversize wheels on a car and crashing into someone else – the lawyers will find a way to void their responsibility and blame it on you.

screaming banshee9:39 pm 02 Aug 11

Playing DevilsTradies advocate here

Worksonpaper said :

… WITHOUT grout….

There are actually quite a few different types/colours of grout. While it would be nice to think he would show up with a bit of a selection its not really unreasonable that he had to check which type was required first, especially seeing as the only information he probably got was to fix grout at X address.

sarahsarah said :

We had to get a friend to come and replace it in the end.

If your friend had to replace it then there probably was something wrong with the unit otherwise they could have just rewired it. I would still say the builder should be responsible for this though unless you supplied the tastic.

And Gerry-built, think Afflecks opinion of customers in Mallrats

Stevian said :

It’s their attitude that pisses me off. We’re paying through the nose and they strut around like they’re doing us an enormous favour. I now do most of my own repairs, plumbing etc, and do a better job than any tradie has ever done. All you need is time and confidence.

Hahaha….Back when I was a sparky I used to charge people like you double when your DIY lights wouldn’t turn off!

It’s their attitude that pisses me off. We’re paying through the nose and they strut around like they’re doing us an enormous favour. I now do most of my own repairs, plumbing etc, and do a better job than any tradie has ever done. All you need is time and confidence.

Some tradies in Canberra do a good job, but they wouldn’t be the majority. Lots of them don’t turn up when they say they will (or call), turn up when you don’t expect them, do parts of a job then bail and do something else, don’t bring what they need, and blame others for things not being right.

We had all sort of issues with our electrics when we moved into out new house (Franklin) and I am sure it’s partly because the electrician didn’t understand much English! The IXL Tastic we had installed in our bathroom was wired incorrectly and wouldn’t turn on, two of our electricity points weren’t put where we wanted them even after we’d marked them clearly on the plans and one of our light switches was installed the wrong way! As in off was on and on was off – how do you screw that up?!

We had the building company fix the last two but they wouldn’t fix the Tastic as they said it was a fault with the unit not their work. We had to get a friend to come and replace it in the end.

The rest of the house was fine, though, so it’s not all bad! 🙂

Holden Caulfield2:44 pm 02 Aug 11

Tradies of European origin building houses in the newer suburbs of Canberra? Really. Stop the presses!

Given this has been the case for 30 years or more, at least, how is one supposed to know if one of the Euro tradies is part of the “majority of tradies who work in Canberra do a pretty decent job” or one of the “forged their work documents” tradies?

Worksonpaper2:26 pm 02 Aug 11

Regrout, even. Thanks auto-correct!

Worksonpaper2:22 pm 02 Aug 11

I recently had a tradie turn up to regret part of our shower WITHOUT grout! He then had to go to Bunnings to get some. Had we been paying for the service (our building company provided him as our house is under a ‘new house’ warranty) I would have asked him to leave.

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