NKD wrote on May 10, 2017, 11:27:
I think a large part of it is that most people only rarely need a contractor of this sort. They haven't established a process of finding the right person for the job. They don't know where to look. Often times, like with Blue's experience, they rely on a personal recommendation.
But unless that personal recommendation is from someone who has used the contractor two dozen times, or from someone who knows their shit with regards to the work being done, it doesn't actually mean much. Even a shitty contractor can do a fantastic job once in a while. So if my buddy recommends me someone who they used one time, I'm not giving that a lot of weight. Their good job they did could easily just be a fluke.
I'm not even sure I'd know what to do to get a good contractor. Most of the people I used in the past are retired now, because I knew them through my grandfather who was a Business Manager at a trade union. These days there's a lot of resources for finding good contractors online, but also a lot of noise, and paid ratings etc.
You bring up good points, and I agree. In my case, I interviewed (they think it's a sales pitch...I think think its an interview) 5 of the biggest contractors in town. Some of these are national chains. The problem in my case was the large regional company just turned around and subcontracted the job to Joe SixPack who was responsible for no-shows, bad communication, not honoring contract, among faulty install, bad repair, etc. (there were legal issues, blah blah, its all been settled).
In my opinion, the main problem with the contractor industry is business management. I honestly believe most of these folks are skilled craftsmen who know what they are doing (ok, majority maybe). But they simply don't know how to run a business.