Are all concrete people this bad?

"MM54" (mm54mk2)
08/25/2017 at 18:55 • Filed to: Houselopnik

Called a concrete company recommended to me by a coworker. No answer. Left a message. A few days later, left another message. A couple days later I get a text “sorry I’m out of town.”

Called another company several times, nobody answered the phone, didn’t go to voicemail (is this how people do business these days? I leave a message and they get back to me on their time?).

Called a third company. These people actually get back to me, and we set up 6pm today to get the estimate for the driveway/sidewalk. I putz around in the garage from 5:45 to 6:45 before giving up. Haven’t heard anything, nobody’s here, and it’s 5 minutes to 7.

7:20PM Update: text message from someone at their office that he can’t make it today. No shit.

DISCUSSION (19)

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > MM54
08/25/2017 at 19:01

Yes.

Nibbles > MM54
08/25/2017 at 19:01

I had a Ton of concrete companies flat out refuse to return my calls. I tried nearly every company on the front range and got maybe six callbacks

Chariotoflove > MM54
08/25/2017 at 19:09

I used to get that a lot around where I live. I counter it by having a handyman/contractor that has been around a long time, and that I trust. He has relationships with lots of subcontractors like that. When I call him, I know that:

1. He will steer me to people he knows are good, and

2. If I run into any trouble, they know they are risking a lot of business with my guy. So, they are motivated to treat me right.

Priceless

MM54 > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
08/25/2017 at 19:09

Master Cylinder > MM54
08/25/2017 at 19:23

Yep. It’s such a pain in the ass to get a good concrete guy for residential jobs.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > MM54
08/25/2017 at 19:33

Try calling contractors not suppliers. The suppliers aren’t interested in tiny jobs that take the same legwork as larger ones for a much smaller sale.

Briefly I worked as a project coordinator for a government agency. One of our projects in a somewhat remote location needed a 20x20 pad poured for a shed. No bites on the tender at all. Fairly remote location (30-45 miles from the nearest plants) and a small quantity pulling a truck away from bigger jobs for a longer time (and still needing washed out between jobs, etc) meant very little interest. A month later we had another couple projects come in that added four more pads and a 30x60 ICF foundation all within 300 feet of the original. We had so much supplier interest that we actually had one complain our selection process was unfair. (He insisted he could’ve supplies it cheaper than anyone else but we asked for a “supply and install” quote, and since the foundation needed pumped and he didn’t own a pump he insisted he could only quote for supply, refusing our suggestion to figure out what it would cost to subcontract the pumping to the company he “usually works with” and include it in his quote.) IIRC it was about a $35,000 job compared to $3000 for just the one pad.

The other thing I’ve found with a lot of smaller outfits are that the people running the show and making appointments are generally also the people doing the work, meaning they’re often out in the field for long hours and not sitting in the office to answer phones very often, and frequently this leads to overflowing message boxes that can’t possibly all get an answer. My office definitely preferred the smaller more local outfits but some things we had to farm out to larger outfits from further afield (that the agency management preferred because they were “easier”) that didn’t do as good a job because they didn’t care about more than the paycheck, because we just could not get ahold of the locals.

MM54 > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
08/25/2017 at 19:36

These are contractors that I’ve been trying to work with.

Spasoje > MM54
08/25/2017 at 19:47

I find the whole industry is like that, not just concrete, if you’ve got a small job for them. We had the same experience as you when looking for someone to renovate our bathroom...took MONTHS to finally get someone.

We ended up choosing a big company that sends you a project manager, who takes care of it all for you (including finding a crew, getting quotes, etc.). The best part: they’re no more expensive than hiring a contractor directly!

shop-teacher > MM54
08/25/2017 at 20:00

I’m dealing with that right now as well. The answer is yes.

AestheticsInMotion > Chariotoflove
08/25/2017 at 21:01

That guy’s worth his weight in gold.

Quadradeuce > MM54
08/25/2017 at 21:15

This is pretty common. I’m putting an addition on my house and I’m acting as the GC. Contractors are busy right now. I personally feel that a lot of skilled labor left the construction industry after the crash, and those people aren’t coming back. Every contractor has a labor shortage. Small jobs are going to the bottom of the stack.

I tried for a whole year to get two 16" footings installed for my back porch. I finally just did it myself.

Good luck.

MM54 > Quadradeuce
08/25/2017 at 21:17

I can do my sidewalk myself (and will before long, it needs done before winter) but I can’t really handle the driveway solo

Quadradeuce > MM54
08/25/2017 at 21:25

Honestly, that’s a big enough project for a smaller concrete contactor. I’m surprised you haven’t gotten any hits.

FWIW, the old adage about staying away from contractors who don’t return calls is true. It’s ok for a contractor to not answer their phone. Many are literally tied up at the moment. But any decent contractor will return calls by the end of the day. Also, call them, don’t email. Even great contactors may not be email savvy.

MM54 > Quadradeuce
08/25/2017 at 21:33

Yeah I call them, one took ~3 days to reply (via text) to the second message, one never did anything, and the third (today’s) no-show’ed. The search goes on...

Quadradeuce > MM54
08/25/2017 at 21:34

Do you have Menards in your area?

Chariotoflove > AestheticsInMotion
08/25/2017 at 21:42

And I’ll tell him you said that. He’s super chill and nice too.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > MM54
08/25/2017 at 21:52

I used Angie’s list to find our concrete guy and got three companies out pretty quickly to give estimates. Not a bad place to start.

MM54 > Quadradeuce
08/25/2017 at 22:34

Nope, there is a Lowe’s and Home Depot (they always seem to come in pairs) just down the street, though.

Quadradeuce > MM54
08/26/2017 at 20:03

Too bad. Lots of small contractors use Menards for supplies, and the guys at the contractor desk are useful with finding good contactors.