My garage needs a new roof (Badly) and so I spoke to several local roofing companies asking for a quote. In total I spoke to 7 local firms so I would have a good cross section of prices, guarantees, time scales and so on. All 7 made appointments to visit me so that they could provide an accurate estimate and see the full extent of the damage and work that needed to be done.. Not a problem for me as I assumed they would all want to see the garage anyway, so on that basis I made sure I stayed in on the times and dates their appointments were for. I made it clear that I was ready to authorise commencement of work ASAP. Of the 7 firms I spoke to, 5 never bothered to keep the appointment, 1 turned up gave a price but 10 days on I am still waiting for the written quote. Only 1 has made any effort, and to be fair his price was very good along with hos guarantee (and its in writing) so he has the job. But I find it amazing that trades people don't want my money. Are they really that busy and disinterested in new work? Nice to know that they can afford to be so choosy in this day and age, but you would at least think they would be more professional and tell me they don't want my money.
You see it all the time these days...had a similar situation with landscape gardening firms few years back. I suppose on the positive side you've probably dodged a bullet, if they can't be arsed to do the initial customer service bit right...their roofing would have probably been as bad!
Sadly all to common these days. Went through similar for the kitchen roof and out buildings roofs. Would have been close to 10k but people just not bothered, luckily another builder sorted the kitchen roof as he knew someone who could do lead flashing.
This is nothing new. 20 years ago I worked in fence construction (residential and rural) under my own business. It was a common thread that I repeatedly heard of contractors not returning calls or showing up for quotes. I had capitalised on this very 'problem' because, coming from a sales/retail background I knew the importance of good customer service and therefore stood by any arrangements I made. It seems there is always plenty of work available in the trades fields, hence the greed mongers - as opposed to service operators - seizing upon the best and easiest jobs and leaving the remainder to the field. Ironically, I suffered under this very regime only months ago when I wanted a double gate installed to provide bike access to the rear of my property. Out of 5 calls only one turned up to quote and then never bothered to provide it. Ended up buying the materials and a few tools and did the job myself.