By Mshaka
Antiguan tradesmen: unreliable - undependable, bluffing, inconsistent, mediocre – second rate, superiority attitude, dismissive, disrespectful, inconsiderate, poor customer service… high priced!
I know that some of our readers will respond to this article with resentment… not just resentment but maybe even deep anger. I also know that others will agree with my opinions… not just agree but agree wholeheartedly.
It seems as though each time I talk with another Antiguan about the issue of our “Antiguan Tradesmen” that I hear another horror story about unreliability, mediocre work or the lies that our tradesmen tell their clients or potential clients. I won’t tell any of those stories. Why? Because I have my own litany of disappointments.
Last year, we hired a cabinet maker to redo our kitchen cupboards. As a matter of fact he was the one who had built them years ago. So who better to give the job to than him? That was the first mistake. Plus… he was local. Second mistake. And he promised a speedy job… and we believed him. Third mistake.
Well… he took off all the doors to the cupboards… took them away to sand and stain them and supposedly to put on new more beautiful hinges… or whatever they do to make them look good. He kept them… Of course he could not put them back on before he had re-sanded… and varnished or stained the cupboards themselves.
It took about three weeks for him to do the cupboards themselves… He would send someone on Monday morning to start… By mid-day the person left… and then showed up on Wednesday afternoon… Left and maybe… maybe showed up again on Friday just before 2 PM… or so. You know for what! Same thing happened the next week… and the next…
Of course during this time… all the contents of the cupboards…. foodstuff… dishes… glasses… cups… cutlery… well – you get the picture… All that stuff are in bags… temporarily placed on the table… put up here… placed over there… The place is a mess… for three weeks… Where is the salt? And, oh…. where is the baking soda… and what about the measuring cup??? Didn’t we have some of that… now where is it?
For three weeks…
Then he said he was finished with the cupboards… Of course he still had the doors… That took another week… Oh… and by the way… he took out a couple of drawers that needed new runners… those took an additional couple of weeks… How many weeks now?
That was last year… October… One door is still off… a drawer is missing…
Did I mention another mistake? He gave us a sob story… and he was paid… the full amount… Well… I wouldn’t have paid that scamp…. But… Let’s just say he was paid… So now… I will end up in court… either for our money… (that’s a civil matter)… or we are going to court… well… let’s just say… I might have to go to court for a – well – not civil matter!
Now that experience is one of many many many that I have had…
For the last couple of years, we have had a nagging problem with our plumbing. I have tried and tried and tried to get a local – Antiguan plumber. We have friends who are plumbers… we have associates who are plumbers… we even have family members who are plumbers…. all Antiguans… Do you think we could get one? Bluffing… lying… promising… every week… every month…
I needed an electrician… same thing… Promises that they will come… “Today… after three… look out for me…” That was six months ago…” Of course, I followed up. “What happened yesterday…” “Oh… something came up… I can’t do it today… how about Saturday… Yeah man… you can count on me.” He hasn’t shown up yet… not him… not his colleague… not the other three guys… all Antiguan of course!
And if you think that these issues are just about the little guy… the solo tradesman… then you have to think again. Not so. For years… I have tried to get the most prominent… longest serving Antiguan pest control company to examine and provide me with a key service. I have talked to its proprietor at least six times each year for the last five years…
“Mr. G, when are you coming to look at the house and give me your estimate…” “Oh, I will pass this afternoon… after five… I have to pass that way on my way home…” “Mr. G, what happened?” “Oh… ah… I will come first thing in the morning… I have to pass that way coming to work…” Even Mr. G’s wife now knows me… she has seen me come into the little shop/office at the corner so many times… so many times over the years! Don’t get me wrong… I have known Mr. G for thirty years… He is a nice man… but he is just like all the other Antiguan tradesmen… unreliable… undependable… bluffer!
Now I know that Mr. G, the electricians, the plumbers… don’t do that to the big customers like the hotels and the banks.
So what is it?
Do they feel that we can’t pay? Do they feel that we won’t pay? Well… we pay them what they ask… and they still don’t finish the job. Do they feel like our little jobs are not big enough? Even when times are hard for them… they still behave that way.
Again for years we have tried to get an Antiguan individual or company (doesn’t matter) to come once or twice per month to cut our grass, pull the weeds and trim the trees. This month we may get someone whom a friend recommends. The individual takes a look and charges an exorbitant price (at least, I think so). We pay it. Willingly. Part of what we are paying for is the long term commitment to provide the service every two weeks.
They come the first month and do an OK job.
The next month – we call. Now remember this is supposed to be automatic… They promise but they don’t show. Never show. Again. We get someone else. The same thing happens. Now we are on automatic… we automatically try to get a new person every month!
We got an Antiguan guy to fix the kitchen counter… he did a good job… or so it seems to me. But then he kept the remainder of the Corian… and to this day we can’t get it from him. He took a key part of a table to fix also… promising to bring it back the next day… That’s three months ago…
And the car… and our mechanic and body work friends… Well… that is a whole different story which would take a chapter or so!
What is it about our Antiguan tradesmen… what is it about our Antiguan small business men?
The sad thing is that now… today… those tradesmen have competition. Very serious competition. I needed to have some emergency carpentry work done… A friend referred a Dominican handyman. He brought three other men… scruffy looking… as if they had just come from the rum shop… but I can tell you that the job they did was quick and efficient! They were obviously hungry… maybe for food… but certainly for the work!
Our Antiguan tradesmen do not seem hungry… they don’t seem motivated to give excellent service… they don’t appear to believe in giving a good day’s work for a good day’s pay… they don’t believe in keeping their word… they come with an attitude of “I am Antiguan… I deserve this work because I am Antiguan… I can do the best job because I am Antiguan… pay me before the job is finished… because I am Antiguan… I will come back when I want to… because I am Antiguan…”
Well… I am one Antiguan who is fed up with our Antiguan tradesmen…
Because I am Antiguan I expect better from my Antiguan tradesmen and businessmen…
Because I am Antiguan and I am paying for the work being done… and because as an Antiguan… I have been taken for granted by Antiguan tradesmen and business men… And because I am Antiguan and I have been burned so many countless times by Antiguan tradesmen… I will no longer waste my time… no longer look desperately for an Antiguan to do work…
Let me tell you… this is hard… particularly given how I feel about the non-Antiguan issues we are currently experiencing. But I have been let down too many times… taken for granted too many times… disrespected too many times – by my own Antiguan tradesmen… neighbors, friends and family!
The best tradesmen will get the job… those who do as they promise. Those who keep their word…. those who deliver excellent service… those who respect me as a consumer… those who are dependable, responsible and reliable… those who do an excellent job… in excellent time with excellent results… whatever the price…
Those tradesmen and businessmen will get the job - whatever their origin… Chinese… Guyanese… Dominican… Jamaican…. Santo Dominican… or Antiguan!
If our tradesmen keep up this attitude they will soon be marginalized to the sidelines. Some are already fussing about the Chinese and Santo Dominicans… Well this is just the beginning. Someone needs to host an educational forum or training conference for our Antiguan tradesmen to read them the riot act. The Chamber of Commerce, the Antigua Employer’s Federation, the Small Business Association – somebody needs to jump in – quickly to do something about this.
These tradesmen are committing ritual suicide… every day… every week… ever month. When the big jobs go away… they will want to turn to people like me and you… too late! And the big jobs will go away as more and more builders take advantage of the growing numbers of skilled foreign nationals willing to work for cheaper wages.
Quite soon Antiguan tradesmen will no longer be able to compete with the hordes of foreign tradesmen who have been let in and are being let in to our country. By that time, people like me will have been forced to move on to other sources because of our tradesmen’s current attitudes.
And while the foreign population grows… guess who they will be hiring to work on their cars… to fix their plumbing and electricity?
Our tradesmen need to catch a glimpse of their future… the ones they are creating by their bluffing, disrespect of consumers and unreliability. Their future does not look good – at least not to me! And it is of their own making…
