19/03/2026
Okay, so we’ve just let a job go that we’d pretty much won… 🤯
And not just any job either…
This was a full cladding job to three sides of a property, along with fascia and soffit replacement 🔨🏡 — exactly the kind of work we WANT to be doing.
From the very start, we went above and beyond.
We went out, viewed the property, and measured everything up properly 📏
Then went back to base, took the time to put together a full quotation, and rang them that same evening to go through it ☎️
They were happy with the price there and then 👍
But then they asked me to bring the written quote round to their house the next day… which I did 🚗
After that, things started going downhill…
The customer had agreed the price, but then started messing us around with the deposit payment. Said they were going into town to pay… didn’t. Next day—same story again 🚶♂️💸 And so on.. They wouldn't use a card for payment.
Now, they were elderly and didn’t have access to the internet, which we completely understand 👍 — but they also wanted us to keep printing paperwork and bringing it back and forward to their house.
We tried to be as accommodating as possible, but it felt like we were being messed around at every step 😓
We’d already put ourselves out quite a bit for them.
What makes it harder is—we’ve completed EIGHT jobs on that same street already 🙌 All of them look absolutely spot on. They could clearly see the quality of work they were getting.
On top of that, we’d already arranged scaffolding and had everything booked in ready to start 🏗️📅
In the end, we actually had to cancel the scaffolders because the job wasn’t going ahead ❌
And even as we got closer to the start date… still no deposit.
So I had to make the call and say we weren’t going ahead.
Because let’s be honest… if I can’t even secure the deposit, what chance have I got of receiving the final payment? 🤷♂️
Let’s face it… time wasters cost businesses money 💸 and mess with scheduling, making it very difficult to plan properly 📅❌
They’re also incredibly time-consuming. We get a lot of time wasters, and it can be seriously frustrating 😤
When we come out to quote a job, it’s not just a quick visit…
It can take us an hour to travel 🚗
An hour on site discussing everything 🏡
An hour travelling back again
And then another hour (or more) putting together a proper quotation 📝
That’s 3–4 hours per quote ⏳ — sometimes even more depending on the size of the project.
So when people aren’t serious, it ends up costing us a lot of time and money.
That’s exactly why we ask — please only get in touch if you’re genuinely interested in having the work done 👍Not just for a rough idea of price.
It’s frustrating, especially when it’s a job we genuinely wanted… but sometimes you’ve got to protect your time, your business, and your team 💪
What would YOU have done in this situation? 👇
• Keep chasing and hope for the best?
• Or walk away like we did?
Let us know what you think 👀💬
