See the flip side

IN response to the Buy Smart column in last week's edition headlined �Tradie trouble can hit home”, I agree there are tradesmen out there who don’t do the right thing.

We’ve had our small carpentry business for 20 years and in that time we’ve seen some horrible examples of "professional work". However, there is a flip side too.

We’ve come across some unpleasant customers who don’t pay the agreed amount after we’ve done a good job; who change their minds at the last minute after material is ordered, paid for and workers organised and who threaten to bad mouth us if we don’t do something they want that is illegal.

Then there are those who refuse our quote in order to buck the system by engaging in work with tradesmen without a council permit.

I agree that consumers must be protected but I also think small tradie businesses that do the right thing need to be protected too.

Tradesmen get a bad reputation because the people who have engaged with those dodgy companies didn’t check them out first, then tar us all with the same brush.

Paying a deposit for work is fair. It’s an agreement. The tradesmen has to order and pay for material and employ workers and a deposit provides the tradesman with some security that the client will not do the wrong thing either.

Not all tradesmen are bad. We are trying to make a living and provide quality work.

Unfortunately, a lot of the time you do get what you pay for. Check the tradesman out before deciding to offer them your job and engage in fair exchange.

EMMA DOWNEY, Ashby.