Cyprus-Forum.com

[CBMCJ]

Aggreed! well pointed out, thats why Im here not there. I was sick and tired of quoting for work and being massivley undercut by the cowboys, poles, russians etc etc, All my work gauranteed, I clean up after me and my chaps, have worked here for 4 years and not had a complaint yet (Touch wood) and not even advertised my work, no business cards etc etc. all word of mouth, best way to be.

[mountainman]

Ok! but how many times have you heard or seen what these people do? heres a great example, that i witnessed in Aiya Thekla whilst putting up two pergolas on a Giovanni site.
A cypriot gentleman pulled up outside a brand new completed bungalow in a rather battered pick up, which held in the back a bucket, some string, a sledge hammer (5lb i think), a small bag of cement .
he then used the string to measure a distance from the side of the bungalow along the outside wall about 90cm above the ground. He then marked the wall with some dirt, walked inside with his highly accurate string, when he came out again, he went to his pick up and got his s/hammer, en proceeded to smash a dirty great big hole in the wall. I almost fell off the pergola laughing. the hole he made was about 12 inches in circumference, he went inside a started hammering there, a new hole appeared about 9 inches away from the first. He forgot to deduct the thickness of the wall!. Guess what the hole was for? a 2 inch waste pipe. So Proffessional? not one Cypriot "trades person" on any site that i have met has ANY qualifications for construction/building/plumbing/carpentry/roofing.
but jolly good farmers in the winter.

Yes, but you hear similar horror stories about cowboy workmen in the UK.

Very True Tim, but you have a far higher chance of meeting a trained and qualified tradesman in the UK than you would in Cyprus.
Also consider that most of the horror stories are publicised by progrmmes like 'Watchdog' and 'Rogue Traders'. there is nothing like that yet in Cyprus.

[Feisty]

Very True Tim, but you have a far higher chance of meeting a trained and qualified tradesman in the UK than you would in Cyprus.
Also consider that most of the horror stories are publicised by progrmmes like 'Watchdog' and 'Rogue Traders'. there is nothing like that yet in Cyprus.

That may very well be the case but we are a nation of hypocrites I'm afraid. Millions of us want someone to do the job for 'cash in hand', knowing full well that the job will be done by a person cheating the inland revenue of taxes and very often by the less well qualified.

[mountainman]

Not Quite true Feisty

Many fully qualified, honest and honourable contractors will work 'cash in hand' the customer must ask themselves 'do I want cheap, or do I want good'

If the customer wants a 'cheap' job then they shouldn't complain when it doesn't perform the as well as a 'proper' job.

Another thing to consider is the 'guarantee', a proper contractor will honour their word, but their word comes at a premium.

CAVEAT EMPTOR (if you only pay peanuts, you only get monkeys)
MM

[pissouri]

we have only heard one side of the story, can not make judgement until we have heard from the other party

[miltiades]

Last year I decided to have the carpets removed from my apartment because they were rather old and replace them with wooden laminated flooring , 3 bedrooms and a large L shaped lounge. I went along to a shop in Limassol , just pass the Pazaraki , where I chose the flooring left a deposit and returned to England. I was given a day for commencement of work and Bingo , they turned up on the exact day , took a whole day removing the old carpets which were stuck to the floor making their removal quite difficult . The completed the job and my son in law rung me to tell me that all was finished and that the work was first class . I rung the store manager and offered to pay him the balance , some 2000 Cy pounds , using my debit card , he asked when I was coming back to Cyprus next , I replied in about 2-3 weeks , no problem he replied pay when you get here and see the work yourself !!
On my return to Cyprus I was more than happy with the work and duly paid the balance.
In the UK I use sub-contractors for a number of jobs , believe me most are just after as much as they can get for as little work as possible . A tiler recently did a floor for us on an agreed price but then presented us with an extra bill to cover a carpenter whom he called to trim two doors , the charge £250.00 !!
My daughters house finished last February after almost four years of building work . Entirely happy , the builders did a great job I was straight with them and paid on time , I demanded respect and gave them respect .It worked fine .

[pissouri]

well said miltiades

[mountainman]

Exactly
A relative in England has been trying to have some lamiate worktops replaced, an easy job you might think.

The first 'carpenter' couldn't mitre a worktop and now the second guy can mitre the worktops but won't refit the sink.

Jesus, has 'multitrades' become a thing of the past. When I was an apprentice we were taught every thing that our employer thought we ought to know even if we subsequently never used it.
MM

[Nikitas]

CBMCJ,

When studying in London I held a part time as an electrician with a chap from Limassol. We worked on council houses under close inspection by the council architects. We two were the only workmen who were not asked to repeat any part of our work. All was deemed acceptable by the architects and safe by the electricity authority.

By contrast there were many rejections of work done by English "craftsmen" especiall the plasterers who seemed to be on a permanent speed high-worked fast and sloppy and boasted about their 1000 per week earnings.

So Cypriots and professionalism are not that incongruous.

[lilminx]

Exactly


Jesus, has 'multitrades' become a thing of the past.
MM

Ah mountain man...I know whats happened..

They have all moved to Cyprus and are advertising as
PLUMBERS, CARPENTERS, ELECTRICIANS, FENCING, GARDENING, POOL CLEANING, TILING, GUTTERING 'SPECIALISTS' WITH XXX YEARS EXPERIENCE
You just have to look at the number of adverts in these silly little magazines everywhere..
Now I do wonder how many of these 'specialists' are paying their social insurance!?!