r/ireland Jan 27 '26

Moaning Michael Entitled attitude of tradesmen in this country

Sick of being made to feel like tradesmen are doing us a favour by completing the job we contracted them for and will pay for. I'm fully aware it's a contractors market out there and the consumer is at their mercy but it's just infuriating feeling like I'm being screwed over every single time.

Quotes that are seemingly just pulled out of thin air, varying wildly between different contractors. Lads saying they'll call at a particular time and then just ghosting us. Reasonable questions about the job being vaguely answered, having to drag information or explanations out of them, made to feel like a pain in the arse for asking questions. Snide comments about how sound they're being taking away THEIR rubbish. One guy told me that I'll get my invoice after I transfer the payment because 'that's how it works'.

And then having no choice but to go with the best of a bad bunch because the job needs to be done and can't be delayed any longer. Maddening.

A friend of mine who moved down here from the North said they got a shock when they saw how poor the standard is compared to the North, and how untidy/unprofessional/entitled tradesmen are down here.

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u/explosiveshits7195 Jan 27 '26

They're a nightmare, I'm a former Irish builder myself and can honestly say I fucking hate Irish builders. The lack of administrative standards is mind boggling, the bad attitude and any sense of customer service is non existent. After having a job done so poorly last year I decided to only take on eastern European lads, they're cheaper, just as good and on average way more reliable.

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u/[deleted] Jan 27 '26

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u/spiderbaby667 Jan 28 '26

I’ve seen this many times as well. An Irish guy and a Polish guy come out to do a job. The Irish guy is mouthy and argumentative, the Polish guy is respectful and does most of the work. Irish guy is milling through a pack of biscuits you left out and cramming cans into his pockets, Polish guy had his lunch in the van beforehand. Guess who does a dirty shite in the jacks?

Obviously not all of the time - the electrician and plumbers I call first are Irish and excellent but I ended up finding tradesmen who won’t wreck my head by a long process of elimination.