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Poor workmanship or undertaking work not 'qualified / experienced' to perform - maybe covered by misreprentation
High pressure or underhand sales tactics ...
Agree about qualifications being mandatory. I was thinking along the lines that a gardener who prunes roses but doesn't have an RHS certificate, for example, isn't a rogue or a cowboy.
Poor workmanship doesn't make anyone a rogue, imo, but can be considered a cowboy if the poor workmanship is persistent. We are all learning on an hour-by-hour day-by-day basis. It says a lot of a trader on how they react to any complaints.
How do we define poor workmanship? A rocking paving slab can be a one-off mistake caused by a failure of materials that can happen after a contractor has left the job. It's a poor job if the contractor doesn't agree to repair or replace the slab but what if the damage has been caused by a client walking on a paving slab before the base has had time to go off?
I wonder what the Trading Standards definition is ?
Chucking another aspect in - is a Rogue Trader the same as a Cowboy Trader - do they imply different things to people ?
I think:
Rogue = unscrupulous/dishonest/fraudulent
Cowboy = poor workmanship/misrepresented
I understand the point of this post. I was feeling a bit like a 'cowboy' from the previous post, yeehaw! : )
Does he wear a stetson hat...sorry...quick exit side door...
I like the moral self regulating perspective. We get asked a lot to do things outside what I would percieve to be out of our comfort or expertise zone (lawn care). At which point you must make it clear what level of service / expertise they are paying for and results they can expect. I frequently say no, you'll be far better off getting a "proper" so and so to look at that.
Meanwhile, I'm well qualified, ticketed, insured, licensed, wear a named (but grubby) tshirt, my kit is all high end and in working order and I gaurantee my work if necessary.
I'm not sure about being an image driven sole trader, I've followed plenty of signwritten new 4x4s with less waste and (lower quality) kit in the back at the end of the day than I have in my little Suzuki.
My customers are very happy with my work rate, skill, price and finish, I do feel however, that my image is detrimental to gaining new clients.
I think a lot of people view business' without marketing as cowboys or rogue traders. But in this trade, or any trade in this day and age, I often wonder how often the reverse is true.
A trader does a job for £100 that the customer considers good value and allows the trader to make money, as it costs less than £100 for him to do it and everyone is happy.
There my be many reasons as to why the trader becomes classed as a cowboy, generally these are due to some form of deception such as substituting lower quality materials than quoted for or for example quoting for 100 mm hardcore and only installing 75 mm thus reducing the amount quoted for by 25%.
However caution has to be applied when judging as it could be that the client actually got what they asked for by demanding a reduction in the original price quoted, resulting in the trader having to knock things out of the job to meet the agreed price by using cheaper labour and materials or reducing the quantities of both.
Sometimes the "cowboy" is a honest trader who got caught up in the customers shenanigans, when they would have been better off walking away, but they needed the work.
Beware of cowboy customers.
Andy
Hi guys! This is my first post here and I have to thank you for accepting me in your gang! :)
According to your description, I was a cowboy landscaper for the first 3 years of my trade. I work in the small area of my town and most of the homeowners know me now. I had just some small knowledge about gardening from my childhood when was forced to weed 1 acre orchard with flowers, gooseberries, black currants and rasberries on ground level. First year I spent more time on youtube than in gardens whilst charging £12/h. This is a second year when I know more or less what I am doing. My customers saw my attitude and deliverance and now they are excited to see my next ideas for their gardens. At the moment I feel the impact of real cowboy gardeners - guys going from town to town in caravans, leaded by a cold callers at the doorstep and changing their contact number after they receive the money and disappearing from the town after laying slabs on topsoil and astroturf stright on existing lawns.
If you are working in your local area you can't be a cowboy. You meet your customer in tescos or wave at them waiting for the right traffic lights. You can be underknowing and a chancer as long as you are playing a long ball and at least trying to correct the mistakes you have made.
Howgh - I have spoken
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