Carol... very good question! I am afraid though that this is the same in every service field. "Serious" people are too busy for what they consider small jobs, others are simply not reliable. You are very right that they should be more outfront. Why make an appointment if they do not have the time!
If I understand correctly, you are going to submit this to the local paper. Right? Why not call these 2 companies, let them know what you are about to do? You do not name them in your article... why not?

As for getting some good people, why don't you check for recommendations with some neighbors, or even with your local co-operative extension? Good luck.
See you tomorrow,
Anne-Marie

Anne Marie is right. I work in the environmental field and work with a lot of contractors. They don't want to do "small jobs" because they don't think it's worth the time, especially this time of year. They'll be busy until October and then they'll be crying for work. You could try smaller companies (that have ads in the Pennysaver) or see if you can hire some college / high school students to follow through with your plans.

That is maddening to be sure. I have had the best luck in hiring people who are already working in the neighborhood. Landscape people find it more cost-effective to go from one neighbor to another, rather than spending time driving. Don't know if there are houses near you where you like the work but I had the same experience you did til I discovered this little tip.

Anne Marie - Saner minds are prevailing so I don't think I'll submit that to the newspaper. I don't want to get a bad name in this very small town.

Booberry - the second person we called was from an advertisment in the Pennysaver or one of those. Unfortunately, hiring students, etc., leaves open a huge liability in case of injury.

Ginny - Most of our neighbors do their own mowing; I've only seen one service nearby. If worse comes to worse, I'll stop by and check them out.

We did call another local small company today and were promised a call-back. I know everyone in that field (no pun intended LOL) is very busy, and had hoped that since we don't want mowing done, as I do it, that might be more doable, just on a semi-seasonal basis.

Stay tuned, and thanks for your interest.

Carol

Arghhh. It sounds like my experiences with contractors! Years ago, we contacted 5 reputable contractors about a renovation project that would have been worth several thousand dollars. Of the five contractors, only three returned our phone calls, and we set up appointments with all of them. One of the three didn't bother showing up. The other two showed up, expressed interest in the project, and promised to get back to us with cost estimates. One sent us a cost estimate; we never heard back from the other one, although we tried several times to contact him. We finally decided to hire the contractor who had actually provided a cost estimate... then he, too, dropped off the face of the earth, never returning our calls!

Needless to say, in the end, we hired no one, and never followed through with the project. We bought a new house a couple of years later.

Reading these experiences, now I don't feel like such a chump about my boiler guy. He was not licensed to fix boilers, but he was recommended by a friend and certainly was experienced at fixing them. Thing is, he would never show up when he was supposed to, and then it would turn out he was fixing a boiler at an apartment building or a factory, i.e., where he would be paid a lot more. He had been paid the previous year to clean out the boiler but turns out he actually hadn't touched it, and it was so clogged that the boiler spyhole glowed red hot from the heat having nowhere to go. Lazy jerk could have killed me. And I had no heat when it was 30F out, but he didn't think that was a big deal and said he would be back "first thing Monday" (this was Thursday!) to clean the boiler the way he was supposed to. When he blew me off Monday, I told him I wasn't going to pay him anything for what he had done so far (leave the boiler in parts and put the wrong fuel nozzle on) and if he didn't like it, he could take me to court. I got someone who was actually licensed to work on boilers. He did a good job and on time and he had plenty to say about the work that had been (not) done on the boiler. Lesson I learned - pay the money to get a professional who not only knows what he is doing but conducts himself in a business-like manner.

We now have someone to do the lawn work and plant the trees, as well as an excellent handyman. We got lucky :-)

Carol

This weekend, saturday afternoon at four o'clock, with twelve guests having arrived, to stay the weekend, the electric to my well pump died, leaving us with no water! Aye, yai, aie! My wife was so unnerverved that she was blaming the two beers I had with the hotdogs as the cause! How do you answer to that???
Anyways...I got into the yellow pages, found a local guy to actually come over!...He said he was doing not much anyways, diagnosed the problem, jerry rigged new wire, and got the water flowing! He only wanted to charge me for the wire and his time. No emergency over charges! And on a holiday!
I gave him a forty dollar tip, which he was really hesitant to take! What a guy! He even called his friend at a party, to arrange the trenching of the new wire.
I was really amazed that these people would go soo much out of their way on middle of a holiday weekend, and not abuse me cost wise.
Can you imagine twelve people, no water, showers, no flushing?
I told the guy that everyone would think of him, everytime they flushed! :)
I love the hospitallity of small town.

OrcuttNYC - Just goes to show that you never know. Some people just naturally restore your faith !! Too bad it's so rare...

I've been a homeowner for 24 years. I am a single female. No one wants to do a small job anymore. Not painters, not landscapers, not plumbers, etc etc. I can't even find a local kid to mow my lawn. And yes, I am willing to pay these people!