Unreliable craftsmen - is this common in the industry nowadays?

Unfortunately, even with our house construction, a few craftsmen have caused delays. The heating engineer actually took 6 months with what felt like 10 follow-up questions just to prepare a quote.

Honestly: I wish all these craftsmen that their labor will no longer be so urgently needed in the future and that the customer will be king again! After the construction boom, other times will certainly come... when demand is smaller than supply. Unfortunately, that does not help us at the moment.

Craftsmen are just craftsmen. They are usually not the most business-savvy. They don’t have to be. But they will pay the price as well.

Some craftsmen are really burning their reputation right now. That will last for quite a long time. (Unless they offer dumping prices.)

I wish them all the best! But I believe that in 1-2 years, the game will be up for some. And that despite the shortage of skilled workers!

I am torn back and forth. On the one hand, craftsmen have aged me about 10 years over the past year. On the other hand, I understand that despite working around the clock, they can't keep up. The problem I see is that craftsmen can't say "no." The ones I know are too kindhearted for that. They would rather string you along for months and, in doing so, probably ruin their reputation more than through a direct "No, sorry, we are fully booked for the next 12 months."

The experience that craftsmen are too good-natured is one I have unfortunately not had yet. A pity. I don't think it will happen anymore either.

The experience I have is that many craftsmen are too greedy. They demand a proud 4k wage for certain jobs that take 2 workers 2 days (each 8 hours).
I think this is the wrong industry for that.

But it's like always... Every day there is someone who pays for it.

Man, I'm so glad I don't have any time pressure!

I agree with you there, many take advantage of the fact that apparently enough customers can be found who pay any fantasy price. Then just strike out goodwill with "not being able to say no", then we agree.

Whoever has no contacts is really screwed... We needed a plumber, not urgently but within a week would have been nice. He came within 24 hours! I chatted with him a bit, and he said that if our landlord weren't so well-known with them, they probably wouldn't have come this year at all – they currently have no capacity for new customers. That's why we're very glad that our construction supervisor has a name in this dump, and when he inquires, they (usually) have time so as not to mess things up for further orders.