Is Australia in a Recession!!!

[Pirate_Pete]

I'm a sparkie in Tassie the company I work for has shed about 2/3rd of our men . . . . . .

Some one just flicked the switch & then there was no work. . . . .

Of that not a recession I don't know what is.

[Tassie devils]

I'm a sparkie in Tassie the company I work for has shed about 2/3rd of our men . . . . . .

Some one just flicked the switch & then there was no work. . . . .

Of that not a recession I don't know what is.

I am with you pirate Pete and if it's not a recession can't wait to see how bad things get if we do go into recession

[cruisindub]

Agreed Duchess, I have some small rectification jobs to do but it seems the trades what the full house builds. If they do call back they want $50 to quote a job...

You wouldn't think any tradie's are in a recession where we live. Judging by the arrogance and over inflated prices, the lack of service, nil interest in quoting etc,etc
Judging by the number of closed shops, empty shops in our town you think that they would have interest in each and every customer, afraid not. Went into tradelink store to view new bathroom vanities, was treated to the most arrogant/ignorant welcome or answer to my questions, I went to Bunnings and bought the same vanity from there by choosing it off the shelf,same lack of staff knowledge but at least there policy is to smile at you.
Discussion with my dad who used to work for another trade supplier briefly left me in agreement that as its its a more tradies shop,hence the arrogance.  Same reason dad left a similar shop, arrogant tradesmen dealing with over the counter and arrogant staff.
(My dad is a tradesman himself before getting too old for tools and then doing the shop assistant thing. Fitter and Turner and cabinet maker /kitchen Builder)
obviously no recession in our town.!!
Dads latest job is supervisor. Watching over me while I renovate my old house. I can't get anybody interested in doing any work for me.
See the thread 'is this typically Australian '
Sorry tradies, but if your out of work come to south west WA, there's obviously enough here to warrant the ignorance arrogance and bad attitude cowboy tradies there are in this town.
Is Australia in a recession??   You wouldn't think so every time I pick up the phone to call for work to be doñe.
Hence my renovations have taken far longer than the wife would like, but I just can't bring myself to pay wankers with attitude large sums of money.

[Sawed-Off]

Politically, this country is stuffed. Until that is sorted out, no one will be confident in anything. If Abbott gets in next year, there's still the problem of the Greens controlling the Senate until the following July. Abbott won't be able to do much to try and fix things, so we'll still be stuffed until the Greens are out of the picture. We'll possibly even see a double dissolution election if Senators elected next year won't give enough numbers to whoever forms government to let them just wait until July. Politically, things will get worse before they get better. Our economy won't get better until we fix the federal government. Put on your crash helmets, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

[Duchess]

Well, I guess I do mean relocate.

Mind you, if you were to look at what 2 hours drive would take you from say Tamworth, NSW...it would be a whole lot more regional area than Adelaide.

For example, at the moment the council was having a library built in our town. One of the builders was from the Gold Coast and he was telling me that he and his wife travel in their caravan to regional areas where the work is. He said that he was normally up north Queensland though.

So, maybe there's a thought. Get on the road with the camper. See what else is on offer...if you want work, I reckon you'll find it...or it will find you!

[D4D]

Maybe we need to start a trades wanted thread...

I need a sparky, painter, roof tiler/restorer in MEL.

Sparky - run 15A circuit from house to garage
Painter - paint external windows and facias on brick house
Roof - fix pointing and broken tiles

[Marschy]

It's not a carbon tax, it's an air we breath tax. We are practically taxed for everything we do in our waking moments. The next tax will be a sleep tax. Some of us pay this one already, lying in bed at night unable to sleep because we wonder how we are going to pay the bills.

[rockman]

I'm in FNQ .
The building industry is stuffed .... the ATO are shutting down so many small business's at the moment .
It will be interesting to see who makes it to the end of the year .
If you thought you had tightened your belt in the last year or so ... I think it's going to get worse before it gets better .

Cheers

[GeeTee]

When is the next election?

[Tassie devils]

Well, I guess I do mean relocate.

Mind you, if you were to look at what 2 hours drive would take you from say Tamworth, NSW...it would be a whole lot more regional area than Adelaide.

For example, at the moment the council was having a library built in our town. One of the builders was from the Gold Coast and he was telling me that he and his wife travel in their caravan to regional areas where the work is. He said that he was normally up north Queensland though.

So, maybe there's a thought. Get on the road with the camper. See what else is on offer...if you want work, I reckon you'll find it...or it will find you!

Duchess love the idea of getting in the camper to find work, but with 3 daughters one at high school and we already just relocated back to Adelaide, would be just a bit unfair on my family. If it was just myself and the wife I would be on the road.

[Tassie devils]

 

It's not a carbon tax, it's an air we breath tax. We are practically taxed for everything we do in our waking moments. The next tax will be a sleep tax. Some of us pay this one already, lying in bed at night unable to sleep because we wonder how we are going to pay the bills.

[rooscoota]

It's not a carbon tax, it's an air we breath tax.

reminds of the beatles song verse "go for a walk we'll tax your feet", coming soon to imperialist Oz.

When is the next election?

not soon enough but the damage is done.

You wouldn't think any tradie's are in a recession where we live. Judging by the arrogance and over inflated prices, the lack of service, nil interest in quoting etc,etc

as far as trades people go i beleive they have priced themselves out of the market, unless its absolutey crucial that joe blow has to call one, at $150 - $200 just to come out then pay for the job, poor ol' average joe blow just cant afford their services.

as far as recession goes i haven't seen so many people buy so many toys in all my life, bikes, boats, vans, campers, cars, trips, the list goes on. my mates with bussiness's though have their moments, one week can be dead as a door nail, mostly automotive, then the next can be flat stick. i dont work anymore but i still hear the same old story from the industry i was in, heavy vehicles (double pivoting freight relocator), as to how everyones screaming for drivers.

i've also noticed how everyone no matter how well off they are still cry poor for that potential handout.

i could be wrong, just what i see.

[Tassie devils]

Some interesting feed back.
I have never heard or come across tradesman charging to quote, but I do hear all the time tradies not turning up to quote or never getting back to people.
Have we priced ourselves out of the market a bit unfair,maybe if you compare tradesman to cowboys then the answer is yes.

The last time a had my ute serviced the hourly Labor rate was $100+GST  Have mechanics priced themselves out of the market or maybe that's what they need to cover costs.

[kylarama]

Some interesting feed back.
I have never heard or come across tradesman charging to quote, but I do hear all the time tradies not turning up to quote or never getting back to people.
Have we priced ourselves out of the market a bit unfair,maybe if you compare tradesman to cowboys then the answer is yes.

The last time a had my ute serviced the hourly Labor rate was $100+GST  Have mechanics priced themselves out of the market or maybe that's what they need to cover costs.

According to someone, its because us tradesmen are arrogant...

[D4D]

I wouldn't say arrogant, I would say unreliable. It seems to be the norm trades don't turn up to quote at the agreed time. That shows a lack of consideration for the customer's (my) time. My view is, if you can't make the time agreed to quote how can I trust you to get my job completed on time.

[Mrs smith]

The last time a had my ute serviced the hourly Labor rate was $100+GST  Have mechanics priced themselves out of the market or maybe that's what they need to cover costs.

People need to become aware of the true cost of doing business in this country, the true cost is whats sending the small bloke to the wall.
Hold on, it's going to get worse.

As for tradie's charging to quote, at least there's an incentive for them to go waste x-amount
of time looking at a job they might not even got, because the customer is so hell bent on saving $5.00 his probably going to get another 3 or 4 blokes to compare quotes against.
When pickings are as slim as they are at the moment you really can't afford to be fluffed around with the chance of an outside job. Most trades people at the moment  are busy looking after there regular clientele and cant take the chance of letting them down (pricing a possible)  for fear of not getting a second look if there unavailable for there regulars on the day there needed.
There is no confidence out there.

MHO. Where as close to the R word as we've ever been without anyone actually saying it, the government need to realize we can't all be  miners and politicians.
This thread might have been better called. IS AUSTRALIA IN DENIAL ?     
 

[rockman]

People need to become aware of the true cost of doing business in this country, the true cost is whats sending the small bloke to the wall.
Hold on, it's going to get worse.

As for tradie's charging to quote, at least there's an incentive for them to go waste x-amount
of time looking at a job they might not even got, because the customer is so hell bent on saving $5.00 his probably going to get another 3 or 4 blokes to compare quotes against.
When pickings are as slim as they are at the moment you really can't afford to be fluffed around with the chance of an outside job. Most trades people at the moment  are busy looking after there regular clientele and cant take the chance of letting them down (pricing a possible)  for fear of not getting a second look if there unavailable for there regulars on the day there needed.
There is no confidence out there.

MHO. Where as close to the R word as we've ever been without anyone actually saying it, the government need to realize we can't all be  miners and politicians.
This thread might have been better called. IS AUSTRALIA IN DENIAL ?     
 

Isn't that the truth !

[Chippy76]

Ok lets look at it like this .....

I I have to do a quote lets allow (min) 2 hrs to go look at the job travelling + actually measuring up. Then another 2 hrs in the office pricing, and sourcing product. So once it is posted there is 4 hrs straight up ... That 4 hr I HAVENT charged for, because aparently it isnt the right thing to do. I then wait weeks ( sometimes months) to hear back from people and to date in the last 4 years only ONE person has ever rung me to tell me they didnt want the job done. (out of hundreds).   I use to ring potential clients back about a week after supplying the quote - and by the way I ALWAYS turn up early, and try to supply a quote with 48 hrs - however I got sick of hearing "it's too much" or " Im going to have a go at it myself".  It is as obvious as tthe proverbials dogs tenders, when someone rings up just to get ideas from a chippy on what they want to DIY next weekend ....
I have found that people dont understand the price of materials, or how long it takes to complete some projects (thanks reality tv ... )
Anyway enough of my rant ...

Cheers Chippy

[Duchess]

Duchess love the idea of getting in the camper to find work, but with 3 daughters one at high school and we already just relocated back to Adelaide, would be just a bit unfair on my family. If it was just myself and the wife I would be on the road.

Ah...yep I get you. The bloke I was talking to was in his late 50's and I'd say his kids were probably all grown up! Anyway, something to think about for the future...

[Hairs]

I reckon a lot of the country is in a recession.
Especially the building trade out side of metro areas.
 I was thinking about this carbon tax think after I mowed the lawn today, cut some fire wood with the chainsaw to start a fire to burn off some rubbish in the backyard, then I whipper snipped, Drove to the shop to buy beer and drove back the 4 k's.
I thought how good is this, 500 odd companies are being slugged a tax to compensate me for their polluting.
Why hadn't any other polly thought of this before?
Pure genius.
 

[Pirate_Pete]

Ok lets look at it like this .....

I I have to do a quote lets allow (min) 2 hrs to go look at the job travelling + actually measuring up. Then another 2 hrs in the office pricing, and sourcing product. So once it is posted there is 4 hrs straight up ... That 4 hr I HAVENT charged for, because aparently it isnt the right thing to do. I then wait weeks ( sometimes months) to hear back from people and to date in the last 4 years only ONE person has ever rung me to tell me they didnt want the job done. (out of hundreds).   I use to ring potential clients back about a week after supplying the quote - and by the way I ALWAYS turn up early, and try to supply a quote with 48 hrs - however I got sick of hearing "it's too much" or " Im going to have a go at it myself".  It is as obvious as tthe proverbials dogs tenders, when someone rings up just to get ideas from a chippy on what they want to DIY next weekend ....
I have found that people dont understand the price of materials, or how long it takes to complete some projects (thanks reality tv ... )
Anyway enough of my rant ...

Cheers Chippy

Your not wrong there Chippy.

We get that at work all the time, or they want a quote to put one power point, light or what ever in & cant understand when you say its not worth the time to even look at the job to do the quote because it will cost more than you can make on the job just to do the quote. Then you get in trouble because you wouldnt look at it.

The other good one is the person wants some work done, you go out & work out what they want to do as they dont know how or where to get power there, then take your quote all over town using your ideas & you end up loosing the quote to a 1 man band that will do it on the weekend for cash because you are too dear.

[Hairs]

Anyway enough of my rant ...
Cheers Chippy

Rant excused mate, we face this every week mate.
Or even better they don't get back to you, copy your plans that you have drawn, left with them to look at and you find they have either  gone owner builder or got someone else.
What I find strange is, a mining co is prepared to pay me 80K plus to drive a truck, but some people reckon $45 an hour is to much at a Chippy.
 

[Campa]

In our group of 8 close family friends, 5 of us are Tradesman working in Mining and 3 are in Brisbane working in Retail and Cabnit making. There is a massive difference between incomes with us blokes who work in mining and those who are working back here in Brisbane ($100,000 more).

Ask my 3 mates working back in Brisbane, struggling week to week if Australia is heading towards a rescission, and I bet they'll answer yes.

My wife and I aren't millionares but are comfortable financially, but are still to scared to spend too much money on any luxuries, and would much prefer to take advantage of the low interest rates and pay the mortgage off asap, and save as much as we can while we can. Just in case.






 

[D4D]

We get that at work all the time, or they want a quote to put one power point, light or what ever in & cant understand when you say its not worth the time to even look at the job to do the quote because it will cost more than you can make on the job just to do the quote. Then you get in trouble because you wouldnt look at it.

So how do you suggest the consumer gets this type of work done?

[nab]

So how do you suggest the consumer gets this type of work done?

A bit off topic. I work for myself as a sparky, I give them an approximate price after asking a few questions (2 storey, tile/tin roof etc). I make sure they know it is an approximation, not a quote. Everyone has been happy with that so far and my approximations haven't been too far off the mark! Only had a handful of jobs go pearshaped... I don't advertise though, all my work is through recommendation so maybe the people "trust" me to a certain degree?

Chippy76, $45/hr? Wow, that is very low for being self employed. How does that compare to working for wages? I have worked out that I need to make almost $400/day otherwise I would be better off working for someone else as a sparky (including holiday pay/sick leave/super/van/uniform/phone etc)

All my tradie mates are flat out, haven't slowed down at all during the GFC. They are good tradesmen though, they do what they say they will when they say they will and have constant work up their sleeves.