I've been scoping out a few different home renovations recently, and I'm surprised how difficult it is to find a reliable human being who'll take my money in exchange for a service performed.  Just getting someone to pick up the phone or call back can be a pain in the ass.  One contractor answered his cell phone with a loud, "HELLO?", and I assumed I had the wrong number.  Even he seemed a little unsure about why I was calling him.  You're a contractor, right?  "Oh yeah, what do you need?"  *eyeroll*

Then there's the issue of getting a person to show up for an estimate.  Look, I get it.  Estimating a job is easily the worst part of the whole deal.  You're essentially planning out your livelihood and work schedule, with the very real possibility of the customer going with a different contractor.  But hey here's an idea:  Show up to my house at the desired time on the desired day, or let me know if you need to reschedule.  I'm not a slave driver, and I'm not in a rush.  But when your "truck breaks down" and you happen to "lose my number" (this was an actual excuse), you've just wasted my entire fucking Friday afternoon, asshole. 

Finally there's the estimate, which "you'll get in a day or two."  No problem; I'm not in a rush.  A week goes by; where's the estimate?  "Oh I emailed it to; it's probably in your spam folder."  Do we really need to play this game?  It's not in my spam folder; you didn't send it.  Don't be a shithead. 

I just don't get why this needs to be so difficult.  I'm trying to give you money.  Take my money!  I have money!  Take it from me in exchange for doing a job!  Why contractors are so shitty when it comes to customer relations is beyond me.  Look, I get that your job is construction and demolition and not sales, but if you had put in a fucking ounce of effort in this, you'd have about $7000 extra in your pocket right now. #business