As a handy person, when you take off for training rather than doing jobs booked and don't make any effort to reschedule, you're unreliable and unprofessional.
I'm the customer in this situation and I'm pissed off. I waited all day yesterday to find out by reading Facebook that the guy went to a training thing without wondering if he had work to do on that day.
I contacted the service his company works through. They're looking into it, but I already know where he was. If I don't hear something soon, or get a flimsy excuse, I'm going to finish it myself and never bother with them again. Deals are only useful if things actually happen.
And customers don't particularly like having their kitchens torn apart for longer than necessary. I had a friend take time out of his day to help move my stove. It's sitting in my dining room unusable.
I'm not waiting around all day today. I need paint and epoxy putty to fix my cabinets. At this rate, I might as well paint the cupboards before putting the floor down. Is this better? Maybe. But I was just going to wait and use really good drop cloths later.
And I still have to figure out how to get the last bit of trim up.
The bottom line is that a customer shouldn't need to project mange a handyman who's already got a service that is supposed to be helping him keep track of his jobs. A business owner should be able to handle their responsibilities in a professional way. If there's a conflict, you get in touch and see if the customer can work around the conflict. You do this as soon as you know about your conflict. You immediately check what else is on your plate and then communicate or even see if there are alternate training days.
Being reliable is part of being a mature adult. Otherwise you're like a dead beat parent. The one that forgets to show up for games and recitals. The one that leaves their kid waiting at school in the rain.
And I should be writing instead of any of this. I'm going to do some of that first. I'm only a couple thousand words away. I've thrown in complications that should help me get there. Why are the last few words always the hardest?
I hope that in a couple of hours I feel better about both.
Salut,
R~