Simon Read: Why do so many tradespeople seem to enjoy ripping us off?

Last month's St Jude's Day storm knocked a few tiles off our roof. We got off relatively lightly compared to those on the south coast but it still meant making a few repairs.

Now I'm not one for clambering about on the roof. I still remember the sad demise of Rod Hull, of Emu fame, who died from a fall from his roof after he'd clambered up there to adjust his aerial during a football match.

I'm never going to risk the same fate befalling me, so I'm on the blower trying to sort out someone to do the job for me.

To be totally honest, I'm completely useless at any form of DIY. I'm all thumbs, which means that if I put up a blind, it's only a matter of minutes before it falls down.

But trying to track down a reputable roofer is a nightmare. One told me brusquely: "You've called at the wrong time, mate. I'm busy for the next few weeks." Gosh,my apologies for calling when I actually needed your help!

Eventually I – actually, it was my wife – did manage to book one who agreed to come out within two days, albeit first thing in the morning. (That's 8am in our house. We're not totally up with the larks!)

When he cancelled on the day because "it's too wet", I should have known there would be more problems ahead.

But I'm a trusting cove so simply agreed to him returning when he could – more than a week later.

When the day arrived he turned up 15 minutes later than the agreed time of 9.15am, which is no big deal.

He got on with the job and left the house the same time as us, at 10am, and agreed to send an invoice.

That arrived this week. It was interesting. He charged for his time and, somehow, the 45 minutes he spent inside my house and on my roof had turned into an hour and a half.

Presumably he thought we would simply pay it. Not a chance. Negotiations continue but there's no way we'll pay over the odds.

Apart from the bill, the job seemed a good'un. But I will warn all and sundry to avoid the firm in future because of the little bit of creativity on the invoice. I'll tell everyone the firm is not to be trusted.

To be honest only a handful of tradespeople I've ever used have seemed trustworthy. The majority appear to be focused on squeezing as much cash out of me in the shortest possible time.

A few Christmases ago, we returned home to discover our boiler had packed up. It was Boxing Day so it proved very difficult to find anyone who was prepared to come out.

Eventually one local plumber did, only after extracting the promise from me to pay a £75 call-out fee. In cash, of course.

He took a cursory glance at the boiler and proclaimed: "It's gone. You need a new boiler." He quoted £2,000 for the work and promised to return later to sort it out.

Luckily a friend that night recommended another plumber. He came round next morning, replaced one small part and charged us a tenner, refusing to accept any more. If only all tradespeople were like that.