cowboy customers!

[andynmaz]

forgive me if not in the right topic - please advise and i will re-post!

Help Please!

I have recently undertaken a 5 week job to re-fit 3 bathrooms in one residential property.

I am no means a professional tiler and the customer appreciated this but never the less agreed to my estimate covering installation and completion of 3 bathrooms including tiling. - They supplied most of the materials - i have an outstanding bill of £3100 of which £1000 is materials related to sanitary wear - not tiling.

On my last day - and last few tiles - they asked me to leave site - (at lunchtime!)
saying my tiling was not upto their standard!

I have since spoke with them on several occasions to try to come to some agreement to move forward - i have had 3 professional tilers visit and confirm they can make good - i am prepared to cover this cost.

The customers want everything ripped out and replaced at my cost for tiler and new materials - which is greater than the original bill and won't budge!

Its become really nasty - from the offset they have made it clear they want cheap cheap cheap and now they have finished room - some small imperfections - £1000 of my materials and bobs hyour uncle! I have tried all reason but stuck!

Advice please! thanks in advance!

 

[Andy Allen]

why have you taken on a tiling job, when as you have said your not a tiler..?

 

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

i just don't get why you took the job on in the first place if you are not a pro ?and i think sounds like you have come -unstuck my advice would be walk away before they take you to court as well......

 

[AliGage]

Above.....so true.

But how bad is the work in your opinion? You say small minor imperfections. If they're minor, surely they'll let you rectify because they'd be satisfied with the rest? Did you take any pictures?

 

[afright]

That's what happens when you think you can do someone else's trade, lesson learned.:lol:

 

[Martino]

Why are you guy's being so harsh on this guy?....He is only trying to make end's meat like a lot of us here?.....Dont tell me you havent done ANYTHING you are not qualified to do?....If so then you are extremely lucky to afford the various trade's rather than doing things yourself.

 

[Gazzer]

I am afraid that if you charge for your services the client deserves a professional job.
Ok so we cant see what the issues are here but maybe they are small to the OP but what if we saw them and agreed with the client. We are back to only hearing one side of a story !
As for the OP saying that they wanted a cheap job then shouldn't alarm bells ring ?

 

[Time's Ran Out]

There are customers out there who are professionals at this and it's difficult to spot them at the outset! However to advise them at the beginning that you are taking work on that you don't have the experience to undertake is just inviting a problem. If you have all the documentation go for justice and issue a CCJ.

 

[afright]

Why are you guy's being so harsh on this guy?....He is only trying to make end's meat like a lot of us here?.....Dont tell me you havent done ANYTHING you are not qualified to do?....If so then you are extremely lucky to afford the various trade's rather than doing things yourself.

I understand that times are hard and you might have to take on other trades jobs but if you take something on that you no little about and you **** it up you have to take the flak for it I dont think that's harsh as I said lesson learned.

 

[nybor62]

i have no sympathy for you or the customer, your not skilled enough ,and they probs wanted cheapest quote

 

[AliGage]

I don't think your going to recieve much sympathy here. However, lets have a bit more information and maybe a picture or two and we'll see if we can at least help you out of a sticky situation.
Every customer wants the best possible price, it's human nature. Just learn from the situation, No-one wants a cheap job and a poor finish, they will all still expect perfection because your a tradesman, regardless of actual skillset.

 

[foggy34]

have you completed the other two bathrooms then, and was outed on the last day on the 3rd?

 

[afright]

You say that you had three pro tilers in to look at your work why didnt you employ them in the first place ?

 

[Two-Trowels]

forgive me if not in the right topic - please advise and i will re-post!

Help Please!

I have recently undertaken a 5 week job to re-fit 3 bathrooms in one residential property.

I am no means a professional tiler and the customer appreciated this but never the less agreed to my estimate covering installation and completion of 3 bathrooms including tiling. - They supplied most of the materials - i have an outstanding bill of £3100 of which £1000 is materials related to sanitary wear - not tiling.

On my last day - and last few tiles - they asked me to leave site - (at lunchtime!)
saying my tiling was not upto their standard!

I have since spoke with them on several occasions to try to come to some agreement to move forward - i have had 3 professional tilers visit and confirm they can make good - i am prepared to cover this cost.

The customers want everything ripped out and replaced at my cost for tiler and new materials - which is greater than the original bill and won't budge!

Its become really nasty - from the offset they have made it clear they want cheap cheap cheap and now they have finished room - some small imperfections - £1000 of my materials and bobs hyour uncle! I have tried all reason but stuck!

Advice please! thanks in advance!

For what it's worth mate I'll reserve judgement until you post some pictures - seem mighty strange to me they never moaned until the last few tiles.

 

[Dan]

I'd say A) you shouldn't have been doing a professional tilers job. B) customer shouldn't have encouraged it, especially as I'd assume their house isn't a small one so I'd guess they don't skrimp on other luxuries perhaps (might be wrong there) and C) It could have been a fiddle right from the start if they've waited until you've finished and then wanted a professional tiler to come and replace everything at your cost.

I'd walk away, and stop tiling.

Not sure how you got this job but I hope it you don't advertise as a professional tiler, and if so, perhaps you've got what was coming.

I'll say all that without seeing pictures, and if you can get pictures and the work is up to standard, I'll eat my hat and say the customer is just fiddling you.

 

[AliGage]

I'll eat my hat and say the customer is just fiddling you.

This does happen. But at the end of the day if your doing something your not competent at doing then you've got no cause for complaint if the customer isn't happy. Regardless if you told them your a tiler or not.

I know how to do electrics, i worked on 3 phase generators whilst in the Army. Still got a sparks out to wire up the UFH i'm on at the moment. Because i'm not qualified and have no come back if something does go wrong.

I wonder if your insurance covers you for tiling work? It all does sound a little suspect if you've done all the work and they've waited until your finished before picking fault. But first an foremost they should ask you to rectify. But in the same respect, you've come here for help and since you haven't had the warmest of welcomes you've not been back despite everyone still offering to help. That in itself seems a little suspect. Maybe there's a lot more to do. Who knows.

 

[Dan]

I'm just saying they could be fiddling mate. Could be.

Why wouldn't you clock the substandard work beforehand?

And to be honest I'd not even be expecting just standard if I lived in a house with three bathrooms, as we know it's the room after the kitchen perhaps, the bathroom gets the most money spent on it whilst at the same time increasing value to a property.

Perhaps I'm not able to see this from the customers view to be fair. The last guy I employed to do tiling was Phil Hobson and he was obviously pretty awesome. So anything less than that even on the first wall to go on, I think I'd clock I don't want the whole room like that, let alone three rooms.

 

[AliGage]

Couldn't put it better myself Dan. Huge house, cheap is one think, but skimping on quality of craftsmanship. In such a house does beg a few questions.

 

[kilty55]

hi andy,can you post any pics of what the complaints are about or even the finsihed room for us to see to help you?

 

[nybor62]

no matter how big or small the house is everyone deserves quality , if you cant deliver , then get out

 

[cam_low]

nothing further heard on this ?