People take the p***

[penno]

Just been around to do a quote for a bathroom for an old woman who said she wanted me to sort some tiling out as another bloke had messed it up. Walked upstairs and just stood there with my mouth wide open. When i say a bad tile job you would just not have believed it. Her walls are covered in ripped up pieces of carboard as no spaces have been used. Some of the cuts around the bath have about a 3 inch gap, of which the bloke told her "won't see them when it is grouted and siliconed."
Asked her which tiler had done it "no he isn't a tiler he is a plumber but told me he could tile". Poor woman had tears in her eyes. I touched a tile that was around the sink and the thing just fell off, dabbed adhesive on the back and it was soaking wet.
Wish i could have taken a pic but the camera has packed up on me (left the thing in the van and think the cold has buggered it).
She is going to have a chat with her son tommorrow to see if they want me to do the work (wisely so cause this clown has ripped her right off), so if i get the job will deffo get a pic of it when i go after xmas.
Asked her how much she has paid for the tiling and to have the sink,bath and toilet fitted to which she replied "no idea, he said he couldn't give a accurate price until all the work was complete" Luckily her son threw him out and told him he can whistle for any cash.

 

[DHTiling]

well done to the son i say.....these type of peeps(so called tradesmen) are out there and always will be...

 

[White Room]

At least no cash changed hands but dos'nt take away the standard of work, I've got to admit I don't think I've seen anythink that bad as described, would love to see some pictures if you get the chance Penno:mad2:

 

[Yorkie]

Yes, unfortunatley your spot on dh and although they eventually fall by the wayside there like viruses so another one always comes along to fill the space.
Needless to say when you stick to a top quality finish and a professional manner, from your initial appearance right through to after service customer care (just a quick phone call to check there happy even though you know they are:smug2: ) is what sets you apart from the rest and reputations quickly grow.
Never ever compromise
As for the cowboy , hope he chokes on his Turkey!

 

[tysfoot]

thats such a shame and a sad time for that woman. Its horribe for you aswell as i bet you dont wont to quote a high price but you have to make a living.

Let me know how it goes

 

[Varley]

I know how you feel, not so long ago I went out to quote a bathroom for a very elderly couple, just had a new suite installed, disabled bath etc. Plumber had made a right effing balls up and charged what I consider an excessive amount, over £3000.00 to put in a bath, sink and loo, pretty much just a straight swap, no re-piping or anything like that. Anyway he had told the couple that the existing tiles could be tiled over, oh boy was he wrong. When the plumber had installed the new bath he must have knocked the top row of tiles off, which is fair enough as it could happen...trouble is he effing sellotaped them back on, can you believe that! Talk about dangerous. The taps moved when you turned them on and off so you had to hold onto the spout, probably leaking under the bath but I couldn't see, the toilet cistern was loose, i checked it and he had screwed it to the wall, just hadn't used any plugs. Anyway the tiles were in no fit state to be tile over and I explained that I wouldn't do it as I considered it a safety risk to them, the tiles would have to come off.
Not really what you want to hear when you've just had a new bathroom suite installed, messy job. They were absolutely gutted. After I had explained everything the old man was great and appreciated my honesty but they just didn't have the money left for that amount of work (as I expalined they may need a plasterer once the tiles were off). However when we went downstairs and he explained this to his wife, she sat in her chair and cried, I swear to god it took everything in me to hold back the tears as her husband went over to comfort her, if I ever bump into that plumber I will ****ing kill him, you mark my words!!

 

[davy_G]

Similar thread but not as bad, went to quote a small bathroom, for a friend of a friend. Walked in with no prior knowledge, the plastered walls where down to the scratch coat in some places and the plasterboard was full of holes or had adhesive all over it.
I tried to remove some of the residual adhesive but it was stuck fast. I asked him how long it took to strip the old tiles. It turned out another 'tiler' had done it and basically took off when he seen the state he left the walls in and wont answer his phone! I said the room needed plastering after replacing the plasterboard or sheet out with ply. Told him my price to fix the tiles only and he seems shocked. I thought it was a good price but our other 'tiler' must have been giving himself away. Shows what you get if you pay peanuts! I gave him the number of 3 plasterers but have not heard from him since!

 

[devonmark]

Not had anything like this myself but these stories are why I say to potential customers "if you require any references, I will give you a list of phone numbers of previous customers so you can ring any of them and enquire about the person who did their tiling" only one or two have taken up the offer but, the offer helps give confidence..I do ask customers first, if in the future anyone wants a reference would they mind if I gave their number.
Have seen a plastering job in a living room, the customer was happy with it, my 8yr old would have done a better job..this living room made the alps look flat..Mark.

 

[CLAYS TILES]

too many people see the old as easy targets!
these so called tradesmen need to be NAMED & SHAMED in local papers etc.:furious3: