Using my name to get discount.

[White Room]

Blimey DI CC, good post though mate

 

[cornish_crofter]

Thanks guys.

Let me not deceive you, I am not always this measured - I wish I was.

 

[Spud]

Although i agree with cc and compliment him on an excellent post i wouldnt hold your breath about getting the job,the bottom line is this bloke went behind your back and dealt directly with your supplier pretending to be you , thats just not cricket old man ,what he will do now is call about 20 tilers to get the cheapest quote and will use them,he is untrustworthy ,cheeky and sneaky ,you were lucky to have caught him out, do not trust this man be warned, the next thing you will find is that you are in a dutch auction being played off with several other tilers, best thing you could do is go and collect the tiles, after all they were purchaesd by you sean kelly, weren't they? lol

 

[Colour Republic]

best thing you could do is go and collect the tiles, after all they were purchaesd by you sean kelly, weren't they? lol

That would be funny, the guy turning up and saying 'Hi I'm Sean Kelly here to pick up my tiles" and then Topps saying " But you've already picked them up Mr Kelly"

Maybe that's the way to go and when he works it out and rings you, say you were in there anyway and thought you'd save him the trip because you're a nice guy like that, so when do you want them fitted?

 

[cornish_crofter]

That would be funny, the guy turning up and saying 'Hi I'm Sean Kelly here to pick up my tiles" and then Topps saying " But you've already picked them up Mr Kelly"

Maybe that's the way to go and when he works it out and rings you, say you were in there anyway and thought you'd save him the trip because you're a nice guy like that, so when do you want them fitted?

The only problem with that approach is that Sean will have to pay for them, and if they were a special order he may be stuck with them.

Gary, I see what you say, but as I said earlier, we don't know that the 'customer' pretended to be Sean, We only know that the tiles were ordered in his name. There is a difference, which may be significant. That's why I'm saying tread carefully.

 

[devonmark]

lets be honest here, you're not going to get the job, surely if you're the one who's going to fix the tiles he would have asked you to meet him at the shop to enable him to get a discount, as opposed to going behind your back using your name..

 

[doug boardley]

Sean, I've just re read your post, and there are a few facts within that are important here.

I may have to retract what I said earlier....

1) He gave them your name, we know this but we don't know that he said he was you. After all we all know that Topps rang YOU.

2) The tops sales assistant said he served you, whereas he clearly didn't. Whilst he thought he may have been talking to the real Sean Kelly, how do we know that the customer actually claimed to be you, rather than give your name when asked "who shall I book them under?"

3) More importantly, Topps phoned you when the tiles arrived, not him. If he really was being naughty, he would have either tried to get them to phone him, or maybe have hoped to pick them up before they phoned you. I would be interested if he had given them a different phone number and tried to get him to phone that instead of you.

4) You don't know for sure why he didn't asnwer the first time. He could have genuinely been out. If he was trying to avoid you and remembered your number a few more calls from you may have gone unanswered.

Either he genuinely wanted you to do the work and was trying to line up the tiles for you, or as a lot of people here believe, he wanted to use your name to get the discount without you finding out.

Chances are if he was embarressed, he was either hoping not to get found out, or he may have gone ahead without thinking, then reflected on it afterwards.

I would actually contact him and ask to meet him to discuss it. He has already told you that he wants you to do the work, so denying your request to let you go to his house may be difficult for him. You could for example spin a line that you "want to discuss grout colours/lines etc before you commence the work, whilst this won't make any difference with the quote, it would be useful to help decide the best preparation for the job."

When you get there:

1) Take along your diary to book the work in. Then when he awquardly picks a date, then ask him for a deposit.

2) Explain that you would still be happy to do the job for him, but that ground rules would need to be sorted.

3) Explain that whilst customers do sometimes pick tiles up on behalf of the tilers, it is considered courteous to discuss this with the tradesman before hand.

I actually think that a matter of fact approach to this may resolve it, get an apology and get the work in for you.

If he turns around and says that he has changed his mind and wants someone else, send him and invoice for facilitating his purchase, explaining that customers who simply want to buy through the tilers are levied handling charges.

I had a similar thing occurr to me recently, with Topps. I had a quiet word with the customer and he apologised. It was another member of his household who went over my head. I was already doing some work there, but this was for an area that I wasn't working with.

I simply explained that if they wanted to try to get my discount (that I had negotiated for them) with another branch of Topps it would have been mutually benefiicial to discuss it with me first.

1)
topps should check identity otherwise tom, dick or harry could claim to be acc holder
2 ) has this guy got a photograpic memory?
3)hardly gonna give his own phone number if he's pretending to be sean!
not even going to bother picking more holes with this guy. At the end of the day he's a freeloader, getting what he can, treader. basically imo a T****R

 

[chris.tiling]

Great post CC, but I still feel the guy is off elsewhere to get a tiler. Follow CC's ideas and try to get him confirmed with a date & deposit asap Sean, then if he wont play ball, tell Topps he wasnt authorised for your discount and get them to charge him full price (if he hasnt already paid for them). They will be quite happy at increasing their margins!

 

[Sean Kelly]

Argh. I just typed a lengthy reply and my pc froze. I only had 2 more characters to type! This is a shortened version: Thanks for your replies so far lads. Cheers CC for your observations and comments. I text the guy in question yesterday. I said I was sorting out my diary and wondered if he had a date in mind for the tiling work. I have not yet had a reply. If I do not get the job then I will definitely go down the route of a strong letter containing the words 'Fraud' & 'Dishonest'. I would also expect to receive 50% of the discount he obtained. This job is worth £1200 to me. However, all the signs are there of it being a nightmare contract. Then again, this guy might not even think he has done anything wrong. It might just be the way this character operates. How else can he afford a big detached house in Chalfont St. Peter? I will also have a word with the Manager at my local Topps to find out the policy on trade discount. If I remember correctly I had to visit 4 Topps Tiles shops before I was able to get my discount card. Anyway, I’ll keep you posted. Thanks Sean (the real Sean Kelly!)

 

[cornish_crofter]

I take it he has picked up and paid for the tiles.

If so, then I wonder if Topps would send him a supplementary invoice on the basis that he was incorrectly charged as a direct result of the information he gave.

If you do go down the strong letter route then I would get as many facts in order as poss, do NOT shoot from the hip.

I would suggest you block your phone number and call him at a time you think he will be less busy.

If he is avoiding you I would go so far as to post his details here so that other tilers can be wary. Indeed it may be a good idea for this forum to start a dodgy customer register.