Decorator stinks of booze.

[HelpMeOhMyWhat]

Put an advert up on Facebook as I needed a bedroom painting.

For content I'm on disability benefits so cannot do it myself and cannot afford the kind of decorator that you book through a website.

A guy messaged me on fb and showed me photos of his work, with him in photos so I knew it was him, he seemed nice and the photos were of a good standard work.

Because of my anxiety I asked a friend to be here so I didn't have to deal with a stranger.

She let him in showed him to the room etc.
I put him a brew on.

She got a call saying her kid needed picking up from school so she had to leave.

I took his brew up for him and he absolutely reeks of alcohol.

Reeks. My friend has zero sense of smell but I have no idea how she didn't clock it.

He came and knocked on the living room to to ask something and a few mins later the smell was still in the room.

He seems nice enough but I'm sat down here with my kids and my anxiety is through the roof.

I'm worried that it's gonna be a shit show and I'll be too scared to say anything.

Friend can't come back as her kid is vomitting and I don't have anyone else to call.

Please don't say I'm stupid. I've had lots of people do jobs off Facebook and this is the first time I've had an issue.

OP, this is awful. I think I'd ask him to come back and say overnight the paint has gone really patchy and can he come and sort it. However, I completely understand if that's too difficult or if you don't want to (SN parent here). He surely knew he'd done a shit job??

OP, you said yesterday that you were going to text the decorator when he went home to look for his cat and temp him not to come back. Is thst what happened and why he's only done a first coat on the radiator and woodwork?

No, I said earlier he came back and 'finished' the job.

He was here from 10am to 5pm with the 40min break.

Why on earth didn't you tell him, when he had gone to sort the cat, not to come back?

Someone who renovated properties told me years ago that lots of painter / decorators are alcoholics. No idea why and I thought it was an outrageous thing to say. Twenty years on I’ve experienced it so many times that I’ve learnt to paint and decorate really well !

Because by that point he had already done a few hours work.
I had got the cash out of my bank to pay him.

If I just text him not to come back he would have wanted part payment for what he had done.
He seemed nice but I know very well the way some men can switch.
How much would I have paid him? What reason would I have given, how would he have reacted to that.

He knows my adress, knows I'm disabled.

I just didn't want to piss him off tbh.

Maybe it's a throwback from my passed or my anxiety but I just felt quite trapped in the situation, especially without my backup friend.

Nope, but it’s the bit of the job that you’ve taken photos of. Did he finish off? Do send pics.

That's it's finished. That's it after he's been paid and left. How many times do I have to say that? Sorry but it's frustrating.
Someone else is coming today to go over it.