Not happy with tradesmen work

[greattaerg]

Hello,

My parents have had their floors sand and stained at a cost of 4.5k. The floors are much darker than expected. They wanted them to match the landings which look like natural wood.

They were out of the house so didn’t see the staining being done until it was too late.

What rights, if any, do my parents have to recourse? Would be grateful for any insight.

Thank you!

Did they not agree the colour at the beginning? For this sort of thing (carpets/paint etc) it is usual for the client to order or name the product they want the tradesmen to use.

Thank you for replying.

There was a misunderstanding/communication error. The gentleman applying the stain did not speak particularly good English. My parents asked for it to match the landings as close as possible but the testing patch was much lighter than the landings so my mother asked for it to be a bit darker. I think he must have misunderstood what she meant.

I can’t see they have any come back really, they have spent lots of money on a trade that can’t communicate?

I don’t think there’s any comeback really on this sadly either.

They should have done test patches and agreed a final colour with the tradesman, particularly with communication difficulties.

‘A bit darker than that’ is not clear enough; even with fluent English, 10 different tradesmen would probably come back with 10 different colours!

If they were keen to get a close match, then it is really on them to have purchased several tester pots, painted it on a small patch and chosen one.