to be annoyed with these workmen and want to say something...

[salempickles]

Having windows fitted today, the quote we got for 5 large windows and have gone with is a good price but i said at the time the fitting is nearly as expensive as buying the windows. Its dp's friend fitting them and he gave us the spiel saying well theres only 2 of us doing it etc. dp said it was fine, i was more sceptical as id got a few other quotes who all said it would only take a day, these said 2 days (hence costing us more in fitting) wasnt the cheapest quote we got but dp wanted to give his mate some work, thinking he'd do a good job.

i now know why they quoted 2 days, 9am they arrived - were meant to be here at 8. took out 2 windows, had half hour break sitting in van, took out other 2 windows, rang to see where new frames where, would be an hour so had hours break and sat in van with lunch and papers, put all 4 frames in, half an hours break currently reading the paper in van again, all they have to do is put the glass in and repair the plaster they have knocked off.

tomorrow will probably be exactly the same but with 1 window instead of 5 to justify the 2 days work we have to pay for. im actually fuming that a mate would take the piss - hes an old school friend of dps i hardly know him, but still he knows were struggling, im 8 months pregnant, and just feel like hes blatantly taking the piss! aibu to say something. i hate being taken advantage of, and now i have extra hormones to use up on someone too

If the overall cost of the windows, including parts and labour, compares well with other quotes you had, then I think it's up to the installers to decide how they want to approach the job. You were (presumably) happy with the quotation, so I think you should judge them by the standard of the job when it's finished.

Don't underestimate how long it will take to tidy everything up tomorrow. If they do a thorough job of making good and cleaning up, this will be well worth paying for.

Id really love to agree with you, but i had an inkling his so called mate was a time waster.

half an hour ago he popped his head round the door to tell me the glass wouldnt be here till friday, my bedroom has no glass in it, just frames and a heap of mess. they have now gone off to wickes (nearest is 40 mins away there, 40 mins back) to try and get some plywood to board them all up till friday, they now cant come till friday afternoon as they already had a job scheduled for the morning.

aibu to just kill them both??

NYANBU I'd have committed murder by now!! Friends or not, that's taking the piss big time :(

If you have a quote and a written schedule, take pictures of everything, note times, refuse to pay and go to sols. Also they should pay for plywood and your insurance may be affected by not having windows in.

If you have no written quotes and timescales etc were agreed verbally you're stuffed or will have a real fight on your hands. DH arranged this as a favor, he needs to step up and sort it out with his "mates", not cos he's a bloke but he arranged it and you're 8 months pregnant and may kill and eat the workmen.

Have you paid him any money yet? I would deduct money for every day he goes over schedule ....mate or no mate !

Just out of interest, have you paid them anything yet?

If not, don't. Not yet. Make them wait til your next payday etc, and then pay in dribs and drabs seeing as they're putting the windows in, in dribs and drabs. And I expect they'll try to bill you for the plywood and extra fuel for them going to Wickes and back too. Not your problem, they booked the job, they should have made sure they'd got all they needed, including enough time to do the job.

MY DH is a self-employed plumber/joiner. He quotes for a job, and will not stray from that quote as far as is reasonable practicable. He also doesn't accept or ask for payment until job is complete and customer is happy. If he quotes for fitting a kitchen or bathroom and quotes for 5 days work, then he will charge only 5 days work plus materials regardless of whether it takes him 5 days, 10 days or what....... If it only takes him 3 days, he will still charge for 5 as that is what was quoted, but that does not happen as often as i'd like it too ;) once in a bloody blue moon i think !!

Sorry halfpastwine you beat me to it with that question!!!

I also would make deductions to the amount you pay as per the extra time its taken. If they don't agree, just tell them you've got Melinda Messenger's number and they're filming a new series of Cowboy Traders!!!!

Oh and tell them this after they've completed the job, make sure it DOES get done that way!!!

No, i havent paid them anything at all yet and wouldnt till it was all completed anyway, after having my house renovated the past few years and working with various workmen i can honestly say these are the worst ive ever come a across, i sacked my builder once as i found them plastering with my butter knives and refused to pay him the stupid amount he was trying to charge.... im now 10 times worse than this hormone wise and yes, if im left to speak to them again i may just eat them black widow style!

dp is on his way home now so he can deal with them when/if they return. the only ray of light is that they have only removed the upstairs bedroom windows, if it had been downstairs and they were trying to put plywood in them they wouldnt of been able to walk to their van for the violence i would of unleashed

Don't stress yourself honey, let DH deal with them xx

Then again, who's argue with a raging 8 months pregnant woman?

We had an entire house worth of windows (5 wide, 2 narrow) done in a day. Seriously shit to leave you without glass. Did they say why it's been delayed?

What sort of halfwit takes a window out without checking that they have the replacement on hand (i.e. actually in the back of the van) ready to fit?

Where exactly my point, their excuse was they ordered the frames seperately to the glass so different companies, i checked last night on the stickers on them all, exactly the same bleedin company.

dp handled them last night but cos there old mates spent half the time chattin about people they used to know, haha hes not in charge of paying them though so if i dont think theyve done a good job they wont be getting what theyre expecting, still to see what there plastering skills are like too, and if its anything like there window fitting skills i seriously doubt they will be getting paid at all.

still waiting for them to arrive, were meant to be here at half 8 ! i think today may be the day you read about the murder of 2 window fitters by a crazy pregnant lady!

They are definitely taking the piss.

I had 7 large windows fitted in one day.

They are taking the mick, why on earth did they take the windows out, if they didn't have the glass

We had 5 windows and a door fitted in one day by 2 men, then they came the next day to fit the other door and fit the bits of plastic on the outside of all the windows that make it look nice, but they were all totally waterproof, weatherproof etc before they left on the first day, it was just tidying up, making them look pretty, to do.

There was no mess at all inside, maybe a tiny, tiny bit of dusty, rubble to hoover up, and they cleaned all the windows at the end of the job.

Hope you get it all sorted soon.

Will be watching with interest today!!! Hope they turn up soon xxx

their excuse was they ordered the frames seperately to the glass so different companies, i checked last night on the stickers on them all, exactly the same bleedin company

Who cares where the glass is coming from, same company or not, you don't take the old window out before you have the frame and glass for the new one literally in your hand/van surely. No excuse at all.

Last night i forgot to add they rang around 6ish to say the glass was ready and they were on their way to go and pick it up instead of the ply, thankfully was all sorted, not thankful for the amount of stress they caused me yesterday though,

So far todays exploits have included:

arriving at half 9, they were late because they had to go and pick up the window sils and stuff to put it in with, fair enough.

within half an hour 1 of them had cut their hand (karma??) so was wandering around looking a bit pathetic, told him to go wash his hand to see how bad it all was, then he shouted me and asked if i had a plaster - we only had the spray plaster stuff, so he sprays it on (ive used it myself, it bloody stings at first, so was patiently waiting for his reaction) didnt realise he would nearly cry and start shaking his hand about.

then he goes off in search of a chemist that sells plasters, leaves his mate to tidy up the front frames so they look ok from the outside (poor lad actually has done most of the work the past 2 days). cut hand man comes back, i ask are they going to take the old frames and he umms and arrs then i say well when you DO take them and dispose of them do you mind taking this with you (gave them another piece of old wood, and no chance to say no).

its off to plaster now i think, keep going up to check every now and again, had to remind them to put dust sheets down on the carpet before they started taking the glass out, i also had all the back done 5 large windows and 2 sets of patio doors, al within 3 days, these are really taking the piss and i cant wait for the time to pay them comes around

Not wanting to add to your woes but they sound a complete shambles and not at all competent so I do hope they are FENSA registered otherwise your local council will be after you for a fee as well!

Yes make sure you ask them for your FENSA certificate before they are finished. if they haven't got one/ aren't registered you should threaten to report them to trading standards too x

I can't be the only one waiting for a follow-up here! :)

No I'm waiting too!! Gonna check news at 10 for anything on murdered cowboy window fitters

Well????

Well..

they shouted me up yesterday to tell me they had finished, i came up to check and lo and behold they had actually done a good job, still a bit of plaster work to be finished but they had done the bonding and are coming back to skim the rest on monday (they would of come back today but i had to go into work and didnt trust them alone in the house). still think though that 2 and a half days work for 5 normalish windows is excessive but i told him so. couldnt help myself when he said hed have to come back i just said god, your really dragging this job out arent you, didnt get a reply just a grunt. Later on he asked for a bit of money to tide them over, i said i hadnt had chance to get to the bank yet but id get it for monday when they come back finish off, bring the certificate round and clear the old frames away.

the look on his face was priceless, he then said he hadnt planned on clearning the frames away so i said how do you expect an 8 month pregnant woman to get rid of them then, and id have to have a word with dp cos if were now bring told we need to clear them ourselves were going to have to take the money out of their payment to hire a skip - suddenly getting rid of them for us was no problem He never mentioned anything about the certificate, it was me who thought of it only as i have all the certificates from work weve had done (rewire, back windows etc) if he doesnt turn up with that im also going to have to deduct that from the bill.

So no murders just yet, stil time on monday if they piss me off again, got a bit anoyed that i had to hoover round everywhere after them when they could of asked for a hoover to borrow, but on the plus side im loving my double glazing it almost drowns out the screaming from neighbours in the street who were next on my hit list to kill

Yanbu !!! I got a friends DH who was struggling to find work a big job in my house when my ceiling caved in.. It was obvious he was trying to rip my insurance off.. The insurance got wind of it and made him drop the quote.. He quoted 2 days to reboard my ceiling and had done in 2 hours I felt the same absolutely furious !!! He also ruined my carpet in my lounge by not covering it !! We now no longer speak ! It's a shame but I was just so !! Well done for sticking up for yourself

Thanks for the update! I'm glad they did a decent job, but am completely over the idea that he'd think it would be alright for you to get rid of all the old window frames. Good that you put your foot down.