To not pay the handyman working in my house

[TaterHater]

The full amount agreed?

Very brief back ground

Agreed a price and duration of work with him
Asked him if he needed any additional materials (answers no)

He turns up 2 hours late on Monday to complete a one day job he

-goes off for 2 hours to look at another job
-ends up with the wrong tools (meaning his system is not “dustless” and the mess is unbelievable (even after cleaning)
-applies dustsheets so badly there’s crap everywhere

• tells me the parts have now changed and are more expensive so he’ll have to charge me extra

-runs out of materials meaning I have to go to fetch more (as I didn’t want him disappearing for another 2 hours) -breaks a number of tiles (which I have to take time out of my working day to source and buy) -incorrectly time manages (because the way you do things with this varnish is different from the last floor I did)

It’s now Wednesday- I’ve had to take 2 days extra from my work

I think it will end up looking good- he’s done a decent job eventually he’s been woefully ill prepared and inconvenienced me in time and money

Am I being u reasonable to tell him I’m not prepared to pay him the full amount

I’d like to take off £90 for extra materials and several hours of running around town to source the stuff that he should’ve had all along.

Its a difficult one this cos on monday he broke the contract you had with him by being late etc but you let that go and he is still there.He would have been out of a job just for that at my place! He has repeatedly gone about his business with no thought for you but I feel its too late now ..Grin and bear it if the work he is doing is up to standard if hes making a balls of it let him go and hire someone more reputable..I think the fact that it has run on to wednesday means its a bit late now...sorry OP I totally get where you are coming from though.

It sounds like the price he agreed was woefully low if it has taken two days extra labour. Do you really feel it reasonable to expect three days labour for free over three days for the price of one?

You have had to take an extra 2 days annual leave. I think £90 off the bill is definitely fair.

Thanks for replying Sally

The floor does look so much better than it was an I agreed with him on that.
He’s gone off to fetch a final thing (don’t expect I’ll see him till after lunch) that being the case I’ll ask him to take his things and leave .

I don't think you have the right to pay him less. However, if the original quote included the cost of materials, it is unreasonable for you to have to pay his original quote AND additional cost of materials on top.

Based on my expert knowledge acquired through watching literally hundreds of Judge Judy episodes, I think you should pay the full amount - sorry.

You had plenty of opportunities to sack him, but continually allowed him back in to cause more damage - therefore you didn't prevent yourself from accruing damages. You could have dismissed him before he even arrived onsite and cut your losses at one morning of missed work.

You had plenty of opportunities to renegotiate, but instead kept your head down and recalculated a new contract based on what you think is appropriate. My bae Judes wouldn't agree with that.

That said, I have absolutely no actual legal knowledge and this guy sounds like a right tosser - but is the aggro of underpaying, the admin and the inevitable kick back really worth £90?

Yanbu. He sounds pretty useless and very unorganised.

Not on!! We're always getting the handyman out to repair damage to our property (clumsy DH ) and if they don't fulfill their end of the bargain they don't get their hands on the clams until they do. x

Sonders your post really made me laugh

He was not happy when I gave him what I thought was a fair price and he shouted at me and stormed out Of my house breaking a photo frame on my wall.

A couple of hours later he apologised and offered to pay for a new frame and told me he wouldn’t have paid him what I did if someone had balls up working for him in the same fashion hmmmmmmkay.

Lesson learned- the floor does look great - and I’ve lost out on work as I’m self employed - I understand what PP has said about cutting my losses but that would’ve meant having a half sanded floor then having to find someone else and take more time off anyway

Thanks for the feedback.

Years ago we had a builder in to do an extension and driveway. He sub contarcted the driveway to another guy who proceeded to break 3 fence panels.

I complained to the builder who did the 'it wasn't me' routine so I withheld the last £100 pound. Soon fixed the fence panels.

I think if the job is done well then you need to pay him. these days labourers seem to work to their own time schedule and the fact he turned up at all should make him qualify for a bonus.

OP, you're not in Manchester are you? We've had exactly the same issue.

Yes!

Oh! It was similar with us, we had someone do a poor job, used the wrong varnish so it was streaky. Hassled me for payment hours after leaving. Had to come back as the work wasn't done properly. It took six weeks because he kept cancelling and lying to us about him having equipment. We're in South Manchester. We managed to get a 40% refund because the job was so poor but that took nearly a year. Feel free to message his name to me xx

@Sonders 'if you eat the steak you pay for the steak'....... :)