Difficult customer

[Worzilgummidge]

My tradesman dh has carried out a tiling job for a customer he did at a really cheap price has he is trying to build up his reputation.
So far he has a fair few happy customers who have given great reviews.
Unfortunately I'm not sure if we are currently experiencing the customer from hell.
He finished thier bathroom tiling job and the guy and his wife both came and had a look and said it was nice and paid up dh did his best to clean up and wiped the tiles over and they seemed nice and clean.
So on arriving back home he is bombarded on WhatsApp saying what a mess the tiles are with grout stuck on them the tiles are textured ridged so obviously grout as ingrained into the pattern obviously when dh wiped them over they where wet and once dry the grout haze etc came to light.
The guy was saying how can you leave a job like this and that his tiles where wrecked with blown up pictures of grout on tiles.
Dh acknowledged some responsibility for maybe not cleaning them so well and arranged to go back next day to clean them up well I also went to have a look and to be honest all that struck me at the time was how good it looked yes sure there was some grout ingrained.
Dh worked most of the day cleaning them up and at the end the guy took a look and said yes it's fine although he spotted a pin size of grout and pointed it out but he said no problem and thanks I came and wanted to have a look but the guy wouldn't let me see for some reason.
So again on arrival home dh is bombarded on WhatsApp about how he has wrecked his tiles and he has to pay somebody to come and fix it and that he should never do this to anybody else's bathroom and to stay away from grouting.
So what you think are we at fault.

I agree with other posters, no way it would be reasonable for a contractor's wife or any other family member/friend to inspect, apart from anything else the bias is pretty obvious! If, as you say, textured tiles are difficult then he should have explained that to the customer prior to commencing the job and let them decide whether to take the risk as well as discuss how any issues would be dealt with...When I've had work done the people doing it discuss it with me and any problems as and when they arrive, so we can find a mutual solution/reach an agreement on what to do/what's acceptable...if they didn't/haven't then I don't reuse or recommend them and on one occasion I fired and replaced someone for not doing so and leaving me with a problem to deal with. When a job is done well I pay the fee and add a bonus in recognition.

Most people employ professionals to do things they can't do or couldn't do as well as a professional, the fact that your DH discounted is neither here nor there, it's not much of a benefit if the job was done badly. I agree with the customer in this instance and think your DH should see this as a learning opportunity.

YABU.

We've had similar and I'm still pissed off.

Paid the higher going rate for this area, and although he gave the tiles a cursory wipe over when he'd finished they're still hazy/dirty from the grout and I keep finding silicon lumps everywhere where he didn't wipe up spills whilst they were wet.

I have mobility issues and arthritis and I'm struggling to clean it off myself and my oh hasn't the time atm as he's snowed under at work. (We had several rooms/areas done and he left the clean up until last, which he'd said was fine to do, although the jobs took about 4 weeks in total).

The upshot is, that almost a month on I'm still trying to clean his mess up, even though he said that that was all part of his service.

MadameDD if you're just going to make up entire conversations based on what you "think" might have happened then fine but in that case I'm going to leave you and your imagination to get on with it.

Also, until the tiles fully dry they do look clean. It's when they dry fully that you see the smears or haze.

The tiler actually told us that himself at the start of the job and said that's why he would always come back the next day to polish them up and he was paid for that as part of his quote/service.

That's why we didn't see it until he had left and it had dried fully.

Problem is, he wouldn't come back and unfortunately, we'd already paid him. Believe me, we've learnt our lesson.

Op these people will tell neighbours friends and colleagues

This is a farce

If it's Porcelanosa Japan tiles I feel your husbands pain. We had our bathroom fully tiled in two colours of these.

The grout did leave a haze once cleaned and our (very experienced) bathroom fitters told us straight away.

The next day they cleaned with again with a solvent designed for tile grout removal which made a huge difference.

There are still a few small dull patches which occasionally catch the light and I scrub them with a stiff plastic brush which gets rid of them.

jetadore - there is honestly no way I can tell how OP's DH spoke to his client but I can well imagine having dealt with countless tradesmen myself the blag some of the disreputable ones give - not saying OP's DH did say this at all - but if he's starting out, trying to give a cheap job etc... I can imagine him trying to blag it.

There's a reason now why for plumbing and electrical work I employ a properly trained technical college/uni French man whom I've known for years over the cowboys I've had in the past. He also recommends tiler people if I need them. Or I can use people the local tile shop recommend.

You jetadore must be a tiler or know a lot about it to have such knowledge of the fitting, cleaning etc of them - but it's not just about that as other posters have said. Even a cheaper person starting out as far as I recall if they're decent does a good job in the first place, every time or else people complain, don't recommend you etc. And also if you're a tiler or know someone who is one or is a tradeperson then you know exactly the blag and flannel they'll speak to prospective clients in order to get a job.

Are the french known for their tiling skills?!

OP I run a trade based business with my husband, we have had 9 years of dealing with customers. On the whole excellent customer feedback 99% of the time customers are very happy, but sometimes things do go wrong.
just consider this:

1. Dont get defensive, things do go wrong sometimes.
2. You need to remember that you may never get that customer back or ever make them happy now the job has gone wrong.
3. Remain professional - I have never been involved on the odd occasion things have gone wrong, My husband (the tradesman) and the customer deal with it between themselves.
4. You will never stop learning, when things like this happen learn and move on.
5. Remember this is one bad job he has dealt, many others have been good and most potential customers are balanced when looking at reviews.

If you are stressed about this so early in to him going on his own you are going to hate him being self employed. You need a lot of resilience, very thick skin, loads of drive and to be able to turn things round positively when they go bad. In short toughen up op, learn from it and move on.

Thanks for the advice quiet