To not pay this tradesman?

[hsegfiugseskufh]

Having a kitchen fitted. Small kitchen (see pics) units delivered built so presumably pretty straightforward.

Got a few quotes, chose one after looking at pics of his work. all seemed fine.

He said it would take 1 man 3 days or two men 1 poss 2 days. At this point didnt know if he could get a second man i said whichever is fine as would price the same either way.

He arrived day 1 (an hour late) with 2nd man. Put in bottom units, and 2 top cupboards. Was gone before i got home (5.30pm)

2nd day they arrived and left when i was out so no idea on times. Rest of the top units went in and the extractor however it doesnt extract to anywhere as theres no hole in the wall. Weird.

Day 3 hes on his own (according to him) dont know when he arrives as its after i have left. I message to say when hes finished pop the key through the door and send me an invoice and once i get home and see the kitchen ill pay it. No response. Assumed he was busy.

Dp got home at 3.15 to find a random woman sat smoking on our doorstep. We assume she was his gf. Wasnt dressed for kitchen fitting so presumably not his labourer.

Dp is now sat in living room for reference. Door open. Entirely approachable.

I message again (i dont know dp is home at this point) and he says its not finished hes had a "small issue" and took a chunk out of one worktop. I ring dp who tells me hes sat in the living room so why on earth hasnt he told him? Bizarre. Dp then goes to get ds from nursery. Tradesman tries to tell him about worktop but he has to go and tells tradesmen ill be home soon and to talk to me about it.

I get home.
Not much has been done since day 2. 2 filler panels have been added (one is damaged from the screw he has put in it) and the plinth (?) Thing that goes on the bottom of the top cuboard. Obviously worktop is fucked. Not saveable.

He puts me on the phone with a random woman who apparently works for the retailer i bought the kitchen from. She says oh dont worry theyve sent you the wrong worktops and waffles about the edges being wrong and i can have them replaced for free. I have no idea what shes on about as they match the plans.

He is apologetic but doesnt really say much else. Agrees with random woman about worktops.

I point out knackered filler panel and he says it came out of the box that way. It didnt, the screw has pushed the front from the inside. I tell him this. He says nothing. I say i will ring retailer and check what random woman said and order a new one and let him know when it arrives and what i want to happen.

I should also mention we have no kickboards, no holes cut for the taps or waste to come into the cupboards and we had to turn the sparky away who came to connect the oven and hob today because tradesman wasnt finished.

Aibu to tell him not to come back, and not pay him considering i will have to spend £££ on a new worktop and also £££ on someone to rectify all the issues and finish the job?

Neither me nor dp trust him to finish the job to a good standard now.

Thus is why you should use a company to fit your kitchen not manage the project yourself. Fitting a kitchen requires coordinating several trades and very rarely runs smoothly you need to give him a chance to finish the job but also need to be clear that he told you three days. You can certainly sack him but if you don't pay him you will be in the wrong and very few tradesmen want to finish someone else's job so you will need to plan how you are going to get it finished.

I’d be tempted to see if he has the audacity to send you an invoice. I wouldn’t pay him - I wouldn’t pay any contractor that has done that little and left you in the lurch. I do think you may have a responsibility to give him the opportunity to put right what he has done even if it’s wrong at the mo. But whether you want to is another matter! But I would be recording all conversations/emails/ messages from now so if it ever does turn legal you have some back up. I would be tempted to contact pointing out the facts: you said it would be done in X days but it isnt, he has 2/3 days to let you know how he’s going to put it right but if he doesn’t reply you’re going to find someone else. Don’t mention money or not paying at this stage.

Sheldon ive been fine at managing the whole renovation myself so far and its been fine. Everyone else has done what they said theyd do, when theyd do it and ive been happy with the results.

I could have had the retailer fit it for 3 x the price but i still would have had to get a sparky/plumber/plasterer in because they dont do it!

Fortunately this is the first issue weve had.

You could divide the amount into 3 to get a "day rate", pay 2.5/3 ish days of this minus the cost to put right work which has been poorly performed e.g. replacement kickboard and worksurface, any call out charge from the sparky and the cost of putting in an extractor hole.
I'm not a lawyer but I am trained in basic contract law for my job. This would fall under substantial performance, where you must pay for the agreed price, less a deduction for damages in respect of duties not properly executed.

He is not a kitchen fitter he is a cowboy. I have been through this, don’t pay him until you are satisfied with kitchen.

You don't pay for the new worktop. His insurance pays for the new worktop.

Send him a message saying "We need to discuss the situation. The price you quoted me was X. The time was 3 days. We've passed that now and the work isn't finished, the work which has been done is not at the standard it should be. The extractor will need to be removed and fitted again properly, and the broken itema removed and replaced. The pieces you have damaged will cost X to buy again. This will need to be paid by you and then you can claim on your insurance. You can then finish the job at the agreed quote of X. If you don't want to replace the broken items and complete the work for the current fee, then I suggest I use your fee to replace the items and I will then get someone else to finish the job so you won't be receiving a payment."

What's he said about the extractor fan not actually going anywhere?

Woman on the phone was probably his friend pretending to be customer service. I'd ring the customer service number and ask them to confirm.

I think you've been had. Don't pay until you're satisfied.

anna

Ok so his day rate is £140 so for 3 days ir would be £420. This is the max time he said it would take.

Less £209 for the worksurface and about £140 ish for someone to fix the issues (would need to get a quote obv but lets base it on 1 day at his day rate)

So that only leaves £71!

I would give him the chance to fix it if i thought he could but he cut the worktop in the wrong place! I mean hes got to cuut and fit 3 worktops! I have no confidence that he can do it to a good standard to be honest.

I wouldn't pay until he has finished the job. However, I think you need to give him the opportunity to finish. When everything quoted in the contract is completed to your satisfaction I would pay him for 3 days work. Tell him now that is the case. It is his fault he has underestimated the time needed and messed up some things.

There is no way I would pay for time he takes to rectify things he's cocked up. (e.g. Recutting and fitting replacement worktop, filler panel that was damaged or pelmet (not plinth) on upper cupboard. (FYI, Plinths are what you are calling kick boards).

Regarding the cooker extractor, they don't all have to have an outlet to outside. If may have a carbon filter and recirculate air. Unless you specifically requested it be vented to outside in your contract then it probably is acceptable as is.

hilts

I said i didnt see a hole outside where does it go and he said no we didnt do that. I said why and he said something about most people dont bother (do they not?) And we probably dont need to. I said i wanted it to go out. He still hasnt done it.

I don't think you can just decide you don't have confidence in him fitting the work surfaces. I think you need to allow him to rectify the issue.

Also, as a PP said I don't believe he spoke to the kitchen retailer. Speak with them yourselves directly.

With the extractor surely it depends on the type you have bought. I have an extractor which has its own filters so it doesn't go through wall as I couldn't do this in my kitchen. The fitting price seems v cheap though and I think you clearly get what you pay for.

I wouldn't worry about the extractor. Recirculating the air is fine, really. A vent to outside often just messes up the aesthetics, especially if you like symmetry.

Im just worried he will fuck it up again and ill have a shitty looking kitchen and be even further up shit creek :(

He wasnt our cheapest quote!

I would rather it went outside as theres no window in the kitchen only patio doors which i wont be able to have open like you would a window!

I am glad its not a major issue if we dont / cant though!

You pay peanuts - you get monkeys.

Classic case of somebody trying to get something done on the cheap and then not happy when it goes tits up, did you honestly believe you can get a good tradesman for a paltry £140 per day?

marmite like i said he wasnt our cheapest quote and i checked out his previous work. For putting in pre built cupboards i didnt think it was really cheap tbh.

Was the £140 per day for one man? Or for 2?

You said 1 man would take 3 days or 2 men would take 1 day... but it would be the same price? So what is he actually charging; per man per day? Just per day?

He said it would take him 3 days on his own max. And thats what hed charge me. He said it would be quicker with 2 but would charge me the three days. He didnt know initially if he could get a second man.

He did for the first 2 days. Didnt tell me this until they turned up on day 1.

I have realised i was stupid to agree to anything that wasnt a quote.

You pay peanuts - you get monkeys

Absolutely.
But also not having a proper quote and agreement should have set alarm bells ringing straight away OP.

You can say they’ve breached the contract due to lack of skill and substandard work. You’d have to pay for work done so far but could then pursue then in court to recover your losses. If you go this route then you need evidence, photos etc to prove why you’ve lost faith in them and won’t let them make good.

If you’ve chosen and bought an extractor that is meant to extract through a hole in the wall then it needs a hole in the wall. It will have come with installation instructions detailing the size and position of the hole. Can you find the instructions to check?

Yes, i know that now!