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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not pay this tradesman?

101 replies

hsegfiugseskufh · 21/06/2019 20:23

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.

To not pay this tradesman?
OP posts:
WhiteDust · 22/06/2019 10:35

Pay him 2/3 days pay (his day rate) minus cost of new work top and send him on his way.
Don't let him finish. He doesn't know what he's doing.

herculepoirot2 · 22/06/2019 10:50

Unrelated, but this “£££” thing Angry

hsegfiugseskufh · 22/06/2019 11:00

What?

OP posts:
herculepoirot2 · 22/06/2019 11:06

Can’t bear it.

hsegfiugseskufh · 22/06/2019 11:10

Why? Confused

OP posts:
herculepoirot2 · 22/06/2019 11:11

It’s just really irritating!

HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend · 22/06/2019 11:16

Modern extractors have filters, so the air gets reused.

He needs to rectify and pay for any damage.

You can’t not pay (he sue on a civil lawsuit) however you also don’t need to pay until your satisfied, email him with all your concerns that you want rectified.

HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend · 22/06/2019 11:17

Hercules Hmm £££pipedown£££

herculepoirot2 · 22/06/2019 11:20

HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend

Or... No, I will say what I like.

chuttypicks · 22/06/2019 11:24

He should have insurance to cover the replacement worktop surely.. if he's a reputable tradesman. You need to have a frank conversation with him about it.

CaptainButtock · 22/06/2019 11:49

Eh??! Your dp came home from work to a random woman on his property and didn’t think to establish who she was?!
Then enters house where man is fitting kitchen and sits in living room without getting update/ asking fitter how it’s going?
Have I read that right?

hsegfiugseskufh · 22/06/2019 11:57

Youre almost right! He didnt ask her who she was (i know!! Why???)

He came home and said hi hows it going and the guy said yeah fine.. and he went and sat down. The guy didnt tell him about the worktop issue when it happened, he messaged me instead.

OP posts:
CaptainButtock · 22/06/2019 13:12

Hmmmm... yep I’ll second what someone else said: Pay him his 3 days, minus cost of worktop, then bin him off.
Better luck with next person and chalk it up to experience.
Shitty unreliable trades deserve a special place in hell. (Still smarting from tosser who left me without a kitchen whilst 8 days overdue with DD1 Angry)

Jaxhog · 22/06/2019 13:15

Get a quote from someone else to finish it. Then subtract this from your first guy's quote and pay him that.

gamerwidow · 22/06/2019 13:19

Pay him his 3 days, minus cost of worktop, then bin him off.
Agree you can’t trust him now, any decent trades person would take the cost of the damaged worktop out of his fee. Hell my dad fitted my kitchen as a favour and even hd offered to pay when he cut the worktop in the wrong place (didn’t take the money obvs)

CaptainButtock · 22/06/2019 13:35

Came back to say that I forgot to say how nice your kitchen will be when it’s done....( eye on the prize, wish I’d gone for gloss white etc..)So was looking at your pic and....WOAH wait!!!Is that a window BEHIND the cupboard on the right??! Tell me not?!
•crosses fingers for op•

Candymay · 22/06/2019 13:43

That’s an incredibly cheap price. Maybe I’m out of touch but I thought kitchen installation cost thousands not hundreds. Really sorry you’re in this mess though. It’s the reason I do everything myself- I can’t cope with the stress of workmen etc etc.

hsegfiugseskufh · 22/06/2019 14:34

buttock no Grin its the old cold store / larder that we didnt brick up as we wanted to keep the space underneath for the microwave! I am not sure now that it was a good idea but hey it keeps the microwave off the work surface!

OP posts:
donquixotedelamancha · 22/06/2019 14:37

Maybe I’m out of touch but I thought kitchen installation cost thousands not hundreds.

We've just been quoted £1100 and £1500 for a kitchen double the size of that from big firms. We were quoted £175 for a day rate and a week to do the job. £140 a day and 3 days seems cheap but not ridiculous.

I agree that the work looks poor (though I'm no expert) and he has not done what he agreed. I think keeping him on is asking for trouble. I would:

  1. Confirm with the worktop supplier whether there is an issue with the worktop and (if not) what it will cost to fix.
  2. Write him a letter detailing the problems with the build and send it by a verifiable method as well as giving it to him.
  3. Explain in the letter that you will pay him the £140 x 3 for the days worked when the work is complete, but you will be deducting the costs of the new tradesman from this price.

There will be little left from your agreed price once the problems are fixed.

hsegfiugseskufh · 22/06/2019 14:38

candy none of the quotes i got were in the thousands! Except for the retailers.

If you add up the wiring, plastering, plumbing (dp did that in the end) its in the thousands though yeah

OP posts:
BrilliantYou · 22/06/2019 17:07

I think by law you need to give him the opportunity to put things right - rather than refusing to pay him.

Personally I wouldn't give him any money until you're happy. We had an issue with past kitchen fitter so I know how frustrating it is. Some of the things we didn't notice until after we'd paid such as no access to pipework etc.

Maybe pay 50% now and rest once you're happy with work? He has to pay for any damage too.

He sounds like a cowboy tho and I doubt he'd take legal action!

Candymay · 22/06/2019 20:27

Well I’ve really learned something here. I honestly thought that the fitting part of the kitchen- assembly of cabinets and installation of sink etc cost about 5k for a smallish kitchen! I now realise that all my diy didn’t save me as much as I thought!
When I asked two tradesmen for quotes I remember the day rate was in the hundreds with one of them and the other was someone John Lewis recommended and I remember it being really expensive.
Also when people buy new kitchens and the installation is part of it the whole thing costs so much - a friend spent around 15k- that I presumed it was 50 per cent tradesman cost. I don’t mean to derail with my rambling sorry but it is interesting- a revelation actually- that you can get this sort of help for a reasonable amount of money. Maybe I don’t need to do everything myself! I must add that I’m in no way implying you are not paying the correct amount for the work OP. I hope you get it all sorted. It’s so stressful I know.

donquixotedelamancha · 22/06/2019 21:28

When I asked two tradesmen for quotes I remember the day rate was in the hundreds with one of them and the other was someone John Lewis recommended and I remember it being really expensive.

I find I invariably get some quotes, when I source for any job, which are crazy- double or triple the others. I also find that kitchen showrooms are quoting double the cost of ordering the cabinets direct for the cost of a kitchen. I guess that represents the cost of running a sales force.

If you are dealing direct with a tradesperson £150-200 seems a reasonable day rate with perhaps 20-30% added when they are quoting fixed price for a job where they undertake the risk of errors.

hsegfiugseskufh · 22/06/2019 23:19

candy im glad something good has come of it!

OP posts:
Candymay · 23/06/2019 09:58

Ha sorry! Something good will come of it for you too. You’ll have this experience behind you and a beautiful new kitchen to enjoy. I put mine in in 2010 and I’m mostly pleased with it but definitely a few odd bits I never got around to fixing and finishing. But I think that’s always the case whoever does the job.
Another anecdote- my close friend who paid around 15 k for the same kitchen as me- wanted me to be at her house for the final inspection with the builder pre signing off the job. I saw that the worktop was damaged and she got a reduction due to this. Personally I could not have tolerated an imperfection such as that (couldn’t be fixed and though really small was also very obvious) I would have had to swap the worktop. She was happy with a reduction so it’s ok I suppose but I do all work myself because of my anxiety around imperfection and (neurosis) about tradespeople.
I really hope you sort yours out and have the beautiful kitchen finished soon.