AIBU to be annoyed about my new shower?

[Kittybythelighthouse]

Hi, I just got a brand new shower plumbed in and the handle is cracked - just a cosmetic ceramic piece but annoying all the same. The plumber said it was like that when they opened the box. I did look at it when it was delivered and I’m sure I’d have noticed that, but it is possible that I just didn’t notice it. If it was cracked when they went to install it I’d have expected them to say something so I could have returned it. As it stands they didn’t say anything, went ahead and installed it, and now I can’t return it. It’s not the end of the world of course, but it does bother me. The shower was over £300. Am I being unreasonable? What would you do? Is it possible to get that little ceramic bit replaced? I think it’s just going to bother me every time I see it now.

I hope you're able to get it completed properly but I think the pps who've referred to getting ready for court and that the builder won't pursue you for the £5,000 are right.

You aren't living in the house so you can go round and video the faults as well as making a snagging list with pictures to illustrate your complaint. Has the contractor got a website?

Those socket pictures look like the "before" shot. How they can be happy with their work on that is beyond me.

That’s truly dreadful. So very sorry. I doubt very much you’ll be pursued for the outstanding £7k which should go some way to getting it put right. You need to get compensation for that lovely fridge too. They’re bastards.

Father in law came round with builder friend (we would have hired this guy in the first place but his wife has a compromised immune system post cancer treatment and they were isolating all summer). Basically everything is a mess. The shower isn’t even plumbed straight. None of the walls are straight/level. Every single thing is a disaster. They didn’t even replace the flat roof/ceiling on the utility room like we paid them to - they just patched and skimmed it! FIL’s builder friend says he will get his guys to sort it. Not to give the builder anymore money (of course) send him an email copying in my solicitor with photos of everything and also make a video. So we are doing all that tomorrow. FIL’s nice friend is a bloody good builder and I trust him when he says he will put it right.

Father in law says we should take him to the small claims court to get some of the money we already paid back, and we will speak to our solicitor about that too.

Forgot to say they also polished off our two bottles of whiskey and brandy left over from Christmas! No wonder it was a mess.

OP, sorry for your experience.

I've had several dodgy builders myself and the last lot (paid by insurance) were the worst of the lot. I am still in dispute with my insurance co 2 years on but here's a few highlights:

• damaged lots of my furniture when placing in storage
• stained a brand new carpet the day it was laid

-painted the walls about as well as I would - got paint all over window frames, no straight line wall to ceiling, poor finish on woodwork -insisted my original kitchen had to be refitted, so ripped it out, stored it for 9 months and were then surprised they couldn't refit it

• then bullied me into agreeing a replacement kitchen which they wouldn't let me make any changes to whatsoever from the original even though I was happy to pay the difference
• tried to bully me into accepting a cheapo MDF kitchen even though the original one which they had seen was solid wood.

-stole Christmas presents (or left the door open for someone else to steal them)

• fitted the wall cupboards at different heights because they 'thought it looked better'

Installed the built in oven at floor level because they didn't know how to fit it above a drawer (I shit you not) Sealed all round the worktops in black silicone which looked like marker pen ie completely fucking ridiculous. Then redid it at my request in clear but only removed half the black, took some of the wall paint off too and the clear silicone was so badly applied most of it has now come off

I think there's more but that's the highlights! It was a year of hell made worse because we had to live in the house throughout as it was 'only' the kitchen and dining room!

Hope you get yours resolved quicker than I have 🙂

Oh my god! Fatorok! That’s awful! Our insurance tried to scam us big time. They offered us £1800 at first and it took ten months of haggling to get that up to £14,000 which wasn’t even covering all the work that needed to be done. I’ve already had ten months of bs over that and now this too 😭 we thought we would be moving back in next week. I’m extremely thankful for my FIL and his friend. Both worth their weight in gold and we will be getting very good Christmas presents this year.

*getting them very good Christmas presents I mean.

It's only writing it all down that I realise how bad it was. I was cooking in basically a portable kitchen on my driveway for nearly a year. But at least I insisted on then providing that, at first they told me to claim the cost of takeaways!

I've had so many poor experiences with builders I thought that letting the insurers sort it all out would be easier. It wasn't. If anything it was a lot worse.

The irony of it is I actually work indirectly for the insurers in question. You'd think they might have done a better job in the circumstances!

Glad you have some support. I was on my own trying to sort mine out, felt I was going mad because the builders and insurers kept making out like I was being the unreasonable one in complaining!

Oh no! I’m sorry to hear all that, and that you were all alone. It’s a bloody bugger when builders and workmen try to intimidate us, use our female socialisation/desire to ‘be nice’ against us, then if we get annoyed and fight back we are probably labelled ‘Karens’. Bastards.

OP, I mentioned this in a previous post but please double check you are whiter than white as far as the law stands before you spend any money with another builder in the expectation that the current builder will have to compensate you. I 100% understand why you don't want them back anywhere near your house, but I do think they have to be given the opportunity to remedy issues in the first instance. (With apologies if I'm wrong on this, but please do check).

Thanks MaggieFS. We aren’t expecting them to compensate us for money already paid, but I don’t want to give them any more money. I don’t trust them anymore.

@Kittybythelighthouse we have been in the same position as you. I got quotes from another builder, who like you wasn't available to do the work when we started. A three week job took 16 weeks. I sacked them on the final (6th) deadline day I gave them. I thankfully had withheld 25% payment, I used the quotes to show how much it would take to complete the job, and told him to sling his hook. The guys who rectified the job were amazing, and I've recommended them to others, and five different people have used them since.

Don't back down. It'll be worth the battle, eventually.

Does the builders name start with C?

OP it looks crap its broke yes but the worst part is the tiling / cement bit!. I'd be fuming. Mine doesnt look like that.

Omg, sweetheart, I’m so sorry for you. 😢 This is horrific. 🙁 I’m paranoid about workmen, having been let down so much. I sacked my tiler when he’d done about a 1/3rd of the bathroom and stuck on loads of tiles at angles! It looked so awful. When I confronted him, he claimed that the walls needed re-plastering-so why not say that before starting? I was super fortunate to then employ a perfectionist tortured artist, swear to god, he was like an old fashioned artist

You’ll get there, but unfortunately, you’re going to need to have a lot of that work re-done. Just channel your patience and use your fil’s pal for an amazing finish, it’ll be worth it.

Queenie8 the builder’s name starts with a G! Thanks to everyone for your help. It has been invaluable. My FIL’s pal is an extremely decent man, as is my FIL. I would trust either with my life and they have already done so many things to help both of us across the years. My husband is in broadcasting and I’m an academic, we don’t have a clue about anything construction related but obviously we aren’t fools either. My FIL’s friend will restore the whole thing to what it should be, including re-doing work where needed. He said he would and I have no doubts about that at all.

Hi @Kittybythelighthouse just came across this again and wondered if the original builder had anything to say for himself in the end? Hope you're on the way to getting it all fixed ok!