AIBU - Painter has painted onto glass of windows?

[Sunandsea13]

Hi all, we had the kitchen painted and the painter has painted the wooden windows too. They are 2 windows separated into 4 panes/8 in total. In all of them there is white paint onto the glass, not even straight just sloppy at the sides/uneven. It’s about 1-2 cm. The invoice is £480.

The wallpaper is also not a complete match in places, but I can live with that.

YAIBU - remove yourself with a glass scraper

YANBU - ask the painter to fix himself

Absolutely shocking and I wouldn’t pay a penny for that. When you say you are worried about his reputation it’s not like you are bashing a good bloke, you’re providing a factual response that his work isn’t very good and not worth paying for. If I was a local person I’d want to know!

My son decorated his room when he was 16 and had no experience of hanging wallpaper. It looked better than this OP😱

Say you want a significant reduction in the bill as you will need to hire someone else to correct his work. I wouldn't want him back in my house. If he refuses put it on Facebook and tell him he will have to take you to small claims court as you won't be paying him

I wouldn't let him fix it

You will not learn to live with the wallpaper. It will be the first thing you see when you walk into that room - believe me, I know.

It's a cowboy job, but I think your walls are slightly convex which might make it impossible to match up the pattern. I suspect that's partly why the wallpaper is coming away on the corner.

What were they like? Do you think they might turn nasty if you complain?

That's upside down. Leaves go up not down

That is appalling quality work. Are you sure this person is a professional and not an amateur masquerading as one?

Hi everyone, to answer a few questions:

• He is a reputable professional painter. He’s done work at neighbouring houses including painting all of the outside of one and that looks good, he’s in all of the local papers etc. He is in his 60s so should be very experienced. I always take time when finding someone and don’t go for the cheapest person.
• The £480 was for a full day 8:30-4 then second day 8:30-12:30. It includes supplies.

I would prefer he not come back. Is it fair if I offer to pay half the cost £240 fair to cover his time on the first day painting and cost of paint etc?

He was fine, it was just him. Not very talkative but I have a new baby so was busy with them to be honest. He didn’t seem unprofessional in any way.

Have you emailed yet?

I wouldn’t mention the discount in the first email. May come across that you’re trying for money off. That gets people’s backs up. I’d just mention you’ve noticed the paint needs tidying up and you wanted to ask about the paper match.

Better to ask in person what he suggests. Hopefully, he’ll apologise and offer to rectify it. If he doesn’t that’s when I’d mention money off. Though bear in mind, it takes a lot with two people to perfectly match wallpaper. It’s a real skill.

I think the wallpaper can look upside down as the pattern goes both ways from the centre, so depends where you look: the flowers point both up and down.

Legally, you're not entitled to money off unless you give him a chance to rectify. You'd have to negotiate and hope (!) that he isn't familiar with consumer laws:

56.(3)A consumer who has that right and the right to require repeat performance is only entitled to a price reduction in one of these situations—
(a)because of section 55(3) the consumer cannot require repeat performance; or
(b)the consumer has required repeat performance, but the trader is in breach of the requirement of section 55(2)(a) to do it within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer.
(4)A refund under this section must be given without undue delay, and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day on which the trader agrees that the consumer is entitled to a refund.
(5)The trader must give the refund using the same means of payment as the consumer used to pay for the service, unless the consumer expressly agrees otherwise.
(6)The trader must not impose any fee on the consumer in respect of the refund

Found some more issues -

Omg, that's terrible! I did a far better job my first and only time I've ever wallpapered. I watched 2 YouTube videos first!

That is not a professional job, when you wallpaper, you turn corners with the paper you do not cut and patch it, which has been done very poorly in this case. He might be great at painting an exterior of a house, but he should give up wallpapering or get proper training. I know some wallpapers can be difficult to work with, but honestly this work is unacceptable.

That wallpapering is horrendous.

Thanks all, just wanted to check I wasn’t being a princess about it! I am sending off an email first asking him to fix it and if he doesn’t want to fix it, then a significant price reduction. Will update with his response if any!

You say he's a professional, has done other work you've seen, and seemed pleasant. So I agree with the suggestion to text him saying you are unhappy and see what he suggests.

Looking at the standard of his work it's hard to believe he does this for a living and customers are happy with it. Having said that, I had a painter/decorator who I got to do exterior paintwork and realised I'd never have him do anything indoors as he was too untidy - but good enough for outside.

Christ that’s horrendous! I wouldn’t be paying a penny. I painted a window in my house and even I knew to mask tape the glass and use a cutting in brush.

As an aside, you can get paint off a window without scratching it using a copper cloth.

Holy fuck that is ridiculous! I have never wallpapered a single thing in my life and I guarantee I could do a better job than that.

I had a similar experience - see thread on it here

I offered the "decorator" two options - for him to buy new wallpaper and do the job again, for which I would pay him the agreed original sum, or I would not pay him at all.
He chose to be not paid. The cost of replacing the wallpaper would have been more than the cost of his labour.

I didn't feel guilty.

Good luck. That really is shockingly bad.

Mother of God but that's awful work.

Did he seem drunk at all? Genuine question.

You need a professional job done, having a price reduction still leaves you with a bodged job you'll never be happy with.