Not paying painter due to carpet stains?

[Reasonswhy]

Starting off with - I’m the most under confident person in the world so any form of potential confrontation feels so hard for me, appreciate I may be making a mountain out of a molehill.
Had a painter out this week to paint 2 rooms. He said on Monday he woolr
get it done that day, but has taken 3 days as said he had other jobs chasing him and his apprentice off sick - fine, no big deal. He finished today while I was out, and I’ve come home to an ok job but it’s patchy still in places and the carpet in one room has a lot of paint on the carpet 😢I’ve attached pics of the smaller areas - for some reason the larger patches pics have been flagged as sensitive😂The areas are damp and slightly white so he’s clearly already put something on it to soak it up which isn’t worked.
I summoned up the courage to call him and he sounded defensive from the off, said he was coming back to finish the darker blue room which had been a “nightmare” as such a dark colour. I told him about the carpet and he said oh is just a dribble? And I said no, there are lots of areas and given they are damp I’m guessing you knew about it and put something down- I just need to know how to get the paint off. He said he’ll sort it over the coming days and rang off.
What do I do? He left an invoice for £680 including materials asking politely for it to be paid within 48 hours. I don’t want to pay it in case he doesn’t come back to fix it, and I don’t think the paint will come easily unless he has a magic solution. WWYD? Do I deduct something from the amount to cover carpet cleaning? If so what would be reasonable? Or will this cause a confrontation?

ugh. TIA

And just for your reassurance OP: you are NOT making a mountain out of a molehill!

Confrontation is not pleasant but he is really in the wrong here.

Pay him half the amount. Then get him to resolve the matter.

Bad advice. Do not pay him half the amount. It could be deemed that you have accepted the job as finished. 340 quid and he's never seen again.

You will have no leverage to 'get him to resolve the matter'.

We had a decorator in, and he used some sort of sticky back plastic stuff. He then showed us the rooms he had done and asked if we were happy before he sent invoice

Wow, that’s bad. It looks like it’s two areas too.

I wouldn’t pay either.

How new are the carpets and how much were they? Do you have receipts?

I do a lot of painting and I’d always use a dust sheet with an inpervious backing or plastic sheeting especially with that colour.

BTW it’s a beautiful colour.

Cowboy. Any professional would ensure they didn’t damage your belongings. Do not pay. Keep detailed pics. Get carpet cleaned, offer to pay MINUS cost of carpet clean. Any reasonable person would suggest the same. (Ps. I hate it when trades are pass remarkable. It’s my choice ffs. Do t take the job if the colour is too difficult for you. So annoying.)

Thank you all so much for such helpful responses - blown away by them.
He messaged me to say he’s popping over at 6 to sort it…given he obviously tried already as the patches are all damp I’m not hopeful but will see. Going to stay strong thanks to you all and refuse to pay until it’s sorted 🫣

Don't be pressured into accepting it if you're not happy. I know that's easy for me to say, but he has screwed up and needs to put it right.

Will try and respond to messages later - a few answers- there are 5 patches but one really large one 😥especially upset as I’ve saved up for so long for them as a treat for my kids and just feel he’s done a botched job and tried to cover it up 😥which doesn’t sit right with me.

Poor advice ….that way you are accepting the service

5 paint marks is beyond shoddy for someone charging money. It’s madness.

Was he doing it blindfolded FFS??

Fair enough. On second thoughts it would be more difficult to resolve.

Best to with hold payment altogether then.

£680 to pay for two rooms including the materials?? It’s a bargain! We paid much more just a year ago!
Was he a professional painter and decorator or a handyman? Price is so unbelievably cheap and he was being careless that’s why I’m asking..
Also, to replace the carpet (underlay, carpet itself, the job) would be about £600 for a small room in our area….

Can he buy you a new carpet?

Pay for a professional carpet cleaner - they will be able to get that out - and then deduct the amount from the invoice - assuming your happy with the work

I would be really upset about that too, maybe ask him to take off the bill the cost of a professional carpet cleaner coming to try and save the carpet from the paint marks? Hopefully he has some way of getting it off, if he does please let me know as I have a little paint stain in the corner of ours (caused by someone who lives here though) 😂 x

That won’t come out with cleaning! You need to get a price to replace it and the fitting costs and take that off the cost of the paining work.

no decent tradesman sends the bill before he’s finished the job!!! He’s not planning on coming back - if you pay him you won’t see him again

I wouldn’t do this because he would then claim that it was your attempt that meant the stain wouldn’t come out.

Say you are getting a professional carpet clean and he will have to reduce his invoice to pay for it. Who paid for the paint?if he paid then I would pay for it if he produced a verified invoice. So his invoice for the actual work would be reduced by the carpet clean and the paint.

My DH has his own painting and decorating business.
He has said some darker colours can be a "nightmare" when covering white walls or newly plastered walls however a professional should know this and factor that in to their time and pricing.
He has definitely made a mess and looks like he has had a spillage tried to cover it up in a panic and the fact he didn't inform you is dishonest. He would reduce his invoice if one of his lads did this. Definitely refuse to pay and/or ask for some sort of discount

I would have that professionally cleaned and ask that the cost be removed. Our local guy is great at getting stains out (as long as he knows what it is) and he takes £40-50 for a large room.

Id tell him you will pay within 48hrs of him completing the job as agreed. And that currently its not complete. That the patchiness needs fixing and the stains need removing for it to be complete.

If he cant fix the stains (im not hopeful) id reduce my payment

If hes difficult or your nervous get a friend/parent/partner to support you when he shows up

@Reasonswhy - could you tell me what paint and shade that is please? That colour is just BEAUTIFUL!

Not beautiful on the carpet though. Completely agree that you don't pay a penny until the job is complete - which involves a clean carpet. If he can't get the stains out, you don't pay him until you've had someone in to clean the carpets professionally - that might cost more than expected and you shouldn't be out of pocket for this.

We had a plasterer last year who covered the walls, floor, and doors in plaster - he was only there to do the ceiling - so I completely feel your pain. Very, very annoying and unnecessary!!

He should have insurance for this so he can pay for a new carpet.

Do not try to or offer to get it cleaned yourself. Do not touch it. he pays his chosen cleaners to get it sorted and you insist it is perfect or it will annoy you forever. Tell him you will pay when the job is finished to your satisfaction and that includes the clean up.

If he can't fix ask him about getting the carpet replaced with his insurance cover.

If you have legal cover on your own home insurance, that will be your next step if he doesn't sort it to your satisfaction.

I doubt that will come out completely, even with a professional clean. He's also scrubbed the paint in attempting to clean it up which won't have helped. I'd be furious. I've painted my entire house and never made that much of a mess, and I'm not someone who makes money from decorating. Don't pay the invoice until you've resolved this.