Help!! Carpet fitter has just stormed out. AIBU?

[whenskiesaregrey]

Sorry for rambling state of this post, I am a bit upset about the way I have just been spoken to. Also, sorry for the length of the post, I just want to include all the detail.

I ordered some carpet last week to be fitted today. It is a local small carpet shop, not part of a chain. They offer a 'free fitting service', but you pay 75% of the price in the shop, and the remainder once fitted. I presume this is because they sub-contract out the fitting. In my case this was £150 in the shop, and £50 once fitted. I have bought carpet and fitting from this shop before, and the fitting service wasn't great, but they said they were using a different company that day, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt and ordered from them again. In the shop, I mentioned the problems I had had last time (punctuality, not taking old carpet away) and asked for reassurance that the service would be better this time. I was assured it would be.

Carpet was due to be delivered at 9am. At half past 9, no-one had turned up, so I rang the shop asking where they were. I was told they had has a couple of problems this morning and only had one fitter on instead of two, and they might be able to fit me in a 2pm today. I can't do that time as DS has a party 2-4pm, and I work Wed-Fri, so this morning really was the only time this week that was suitable. I explained to the man on the phone that I has problems last time, and was told it would be better this time. So he said he would move some things around, and fit me in about 10am this morning.

At 10, two men arrived to fit the carpet. In the bedroom, the furniture we had left in there was a double bed, a wardrobe, and chester of drawers and two little side units. We had been told in the shop not to worry about moving any furniture out of the room, that they would move it around the room to fit it. DH had taken the mirrored doors off the wardrobe to make it lighter to move, and we had moved all of the other usual bedroom stuff out of the room. The chest of drawers were half empty, just had underwear in them. The bed still had the bedding on it because I didn't think it would make any difference. The little side units did have things in them, but they really are very small, so I thought they be okay. I am 27+ weeks pregnant with PGP, so it is a bit difficult to move things around.

He went to the bedroom and looked around and sighed. The said, you're going to need to get those clothes out of that wardrobe. There wasn't very much in there because we are getting new wardrobes, so it was just a few things to keep us going until the new stuff arrived. I said I would move it, but it shouldn't make much different to the weight. He said if he tried to move the wardrobe, it would collapse, which I said wasn't true as we have just decorated, and have been moving the wardrobe around so we could get to the walls. But I still carried on moving the clothes. He then started opening the drawers in the chest of drawers, which have my underwear etc in. I said the drawers are almost empty, so the underwear shoudn't make any difference to the weight. He then picked up the small unit and dragged it around the room in a way that the drawers all fell forward and the unit nearly tipped up. I said to him that I would move it if he was going to move it like that, and moved the other unit out of the room. He then said 'look love, I'm doing you a favour here, I could leave you to move it by yourself if you want'. By the point, the other lad had turned the double bed up on to its side and was leaning against the window. I said to the first lad that I understood that he has obviously had a busy morning and he didn't have much patience, but I had been waiting for the delivery too. He said 'no patience?! I shouldn't even be here. I'm not staying here and taking this. Do you want me to go'. I said to him if he wanted to go, he should go, but it's his job to fit the carpet. He shouted to the other lad, 'right, we're off', stormed down the stairs and got in the van. The other lad looked a bit sheepish, and I said 'so is he just going to go, leaving the bed on its side and all the furniture like that'. I am quite obviously pregnant, and DS was playing downstairs and shouting to me, so it was obvious that I would not be able to move the furniture back. He said he would have a word with him, but once he had got in the van, they drove off. So the bedroom is left with the very heavy oak double bed on its side, a unit in the middle of the floor, and they left the door open as they stormed out.

I rang the shop and explained that I thought the fitter was very rude, and what was going to happen now. He said that they had done me a favour by moving the other appointments round to fit me in at 10am, and they were wasting time on the phone at the moment, and other appointments needed to be done. He then said it is in my best interest to be flexible with the delivery time, because I wont get my £150 deposit back, because they have ordered the carpet. I then tried to reiterate how rude the fitter had been to me. Apparently the fitter had told the lad in the shop that I refused to move anything out of the room, and that is why he left. Now, if the shop had explained to us to make sure wardrobes were empty, drawers were empty etc, then we would have done it. We told them when we ordered it it was for a bedroom, so you would know the type of furniture would be in there. But we were told that we did not need to get any furniture out of the room, the fitters would work around it.

Was I being unreasonable to the fitter? Is it true I can't get my money back on the carpet? I don't want that fitter back in the house, he really was so horrible to me. I understand he has obviously had a busy day, and I said that to him, but at the end of the day, that isn't my fault and he shouldn't take it out on me. I also don't like the suggestion from the shop that they are doing me a favour by re-arranging the delivery for me, when I have paid for a carpet and fitting, and that is what I expected.

I am pretty upset at the moment, which is probably all pregnancy hormones. I got a bit upset on the phone to the shop, so he said he would ring me back 'when I had calmed down'. So I am waiting for them to call back now. Where do I stand?

Thank you if you read this far!!

You have paid 150 pounds and have nothing to show for it. The fitters were very rude.

We have had a huge issue recently with an independant company. We had to do everything through trading standards, working towards the small claims court. In the end it didn't get as far as the small claims court as VISA gave us our money back.

The tea question was to anyone and the answer gives a good indicator of peoples attitudes in general towards trades people.

Isn't that theft? Taking 150 pounds of someones money and not providing the goods?

takingiteasy - presumably however the supplier didn't tell the lady that she could leave her cupboards full? Neither did she double check that this was the case before she booked her new kitchen to be fitted?

eurochick, I understand what you are saying but again, she had specifically asked for a service where the carpets were fitted around the furniture. A service that is fully advertised. No doubt because both of them felt this was easier given the circumstances.

Why advertise a service if you don't expect anyone to take advantage of it? And why confirm with the customer about the service and then not inform the fitters? That's not the fault of the OP. I'm sure if you book and pay for a removal service that included packing of all items from the drawers you'd get it and not be told that they presumed you'd just do it yourself anyway.

I always offer tea! You get a much better job done. My husbands fave job recently was an extension for a compulsive baker, he gained about 7lb in the 4 weeks he was there!

yes do everything in writing i agree. and do everything by the law - contact trading standards or citizens advice to find out how.

"TheRhubarb To me its about what your attitude towards workmen/tradesman is, thats why I mentioned the tea."

Oh sorry, that wasn't addressed to me personally was it? Strange then that it should have my name in it. Oh well!

And fwiw yes I have had tradesmen in, including carpet fitters and yes they all get a brew. A proper Northern brew at that. And if I've cakes around they get offered those too.

Sympathies! You should not have had to move any furniture - especially given that you are expecting. I think the point here is that the shop gave their assurances that the furniture would be moved for you - personally, I always prefer services that are all-rounders i.e. move item in doing everything that this required e.g. moving furniture, re-set the room again and remove the old item if applicable.

If a company says that they only fit carpets and do nothing else - fine. However, if they offer furniture moving as a service and this encourages one to purchase with them they MUST keep their word. Not everyone has the physical capacity/desire to move around heavy bits of furniture and that is why one would go to companies that offer these services. We can all make coffee at home, but we still have a multitude of coffee shops right? I don't know why people/companies think it unreasonable for a customer to expect a full all-round service - i.e. it is not due to laziness, but necessity.

Also, they made the appointment at a given time and did not keep it - their fault - then they made out that the re-scheduled time was a favour to you! If there are crossed wires between the shop and the fitters, of course then it is the shop's responsibility towards you. However, it sounds as though the fitters provided bad customer service too.

Anyone (not necessarily under the influence of pregnancy hormones) would have every right to be upset! However, these things happen - hope it all goes well on re-scheduling/getting a refund (I would go for the latter!). Perhaps a nice biscuit and a bit of escape into a book to soothe?

Isn't this thread about tradesmens' attitudes to paying customers, ot the other way around?

'Paying' being the operative word here.

Amber
This may surprise you, but in other countries it is totally odd to offer a tradesman a cup of tea if he is only in your house for an hour doing a job. It would not even occur to me to do this, after living abroad so long.

Some people may be socially introverted or awkward and not offer tea for that reason. Or they could be in a hurry or busy.

You cannot assume that anyone who does not offer a cuppa to a tradesman, is arrogant and lacking in respect for him.

My fave response so far!

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Sorry my message above is a bit disjointed as I was trying to tag it onto a previous message about how the shop was being unreasonable. The post seems to have moved on to different things now no comment here

DH has just been down to the shop. I spoke to him on the phone, and he has said he doesn't want to work with the company, so he went down to the shop to ask for a refund.

The salesman in the shop told my DH that I obviously must have had a go at the fitter for being late 'the minute he walked through the door' (which I absolutely did not, I did not even mention and in fact just said hi and pointed out which room it was) and I apparently 'stopped him from moving things' and that is why he walked out. I am now so angry again that someone can just lie about what has happened. I totally understand that the fitter is not going to go back to the shop and say 'hey guys, sorry about that, fucked up a bit', but he has just painted me as a horrible person, and lied about things I have meant to have done/ said.

The salesman said he is stuck in the middle, and he can't do anything about it. DH said he wants a refund, to which the salesman said he can't do and DH will have to go back tomorrow to speak to the manager. Again the salesman said we will lose our deposit, but I think DH is expected a full refund tomorrow.

I never want to have to deal with that company again. Instead of apologising, they are blaming me. When I honestly do not believe I have done anything to warrant the way he behaved. And, I feel like I can't defend myself. I am so angry!

Amber If no-one had mentioned moving furniture and that is was included, DH I would have dismantled the furniture and taken old carpet out, etc. In fact, when we got the living room done, DH was talking about getting the carpet up, where we were going to put the couches, and it was only when we were told it wasn't necessary that we didn't do it. I am not a lazy person. I don't expect people to do my work. Like I said, I may have lacked a bit of common sense in emptying the drawers etc, but I have no problem doing it if it is what needs to be done.

FFS.

It's nothing to do with people looking down on tradespeople. It's nothing to do with offering tea or not. It's nothing to do with common sense. It's really simple:

The shop offered one service and the fitters offered another (although I'm using the word 'service' very loosely in connection with them). The OP was falsely informed and the shop are falsely advertising. She is right and not being unreasonable. They are wrong.

Oh and he wasn't even in the house long enough to have a cup of tea!

I don't see people as dogsbodies. There are a lot of people in my family would do labour-y type jobs. DH is a warehouse manager, he has done packing jobs, lugged things around. We are not above it! We just didn't think it needed to be done!

My tradesman DH states on his estimate that room is to be clear of furniture etc. Obv, if he is working for a little old granny who lives on her own then no, he wouldnt expect her to lug stuff out of the way but generally he would hope that people take note and actually move stuff. However, sometimes they dont, and whilst he is prob moaning in his head, he would never say anything to the customer and he cant even up his charge as he does price work and not hour/day work!

The shop are out of order...the fitter is out of order for being rude but I can see his point although really he should have taken his frustrations out on the shop manager and not on OP.

Sorry, x-posted with the OP.

OP, they're a bunch of arseholes aren't they? I'd write a letter to the manager with an account of everything that was said (as close to verbatim as you can remember). Also write down what was said to your DH this afternoon. Tell them you'll be going to Trading Standards and Which? and the papers. Mention the word 'slander' too.

I also don't believe there was much wrong with the OP's attitude she seemed pretty reserved to me, if I had been given a time that was not adhered to and hadn't even been given the courtesy of a phone call to inform me they would be late and then when they finally arrived; arrived with an attitude I think I would have been a damn sight shitter with the guy than the OP was.

whenskiesaregrey
scroll down to amicissimma's suggestion - I would send that as an email to the shop now.

If I was you I would still talk to trading standards today - often businesses are more amenable, if they think it could lead to a formal complaint.

I recently had new carpets fitted. I made nice cups of tea and got s in specially.
What I did not do, was dismantle my bed, desk, wardrobe etc and move a kingsize mattress down 3 flights of stairs - the fitters fitted around them as per eurochick's excellent explanation earlier. IME competent fitters will offer this as a normal part of their service - and, being competent, they will price the time taken into the job quote.

I assume what's gone wrong here is that the fitters have arranged a price with the shop that does not allow for that, and the OP was slightly incompetent at moving everything that could reasonably be moved.

Thank you for your suggestion amicissimma and others who have advised where I stand officially. I have rang CAB also to find out if they really can refuse to give me my money back. Apparently, if they try to suggest another delivery time, and I refuse, then they have fulfilled there obligation to try and complete the contract, and I am not entitled to my money back.

I do feel a bit like I am cutting my nose off to spite my face in not having them back to do the carpet, but DH is quite adamant he wants nothing to do with them. He has taken pictures of how they have left the room. I am also very angry at the way I have been portrayed by the fitter.

It's times like this I wish I could have a or several!

No NO NO!

Bloody hell will you all READ her posts?

The shop ADVERTISE that they fit around furniture.
She DOUBLE CHECKED WITH THE SHOP

The static furniture was left in accordingly. They both went for a service that was offered and that they wanted.

Regardless of how much this should have been - how long have the shop advertised this? How many other customers have come unstuck? How many people do you think this service would appeal to?

I can imagine a fitting service where you can leave furniture in place would appeal to old people, disabled people and pregnant women.

Yes the shop got it wrong, but IT IS NOT HER FAULT. She should not have moved the furniture out if she had specifically chosen a service where she DIDN'T HAVE TO otherwise she could have chosen a different carpet shop. She chose THIS shop because of THAT service!

You might not think that the service is right or doable, but they advertised it, she chose it, she double checked it, she paid for it.

OP, there is nothing you can do about his lies. But you can put all this down in writing now and send a copy to Trading Standards.
Do it and let your dh deal with it from now on.

Very sorry you've had such shoddy treatment. Not everyone has a partner who is a tradesman and I'm sure that their partners would never have treated an obviously pregnant female in this way or refused to give her back her deposit. Regardless of who was at fault.