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Property/DIY

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Original poster

decorator problems.. what to do?

71 replies

thisisyesterday · 09/02/2011 19:57

Hi all, hoping someone can advise me on this

we hired a decorating company to come and do ds1's new room.
the man who runs it came out and and gave me a quote. just a verbal one.

I wanted dp to talk to him before they started as he had some specific thing he wanted to ask, so told him to call the guy and just go through stuff and get a "proper" quote etc etc

he didn't. but we went ahead anyway

painting has been done. It is ok. But it isn't great. DP called the boss man and he came out to have a look and was apparently just totally uninterested in the whole thing,. Kept telling dp how he has this ad that other huge contract and that basically our small room is nothing to him.
He the phoned the guy who did the work and shouted at him down the phone about it and told him to come back and sort it out

DP said that the boss man was really intimidating and so he didn't actually metion some of the issues we have with the job because he just felt it would make no differece ad the guy was going to get angry

anyway, the man who did the job came back and repainted the skirting board and tidied up another few bits, but it still isn't perfect. it's ok. it's not great.

the thing is it is a lot of money. It wasn't the cheapest quote we had, but the guy seemed really nice when he came to do the quote and seemed as though they'd do a good job... they also have good feedback on checkatrade

we're a bit scared of him and neither of us really want to ask them to come back again. but at the same time we don't want to pay so much for a job that hasn't even been done that well...

we haven't had an invoice, ad the boss said he'd come round in a few days for the money. He said it'd cost more if we paid by cheque as he would then have to pay VAT

I am not sure what to do? I can neaten up the painting myself. And we probably will end up paying the amount he quoted me even though we aren't happy, but I feel really sad about the whole thig, and I am not happy that he is trying to get out of paying VAT....

OP posts:

Bogeyface · 11/02/2011 19:29

Oh and I meant to say that these things dont happen overnight. Even if he did call debt collectors they wouldnt turn up at your house tomorrow!

They need all the information from him, and if there is anything even slightly dodgy any bonded debt collection company wouldnt touch it with a barge pole.

But as I said, unless they have a court order forcing you to pay (which takes ages and you get notification and the option to go to court to defend the claim), they cant do anything anyway.

Chin up :)

WimpleOfTheBallet · 11/02/2011 19:29

People are very rude here. The man should be told his work is not good enough and thenasked to re-do it.

If he won't THEN the OP should offer areducd amount.

All this "Give him 500 and tell him to sling his hook" is SO up your own arse its ridiculous.

Bogeyface · 11/02/2011 19:32

But he was asked Wimple, and it still wasnt done right. And he seems to be picking numbers like a person on Countdown so why shouldnt the OP?! He is threatening them and attempting to bully them into paying for a job that isnt finished, why the hell should they?!

mozette · 11/02/2011 19:33

But he has had the opportunity to recitify and it's still not up to the standard the OP was expecting. Hence the give him £500 (a reduced amount) option

Original poster

thisisyesterday · 11/02/2011 19:34

thanks bogey, that's reassuring!
the more he does this the more i feel like to hell with it... take me to court. he's acting like such a dick.

gah!

OP posts:

Original poster

thisisyesterday · 11/02/2011 19:36

wimple, he was asked to re-do parts of it. his response to dp was "i have bigger jobs to think about... i don't care about little things like this, it's not important to me"

hence we decided to just pay the £750 and be done with it.
THEN he added the extra £150 on...

so i politely e-mailed saying that there had been a misunderstanding. that I was happy to pay the £750 we'd agreed, but that I would not pay £900 as I still wasn't 100% happy with the job.

he then started threatening me

OP posts:

Bogeyface · 11/02/2011 19:36

Stay strong! If only for the next poor bugger he tries to fleece. If you refuse to roll over for him then he may well think twice before doing it to the next person!

Bogeyface · 11/02/2011 19:39

If anyone does turn up in the next few days claiming to be a debt collector, ask for ID and then call the police. They wont be genuine, I guarantee it!

LadyintheRadiator · 11/02/2011 20:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

thisisyesterday · 11/02/2011 20:08

telling me he would come round, and now saying that he will take legal action and send debt collectors over

do you think i should e-mail him back tonight?

OP posts:

Bogeyface · 11/02/2011 20:18

Well I wouldnt unless it is to say that you are taking legal advice and will be in touch in due course.

Then I would ignore and follow the advice you get from consumer direct and a solicitor if you choose to consult one.

LadyintheRadiator · 11/02/2011 20:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Grockle · 11/02/2011 21:59

It IS rubbish, please don't pay him. HE is in breach of contract since he has not done the work properly.

The builder I dealt with did this. FOr weeks, he threatened me with solicitors and court etc whilst I offered him days and times when he could come round and fix the work he'd done and be paid in full until I finally did the bring it on thing & said 'Go on then, please DO take me to court', knowing full well that he did not have a leg to stand on if it did go that far. He then disappeared.

I was tempted to pay him the balance too but I decided that I was NOT going to pay someone just because they were bullying and intimidating me. But I was scared.

He CANNOT call debt collectors in. You are in the right and he knows it. You're not in the southwest are you? Am hoping it's not the same man I was dealing with.

Good Luck. Please don't pay him.

tonythetyger · 12/02/2011 22:35

Here is the legal position.

If someone quotes you a price and they don't say it is excl of vat then vat is considered inclusive in the price. It doesn't matter what is normal or not. If he made a mistake on the original quote that is his problem. Because it was verbal it's more difficult to evidence but you still have an argument. Also the shenanigans on whether to pay vat or not are merely an extra bargaining tool for you to remind him that if he leaves you unhappy you will of course be notifying hmrc of his activities.

The time in which to pay an invoice is dependant on people's terms and conditions. It doesn't sound like this guy has any. Generally 30 days is normal in most businesses.

You've already received advice on what to do from others. Have you paid him yet? If not send him a cheque for what you think the correct amount is with a note saying this is in full and final settlement of the invoice and any dispute with it. By cashing the cheque he is accepting that.

He can employ debt collectors to send you nasty letters. They are meaningless and have no power.

He cannot use bailiffs unless he has a court judgment against you.

He can only get this by taking you to small claims court given the amount involved and chances are he won't be interested in the hassle involved particularly if the dispute is only over £150.

He can use other threatening tactics (and it sounds like he is). A good response is to threaten (and follow up on threats) to report him to hmrc, the OFT, trading standards and the police.

HTH

tonythetyger · 12/02/2011 22:36

BTW I am a solicitor - although I only do consumer law on a pro bono basis.

pigleychez · 12/02/2011 22:56

Thisis- What a nightmare! I feel for you!

Agree about anyone claiming to be a debt collector. A real company would easily take half the money so its really not worth it. He will just be trying to frighten you.

Stay strong. Even if it did end up in court (which I very much doubt) then with a statement on his website like that he would just be laughed out.

Make sure you take lots of photos of his work before you touch anything up in case you need it as proof.

Just out of interest can you PM me the name of the guy please. Im thinking you are local to me and we have a decorator coming to do our hallway on Monday.. Got me worried it might the same guy!

Grockle · 13/02/2011 02:50

Btw, i ended up paying my bullying builder half the outstanding balance on the condition that he came back and finished the Jon properly in order to be paid the rest. So I paid £350 and he still refused to come unless the rest was paid. He continued to bully and threaten me

Grockle · 13/02/2011 02:53

Job not Jon

Original poster

thisisyesterday · 13/02/2011 16:01

tony, thank you so much!

I have not paid anything yet as I was going to see if I could speak to a solicitor for free on monday, i know some offer a free 20/30 mins?

We were taking pictures yesterday and found even more bad bits. For example, they've painted on top of the dust on the radiator so it's all lumpy, they haven't stripped the wallpaper fully under the window sill so that's just painted over and all lumps and holes, the gloss on the hinge side of the door frame is all peeling off....

I am not sure whether to send a cheque for the original £750, or if to see if I can get it reduced?
This would presumably involve going to court though as he is not going to agree to it and I don't think I can just pluck a reasonable figure out of thin air? and I am not sure whether it would be worth the time/hassle doing so?

pigley it's AKB contractors

OP posts:

everlong · 13/02/2011 16:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

thisisyesterday · 13/02/2011 19:43

it was not that much over the other quotes and the gallery on the website and how the guy spoke about it made me believe that they would do a really good job.
Our walls are hideous and required a LOT of work before they could be painted, hence having 2 guys for 2 days for one room

I guess I figured that you get what you pay for... sadly I was wrong!

Anyway, I've become increasingly worried this afternoon as I am going to be out tomorrow and my Mum will be here looking after the children. I was sooo scared that he would turn up, or send someone else round... but I kind of don't want to tell her because it will just worry her and she will be scared to be here :-(

so, I've just replied to him saying that I have never said I won't pay and that he can expect a cheque in the post later in the week after I have spoken to a solicitor. I've also added that the police have advised me to call 999 if he, or anyone acting on his behalf, turn up at the house (this is true btw!)... so hopefully it'll be ok

OP posts:

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