At the beginning of June we had some decorating done - painting walls , ceiling and woodwork of a through living room, stairs and landing. We had 2 quotes based on recommendations from the village fb group and went for the person who had been recommended by a carpenter whose work we had been happy with.
The first day of work we were surprised that he had finished painting a whole room . But then my OH noticed holes that hadn't been filled so he pointed it out and that was rectified. The stairs/rails/posts were varnished with a dark wood stain and the open tread stairs had been covered with carpet which we had removed along with the staples. However after he had painted the stairs I saw that they were still rough with the residue of glue that had attached the carpet. I had to ask him to sand them smooth which he did the next day.
Part way through the job my OH and I tested positive for covid. Our symptoms were not too bad and the decorator said he was happy to carry on and we stayed outside in the garden out of his way.
He finished work last Thursday and my OH paid him. But at the weekend when I walked downstairs I said that the handrail felt a bit rough considering it was newly painted with gloss. OH scratched it with his finger nail and the paint just peeled off revealing that the dark varnish hadn't been sanded off! Oh has now started to redo most of the woodwork himself (a lot better) . We are both angry that we have paid over £2k to end up doing work ourselves. OH doesn't want to make a fuss as it's a small community where we are likely to bump into him in the street/pub etc. But I think he at least needs to be told that this is not acceptable and ask for a partial refund.
I can't give a bad google review as he doesn't have a website.
Pics attached of stairs before, after and paint peeling off