decorator problems.. what to do?

[thisisyesterday]

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....

[lalalonglegs]

It's your house, it's your money, don't pay and don't be intimidated (or at least don't show it) until you have the job done. Face him down, refuse to hand over any money until the job is done to your satisfaction. Tell him this over the phone before he comes for his money - tell him exactly what needs doing and, if he tries to bully you, take a deep breath and stand your ground. Say that #xxx amount - repeat the amount you were originally told so he doesn't try to up it when it's time to pay - that you were quoted (and never, ever do anything without a written price again) is a generous amount and you want a professional job. Again list what is wrong with it.

If he offers to come around again then make sure that you and your partner are there to give each other support. If you just pay up, he will go and do the same to someone else. Don't let yourself be bullied, it's how these people get away with treating their clients like shit.

[thisisyesterday]

have had an email for him today with an extra £150 added on for VAT.

aside from the fact that I am not totally happy with the job they've done I can't do aything about that can I?
because he could argue that the price he gave me didn't include VAT, and I didn't ask?

do i have any rights at all with regard to a verbal quotation?

[freshmint]

it is usual to quote ex vat so you can't argue with that

you can argue with the quality of the work. tell him you will pay him when it is done properly

[thisisyesterday]

damn, i didn;t know that was usual, and he didn't say :(
i've never used anyone to do work on the house before

this is so sucky, i have carpet fitters in on saturday so it needs sorting before then. I wish i had never bothered now

[Appletrees]

Give him cash for the amount you think is appropriate and tell him to sling his hook.

Make it cash, make it less than the quote.He hasn't earned the full amount but he has earned something.

He knows you can report him for cash payments. He'll be glad to say goodbye.

[Appletrees]

People don't generally argue when there is a wad of cash in their hand especially if this is a small job.

[Appletrees]

also I don't agree it's normal to quote without vat. VAT should be included in quote.

[thisisyesterday]

i do so hate confrontations! argh

will have to psych myself up

[Appletrees]

thisis.. it's hard..

does it help to know that I did exactly this, handed over about 600 less than the quote, to someone i actually see quite a lot, and everything was fine?

out of iterest, what's thequote?

[Appletrees]

I shold be able to work it out. if 150 is 20 pc then the quote is 750? so with vat 900? for one bedroom? inc materials?

how long did it take him?

hand over 650 and tell him goodbye

[thisisyesterday]

he said it would be £750, or £800 if i wanted washable paint. I said normal would be fine

so now he wants £900 inc the VAT

[thisisyesterday]

it wasn't him that did the work, he has minions working for him lol

so it was 2 men for 2 days. the bedroom is not that big, but there was lots of stripping and the walls are awful, so they spent most of a day just filling and sanding the walls

[mozette]

£900 for a bedroom????

Was it just painting or wallpapering too? Lots of prep work?

The washable paint is about £40 ish for 5 ltrs. How long did he take?

Give him £500 and tell him to sling his hook

[Appletrees]

four days at around 200 a day

and not a good job

dd they do a good job o the walls? is it just the paintwor that's bad?

if you give 650 they will get 160 a day

that's pretty good, espectially if you are outside london

why dn't you take the cash to him so you dn't have towait forthe knowck

[Appletrees]

this is, h's taking the p slightly

me and mozette is right love

[mozette]

2 men for 2 days will cost him about £480 for wages (roughly). If they spent most of the first day filling and sanding then only one day actually painting they have rushed it and thats why its a mess

[Appletrees]

seriously 160 a day is a good rate which thy haven't even earned

be strong and don't cave

[mozette]

my OH is a painter/decorator and the guy sounds exactly like his boss!

[thisisyesterday]

the walls are mainly ok, although there are a few uneven patches.

the room is white, with one blue wall, and the edges of the blue are really uneven.

they've splashed paint over the top of socket covers. dp offered to undo the sockets so they could paint under it and screw it back down but they said no

they fixed 2 things already which was some blue on the skirting board, and some white on the blue wall

[mozette]

Trade rate for painters (at the mo) is around £10 ish add in NI & Tax. But the washable paint doesn't cost £50 extra - its about £40 for a 5lt tub

Be strong!

[thisisyesterday]

i feel slightly bad (and i probably shouldn't) because he will take it out on the guys who have done it

which is fair, because they are the ones that did a bad job... but dp said he was really horrible when he called them before and I don't want them to not get paid or anything like that

[Appletrees]

mozette are yuou in london?

[Appletrees]

tell him you'll give a bad review on checkatrade

[mozette]

If he starts to argue, mention that they spent the first day doing prep and that in all likelyhood the emulsion wasn't dry when they glossed the woodwork.

Point out that their cutting in (the bit between the white and the blue) is not up to a professional standard - any painter worth their salt will be able to get a nice neat line for you (unless its an old cottage with really bumpy walls!)

[mozette]

Don't feel bad about the tradesmen - if this guy is an arse he is probably on at them all the time. If they are employees they will get paid, but if they are cash in hand then in all honest they probably aren't tradesmen.

I'm in Scotland Appletrees