Is this out of order or am i over-reacting?

achtunglady

Long story, mum had a leak in her house its being sorted but meant having her bathroom stripped. She rang a friend lets call her V to ask if she knew anyone who can tile so the friend said theres a man doing some work at my friends/neighbours (lets call her M) house i will ask him. Mum only wanted to replace about 20 tiles which were damaged when the work was done. She asked him and he said yes, so mum gave him her address and asked if he knew how to get there and could he come to give her a quote, he said yes he knows the area. A few minutes later the neighbour M rings my mum and asks when is he coming, so she said the following day.

Following day arrives and she gets another call from M asking if hes there yet, mum said no he rang and said hes on his way.

15 minutes later, the doorbell rings and its M and the tiler. Mum goes to the door and M pushes past her to get inside the house. Mum was a bit shocked by this but just put up with it. Then mum said to the tiler, its upstairs go have a look, M was making her way up the stairs and Mum said "NOT YOU, HIM, HES DOING THE WORK". She ignored my mum and went up, poked her head into the rooms upstairs Mum followed up and said what are you doing, M replies oh i'm just having a look at your house, then M and the tiler were talking in French which my mum does not understand. Then M comes out " he's very good hes professional he can do gardening as well"

Mum replied "are you mad its the middle of winter whos going to do their garden in winter??"

He quoted her £150 and mum had to supply the materials.

Now i think this woman was bloody rude for:
a) barging into my mums house uninvited, not because shes a friend of my mums friend can she do this, shes not my mums friend
b) its not like she gave the man a lift to the house, they both walked together and he said he knew where mum lived
c) the man can speak good english so she wasnt needed as an interpretor
d) shes not paying to have my mums work done, nor is she providing the materials, nor is she a tiler, nor is she a building inspector, nor is she there to see what his work is like as hes worked for her already, so what the hell was she doing barging into my mums house uninvited?
e) M and the tiler can speak perfect english, so why did they have to talk in french in my mothers house unless they were talking about her or trying to scam her

later that day, V rang mum and asked how much did he quote you, she told V and she said that hes done a bigger job for M for only £200 and it took 4 days so why is he charging so much for a job that can be done in a few hours?

I am absolutely livid and feel like turning up on her doorstep and barging into her house and going straight upstairs and doing what she did to my mum, lets see if she likes it done to her.

Am i over reacting or is this acceptable, what would you do in my situation?

Lotus-eater

So your Mum has a rude neighbour? Tell her to ignore her and not use the workman.

Sorted.

sooz

Find another tiler.
And don't speak to M again

supermezzo

Find another tiler and tell him that M's rude attitude is the reason he lost this job.

BitterAndTwisted

Your mother should not give this or any other job to that workman. She's about to be mercilessly ripped off if she does.

euronorris

I agree with the above and BitterandTwisted has a very good point. Replacing a few tiles can be done by most people with the right information (which can be obtained online easily).

If your Mum is not comfortable doing this herself, perhaps she can ask a male friend/relative to do it for her. Perhaps she can offer a small payment to them of say 30 quid, if she feels she should.

melancholly

ok - they were rude. but i think the attitude of 'you're not coming into my house' when they were the person who 'tried to help by getting a workman they knew' (in their eyes!) may have made things worse. i do think it's incredibly rude to barge in and to speak in a foreign language when someone else can't understand if a common language is appropriate.

i don't believe that someone with those skills would do 4 days work for £200 - sounds like rubbish to me!

i'd stay well out of it - if this is a neighbour don't make things difficult by having a row. just let you mum get a few more quotes/ask some friends about it and go with the quote that is best from someone she is comfortable to have in her house.

Pepzofio

How old is your mum? As there is a charity in Enfield which provides a low cost handyman service to 'vulnerable people'. I'm not sure of the criteria, but as Age Concern are advertising it on their website, I would imagine that being a pensioner could be one of them. (No offence if your mum's only 40 or something! )

http://www.ageconcernenfield.org.uk/index.cfm?id=4756

pigpen

£10 per tile for fitting?!!! Plus paying for own materials??!!

I'll come do it!!! and I'll do it in 1 day, maybe 1.5.. have to come back next day to clean off excess grout.. She is being MAJORLY ripped off here.. tell her to send the pair of them packing and get someone else to give her a price..

poppyolivia

no I would be livid...do not give this man the work!...and stay clear of Mrs M!

Mme.Hibou

euronorris wrote: »

If your Mum is not comfortable doing this herself, perhaps she can ask a male friend/relative to do it for her.

Why male? Can women not tile?