Is there anything I can do about poor work from painter/decorator?

unholyangel

Seagull27 wrote: »

The problem is I don't think he is competent enough to be able to. He has demonstrated his knowledge and skill in the work he has done already, and it is sub-par.

It would not be possible now in any case as I have almost finished re-doing them myself. Aside from not thinking he would be able to rectify the problems, he also said he was going abroad for three weeks the day after finishing the work, so he would not have been able to do anything until after 3 weeks had passed, which would not be ideal with winter approaching.




I am going to look into the small claims option. I know nothing about it at all, so I'll get reading! However, for the reasons I gave above, I would not be able to show that I gave him the opportunity to fix things.



There was no written contract. He came round and gave us a verbal quote after assessing the job. The quote was to:

- Paint the windows and repair, re-fill and re-seal as and where necessary.
- Fix the back door step.
- Remove/replace x6 double glazed units.


RE: CAB. Not worth pursuing that route then?

Many thanks for all the input and help.

Max

The CAB largely are volunteers with no legal training. They do of course have help from law students and even qualified lawyers but they are under-funded and overworked. I wouldnt say they're completely useless. But the accuracy/quality of their advice varies. But then the same can be said for us on here We can only advise to the best of our ability/knowledge which - like within the CAB - will be widely varied.

You're basically claiming that he has breached the contract by failing to carry out his work with reasonable care and skill? As others have implied, the fact you have not notified him and given him an opportunity to rectify matters may count against you. It doesnt necessarily mean you wouldnt succeed in a claim against him. If you have insurance with legal cover, it may be worth a call to them or calling local solicitors to see if they offer a free 30 min consultation.

At the very least it will give you a better idea where you stand legally under the circumstances.