Dispute with tiler over cost

shaun_from_Africa

Don't forget that it's may not have been possible for the tiler to have completed the work in 3 days.

Once the tiles are on the wall you have to wait a while before they can be grouted, and once the grouting has been done, you have to wait until it is totally dry (usually the next day) before the excess grouting can be removed and the tiles cleaned up.

This could be why there was only a few hours work needed on the last day.

mattyprice4004

This is the exact reason I don't do PC work callouts anymore, the second you actually want paying people do anything to avoid it.

Are you a tiler? Do you know what's involved? Another example of people thinking they know it all, and having no idea of the actual work involved. One of the massive downsides of being self-employed is people like this.

sujman

Your tilers charges equate to £26.70 per square metre. When I had tiling done 10 years ago, the going rate was £25 per sq mt.

Your tilers charges overall, seem fair to me especially since you are happy with the quality of the work.

mo786uk

On the other hand - the tiler shouldn't be surprised if a customer queries progressively shorter days. Sounds like he could handle it better.

unholyangel

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

This is the exact reason I don't do PC work callouts anymore, the second you actually want paying people do anything to avoid it.

Are you a tiler? Do you know what's involved? Another example of people thinking they know it all, and having no idea of the actual work involved. One of the massive downsides of being self-employed is people like this.

To be fair though if the guy did have genuine reasons for leaving early (ie to get supplies for the job or letting it dry), he could have calmly explained those and things would be a lot more amicable.

He may make his living from tiling but he's far from a professional. A professional shouldve done the above and/or briefly explained what work he would be carrying out each day - perhaps then people would actually have an idea of the work involved.

If OP wants to try calm troubled waters, they could always write a letter of response stating they didnt intend to offend, have since realised perhaps he performed offsite work and they were merely asking for an explanation (imo they were quite rightly asking him to account for time they were paying him for - if my employer asked me to account for my hours of work I wouldnt react the way this guy did....would you?)

neilmcl

unholyangel wrote: »

To be fair though if the guy did have genuine reasons for leaving early

This the bit that I find annoying and a bit ridiculous. Nobody but the contractor defines what their hours are, unless he stated that he'd be onsite between certain times of the day then the idea of "leaving early" doesn't come into it.

His estimate was for the work to be completed in 4 days and it was, end of. How it was completed within this period and the effort the contractor put in to do this is of no concern to anyone but the contractor themself. It certainly isn't down to him to give a full explanation of what he's doing throughout the day and account for his every move, the OP is his client, not his employer!

pmduk

OP I understand your reasons for paying. Might it be worth letting Trading Standards know, in case there have been other problems. I doubt whether they'll get involved in just one complaint though?

unholyangel

neilmcl wrote: »

This the bit that I find annoying and a bit ridiculous. Nobody but the contractor defines what their hours are, unless he stated that he'd be onsite between certain times of the day then the idea of "leaving early" doesn't come into it.

His estimate was for the work to be completed in 4 days and it was, end of. How it was completed within this period and the effort the contractor put in to do this is of no concern to anyone but the contractor themself. It certainly isn't down to him to give a full explanation of what he's doing throughout the day and account for his every move, the OP is his client, not his employer!

But he did leave early compared to other days. Remember, if a term is ambiguous, they will use the interpretation that is most beneficial to the consumer.

They were employing his services. If someone is paying you for 4 days, i dont think its unreasonable for them to ask if you actually worked those 4 days. I didnt say account for his every move, there is a difference.

Using your guys logic he could turn up 9-11 every day but because he still turned up the 4 days, he did 4 days work.

If he quoted OP £640 total then it would be different, but he didnt.


And then you have the possibility of it coming down to CPRs. Since if customers knew his "day" could possibly be as short as 2.5 hrs, they may not have hired him.

paddyrg

Would it have been better for the guy to pretend to re-grout a single tile for 6 hours? ;-)

Someone up above mentions the important distinction between contractor and employee - if you want an employee there are probably other things to factor in, such as payroll/PAYE etc., it could get messy.

arcon5

Errata wrote: »

When you agreed to pay him a daily rate, did you agree how long his working day would be? No, you didn't so you can't complain about it.
Next time ask for a price for the job, not agree to pay by the day.

Actually, if this wasn't specified in the contract it would be determine by a judge based on what a 'reasonable' person would deem to be a 'days' work. And a judge certainly wouldn't conclude a couple of hours or so to be reasonable - especially considering the hours worked on the first couple of days, this would assist op in setting a landmark for a 'day'.