Problems with bathroom installation

Dakota1

We make the fatal mistake of having b&q supply and install our bathroom for us in October last year and it has been a catalogue of errors.

There have been so many issues such as - worktops cut sort and end strips not applied (fitter hid them and lied that there were not supplied), drawers were not built correctly and only held together by silicon, chipped tiles put on wall, grout on wall hung cabinets, hole for sink cut wrong in worktop and filled with silicon to hold in place, toilet was not fixed to floor or cabinet and plumbing under floor was done incorrect causing blockages and sewage leaks and this list is not exhaustive.

B&Q are very slowly rectifying these issues but we are 6 months down the line and are no closer to having the end product we paid for.

My main reason for posting is the fitter has also fitted our bath squint so in the corner he has dug that end into the wall. His reason for this was apparently our wall was off and it would not fit if he did not do this but he only notified my husband that there was a problem in the afternoon on the last day of the installation just as he went to fitting the bath.

I complained to B&Q re this as if the fitter had presented this problem to us earlier in the installation process we could have rectified any problem with the wall so our bath could be fitted proper. They said that they will not sort the problem as they have already paid the fitter and it would cost too much but would quite happy to undertake the work for us if we pay?

Do we have any rights to have this problem sorted by them,? He did mention we could be compensated but I doubt it would be at a level to allow us to get the bath sorted.

Sorry for long post.

cddc

If you have signed off the fit, saying you are satisfied it may be hard to get B&Q to pay to change the bath, as you have already signed to say you are happy with it. When did you raise the issue of the bath with them? If only recently the I think their position regarding that is fair.

If, however, you have not signed off the fit and you raised the issue at the time of installation, then they should really be replacing it for you at no cost to you.

Sorry to hear about your problems though. At least it sounds like they are trying to resolve most of them and have not completely left you out to dry....

Dakota1

Thanks for reply. We have not signed the fit off we were never asked to. We told the fitter we were not happy as he was about to fit it. The other thing in hindsight is he actually tiled the wall first then took bath in and we feel if he had actually fitted bath first or at least trial fitted this could have been avoided.

We first told b&q we were not happy with the fitting of the bath the following week when we had a call from the home fit centre asking how the job had gone. They were going to get back to us but didn't and but this point the other issues had been found and we started the ball rolling and had 2 site visits from managers.

I'm just can't understand why we should be expected to be happy with a substandard job.

Ruski

Digging a bath into a wall is not uncommon - many walls are out of square, so this is a common solution.
How would you have 'rectified' the wall if this was notified to you?

Russ

Dakota1

Made it square - not sure of exact process husband explained it to me but didn't quite understand - husband would have been able to do it himself. The other thing is we had no problem with the previous bathroom fittings in that corner they fitted without having to be dug into to wall the problem with the wall being off only arose after he had stripped the place apart and re-plaster boarded.

I may not be so bothered if it was only fractionally off but it that badly off they struggle to get the bath panel to fit.

greenface

Depends if the tiles could have been set to save the bath being chopped in . It the bath has been set into the wall and the tiles are straight along side the bath then there's not a problem. Its not signed off and your not happy demand your full money back before you issue court action to get it back .plus costs , Ask if the fitter is still subbying for B&Q . Some B&Q fitters are awful (but cheap) I know one that's good but not great

greenface

REPLASTERBOARDED !!!! . firstly did they plaster board or aqua board it .? If they had to plasterboard it then it could have been sorted and squared . You may need an expert report on this for your claim

Dakota1

They gutted out the room and re did the walls roof and floor so the roof should have been square by the time he was done. I assumed plasterboard but will check with husband.

Yes he is still working for them even after the mess of our job and the lies he has said. Even the workers coming to fix his mess have said he is a cowboy and has done this before on other jobs. Goodness knows why he is still there.

cddc

It is amazing how long it can take for a big company to get rid of a dodgy fitter. It all depends on how good the installations manager is. A good one will get the cowboys out in no time...the problem for them is if said fitter has six or seven jobs already booked going forward, you then have to let six or seven customers down on the dates they were expecting to get their fits done..tricky...!

Work for Wickes and have seen some dodgy fitters rapidly disposed of and some allowed to hang on for far too long depending on who the manager was at the time. The trick for me was ensuring the fits for your customers were not allocated to the cowboy in those circumstances.

Now have a bunch of top fitters and a spot on installs manager and happy customers. You cant have the last one without the first two!

Sounds like B&Q have a problem with both of the first two in your area.

Dakota1

Think you've hit the nail on the head cddc they obviously don't want to lose money from stalling installations if they get shot or serious lack of fitters in our area. I think it's the first.

I've also found out he used to work for another big company doing same installations and he was sacked for poor work and not paid for his last 2 jobs! That's when he moved on to b&q.

Anyway manager going to phone me next week to discuss options.

Thanks for input.

greenface

All this is important info . If you know for sure why and where he was sacked from .(For Sure) !!!!!!! They either never checked his reference correctly . They never vetted any of his work meaning allowing tradesmen into your gaff that could be people they don't really know . Ask for a full refund . Then if that doesn't work ask for a full refund again . AS ABOVE FOR THE NEXT FEW STEPS