Bathroom firm asked to cease work midway through a

headoutthesand

We’ve had cause to ask our bathroom fitter to stop his work due to various failings in his work.
We’ve asked them repeatedly to send us invoices and to communicate through letter but they keep texting us.
Can anyone advise the best way to deal with this? We’re happy to pay him for work carried out to date and for which we ageee with but his text invoice includes work not yet finished (fittings and fixtures) so we want the dispute to be recorded properly.

Aylesbury_Duck

Send a text asking for a written invoice and state that until you receive it and agree to it, it won't be paid. Then stop responding to texts.

headoutthesand

Thank you.
We did that and he’s text a copy of his invoice lol. He’s a limited company but he wants the payment to go to his own account and has no VAT number on his paperwork.
The more I see the more question marks I put against him !!!128584;

Aylesbury_Duck

How did you come to employ him for the job? It's a bit late to be conducting due diligence on him now.

If you've already sent a text insisting on a written invoice, leave it there. Don't respond to further messages until he sends what you've asked for.

headoutthesand

Yes I agree.
He was recommended by someone I know and was able to show lots him f details of similar work carried out in other properties.
I agree we should have looked into him more.
A lesson learned here I think.

Doozergirl

If you've had a recommendation and seen previous work, what made them incapable?

Are they charging you VAT?

I personally wouldn't have a problem communicating via text, although I appreciate an invoice needs to be a bit more formal than that! It is on record though, more than conversations and phonecalls.

You either want to resolve the amounts given or not. You have to appreciate that a lot of these people are not academic and they don't do email or letters. It's hard enough to get an invoice. I have to do invoices for a lot of my subbies - essentially all the ones without wives. Gender stereotypes are alive and well.

J_B

headoutthesand wrote: »

He’s a limited company but he wants the payment to go to his own account

Well, that's not quite 'legit' is it!

headoutthesand wrote: »

and has no VAT number on his paperwork.

But, he doesn't necessarily have to be vat registered just coz he's Ltd

At least you have the upper hand if you haven't paid, but as Doozer says, he may not be very good at written stuff.