Decorators promised work that still hasn’t been carried out

thehog

Hi everyone,
We began our plans to have our house completely redecorated in mid August 2020, finishing with brand new wooden floors to replace the carpets. The people who lived here before us had the boiler moved from the kitchen to the open plan lounge / dining room. When that boiler died around 6 months after we moved, in our plumber installed our Worcester Bosch Greenstar junior but for various reasons I won’t go into here the pipe work was incredibly messy and a drainage pipe had to be installed from the boiler, across the dining room wall, through the kitchen wall and into the drainage pipes there. It’s unsightly to say the least but it works. At the time we considered having it boxed it but just never got round to it as we figured it would be quite costly.
One of the reasons we went with the decorators was that they looked at the boiler and said blimey, we’ll box that in for you free of charge. We thought it best to revolve the works around the flooring fitters and advised the decorators that we’d put all the furniture into storage and not to worry about getting paint on the carpet. They had an entire month to schedule the plasterer, the decorating works and the carpenter for the boiler boxing and agreed to start on Monday 28 September, saying that with 3 people the job would be complete within 10 days, and if necessary they’d come over the weekend to deal with any snagging works before the flooring installation which was due to start on Monday 12 October.
The decorators did not live up to their Check a Trade billing. Once we’d accepted their quote the communication went down the drain. On the first day, when we’d expected the plasterer, no one turned up. Then for 4 days we had 1 painter instead of the 3 promised. Their time keeping was appalling, they were constantly on the phone sorting out personal and staff issues, the work was slapdash at best and as a result of this they were still with us for over a week after the flooring had been completed. We just wanted these people out our home, but they had promised a carpenter and this wasn’t resolved. I followed up and followed up because I knew if I didn’t keep on them it wouldn’t get done. I asked them for the carpenter’s number so I could sort it direct with him, but they refused to give me his number, saying that because it was a freebie he didn’t want his number being given out. I said their arrangement to pay their carpenter was nothing to do with me, they had put in writing that the boiler would be boxed at no cost to me in the quote I accepted.
In the end, in desperation I threatened to get someone else in to do the work and to have the bill sent to them. Of course I knew this wouldn’t work and that they’d refuse to pay but it got a result. I received a really stroppy WhatsApp voice message in mid October saying the carpenter can’t come until 30 December, that’s the earliest he can come, and that they didn’t want any more texts or messages from me, I’d hear from them a week before the carpenter was due to arrive. Well, that time has passed and as expected I’ve heard nothing from them, nor do I expect anyone to rock up on 30 December. I have checked the Tier 4 rules and found a paragraph that confirms that one person may work in someone else’s home so I’m afraid I won’t be buying that as an excuse.
As a result of this we decided that we don’t actually want these decorators or any of their associates in our home now but it still annoys me that essentially the quote agreed to remains outstanding as they’ve not fulfilled the job they promised.
Has anyone else had issues like this, or similar, and how did you deal with it? As I mentioned above I know I can’t get away with getting someone else in and sending them the bill, but there’s a principal here -  a 10 day job going on to 30 December isn’t acceptable and they had plenty of time to organise themselves.
Thanks for reading, and for any responses.

thehog

Hello again, has anyone experienced anything like the above? 

grumbler

I am sure many people experienced the same as there are loads of cowboys around, including at Check a Trade. Leave your feedback there, to help other people avoid them, not here.

You always have to be prepared to this and never pay the full amount in advance. I hope you didn't.

Doozergirl

I'd just get my own carpenter. 

What's the point?  You weren't initially expecting it and do you think you're going to get someone's best work for 'free' if it's an add on and that person was bad to start with?    People get themselves into a lot of trouble over the principle of something.  

My carpenter costs me £200 a day.   From him I get a sensible conversation, a plan, an agreement on materials, a look and an exact result, not a shoddy bit of boxing done by some complete unknown person working to some terrible decorator's budget. I'd rather leave it, thanks! 

thehog

Thanks for the responses and no, we didn’t pay in advance. It’s not just the principle though, surely there’s a breach of contract here? Had they been organised they’d have had all their people in place.
I will be working with tradespeople from word of mouth recommendation only. And of course you are right Doozergirl - we don’t want these people nor their associates in our home, and the Check a trade review will go up once 30 December has passed, when this chap is meant to come and won’t. 

Jeepers_Creepers

How much of their invoice has you actually paid, t'hog? That's the main lever you have over any job that's been done - you hold back the final payment until you are 100% happy.

Even if you paid everything, you can still get them to cough up for someone else to do the work if they fail to do so. It isn't as straight forward, of course, but it's doable.

And their 'freebee' isn't. It was effectively included in their quote and was one of the reasons you chose them. Ergo, they have to do it as it became part of their job. (What next - "We'll quote £1k for painting this room, but we'll do that one free of charge. Hey, stop pestering me to get the second room done - it was a freebee after all...")

So, what you do about these cowboys is entirely up to you. They have let you down repeatedly, and now might not even finish the boxing-in job by the ridiculously late date of 30th Dec.

But, it's a lot more hassle if you have already paid them in full. Hopefully that's a lesson learnt. A frank and honest review should be on the cards at least.

thehog

Thanks for your response.
I did hold back 10% but as it was a “freebie” they said they’ve done the work they were charging for and that the boiler boxing was a favour a mate was doing for them for free. My understanding, when I accepted the quote, was that they’d organise the necessary people to do the various jobs over the two weeks they’d guaranteed to complete the work. As it was, they didn’t complete their work until 25 October, 11 days after the flooring had been completed! We didn’t follow up the boiler boxing simply because we needed them to focus on what we were actually paying them for. As you say, a lesson learnt and I’m already drafting the epic Check a Trade review.
Just out of interest, how, legally, can I insist they foot the bill when we do get the boiler boxed? The guy who fitted our bathroom (a word of mouth recommendation and my goodness he was a breath of fresh air) has offered to do it in the New Year, obviously not as a freebie.

Doozergirl

You've got 10% of the job money.   How much is that?  Because it should be enough if you were quoted on 30 man days excluding materials! 

thehog

we were quoted 10 days and the buggers were still with us nearly a month later with the job still incomplete!

Jeepers_Creepers

There's your answer, t'hog; keep that 10% if they don't turn up as promised on the 30th and make a good job.

(Boxing-in is peasy, a quick and cheap job for the new bloke. If the 10% doesn't quite cover it, then take it on the chin - it certainly won't be worth chasing them for presumably teeny balance.)

If they don't turn up on the 30th as promised, it's pretty clear they've let you down more than enough now - and been unpleasant and unprofessional about it to boot; you can justify stating that your 'working relationship' has irretrievably broken down. You simply do not want to see them ever again. They do not deserve a fifth chance. If they don't 'get' that and keep pestering you, call your local Bobby - it's harassment.

And post that honest, unemotive review.

Doozergirl

thehog said:

we were quoted 10 days and the buggers were still with us nearly a month later with the job still incomplete!

You were quoted on three men for 10 days, that's 30 man days.   

I'm talking about the money retained and what is left to do, not about how long it took.  You've told us that already, more than once.