Decorators promised work that still hasn’t been carried out

lesalanos

Jeepers_Creepers said:

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.

Asking for monies owed isn't harassment 

Doozergirl

lesalanos said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

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.

Asking for monies owed isn't harassment 

I'd agree with that.   Some of the 'advice' given here is too emotive.  

The correct thing to do is to write, on paper, to the decorators, informing them that they have had the time to do the work but, given the timeframe, you are giving them 14 days notice of your intention to use someone else to complete the work.  At that point, if the work isn't done, you will employ said person and deduct the money from the 10% outstanding retention.  

The likelihood is that they'll probably let that happen.  It sounds like they don't want to manage it.  

Behaving without a correct paper trail yourself though, opens you up to a small claim for the monies owed.  In a JCT contract, they have the right to carry out the work themselves, yet the client has the right to have it done in good time. They must, however, give them those 14 days in writing.  

thehog

That’s great, thank you and I appreciate everyone’s time. I understand now what needs to be done. Sorry for the emotion but it was a reason for posting here in the first place as we are too close to it.
It’s just a shame that check a trade only gives 600 characters for a review!

adonis

It will be interesting to see if checkatrade allow you to post a poor review.

Jeepers_Creepers

lesalanos said:

Asking for monies owed isn't harassment 

Completely agree. But asking for the last 10% isn't what I am referring to as harassment. It would be for demanding the 10% following an accumulation of events which may culminate in a final let-down on the 30th.

They've been given multiple opportunities to do the work, have repeatedly failed to turn up, have taken faaaar longer to do the job than first indicated - hence them decorating after the new floor was laid, something the OP was keen to avoid - been very loose with the facts for their reason for not expediting the boxing-in ('Was a freebie innit' - no it ain't, pal), being utterly unprofessional in telling the customer to 'stop messaging me', and if they now fail to provide their carpenter on the 30th, that - to me - is more than enough justification to conclude you have completely lost trust in them and can now look further afield. Yes, you inform them of this first. 

I am, of course, basing this on t'hog's account as it's the only one I have, but there is enough there to indicate that these guys are not deserving of a further opportunity to put things right. They gave a "start date of 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." It's now 2 days shy of their latest completion date. If they fail to do this and mojo carries out his legitimate threat to employ someone else and they don't accept this but continue to demand payment,  then - yes - I think that would be harassment. It's unjustified.

Ok, calling the Bobby might be overkill, but it depends on the level of tetchiness their 'requests' are delivered.

thehog

adonis said:

It will be interesting to see if checkatrade allow you to post a poor review.
I’ve drafted it but it was very difficult to limit it to the 600 characters allowed!! It will be posted on 31 December, once I know the carpenter isn’t coming. And let’s be honest, there’s every chance he won’t as my lovely decorator no doubt pulled a date from somewhere unpleasant just to shut me up.

couriervanman

Check a Trade.......don't take any notice of them you never see a bad review

thehog

There has been one honest review for our decorators amongst those I suspect friends and family may have posted. Verified members my backside!

thehog

Doozergirl said:

I'd agree with that.   Some of the 'advice' given here is too emotive.  

The correct thing to do is to write, on paper, to the decorators, informing them that they have had the time to do the work but, given the timeframe, you are giving them 14 days notice of your intention to use someone else to complete the work.  At that point, if the work isn't done, you will employ said person and deduct the money from the 10% outstanding retention.  

The likelihood is that they'll probably let that happen.  It sounds like they don't want to manage it.  

Behaving without a correct paper trail yourself though, opens you up to a small claim for the monies owed.  In a JCT contract, they have the right to carry out the work themselves, yet the client has the right to have it done in good time. They must, however, give them those 14 days in writing.  

Sorry to trouble you again. There is no JCT contract - they provided a written quote which we accepted. Nothing was actually signed. Presumably though it’s still the right thing to do to write to them giving the 14 days’ notice? If there wasn’t a retention in place would we still need to give them the 14 days’ notice?

Doozergirl

thehog said:

Doozergirl said:

I'd agree with that.   Some of the 'advice' given here is too emotive.  

The correct thing to do is to write, on paper, to the decorators, informing them that they have had the time to do the work but, given the timeframe, you are giving them 14 days notice of your intention to use someone else to complete the work.  At that point, if the work isn't done, you will employ said person and deduct the money from the 10% outstanding retention.  

The likelihood is that they'll probably let that happen.  It sounds like they don't want to manage it.  

Behaving without a correct paper trail yourself though, opens you up to a small claim for the monies owed.  In a JCT contract, they have the right to carry out the work themselves, yet the client has the right to have it done in good time. They must, however, give them those 14 days in writing.  

Sorry to trouble you again. There is no JCT contract - they provided a written quote which we accepted. Nothing was actually signed. Presumably though it’s still the right thing to do to write to them giving the 14 days’ notice? If there wasn’t a retention in place would we still need to give them the 14 days’ notice?

I assumed there was no contract, but a judge would treat it as if there was one and will expect you to behave as if there were.  It's a standard term, nothing to do with the presence of retentions. 

If there was no retention then your behaviour should be impeccable, because you would almost certainly have to file a moneyclaim online in order to try and be reimbursed, whereas you're only covering your backside if there is a retention, in case they claim against you.