Bad building work issue and rights

JoBeg

So my wife and I have recently had our bathroom replaced. The fitter/plumber was chosen from one of the top results on trustatrader. Unfortunately, the quality of work was extremely bad but as this came at the same time as a fairly major operation that my wife was undergoing and we were not paying too much attention. 

When we returned from the hospital the day after the operation the fitter had gone. The house was in a massive mess and there were many issues with the bathroom fitting quality. It really is of bad quality with multiple brand new and expensive fittings damaged by the fitter.

We understood that we must give the fitter the opportunity to rectify the work and so send him an email with all of the issues we had. 

His reply was aggressive. He denied all of the damage and said he would not replace any of it. He called us pathetic, and accused us of damaging some of the fittings which he had left broken to avoid paying him. 

To cut a long story short after many back and forth emails to avoid stress we decided to pay him anyway as his emails were nasty and we decided that we did not want him back in our house, though he did say he would come back and do some remedial work, but not replace the items he had broken.

We paid his full invoice but deducted the cost of an expensive bathroom unit which he had presumably dropped on its corner (and we have proof of this in the photo he took of the finished job). We also deducted to cost of tools that he had bought and attempted to get us to pay, such as a new hammer drill and various screw drivers.

He now has threatened us with taking us to court unless we give him the damaged sink unit and proof that we are buying and installing a new one. 

I am almost completely sure that he is talking complete rubbish, though I am looking for some confirmation that we are doing the right thing in ignoring all future emails.

To clarify our emails have always been professional and polite, whereas his have been aggressive and rude. In my last email I outlined the reasons for the deduction to his invoice and said that this would be that last time we communicate on the matter.

Could someone let me know if we have done the right thing?

pinkshoes

If there are MANY issues with the bathroom, then I would start by getting another bathroom fitter to quote to have everything put right. If he take sit to court you can then then counter-sue him and ask for a further refund to cover the cost of putting all the other mistakes right that you had to pay for due to him being aggressive and threatening.

If you are refusing to pay for an item that he supplied, then technically it belongs to him... I would tell him that when the new one is fitted, you are happy for him to come and collect the one he broke. 

Absolutely you should not have to pay for any tools to do the job - that's why you employ a tradesperson who has their own tools!

JoBeg

Thank you for your reply. I think we will get a quote so that we are prepared. That's a good idea.

On your second point we purchased all of the bathroom units from the designers. He didn't purchase them. He just damaged it whilst installing it. I have deducted it from the payment we gave him. 

I am perhaps against agreeing to give him the damaged unit, purely because he has inconvenienced us so much already. We don't currently have the money to replace it and fit the rest of the items because we paid his invoice and are saving all the money we have to redo tiling and generally put right everything else. It just feels wrong that we owe him a damaged unit. 

DanDare999

JoBeg said:

Thank you for your reply. I think we will get a quote so that we are prepared. That's a good idea.

On your second point we purchased all of the bathroom units from the designers. He didn't purchase them. He just damaged it whilst installing it. I have deducted it from the payment we gave him. 

I am perhaps against agreeing to give him the damaged unit, purely because he has inconvenienced us so much already. We don't currently have the money to replace it and fit the rest of the items because we paid his invoice and are saving all the money we have to redo tiling and generally put right everything else. It just feels wrong that we owe him a damaged unit. 

If you bought it, he has no rights to it.

Gavin83

DanDare999 said:

JoBeg said:

Thank you for your reply. I think we will get a quote so that we are prepared. That's a good idea.

On your second point we purchased all of the bathroom units from the designers. He didn't purchase them. He just damaged it whilst installing it. I have deducted it from the payment we gave him. 

I am perhaps against agreeing to give him the damaged unit, purely because he has inconvenienced us so much already. We don't currently have the money to replace it and fit the rest of the items because we paid his invoice and are saving all the money we have to redo tiling and generally put right everything else. It just feels wrong that we owe him a damaged unit. 

If you bought it, he has no rights to it.

Well that's not quite accurate. Technically the OP hasn't bought it at the moment, the builder has given it's been deducted off of the payment.

OP, if you've effectively charged him for the damaged unit then it really belongs to him. If (as I suspect) you're looking to keep the damaged unit and not buy a new one then you'd need to negotiate a reduction from him but ultimately you shouldn't expect to keep it for free. If it's that damaged you need to buy a new one then it shouldn't be a big deal to give him this one.

In terms of tools I'd say it depends. If you're having something really bespoke done and they need to buy a new tool for your job they're unlikely to use again then I'd say you should be paying for it. However you should get to keep it. If it's a tool they wish to keep and they'll use for future jobs (I'd say a hammer drill and screwdrivers fall into this category) then they should pay for it.

Is he still saying he'll come round and rectify the issues? You really need to give him the opportunity to do so if he's still saying he will. Should he refuse and take you to court then I'd follow Pinkshoes suggestion of getting another quote and countersuing him for the costs of rectifying his shoddy work. Just to check though, is the actual fitting work poor or is it just damage to the items you're referring to?

In terms of damage to the items it might be a little more difficult. It's essentially your word against his and none of us could really say which way a judge would go.

Bradden

Except the OP has deducted this cost from the payment so in effect they have charged him for it.

pinkshoes

DanDare999 said:

JoBeg said:

Thank you for your reply. I think we will get a quote so that we are prepared. That's a good idea.

On your second point we purchased all of the bathroom units from the designers. He didn't purchase them. He just damaged it whilst installing it. I have deducted it from the payment we gave him. 

I am perhaps against agreeing to give him the damaged unit, purely because he has inconvenienced us so much already. We don't currently have the money to replace it and fit the rest of the items because we paid his invoice and are saving all the money we have to redo tiling and generally put right everything else. It just feels wrong that we owe him a damaged unit. 

If you bought it, he has no rights to it.

That's incorrect.

The OP bought the unit and paid £X for it. The builder damaged it. The builder is "buying" the unit off the OP for £X as he broke it. The unit now belongs to the builder.

If the OP intends to keep the broken unit, then they need to negotiate a discount for it. What is the value of a fitted but broken unit? That way the OP can keep the unit.

As the builder did such a shoddy job of the bathroom, I think it is best to get a couple of quotes to have the bathroom completed to a decent standard. This would be a far better negotiating tool as I'm thinking the cost of putting the shoddy work right will be a lot more than the cost of the unit that the OP has deducted. 

The OP can then tell the builder to go ahead with his court claim and they will counter claim for the cost of putting it right. 

JoBeg

Thank you all for you input. It is certainly food for thought.

The three main reasons that we didn't want him back to rectify the work is that firstly he disagreed with the extent of the works that needed correction. Secondly he was aggressive and unpleasant in his responses and as my wife suffers from anxiety, she didn't want this man back in our house. And thirdly the quality of the work goes quite deep, like the spacings of the tiles are uneven, he didn't reposition the slightly wider sink, he just put it where the old one went so that the spacings are all off. In some areas he has just neglected to grout, but there are other issues like the above that mean they are not easily fixed. All this resulted in us feeling that this man is not competent enough to fix the works.

So, we decided to pay him, but deduct the sink unit and tool cost as previously stated. For him to get the sink unit we will have to remove it first. The issue here is that he has ruined our bathroom, and is now requesting we rip out the sink unit before we can afford to buy and install the new one. If feels wrong that he has damaged out unit and cost us a fair amount of money, done a poor job, yet he is calling the shots. 

We will get some quotes to rectify the work as this seems sensie. But considering we have been been polite and waived the right to have him fix the work, which would have cost him many days labour, is there any wisdom in just ignoring him. We are both fed up with his angry emails! 

Many thanks

TripleH

Sadly you may come unstuck by refusing to allow him to rectify the mistakes.

Get someone in to quote to 'make right' the bathroom (preferably itemised) then politely ask him to fix each issue.

I suspect he will refuse but get it all in writing.