Dealing with confrontational builder

ButterCheese

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82078575#Comment_82078575

Good luck with Checkatrade. My friend was ripped off for £20k by a company they recommended. Who also dumped asbestos in their roof. Checkatrade refused to do anything about it. A criminal case is ongoing

mutley74

Received an email last night demanding full payment! Even though the job is not fully finished and the waste not removed and areas cleaned and damage repaired.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82079798#Comment_82079798

Unsurpsrising if there was any hint (intentional or otherwise) you were thinking about withholding payment. If you are only going to pay for 90% of the job then the builder won't be enthusiastic about doing 100% of the work.

ButterCheese

Agree. It seems like you've both got off on the wrong foot with each other. The thing is, you are at their mercy now as to if/how/when the work is completed. Can you just have a friendly chat and say "look sir, can we start again please. My intention wasn't to offend you, nor to pester your staff, and if it appeared that way then I apologise. I would just like some reassurance that the damage caused during the works will be rectified. If this damage is disputed then can we look at it together and form a plan of action before final payment is transferred?"

He may come around a bit after being talked to nicely. Or it might not change anything, in which case you can either pay up and hope that the job is completed (as well as the damage), or withhold any more payment and risk them just walking off, at which point you'll have to get someone else in, who might not want to carry on from someone else's job and will likely charge more as a result

B0bbyEwing

"One time the boss calls and says "we are pestering his workers and delaying the job" because I asked a question when they were having a break!"

I don't really know much about legalities so I wont get in to that but the bit of your post I quoted there.

I'm known in my workplace as being extremely shirty/cranky/whateveryouwishtocallit when someone comes in & pesters me on my break. I don't apologise for it either. I know full well how 'rude' I'm being but it's still not half as rude as someone expecting me to give up ANY of my break to deal with any work related matter.

"It's just a question"

"It wont even take a minute"

Yes you're paying them but that's not for you to decide. A break is a break.

I get 1hr where I don't have to do any 'work', think about any work or talk about any work so the last thing I want to be doing on a BREAK is spending 1 second on anything work related.

When my break is over, by all means I'll deal with any concerns. Not on my break though.

In this guys position, if I wanted to approach you and ask if all was well on my break then that's my decision to make, not yours.

mutley74

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82080030#Comment_82080030

point taken, noting they were expecting (and kept asking) for cold water bottles so only asked when I was dishing them out.

mutley74

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82079968#Comment_82079968

Possibly but he has always had his payments on time and never held back.
he even quotes on his profiles "100% full payment on completion and when you are happy" .

Today he messages saying the job is complete.

I ask him if the electrician refitted the broken lights - he said they did it themselves (a few days ago he assured me he will get an electrician in). The refitted lights don't work when I tested them.

He has not cleaned an existing gutter which is full/blocked with debris due to the overhead works. A conservatory panel and trim that came off - he assured me he fix it but instead just covered the gap with a tape and sent me a message it was broken before, and nothing do with him. There are glass fragments all over the drive from where they dropped old windows which missed the skip. Also found a big gap in a corner which could become a nesting point for birds/bats - as the tile is put in an angle and not been trimmed.

Also he also messaged saying "I am unfair raising any issues with the job".

mutley74

we have paid him as he requested at all parts of the job. He agreed to park the final balance till the end.

B0bbyEwing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82080192#Comment_82080192

Ok that's not how I read it tbh. I read it as though they were out in your garden relaxing & you went out & was like hey guys I just want to run something by you.

I do think this thread is most certainly one of those where it'd be interesting to hear from both sides.

And then to have video footage to see where the truth is in comparison to each sides tale.

Anyway, hopefully you get this resolved. I never had difficult tradesfolk but I have had tradesfolk who promised something (damp proof work) but didn't have a clue what they were doing. My wife paid up in full early too so it was a task to get any sort of refund. In the end I threatened them with legal action & demanded a partial refund (as some of their work was decent) and they thankfully agreed to it which I didn't expect.

So fingers crossed you can get this resolved.

mutley74

Thanks everyone for your replies.

As an update - The builder agreed to fix most of the snags, he did moan but then came back and went through them all. Thankfully he did not get confrontational again. So the job is complete and paid for now.