Should I sack my plumber?

[purplemonkey]

Should I sack my plumber? Asked a friend of a friend (I know, I know - foolish) to come and refurb my small bathroom. He's from out of town so I arranged for my lodger to stay somewhere else for a week so that he could live with me. (so I've lost £100 on lodger rent already). The idea was that he would start early each day and work through to get the job done and get back to his family asap. The plumber thought it would take 6 days at the very most to take out my old bath, fit - d shaped shower encl, + new shower, counter top sink, under floor heating 2 x 2m only), tile throughout.
ok - arrived Tuesday evening, started on Wed. It's day 5 - I still have no shower (he told me I'd be without for 2 days max), no sink, no floor, half of one wall tiled. The only thing he has done is move my small towel radiator and stuck it half way up a wall on foot long copper pipes - looks ridiculous, I didn't ask for it to be moved, have asked for it to be lowered.
And - woken by downstairs neighbour at 1 am Thursday morning - they had water pouring through their ceiling - could not wake the plumber as he was so ****ed. He hasn't started work til 10.30 am on the 3 days I've been here, disappears for 90 min lunch breaks (2 hours after he started) and finishes at 5.30 / 6pm. I'm beginning to think he is treating this like a holiday and is enjoying watching telly in bed away from his family.
He quoted £800 for the whole job - I know, I know - you pay peanuts you get monkeys. I've paid him £300 already for 'living expenses'.
Do you think this is unreasonable of him, enough to ask him to leave? Have I paid him enough for the work he has done (bath out, floor up and boarded, waste pipe lowered, initial shower stage installed).
I'd appreciate an honest reply - don't be too mean though! I've certainly learnt my lesson.
Cheers, Ali (yes, a woman: wonder did you guess that already/!)

 

[joe brown]

Sounds like your plumber is really taking advantage, it shouldnt take this long and if he had anything about himself he would have a lot more respect for you and your home and the fact he's sleeping in your lodgers bed. Maybe you should have a word with him and state that you arevlosing lodgers fees and you really need the work doing, Ask him is there any reason he didnt lower the towel heater or even why he never concealed the pipes . At the end of the day nobody wants copper pipes up there walls especially a foot up to a towel heater. He couldnt even be bothered to get up and correct a leak that he caused. He's lucky to be in your house let alone charging you. This only spells disaster, you have two options and its wether you can afford it financialy or not ! PS not all cowboys are cheap you could of got a good job done for that price elsewhere too but it would be hard to find. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

[Penged]

Hi
What do you do for a living, if some came along to do your job and performed like this would you keep him on, did you put anything in writing. The thing is if some is unwilling to put things in writing or is cheap or can start straight away it's for a reason normally for the reasons you've stated
Cut your loses give him the push get at least 3 quotes IN WRITING, don't be cheap, maybe go through ciphe or aphc.
Oh and do it soon because the more he does the more it will cost to put right.
All the best.

 

[Puddle]

Well it is hard for you to sack your plumber because you do not have one,looks like a diy bloke with dilutional tendencies of being able to do a bathroom refurb,cut your loses ,get rid and pick your friends better !!

even if he finishes owt ,it will probably require redoing in the not to distant future and a few more leaks could soon extinguish any relationship with the downstair neighbours

 

[metaldust9]

lol,all that needs to be said in one sentence by puddle

 

[purplemonkey]

Thanks for your answer - it has given me the balls to speak more directly with him and hand him the number of the nearest bed and breakfast.

 

[Dannypipe]

He was too ****** to wake up while water was pouring in the neighbours place?!

Oh dear, seems you have landed yourself a right dodgy git.

GET RID!

 

[purplemonkey]

Pretty much decided to give him the push - there is now water pouring out of the shower part he's fitted. Have I paid enough (£300) for 4 and a half VERY short houred days? bath's out, sink's out, floor's out and boarded, wasted pipe lowered, control part of shower attached and part of one wall tiled.

He's stayed 5 nights (and reeked my flat up with **** - thought it would make him work quicker if he could smoke inside, but then I was only expecting 5 days of him being here)

 

[Dannypipe]

At the end of the day if he asks for more money, and it's a small amount, I would personally come to a comprimise with him just to get rid of him with no huge drama. Its very easy for a woman on her own to feel bullied by a tradesman...which is awful but happens a lot.

So if you had to give him another £100 and he would never darken your doorstep again, I would say it's money well spent and you've learnt a lesson by it.

In future, don't let trademen live in your home (ever!),
Get everything detailed, written down and signed by both parties (an order with reference to the quote will do)
and don't pay any money until you can see progress and quality work commencing.

Sometimes you have to pay a deposit, but it will all be relative, and again should be signed and receipted.

I feel very sorry for you. Not a nice situation to be in at all. Good luck.

 

[Penged]

Hi
When you give him the push, have your brother, father or some other male in your home too, not standing by your side, but that he knows your not alone. You don't need to repeat yourself about why he should go, maybe write a quick note on what you will say and stick to it.
The reason being we tend to defend ourselves, he because he done a bad job and you because you've clearly been ripped off, this may start in shouting match, so clear simple and as few words as possible.

 

[Dannypipe]

Good advise penged.

 

[purplemonkey]

Ok just told him I want to call it quits - asked him if he thought he could really get the work done - he thought yes. But told him "the work is not what I expected and I don't have much confidence in you - getting up at half 10 every day and drinking a lot". He said fine. Now just that awkward wait while he gets his missus to come and pick him up - he lost his driving license years ago - go figure!

Thanks for your words of wisdom all. Def learnt my lesson.

 

[joe brown]

its always horrible to hear stories like this, what a complete waster the guy must be, goodness knows how you must be feeling and not only have you lost money your bathroom is trashed. I only wishi lived in london and not manchester because id be round there now giving him a slap and demanding he sort the problem fast. 5 days and he hasnt even done anything you canhave a bathroom out in hours and depending on Aqua panels etc... shouldnt be longer than 3 days for full job...if bang at it esecially a small bathroom in a flat.You would of thought that because he was staying at your flat he would start early and work late into the night... the guy sounds like a total joke. So sorry for your bad luck

 

[johnmcginty]

Sounds like you need a plumber ,There are websites you can find recommended plumbers on and people review them , you don't have to pay and a lot of people I speak to find me on it as it is free it is better than all these other subscribed ones with all their disadvantages.

 

[fuzzy]

has he gone yet?

 

[northstar]

See if anyone local to you on this site can come and have a look and get it sorted for you? hope it all goes well

 

[dontknowitall]

£800 for a week's work is not outrageously cheap unless that includes materials - hope you get sorted quickly.

 

[purplemonkey]

He's gone! I just feeled so relieved - didn't realise how much it was really winding me up. Again - thank you for your words of advice and sympathy - they reassured me that I wasn't just being a daft cow flapping over nothing.

Now... does anyone know where I'll get my hands on a tin bath to put infront of the fire?!

 

[tonto33]

Old Large Tin Bath- Galvanised on eBay (end time 09-Jan-11 11:42:34 GMT)

 

[Dannypipe]

LOL @ Tonto!

 

[fuzzy]

did you pay him any extra? what did it cost you in the end?

 

[tackleburger]

As a smoker myself I never smoke in a clients property I go to the van and always put the *** end in a bin inside the van. We all get the occasional leak but this sounds laughable in a way although I appreciate it's not funny at all. I suppose when you look back at what you've done here you can see how it was doomed from the start but as they say hindsight is 20/20 vision.

I would do as stated agree a small compensatory pay off on the understanding he leaves immediately and that's that.

 

[KingDoey]

6 Days for that? We rip out and refit in the same day!!!!

 

[northstar]

to op did you get the problems solved?

 

[purplemonkey]

to op did you get the problems solved?

Hi All (that have been kind enough to take an interest in my bathroom nightmare)
this is the 3rd time I've posted a reply about the outcome - my replies are not being added to the thread for some reason?!

The 'plumber' left without saying much (and without asking for more than the £300 I've already given him). He then sent a text saying sorry I wasn't happy but he def would've got everything done in the next 2 days. I don't think so!! I got a couple of people to come and take a look last night for a quote and they all reckoned another 4- 5 days work is there - and they seemed really competent!

I should def ask for 'paperwork' and refs this time shouldn't I?

Thanks again all for your support, understanding and tin bath ads.
(Hope this one gets added)