Tiling at bathroom door not level, causing threshold issues

[Bathfix Bob]

Not good, people who finish at 4pm need to work and stress harder the next day and accidently scrape the ceiling with part of the shower enclosure and try to hide it before you got home. I sometimes work until 7/8 pm if needed.

I've done in myself with some flooring, it happends but i had the decency to get straight on the phone and fork out £330.00 out of my own pocket to buy and have fitted a new kitchen vinyl floor.

Sound like a typical 5/10 plumber, gets by reasonably well working for similar people to himself but put him up against someone with high standards and and hes's exposed as the chancer he really is, and yet to his group you are the picky nightmare customer.

Deadlines? Not me....I would never give an exact finish date ever, how can you possibly know, I can get an hour taken off me by customer coming in and chatting about non work stuff and its fine but that lost hour has a huge knock on effect.

 

[Bathfix Bob]

These coragated plastic panels are so easily dented, I try and talk people out of these, proper ventilation and a nice new plastered and painted ceiling are much better. Ours is still like new after 6 years.

 

[Homeowner78]

Well that’s a witness statement if ever I had to read one!
20% of his total wage is a lot to withhold on what seems to me to be a fairly competitive price.
I’am not saying you are wrong but some of the issues should have been overcome - you could have given him a key!
From the item you originally posted ( door threshold) you have a longer list which you are pursuing. I’d try and keep a more friendly approach to get it resolved.
Me - I’d try not to hide/make the mistakes but if confronted afterwards in this manner most likely ask if your an engineer?

LOL apologies for the length, it is perhaps related to the job I do in customer service, I am used to all details being recorded and lengthy forensic level quality investigations when there is a customer issue. I do also happen to be an manufacturing engineer, LOL.

Perhaps it is too much to expect the same level of service for a bathroom refurb, however the basics still standing off owning up to mistakes, saying sorry for them and working hard to put them right.

As I said before, we worked in good faith and paid £2100 until the point we found damage that had been purposely concealed. That is when the whole picture changed and the trust was gone.

I work with clients all the time who get annoyed when mistakes are made, but stick with it if they are owned up to and fixed. If they find out that we have hidden something or concealed damage to their goods, then they just walk away. It is drilled into us by management, you will not be fired for making a mistake, but you will be fired if you make a mistake and try to hide it.

 

[Time's Ran Out]

Unfortunately there are too many people purporting to be tradesmen in today’s market. However there are Bathroom fitters on this forum who undertake the full project and turn out excellent work. But I would guess that £2.5k for what you’ve had done labour only is ‘competitive’ and not necessarily bespoke! Now that may come across as being unfair but it may answer one of your issues in that they are turning round 2-3 bathrooms a week at those prices to make it pay. Hence later starts and overrun timescales trying to keep all projects alive.
4 competitive estimates is right but unless you’ve seen or had recommendations about them your still potentially in the dark as to the standard they will achieve.
I could tell there was an engineer in you somewhere and coupled with customer service - a hankie just waiting to be used ( it’ll end in tears!)
Keep Calm and Enjoy Life!

 

[Homeowner78]

Unfortunately there are too many people purporting to be tradesmen in today’s market. However there are Bathroom fitters on this forum who undertake the full project and turn out excellent work. But I would guess that £2.5k for what you’ve had done labour only is ‘competitive’ and not necessarily bespoke! Now that may come across as being unfair but it may answer one of your issues in that they are turning round 2-3 bathrooms a week at those prices to make it pay. Hence later starts and overrun timescales trying to keep all projects alive.
4 competitive estimates is right but unless you’ve seen or had recommendations about them your still potentially in the dark as to the standard they will achieve.
I could tell there was an engineer in you somewhere and coupled with customer service - a hankie just waiting to be used ( it’ll end in tears!)
Keep Calm and Enjoy Life!

Yeap we are totally regretting not paying the £800 extra and going with another local bathroom supplier and fitters who would have taken care of the whole thing and stood over it.

We are now in the sticky mess of trying to sort this all out and left with issues like the shower panel which will remind us for the next 20 years.

As a typical engineer, I am quiet, logic driven and detail oriented. Dealing with this sort of agro and confrontation is very stressful.

I nearly considered paying him the £580 and telling him to go away. Just to be done with him.

 

[Homeowner78]

At a basic level am I right to hold them to account over the concealed damage? To me that is the key issue. How can I trust them to do anything else?

 

[Time's Ran Out]

You’ve got £580 in trust!
Advise him of what you require doing to bring the job up to a level of acceptance, value what he will not amend, and pay him the difference.
I’ve not been paid by customers before and it’s not a pleasant experience for either party - All warranties are null and void and some actually do the damage themselves to get out of paying that final amount ( was going to say £580.00 but that would have been cheeky) so claims and counter claims can prolong the stress!

 

[Homeowner78]

Update, I had a very gracious call from a Senior Manager at the bathroom goods head office. She had seen the photos and email and agreed that it was not up to scratch and apologised for the experience.

She explained that they don’t employ the fitters, only recommending people they know who are qualified plumbers etc, but don’t follow up on the quality of their work in other areas.

That being said, she said that we were still her customer that had spent £3000 directly with them and had a bad experience. So she offered to call the fitter they use to do all their showroom work and she has used personally. She would explain to him the situation and he would come out to quote for making all good. She hoped it would even still come in on or below budget for us.

I am really delighted by this level of customer service after the last few days of stress.

I have not heard from the original fitter today and the rubbish is still outside the house, so I am not sure what his plans are, but as far as I am concerned he is fired as I explained on Friday to him.

I am happy to leave it at that and consider the case closed. I don’t intend to publicly shame him, or discredit him. I just want a finished bathroom. If he wants to take it further that is up to him, but I assume he won’t want to risk the wrath of the bathroom merchants.

I would like to thank you all for your help and advise over the last 24 hours as you have helped me and my family negotiate a very stressful situation.

Many thanks to all and I will update in a week or so when the job is done.

 

[WetSaw]

Unless the rubbish clearance was agreed in writing and part of the original quote it's unlikely he would have cleared it anyway as you need a license to transport rubbish and the council don't make it easy to dispose of .

 

[Homeowner78]

Unless the rubbish clearance was agreed in writing and part of the original quote it's unlikely he would have cleared it anyway as you need a license to transport rubbish and the council don't make it easy to dispose of .

He has been telling us for the last week about a certificate he needs to take it away and kept promising to do it the next day. The last I heard he had been to the recycling centre and they told him he could bring it on anyway. Although he told me on a Friday night he wouldn’t remove it to he got paid.

Either way I am going to start removing it myself tonight and remove his opportunity to do it.