Dispute with tradesman

[Roundtuit]

I'm currently in dispute with a tradesman on a job worth <£2k.  I've paid half the invoice to show willing, but for the rest, I'm torn between paying it off and moving on, and pursuing it to the end of the earth and beyond. 

 

The galling thing is that I've been right on top of this:  quotation scrutinised and amended, clarifications and outstanding work documented on email, and yet he still delivers something different and unacceptable with a load of bull$hit excuses, and has declined to do as per the agreed quote.

 

I've complained to a 'trade body' he's a member of, but they apparently don't do 'contractual disputes', and he's claiming any changes to the original plan were agreed, which again is bull$hit.  

 

I'm confident that I've enough documented evidence to warrant withholding final payment to get someone else to put it right, so the question is, if I do that, what's the worse that can happen, and is it worth it for a few hundred quid?

[nod]

The trade body arnt interested 

min anything other than the subscription 

Its probably not worth it for a few hundred quid 

He could take you to the small claims and win 

[ToughButterCup]

  On 31/03/2025 at 22:13, Roundtuit said:

..., if I do that, what's the worse that can happen, and is it worth it for a few hundred quid?

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Network.

Find out who he/she's had him work on their projects before, and who he works with (other trades folk). Listen.

As written, I'd be very tempted to ask someone else to get the job finished.

However, I (we) can't see the full picture - for example, who does he 'drink' with in the pub in the evenings? Are they the people you'll need to work with sometime in the future? Will you need to employ him (or someone with his skills)  again? How many other (say he's a ) carpenter(s) does he work with?  Will he put poison down about you, or do they all know this bloke as a bit of a [...] ?

 

For a small amount of money, it's a finely balanced decision.

[Mr Punter]

What is wrong with what he has done?  Is it functionally what you needed?  Does it look OK?  As it stands, would you spend your own money to put it right, or is it just a bit annoying?

[Roundtuit]

  On 01/04/2025 at 08:41, Mr Punter said:

What is wrong with what he has done?  Is it functionally what you needed?  Does it look OK?  As it stands, would you spend your own money to put it right, or is it just a bit annoying?

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I think he's forgotten the original brief, not made provision for a key element, and instead of fixing it has implemented a second-rate workaround dressed up with a load of excuses.  It will need putting right, at my cost if not his, as it's not really functional as intended.  This was a 2 day job that has taken 5 months to get to this stage...

 

  On 01/04/2025 at 08:31, ToughButterCup said:

 

Network.

Find out who he/she's had him work on their projects before, and who he works with (other trades folk). Listen.

As written, I'd be very tempted to ask someone else to get the job finished.

However, I (we) can't see the full picture - for example, who does he 'drink' with in the pub in the evenings? Are they the people you'll need to work with sometime in the future? Will you need to employ him (or someone with his skills)  again? How many other (say he's a ) carpenter(s) does he work with?  Will he put poison down about you, or do they all know this bloke as a bit of a [...] ?

 

For a small amount of money, it's a finely balanced decision.

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Tbh, it's now more about a point of principle than the money.  House is finished, so pissing him off is unlikely to impact on anything.

[nod]

  On 01/04/2025 at 09:25, Roundtuit said:

I think he's forgotten the original brief, not made provision for a key element, and instead of fixing it has implemented a second-rate workaround dressed up with a load of excuses.  It will need putting right, at my cost if not his, as it's not really functional as intended.  This was a 2 day job that has taken 5 months to get to this stage...

 

Tbh, it's now more about a point of principle than the money.  House is finished, so pissing him off is unlikely to impact on anything.

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Perhaps you didn’t make it clear to him what you wanted 

[Roundtuit]

  On 01/04/2025 at 10:00, nod said:

Perhaps you didn’t make it clear to him what you wanted 

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To be fair, he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but it was crystal clear; it's in black and white on his quote, and documented in subsequent emails.  Hence my frustration...

[Mr Punter]

Unfortunately some trades just do their standard thing and will not deviate from it, no matter what is in the spec.  Get a quote for putting it right, send it to him and if he still refuses to do it, get it done elsewhere and deduct the cost from his final account.

[Jilly]

Why give yourself the stress over a small amount of money in the greater scheme of things? If it really was a 2 day job and it’s been going on for months, he’s likely already well out of pocket. 
 

Is it possible he’s dyslexic or English is not his first language or some other reason, mean that what you wanted wasn’t understood? I often need drawings to understand what people mean, for example. 
 

Edited Tuesday at 19:10 by Jilly

[Roundtuit]

  On 01/04/2025 at 19:05, Jilly said:

Why give yourself the stress over a small amount of money in the greater scheme of things? If it really was a 2 day job and it’s been going on for months, he’s likely already well out of pocket. 
 

Is it possible he’s dyslexic or English is not his first language or some other reason, mean that what you wanted wasn’t understood? I often need drawings to understand what people mean, for example. 
 

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The stress is already incurred unfortunately: being screwed over, and the thought of the hassle of trying to get someone else to pick the job up, not really the money.  I'm really after a bit of justice I suppose.  We're talking UK qualified electrician, limited company, and his quote is details what we'd agreed the job was.  The only reason it has gone on for so long is that my generosity of spirit allowed him to fit it around other jobs; 45 minutes here, two hours there, weeks between visits... 

 

I honestly can't think of anything I could have done differently to achieve a better outcome, other than standing over him and tw@tting him on the back of the head when he went off-piste.

 

  On 01/04/2025 at 16:40, Mr Punter said:

Get a quote for putting it right, send it to him and if he still refuses to do it, get it done elsewhere and deduct the cost from his final account.

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As it happens, when I told him his work wasn't acceptable, he gave me another quote (for about £500) to complete the work as originally planned, so that will be the basis for a retention if that's the way this goes.

[Andehh]

What was the scope of work, what did he do, and what's the problem?

 

Is there a middle ground compromise with him? "I'll pay you 50% to down tools, walk off the job and leave me some monies to pay someone else...."

[Roundtuit]

  On 01/04/2025 at 20:26, Andehh said:

What was the scope of work, what did he do, and what's the problem?

 

Is there a middle ground compromise with him? "I'll pay you 50% to down tools, walk off the job and leave me some monies to pay someone else...."

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Apologies; I realise I've been vague as the question was more about  what an appropriate solution is rather than the nitty-gritty of the job.  In summary, it's a driveway & garden lighting job, plus a couple of single sockets, with the lights to be switched from an existing photocell on the house via a timer next to the consumer unit (on when it's dusk, off at midnight).  I think he's forgotten to run SWA with enough cores to do all jobs (through adequate pre-installed ducting), and rather than putting it right has installed a $hit work-around I can't live with.

 

I've paid 50% pending further negotiations.  He's offered some discount, but not enough to cover putting it right.

[FluxyCored]

  On 01/04/2025 at 09:25, Roundtuit said:

Tbh, it's now more about a point of principle than the money.  House is finished, so pissing him off is unlikely to impact on anything.

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Thats the best thing to do 🤣

 

But why can't people do their job properly?