Hi Guys,
Just to give you a brief discription of me...
My name is Dave, I'm a Security Specialist and I've just recently had my first dealings with a very incompetent person who claims to have his own plastering company.
Now, the way I work is that I treat every single person individually but most of all with the greatest of respect... in this case the respect was lost within the first 2 hours of him being at my new home.
We met up at the new home, he walked in nodded his head, umm'd and ahh'd and said right, we're looking at £355 - £300 of that is my labour for two days work... I wont be able to get it all done in one day, it will have to be spread over the two...
(Seriously call me stupid but technically if it's a DAYS work - even if it has to be spread over two days i.e. two half days then this is only classed as ONE DAYS work?)
The Landlord agree'd for him to start the work - unbeknown to me however, the plasterer had also contacted the Landlord and asked him to pick up the cost of the renovating plaster (as of which he stated and I quote
"Drywall" (perhaps spelt incorrectly but that is not the point here is it?
)
The Landlord was a bit bemused by this but agreed, assuming that whatever this DRYWALL was was only £55 for what he needed... oh no... turned out he guessed at 5 bags possibly need another 3... it was discussed that this was not the price given, as that would be an additional £15 + VAT per bag on top of the £300 - so where's the £55 come into it? Anyway, because he wasn't overly sure the Landlord agreed to get 10 bags in the end.
After 2 hours of being in my home I received a call from my new Landlord asking what this fella was on? - turned out as he was removing the plaster from the inside ready to treat and re do a couple of bricks came loose, My Landlord said not a problem I'll come down and have a look. The guy himself was quite panicky about it... The Landlord under no circumstances accused him of anything.
He got there saw that 4 bricks had actually been dislodged... he gave them a gentle push and one fell into the cavity. The Landlord told the plasterer it wasn't a problem contact a local brickie that he knew who was there that night sorting it all out.
[NOTE - 4 HOURS WORK AT THIS POINT]
Over the weekend the brickie sorted out the wall even put a rubber membrane down underneath the first level of brick to help work with the DPC that was already in... now I'm no brickie or plasterer if someone in the trade tells me that this is what is needed fine with me, get it done I say.
ANYWAY!... Thursday night, the fella's in doing the work... remember the 10 bags that they'd agreed on needing? he rang the Landlord and said you can take 5 bags back, that's an extra £90 to me isn't it?
WTH? Seriously... so we go down to see him at my new house.
First thing he did when we got there believe it or not was ask if he could nick a ciggie?!! been gagging all day... LOL! he's only been in the house since 5.30pm - the time now is 7.00pm
While there I mention that I'm not overly impressed with the additional £150 + VAT that the landlord has had to spend, plus the fact that it was the Landlord that had to go and collect and pay for the DRYWALL - which by rights should have been the plasterers job surely?
after our discussion it was agreed that the Landlord would take the DRYWALL back in hope that we'd get a refund, baring in mind that TP had ordered it in especially for us, therefore pretty much not a rare thing to get a refund on a specially ordered product.
I even mentioned this to the plasterer, his reply was "Oh it's OK I know the Manager - I'll have a word"
Turns out they did take the DRYWALL back - after a moan about having to do it and a 15% handling charge so technically the cost of a bag of DRYWALL.
Back to the discussion - we left on the agreement that he would be paid LESS the amount of DRYWALL that we MAY not be able to return - LESS the cost of diesel of running about getting product for the plasterer LESS the cost of the Landlord's time - brought it down to £200 ish.
We went back to the Landlords home, first thing he did was go online and have a look at how renovating plaster or DRYWALL should NOT be applied - i.e. to the floor - this is an ashfelt floor? (please correct me here with what it is... sounded like ashfelt
)
According to majority of PDF files and websites, DRYWALL or Renovating plaster or any plaster for that matter should be at least 50mm from the floor - that's 2" and not to the floor
This is were it gets interesting... The Landlords partner, whom has only just given birth to a lil baby boy (awww
) steps in... she's not overly happy with the amount of running about her partner has had to do in order to get this wall plastered... so she asks me to go back to the house and speak with the plasterer with her... as of which I'm more than happy to do so... as I want my home to be right and not done wrong.
We go back (within 15 minutes of leaving the guy!) and he's gone! - So she rings him, has a bout a 10-15 minute chat with him telling him her worries and that she's a bit worried here that her partner is being messed about a bit... she was extremely polite here too!
She comes off the phone and says, he's said he's left gaps at the bottom of the plaster so he can chip it away in the morning... (shouldn't plaster have at least 24 hours to dry?)
I get on my hands and knees looking for these holes now... I can't see anything, so I ring him up again.
I apologised for bothering him, I said I know it's late but I personally can't see any holes at the floor, he said it's just under the carpet... I asked what he meant by this as it was an ashfelt floor - the carpet at the current time is cord, so what 3mill tops? so where are these holes?
He then said that he had put plasterboard at the bottom this would give it an inch rise from the floor - I said at this point...
"Seriously, if you think that's an inch you'd better have a word with your missus... coz that is no where near a bloody inch!"
He then started waffling on about how I work in an office and I don't understand how plastering works etc and having a right go at me... HAHA!
Now, despite the fact that I don't know the guy, he doesn't even know what I do as a profession for him to assume I'm a simple office dweller was his biggest mistake, I've worked as a hod carrier, I've worked in warehouses across the country, I've worked in sales and purchasing for quite some time... I know when someone is taking the mick and this guy was seriously having his fair share of micky!
He's now refused to come back to site, he's texting the landlord for his money - and to be quite honest I personally do not think that he deserves a penny, he had breached the DPC he had damaged the wall (possibly while removing the original plaster - albeit no one has blamed him, the Landlord has dealt with it professionally) and he has done nothing in reality other than at the most 4 hours chipping away - 2 hours "plastering" which fair enough should be paid, but he's walked off the site... he's caused nothing but hassle... where do we actually stand based upon the fact that
A. He has created more work than what was asked for him.
B. He has clearly under quoted and expected the Landlord to do all the lifting and carrying for him.
C. He has done the job wrong by bridging the DPC.
D. He has walked off site and refused to come back.
If this was one of your customers how would you feel if this was how your lads had treated them?
Just to give you a brief discription of me...
My name is Dave, I'm a Security Specialist and I've just recently had my first dealings with a very incompetent person who claims to have his own plastering company.
Now, the way I work is that I treat every single person individually but most of all with the greatest of respect... in this case the respect was lost within the first 2 hours of him being at my new home.
We met up at the new home, he walked in nodded his head, umm'd and ahh'd and said right, we're looking at £355 - £300 of that is my labour for two days work... I wont be able to get it all done in one day, it will have to be spread over the two...
(Seriously call me stupid but technically if it's a DAYS work - even if it has to be spread over two days i.e. two half days then this is only classed as ONE DAYS work?)
The Landlord agree'd for him to start the work - unbeknown to me however, the plasterer had also contacted the Landlord and asked him to pick up the cost of the renovating plaster (as of which he stated and I quote
"Drywall" (perhaps spelt incorrectly but that is not the point here is it?
)The Landlord was a bit bemused by this but agreed, assuming that whatever this DRYWALL was was only £55 for what he needed... oh no... turned out he guessed at 5 bags possibly need another 3... it was discussed that this was not the price given, as that would be an additional £15 + VAT per bag on top of the £300 - so where's the £55 come into it? Anyway, because he wasn't overly sure the Landlord agreed to get 10 bags in the end.
After 2 hours of being in my home I received a call from my new Landlord asking what this fella was on? - turned out as he was removing the plaster from the inside ready to treat and re do a couple of bricks came loose, My Landlord said not a problem I'll come down and have a look. The guy himself was quite panicky about it... The Landlord under no circumstances accused him of anything.
He got there saw that 4 bricks had actually been dislodged... he gave them a gentle push and one fell into the cavity. The Landlord told the plasterer it wasn't a problem contact a local brickie that he knew who was there that night sorting it all out.
[NOTE - 4 HOURS WORK AT THIS POINT]
Over the weekend the brickie sorted out the wall even put a rubber membrane down underneath the first level of brick to help work with the DPC that was already in... now I'm no brickie or plasterer if someone in the trade tells me that this is what is needed fine with me, get it done I say.
ANYWAY!... Thursday night, the fella's in doing the work... remember the 10 bags that they'd agreed on needing? he rang the Landlord and said you can take 5 bags back, that's an extra £90 to me isn't it?
WTH? Seriously... so we go down to see him at my new house.
First thing he did when we got there believe it or not was ask if he could nick a ciggie?!! been gagging all day... LOL! he's only been in the house since 5.30pm - the time now is 7.00pm
While there I mention that I'm not overly impressed with the additional £150 + VAT that the landlord has had to spend, plus the fact that it was the Landlord that had to go and collect and pay for the DRYWALL - which by rights should have been the plasterers job surely?
after our discussion it was agreed that the Landlord would take the DRYWALL back in hope that we'd get a refund, baring in mind that TP had ordered it in especially for us, therefore pretty much not a rare thing to get a refund on a specially ordered product.
I even mentioned this to the plasterer, his reply was "Oh it's OK I know the Manager - I'll have a word"
Turns out they did take the DRYWALL back - after a moan about having to do it and a 15% handling charge so technically the cost of a bag of DRYWALL.
Back to the discussion - we left on the agreement that he would be paid LESS the amount of DRYWALL that we MAY not be able to return - LESS the cost of diesel of running about getting product for the plasterer LESS the cost of the Landlord's time - brought it down to £200 ish.
We went back to the Landlords home, first thing he did was go online and have a look at how renovating plaster or DRYWALL should NOT be applied - i.e. to the floor - this is an ashfelt floor? (please correct me here with what it is... sounded like ashfelt
)According to majority of PDF files and websites, DRYWALL or Renovating plaster or any plaster for that matter should be at least 50mm from the floor - that's 2" and not to the floor
This is were it gets interesting... The Landlords partner, whom has only just given birth to a lil baby boy (awww
) steps in... she's not overly happy with the amount of running about her partner has had to do in order to get this wall plastered... so she asks me to go back to the house and speak with the plasterer with her... as of which I'm more than happy to do so... as I want my home to be right and not done wrong.We go back (within 15 minutes of leaving the guy!) and he's gone! - So she rings him, has a bout a 10-15 minute chat with him telling him her worries and that she's a bit worried here that her partner is being messed about a bit... she was extremely polite here too!
She comes off the phone and says, he's said he's left gaps at the bottom of the plaster so he can chip it away in the morning... (shouldn't plaster have at least 24 hours to dry?)
I get on my hands and knees looking for these holes now... I can't see anything, so I ring him up again.
I apologised for bothering him, I said I know it's late but I personally can't see any holes at the floor, he said it's just under the carpet... I asked what he meant by this as it was an ashfelt floor - the carpet at the current time is cord, so what 3mill tops? so where are these holes?
He then said that he had put plasterboard at the bottom this would give it an inch rise from the floor - I said at this point...
"Seriously, if you think that's an inch you'd better have a word with your missus... coz that is no where near a bloody inch!"
He then started waffling on about how I work in an office and I don't understand how plastering works etc and having a right go at me... HAHA!
Now, despite the fact that I don't know the guy, he doesn't even know what I do as a profession for him to assume I'm a simple office dweller was his biggest mistake, I've worked as a hod carrier, I've worked in warehouses across the country, I've worked in sales and purchasing for quite some time... I know when someone is taking the mick and this guy was seriously having his fair share of micky!
He's now refused to come back to site, he's texting the landlord for his money - and to be quite honest I personally do not think that he deserves a penny, he had breached the DPC he had damaged the wall (possibly while removing the original plaster - albeit no one has blamed him, the Landlord has dealt with it professionally) and he has done nothing in reality other than at the most 4 hours chipping away - 2 hours "plastering" which fair enough should be paid, but he's walked off the site... he's caused nothing but hassle... where do we actually stand based upon the fact that
A. He has created more work than what was asked for him.
B. He has clearly under quoted and expected the Landlord to do all the lifting and carrying for him.
C. He has done the job wrong by bridging the DPC.
D. He has walked off site and refused to come back.
If this was one of your customers how would you feel if this was how your lads had treated them?
