customer complaint

[Mrs Tiler]

Is it your customer or the builders so you know who you are dealing with.
Go back and re-align the floor tiles and take up the lipped tile and reset.
That way you should satisfy everyone!
The customer has a right to be picky and if your waiting to be paid, do it asap before they decide to get someone else in to put it right and take it off your money.
From the tone of your thread I think you feel that there is a small case that they may be right.
At the end of the day they may still want a discount but at least you'll know its not because of your workwomanship!

Timeless John.

I dont think I should have to redo anytihing - I would prefer to take them to court - I already did a good job and gave them discounts on materials etc

 

[doug boardley]

mmm.. see why you don't want to take them up, are they 600 x 600's? tbh the picture doesn't really tell us a lot as it's a bit grainy

 

[Mrs Tiler]

mmm.. see why you don't want to take them up, are they 600 x 600's? tbh the picture doesn't really tell us a lot as it's a bit grainy

They are very hard porcelain tiles, I had to dry cut the whole floor and then lay them and a couple got slightly out of line. If I take them up I dont think I will be able to really improve it and I if they get damaged or the others get damaged around them I am really in stew as they were no tiles left over. Plus I feel that they are being really underhand, they didn't say anything to me when I was there last week and I had practically finished the job, just grounting the second bathroom and its the first one I did they they are mainly complaining about (which is the pic I attached)

 

[doug boardley]

if you can see their gripe and you're unwilling to rectify it, and I see from your posts that this seems to be so, I think the only course of action is to offer the customer some discount. A bitter pill to swallow perhaps, but what's the alternative?

 

[kilty55]

mrs tiler,im not questioning your work at all. and im fully aware there are lots of customers out there who expect full discounts on there tiles and full discounts on materials and they may well also be difficult to work for,i kind of get the feeling from what your saying they have peed you off,and at the end of it all they are now complaining.

did the customer allow you to begin the job with the perfect substrate?

did you advise them on how you wanted to prep the room and did they allow for this in the price??

if not and you had walls which were not in a perfect condition and a floor not in perfect condition then i beleive you have a case,as you say you have done a good job with what you had to work with.

 

[Hawkofeagles]

The way I look at it if you back down and offer a discount on the floor you have just done then there's no going back, they will always try and get money off in the future if you do more tiling for them.

Do as Dave has suggested and take out the mis-aligned and lip tile's and relay or at least offer this option as it could be the test to see if the customer really want's them redone or is just after money off. Good Luck

 

[Thespanishtiler]

once you start a job YOU take on the responsibility for completing it to the reasonable satisfaction of the client.

the client is not satisfied and in my opinion lipped tiles and grout lines that run off are reasonable issues to complain about.

what you charged, gave discounts on and what the subtrate may or may not have been like are of no relavance.

put it right, take the hit and move on without damaging your reputation.

it is only approx 5m2 after all

 

[stevee]

it must be a wrench the thought of pulling up big tiles like that , unfortunayly you re judged on your last job sometimes, they look nice in the pic, im gonn have to bite my lip a few times in the near future i suppose,which i aint good at:lol:,but will have to,good luck ,steve

 

[Spud]

the concensus of opinion by all the most experienced guys on the forum is to change the tiles and redo them ,why couldnt the tiles line through straight in the first place and why are the tiles lipping ? and why go to court over such a minor thing as replacing a couple of tiles ?

 

[davy_G]

Mrs tiler, for my 2 pence worth, I always ask myself the question 'would I be happy with this in my house' or if I was an independant friend of this person and came in and looked at the job what would my remarks to them be? If either of the answers are not satisfactory ie yes you would be happy with it in your house (regardless of price or substraight condition) and you could hand on heart say 'good job there fella' then stand firm.
Otherwise fix it no matter what it costs in time or money. Good luck what ever you decide.

 

[Fekin]

If there is any lippage or out of line tiles, then the customer has got very good grounds for complaining, and other than taking the hit yourself and sorting it, there isn't much you can do really.

 

[chris.tiling]

Sorry Mrs Tiler, but you asked the question yet dont seem to want to listen to the answers. Bottom line is you need to talk directly to the customer and not via the builder.

Personally I think replacing a couple of tiles (even if it just the lipping one) is better than losing reputation

Good luck in resolving the issue

 

[hillhead]

If there is a case as i think there might be,you have already admitted small problems which i think i can see in the pic you have to fix it,you wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court,reputations are hard to gain,don't throw it away.

 

[Daveyboy]

Putting aside emotions and what you/we ourselves consider acceptable and would/would not do, taking a dispute to court should be the absolute last resort.. a Judge will not entertain an application where there has been no attempt to reach an agreement between the two parties..where there is documented evidence that attempts to reach an agreement have been made but have been unsuccessful, a Judge will consider whether the disputed work is considered reasonable or unreasonable for the monetary amount being claimed and will require independent documented supporting evidence.. i.e. if you pay someone £5 m2 it is unreasonable to expect a high quality finish, if you pay someone £50 m2 it is reasonable to expect a high quality finish..

Reputation is very important...businesses of all sizes can go under if their reputation is ruined - remember Ratner Jewellers? - so you have to ask yourself 'do I have a strong case and if I do not resolve this amicably, 'is my business going to suffer in the short, mid and long term?' Equally, you do not want a reputation of being a pushover, so it's a fine line to walk..

Consumers have rights..if a client is unhappy with the quality/standard of workmanship, they have a right to ask for the work to be rectified within reason i.e. in line with what they are paying for the work. They cannot get someone in to rectify your work without first giving you written notice that they are unhappy with your work and want you to rectify it within an agreed timeframe..

Tradesmen have rights..if you cannot reach an amicable agreement with the client, you have the right to take the matter to court and/or to undo/remove the work and cancel the invoice, but you will have to consider costs, chances of success (in court) and how this might impact on your reputation and future business.

My advice is that you need to talk to your client about their complaints as a matter of urgency before the situation gets out of control...good luck

 

[kilty55]

Putting aside emotions and what you/we ourselves consider acceptable and would/would not do, taking a dispute to court should be the absolute last resort.. a Judge will not entertain an application where there has been no attempt to reach an agreement between the two parties..where there is documented evidence that attempts to reach an agreement have been made but have been unsuccessful, a Judge will consider whether the disputed work is considered reasonable or unreasonable for the monetary amount being claimed and will require independent documented supporting evidence.. i.e. if you pay someone £5 m2 it is unreasonable to expect a high quality finish, if you pay someone £50 m2 it is reasonable to expect a high quality finish..

Reputation is very important...businesses of all sizes can go under if their reputation is ruined - remember Ratner Jewellers? - so you have to ask yourself 'do I have a strong case and if I do not resolve this amicably, 'is my business going to suffer in the short, mid and long term?' Equally, you do not want a reputation of being a pushover, so it's a fine line to walk..

Consumers have rights..if a client is unhappy with the quality/standard of workmanship, they have a right to ask for the work to be rectified within reason i.e. in line with what they are paying for the work. They cannot get someone in to rectify your work without first giving you written notice that they are unhappy with your work and want you to rectify it within an agreed timeframe..

Tradesmen have rights..if you cannot reach an amicable agreement with the client, you have the right to take the matter to court and/or to undo/remove the work and cancel the invoice, but you will have to consider costs, chances of success (in court) and how this might impact on your reputation and future business.

My advice is that you need to talk to your client about their complaints as a matter of urgency before the situation gets out of control...good luck

brilliant advice,this is what i was trying to say:drool5: