Help Ocd Customer From Hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sWe]

jimbob, the main thing here is to get your cash. revenge can always come a few months down the line. you said all the work is within bs tolerances. take a copy of these with you and go through each issue with him. point out to him the mistakes his made and find out what he's based his opinions on. probably a friend down the pub who would have got it done cheaper no doubt!! over a short time he will either start to realise his error or is a complete ****. either way if you have to mention sc court he will picture in his mind all the reasons you've pointed out why he'll lose and have to cough up yours and court money. hopefully you'll get a result. then a couple of months down the line, rapidset down the drains!! love that idea :hurray:

Truly the approach of a professional

 

[IvegotsTILE]

There will always be customers that would not be fased by this approach, and even possible hospitalize your poor friend in the process.

Believe me the terminater wouldn't be able hospitalize my mate,his own shadow is afraid of him lol.

 

[devonmark]

get your money first ..... then get his car....Mark.

 

[pjtiler]

you used to be able to sell your debt to a debt collection agency for percentage
i don't know if you still can though
worth looking into maybe

 

[aejrd]

Hi guys and Gals.

Just finished a customers bathroom walls and floor and now he is refusing to pay and has been extremely rude to me on the telephone. Throughout the job he has been leaving me notes about tiles being out by 1-2mm, he followed me around with a spirit level, the list goes on. I finished the job on Saturday and my colleague agreed the job looks excellent. The customer was away until today and he has just rung. I let him rant on for a good ten minutes about terrible tiling, disgusting tiling etc etc, he calle dthe floor a trip hazard but then agreed he was exagerrating, he said the door bar had been cut 2mm too short(my pencil line) he said he has been sat in the bathroom for two hours with his spirit level picking fault and is now refusing to pay me, what can I do. I believe everything to be within BS tolerance but have been told that Trading Standards always side with the customer he also threatend mne by saying his daughter is a solicitor. Can I take the tiles back off the wall and get my adhesive back I wonder...... HELP PLEASE, he is not prepared to meet until next Monday either so even if I do get paid it will be over a week later, police, solicitors what can I do?.
Jim

send a letter it probably wont work but u neva no! if not just put it behind you ***** like that just make me angry an i wud hav to smack him if it came to an argument...so just 4get it. learn from it an the next time u see a post it note pack up ya tools an walk out...thats my advice anyway ..

 

[JIMBOB187]

So the customer rang me on Saturday and moved the meeting forward to 4:00pm. Upon arrival he was extremely friendly as was his wife I was obviously extremely courtious aswell. The obsessive mudda humpa had drawn every wall on his computer and grid referenced the tiles he wanted changing, 30 in total. He went along every wall with a spirit level and also complained that I had not drained his system and removed his radiator. I reminded him that I had advised a plasterer to be brought in and that I was not insured for plumbing work

I very calmly stated my position as follows.

All of the issues you have raised are either within BS tolerance or you were made aware of before tiling commenced with regards to the terrible condition of the walls and floor (I have pictures). You have no case to take me to court but I however do and will, this will also include lost earnings as your payment was to part fund materials for another two jobs that have since cancelled. I then walked out, strangely happy?

My solicitor has also advised me that I should claim for my fall in his garden whilst walking to his outside tap, I sprained my wrist quite badly.

I would appreciate your thoughts on tiling onto extremely uneven walls I am not aware of any BS for this as every rooms wwalls are of a different quality, I am aware that Trading Standards satate that if a consumer is made aware of defects or faults before purchasing goods or services than they lose the right to complain.

He left a message on my phone last night offering a proposition but I would rather not enter into any more dialogue and pursue this through the courts and with my solicitor for my fall.

 

[DHTiling]

Good luck jimbob.......you do right to keep this private now, you do not want to jeopardise your case.....

 

[GazTech]

My last job as self employed went down the same small claims route. I won the case and am still recieving a cheque from him each month for £40 until completed. At the time I was so annoyed he didnt pay what he owed in a lump sum , but now on reflection I smile every time I receive a cheque, knowing he has had to pay me. Over 2 yrs payments he's reminded of his stupidity every month.....good luck Jim

 

[MICK the Tiler]

This is what happened to me when I was faced with a similar situation. This is by no means a recommendation as a course of action but It's worth a laugh.

I'd done a job for a bloke a large floor in 600x600 polished porcelain some of my finest work IMO, well he just flat out refused to pay, the job was worth about $15000 au so quite a bit too lose. nd you guessed it I lost my temper and fair cracked the bloke several times in fact leaving him with a busted nose and one very sore jaw.

The police were called I denied the action but was handcuffed and later charged with assult.

Being charged with a criminal offence gave me acces to legal aid and a damn fine lawyer, the client or prosecuting party had to fork out for his own legal attack, as another point being the defendant I also did not have to take the stand the prosecution had to put his own client to the stand and let my lawyer cross examine first so in theroy all he had to do was keep him there for as long as the client could afford. 5 days later my lawyer still had the clown answering questions about the case, and in the end the judge found in my favour awarded me the cost of the job with pain and suffering and the other git not only had to pay costs but for the job as well, I had no conviction recorded and walked out a free man all because it was his word against mine no other witnesses present, stupid GIT!!!

So if you do happen to lose your temper and do something you think you'll regret do it with no witnesses present and deny everthing.

 

[IvegotsTILE]

Mick the Tiler.......my man:hurray: :hurray: :hurray:

 

[Pawelzik]

A sad story but it brings up a question for me. In Germany, when the customer refuses to pay the tiler as he claims the work to be too bad, somewhen this comes also up to court.

But before that someone has to verify the quality of the work, this is the basic for the court´s decision. We over here have consultant agencies for that, accredited for verifying tile works.

- The consultant agency is choosen by the customer together with the tiler, each party can regret the proposed consultant (e.g. if there is relationship to one of the parties or other circumstances) until a consultant is found who meets both parties interests.

- If the tiler has proposed a consultant several times and the customer had refused to take one this will be a plus for the tiler at court.
- The consultant is finally paid by the loosing party; and if the tiler is sure that his work is okay and inside the BS tolerances he doesn´t need to worry.
- Sure both parties are represented by their solicitors but the consultants result is the important independant 3rd party voice.

Is this also practice / typical in the UK ?
Regards, Martin

 

[JIMBOB187]

Evening all.

So just an update and a request. The non paying customer is defending the claim in court and has had another local tiler visit and quote for what he calls repair. I know this because the tiler in question rang me the same day and siad for two days labour he would fix it (about 4 tiles lipping up approximately 2mm) and keep the matter out of court, no way I said and I explained what condition the substrate was in and that luckily for me I have pictures to prove it and advised self levelling and plastering to the customer. I have an interesting relationship with this tiler as he is very adverse to competition, not a problem at all and no reflection on his integrity after all it is business but he has not seen the pictures before and after so the customer is probably thinking that he can present this quote in court and win hands down,.

I have another more well known(probably the best in the area) tiler who has seen the pictures and has made a statement and is prepared to come to court aswell my question is would any of you peeps be prepared to write a brief statement on headed paper and post it to my house. I will post the pics for you all to look at, it should say something like given the condition of the substrate a showroom finish would be impossible, the customers expectations were unrealistic and self levelling and reskim would have been beneficial, don't all write the same though eh, if anyone feels like helping I will PM them my home address or you could email it on your letter head.

Let me know. I am so gonna stiff this dude.

Can't upload th eimages they are 3meg so I will email them to anyone interested in helping.

 

[sWe]

Documentation is a-ok :yes:

 

[JIMBOB187]

Evening all.

So just an update and a request. The non paying customer is defending the claim in court and has had another local tiler visit and quote for what he calls repair. I know this because the tiler in question rang me the same day and siad for two days labour he would fix it (about 4 tiles lipping up approximately 2mm) and keep the matter out of court, no way I said and I explained what condition the substrate was in and that luckily for me I have pictures to prove it and advised self levelling and plastering to the customer. I have an interesting relationship with this tiler as he is very adverse to competition, not a problem at all and no reflection on his integrity after all it is business but he has not seen the pictures before and after so the customer is probably thinking that he can present this quote in court and win hands down,.

I have another more well known(probably the best in the area) tiler who has seen the pictures and has made a statement and is prepared to come to court aswell my question is would any of you peeps be prepared to write a brief statement on headed paper and post it to my house. I will post the pics for you all to look at, it should say something like given the condition of the substrate a showroom finish would be impossible, the customers expectations were unrealistic and self levelling and reskim would have been beneficial, don't all write the same though eh, if anyone feels like helping I will PM them my home address or you could email it on your letter head.

Let me know. I am so gonna stiff this dude.

Can't upload th eimages they are 3meg so I will email them to anyone interested in helping.

Anyone else want to help fight for the tilers cause I gaurantee that when I email you the pics you will be compelled to help.

 

[sibs]

Anyone else want to help fight for the tilers cause I gaurantee that when I email you the pics you will be compelled to help.

Hi jimbob I'd love to help but I think I'm a bit too new to the trade I think you need the opinion of a seasoned tiler best of luck though I hope you stuff him out of sight lol