Nightmare job

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very interesting post,,Im sure we have all had a similar situation.My worst one sounded very similar to this customer..Except he was running his fingers over the grout lines to feel for roughness.In this case I would have been better off cutting my losses as it seemed like a never ending nightmare that dragged on for months afterwards.Best thing though is to ask them what they think with every little detail and keep things mm perfect and charge more.
 
Just an update. We had a little discussion with the customer the following day and me and the fitter came to the conclusion that ths guy was just never going to be happy. He wasnt happy that 1- The vertical AND horizontal grout lines wernt in the centre of the shower valve so he wanted either the complete valve moved or all the tiles in the room set out again so that the valve was in the centre of the grout lines. 2- The pipe that feeds the shower head wasnt centre of the shower valve so he wanted that moved. 3- The is a beem that runs across the ceiling which i had tiled (about 400mm deep) and he wasnt happy that there was a grout line along it as he wanted a full tile (which would leave a tiny cut where the wall meets the floor). 4- He wasnt happy that we had used backer board on the floor and not ply!
So we decided we had enough as it was getting us both very down in the dumps. We packed up our stuff, took all the tiles off the biggest wall, had a good hoover up and left. Later we put together a letter describing what we had done each day and the comments that the customer had said and enclosed an invoice for what we had done. Dropped the letter off that evening not expecting a reply.
The following week we had a phone call saying that it was fair and he had a cheque waiting for us. So at least we got paid for what we had done just a shame we couldnt finish the job as it was so close to being completed.
 
I'd love to have been a fly on the wall in that house! I bet he got a right beasting grom his missus.:lol: Well done for getting your money mate, result!:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
result mate , its a nightmare for sure when this happens ,nice one

im beginning to suss troublsome customers by sight/first impressions 21 months into my chosen career

i then up my quote accordingly,thinking if i dont get it .ive saved a load of grief,if i do get it ,im well payed for the grief.steve
 
good result and well handled , the guy knows hes a nightmare and his cheapest option is to pay out rather than be sued like the last time or the time before that or the time before that...................
 
sounds like he will be trying the old money off,or not paying scam, if he or she is not happy with you,ask to be paid a fair agreed amount for what you've done so far and then he can get someone else,sounds like you would be better off out of it,do you think if hes that determined to cause a problem you will get paid?if not then dont continue,trouble is its a bit catch 22,you could do more days there and still not get paid ,but if you walk that gives him reason not to pay,so try to agree something and if you do continue ,get him to write down what he wants, i had a customer who ordered his own tiles and was about 3 m2 short so there was not enough to do toilet next door he then blamed me for using too many??!!!! he then insisted that he was paying me to fully tile so i had to do under shower tray and behind all the pipes behind the built in furniture,unbelievable,i had the mother daughter and father all stood there having a go, they insisted that the tile shop couldnt be wrong,its like banging you head against a brick wall,the daughter actually insisted she knew just as much as me about tiling at which point i said "your the best person to finish the job then arent you" packed my tools up and started to walk,they soon changed their tune when they saw i was serious,i finished the bathroom got paid and they said "when will you be back to do the toilet?",i wont tell you what i said but gave me great satisfaction!!
 

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