What does 'removal' mean? Dispute advice please

[tubs]

Hi,

I've just had a job done and am withholding part of the payment pending resolution.

I had new tiles fitted in my house and the tiler, as part of the quote, agreed to the 'removal' of the old tiles. He did this - but left them all in a (tidy) pile in my back garden! He contends that he only agreed to remove them from the floor, I understood that removal included taking them away. After all, if I asked someone to remove a tree I wouldn't expect them to just cut it down, I would expect them to take it away. That is implicit.

The tiler maintains that he never meant to take them away and that this would cost extra. Could someone please advise?

Thank you,

DQ.

Get the tiler paid and stop wasting your time on this issue , customers like you don't realise the stress involved in petty issues you have raised , be a man and discuss it with the tiler and move on , obviously his work was spot on and you had to get your last word in , get your car filled and get in to a tip or pay for a skip like most sensible people would !

 

[Sean Kelly]

Sorry to drag this one up again. We have not seen how the quote was written. If the words used were 'Remove tiles' and then make good wall, prime, tile, grout, polish then it is obvious that 'remove tiles' meant removing tiles from wall. I very much doubt the tiler would say 'tile, grout, polish, remove' in that order. Like most of us we would describe the job in chronological order.

 

[gobby]

I make clear disposal be it old materials, packaging, wastage or whatever on any job is for the customer unless they are happy for me to organise a skip at an additional cost, I don't build it into the price. I suggest disposal themselves is the cheapest option if they are able. The finer details here aren't clear and though removal isn't disposal I can understand the customers surprise if your not familiar with building work practices. Interestingly though on the tree felling similarly used, the timber has a resale value and removal sometimes forms part of the agreement and affects the price because of this. Mark

 

[IHB]

Interestingly though on the tree felling similarly used, the timber has a resale value and removal sometimes forms part of the agreement and affects the price because of this. Mark

Yes, removal is ambiguous. I bet if a builder was "removing" Lead then it would have been "removed" to the scrappy.

 

[Dan]

Christ, this thread got 4 pages longer than it should have done! ha

 

[Perry]

I never take away any materials that i don't supply, even cuts of tiles.

 

[Andy Allen]

Christ, this thread got 4 pages longer than it should have done! ha

Probably because a lot of tradesmen on here are sick of getting ripped off. .....and for what? ....a misunderstanding of the word remove......most customers would of just got rid of the rubbish and moved on......not kick up a song and dance about it and kept money back....:incazzato:

 

[On one]

I never take away any materials that i don't supply, even cuts of tiles.

Me neither. I've been asked before if I can take away the waste materials that a customer has bought..........''if you bought the materials,their yours!''

 

[Ajax123]

And still it rumbles on...

 

[J Sid]

Perhaps this thread should be 'Removed' now

 

[On one]

Still waiting for the OP to come back on here and say he's done the decent thing and paid his tiler in full.

 

[J Sid]

Still waiting for the OP to come back on here and say he's done the decent thing and paid his tiler in full.

you think that's going to happen?

 

[On one]

Wellllllllllllllllll,he could just pay his tiler and keep it to himself then!

 

[spooner68]

Another example of why we as tradespeople need to make all of our contract terms as clear as possible to our cutomers to avoid confusion. I have an "exclusions" section in all of my quotes and clearly state that I will bag/stck up the waste for the cluent to dispose of themselves. Otherwise, if they prefer they can have a skip at an additional cost.

Had a one last week where he rang me up after the job and asked when I would be taking it away. He hadnt read the quote but took the stuff to the tip himself. Easy. Pay the guy and take it to the tip.

 

[andy8758]

Why does so many people get upset with customers (even if they ain't yours)? The customer is always right.

If you regularly dispose of waste created by your business (tiling) you must register as a waste carrier (£154 for 3 years). You will then have to pay the local authority to dispose (our local rate is £47/tonne sorted waste, £115 unsorted). There are a number of alternatives - and all my customers get quotes that include trade terms and conditions including:

· Waste disposalis charged as an extra in our quotes. The contractor is happy to moveand bag (if possible) all waste generated from the work, to place in a suitablelocation on the premises (or garden) so the customer can dispose of itappropriately (at local recycling centre) and have no waste charge applied. Weare also happy to arrange for skip hire. Our charge includes bagging, transport,licensing and disposal of rubbish. Please note that we separate our waste forrecycling, and ask your support not to allow waste mixing of the bags whilst weare not on site (e.g. throwing sandwich wrappers or tins into rubble sacks) –the costs of disposing of unsorted waste is currently £115/tonne.

So I recommend making waste disposal policy very clear to customers - I find a lot of them expect you to include disposal but don't understand what it costs us. I recently had a new carpet - and the fitter wanted to charge me £75 to dispose of the old carpet. So that became my "standard" disposal fee. Of course a hippo bag might be cheaper...