Who’s at fault?
A situation came to light recently that I thought I would share, so others can learn from. I received a phone call from a chap that I know and he was explaining his reason to withhold funds for work he had completed by a person whom we both knew and where friends with. The chap was keen to let me know his side of the storey.
The chap had a leak in his shower and wanted it remedied whilst he was away on holiday. This was agreed with said builder. During completion of the work the builder found that the job to be more than replacing parts and that a full redo of the shower enclosure was required. The builder took his initiative and continued and completed works being friends with the customer he thought this would be no problem…..
This sounds all well and good and using your initiative is usually seen as a good thing. But first mistake made, the builder must confirm with the customer that they are happy to continue if works are different to what they expect. Not to mention the additional costs that they may have not factored in. An extra tip here, get it in writing. Most people on holiday look at their emails just to confirm what was said. Make sure a new price for works is confirmed.
The customer supplied the materials to save money. Unfortunately this can mean that the materials purchased are not suitable. In this situation this was the case. The builder took his own initiative again and replaced for appropriate parts, thus more costs. Second mistake- I understand the customer wanting to save money but sometimes it really is best to let the professional use the materials they are used to and can guarantee. The amount of times I have had to use some ex-showroom, it ends up being a complete waste of time and the finish is never great. What also should of happened here is that the builder should have spoken to the customer first to recommend the types of materials required for the particular job, obviously the customer still has the option to go out and source/ purchase the materials still, but at least then everyone is happy. Also the builder should have confirmed what he was replacing the materials with and if the customer was happy for him to proceed.
The builder then finished the work give or take a few bits while the chap was still on holiday so he sent him an invoice and updated him that all works were complete.
The customer returned from holiday expecting to be finished and the bits the builder hadn’t quite finished yet where noticed straight away which made the customer unhappy with the finish. So here the customer has the invoice in hand, a lot more then he thought and there is a big snagging list.
From the builders point of view it was a couple small things to finish but I think the issue was made bigger because the builder promised to have it all finished by said date.
The builder had arranged a revisit to go through the snagging but unfortunately cancelled the morning of, this really got the customers back up. It spiralled quickly after this and ended in the customer saying he would not be paying for the additional works and the builder saying he would take him to court..
So letting it all settle in I asked the chap a question.
Obviously my first question was “what was the original quote” customers reply “I didn’t ask for one”
Long pause……….. That was a massive mistake I replied. The customer had one idea of what things might cost and the builder has a completely different idea. The builder then completed the job ready for when the customer returned home or so he had thought.
He went on to tell me what he had not completed, how the work appeared unfinished and on a whole not to a very good standard.
I did say I was very surprised as I know the builder well and there are many things I would say about him but usually his standard was very good.
He said he asked the builder to return to rectify the faults and finish what he said he would, the builder booked into return however the morning off text to say he couldn’t make it.
I can see both points of view here ‘in the builders eyes’ he had done a cracking job, he had completely sorted the ongoing problem the rotten boards were gone, new tile boards up, the best materials used that money can buy, all done before the customer got home couple small jobs to finish (cracking!). What the customer saw was quite different. A surprisingly large invoice for the works and a list of jobs still to be finished.
Who is really at fault here?
The answer is they both are to a degree. The builder should of kept the customer updated throughout and regardless that they were on holiday I would be sending pictures of updates as the job progressed with an updated price for the additional works, If they said they were not happy I would of held off doing the job until they were back to discuss face to face. I also would not of sent an invoice in until all works were complete and the customer was happy.
The customer should have asked for a quote first and not assumed a figure that they had dreamt up. Also although it makes sense to have works like this done while you are away on holiday and the dream is that you come back it’s all shiny and brand new, I can tell you this is not always the case. Problems always crop up and really the customer needs to be there in my opinion to discuss the job with throughout.
In the end I believe the customer did pay but only an amount that he had in mind for the project, which meant the builder did lose out. I do feel for both parties but I do think this could all of easily been avoided altogether.
So hopefully what you get from this article is
-Even with people you know don’t assume.
-Always have things written down and agreed.
-If you are away asked for updates & Photos (WhatsApp) is free and you can send a ton of pictures.
-GET A QUOTE (refer to my getting quotes article)
Hope you have enjoyed the article.
Don’t forget to go over my other articles; there are gems of free advice throughout…
Toby