Author Topic: Tile Care in Hyde - Damaged bathroom and ran off!!!  (Read 12613 times)

chinchilla

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Re: Tile Care in Hyde - Damaged bathroom and ran off!!!
« Reply #45 on: 20:17:45, 22/04/08 »
The person has clearly seen the material underneath the tiles, continued to remove further tiles and then caused the damage. Further to that they've then run off leaving us with a bathroom covered in smashed tiles and rubble and also wasting my wife's 3 days worth of holidays from her allowance from work!

Having looked more in to the company it appears this person is the company, there isn't anyone else but him, so it's not like he'll be fired.

Part of this problem is the fact that he just ran off leaving us in the lurch, not at all professional and has caused us problems.

RAB

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Re: Tile Care in Hyde - Damaged bathroom and ran off!!!
« Reply #46 on: 21:25:45, 22/04/08 »
I think you must draw a line under this experience, there are lots of 'cowboys' out there
Unfortunately nobody knows what is going to be unearthed when they start a project
Did you see the television coverage yesterday of the people who discovered a burial site under their property and workmen started unexpectedly digging up skulls and coffin handles from two or three hundred years ago ?

I bet they had to swallow hard and ask for more money to complete the work they had embarked upon in all good faith

Your workman should have had the intelligence to tell you that your tiles were stuck onto cement which was impossible to remove them from easily and there could be alternative approaches you both might agree
Instead he perhaps sensed that you were going to be difficult and bolted ?



chinchilla

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Re: Tile Care in Hyde - Damaged bathroom and ran off!!!
« Reply #47 on: 21:57:34, 22/04/08 »
I feel a little like you are trying to make excuses for this tiler. I'm sorry if that's not the case, but it certainly feels that way.

I know I will have to draw a line under this pretty much, but I also agree that there are plenty of cowboys out there. By the time I am finished hopefully people will be more aware of someone that I consider to be one of them and I'll save other people the problems caused by this person.

This person gave us a quote for the work to be done. He could see the materials under the tiles when he removed the first one, but he carried on. It's only when he appears to have removed more of the material than he should have done that he's left the building without saying a word.

I doubt he sensed I would be difficult if he approached me with this problem as I wasn't there and he hadn't met me. He'd met my wife who'd been nothing but friendly towards him and is a very understanding person. There's no excusing the fact he litterally just ran out of the door leaving an unusable bathroom, that's the final nail in the coffin for any professionalism he may pretend to have had and is totally inexcusable.

My wife is pregnant and as a result when she needs to use the bathroom it's normally a case of needing to use it pretty quickly. This person left stuff all over the bathroom that could have been a hazard to her in her condition and she had to clear it up after he'd gone so she could use the toilet.

I'm sorry, but this just seems unacceptable to me. We may have different expectations when it comes to tradespeople, but I feel this was disgraceful.

celeste

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Re: Tile Care in Hyde - Damaged bathroom and ran off!!!
« Reply #48 on: 22:05:48, 22/04/08 »
I seem to be taking the opposite view to RAB but I think you should do as much as you can to get some sort of satisfaction from this - no sort of apology - lame excuses - unprofessional conduct - he deserves to be reported and given bad publicity.

Trading Standards should certainly hear of his bad workmanship.
All that's necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing

chinchilla

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Re: Tile Care in Hyde - Damaged bathroom and ran off!!!
« Reply #49 on: 22:30:22, 22/04/08 »
I seem to be taking the opposite view to RAB but I think you should do as much as you can to get some sort of satisfaction from this - no sort of apology - lame excuses - unprofessional conduct - he deserves to be reported and given bad publicity.
I'm glad someone else has picked up on this, I was beginning to think I was the only one who thought this person was completely out of order. There are 2 issues here, the first being the way the wall's been worked on and two being the way the person handled the situation and ran away from it leaving us in the situation we're in.

Trading Standards should certainly hear of his bad workmanship.
I'm still thinking along those lines. I'll have a read on their website and maybe speak to someone there to see if they're interested in it.

RAB

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Re: Tile Care in Hyde - Damaged bathroom and ran off!!!
« Reply #50 on: 23:34:42, 22/04/08 »
I feel a little like you are trying to make excuses for this tiler. I'm sorry if that's not the case, but it certainly feels that way.

I know I will have to draw a line under this pretty much, but I also agree that there are plenty of cowboys out there. By the time I am finished hopefully people will be more aware of someone that I consider to be one of them and I'll save other people the problems caused by this person.

This person gave us a quote for the work to be done. He could see the materials under the tiles when he removed the first one, but he carried on. It's only when he appears to have removed more of the material than he should have done that he's left the building without saying a word.

I doubt he sensed I would be difficult if he approached me with this problem as I wasn't there and he hadn't met me. He'd met my wife who'd been nothing but friendly towards him and is a very understanding person. There's no excusing the fact he litterally just ran out of the door leaving an unusable bathroom, that's the final nail in the coffin for any professionalism he may pretend to have had and is totally inexcusable.

My wife is pregnant and as a result when she needs to use the bathroom it's normally a case of needing to use it pretty quickly. This person left stuff all over the bathroom that could have been a hazard to her in her condition and she had to clear it up after he'd gone so she could use the toilet.

I'm sorry, but this just seems unacceptable to me. We may have different expectations when it comes to tradespeople, but I feel this was disgraceful.

Did you get a recommendation on this workman or the company from a friend ?
Did you ask who is good at tiling in your community from amongst the locals ?
Did you research this company ?
Did you just ask for the cheapest job you could get and hope for the best ?

If you want sympathy we all have that in spades
But you have to be a little more judicious in your choice of locating reliable workers than solely looking for the cheapest

You should always get at least two, or perhaps three, quotes and weigh them in the balance, asking what would they do if they hit a problem and probing to see that they are capable of doing the work if they are not recommended personally
  :)

I can do some basic tiling and plastering myself, but if I could not manage to tackle the job I would go down to the local pub or builders yard and ask for advice or people they could recommend
Or else I would next try to tackle the job myself and learn a lot into the bargain
That way you come out on top with the experience costing some money and pain, but having been taught a valuable lesson in the process
 8)

chinchilla

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Re: Tile Care in Hyde - Damaged bathroom and ran off!!!
« Reply #51 on: 00:26:21, 23/04/08 »
He was advertised on a board at a tiles shop called CDT in Denton. By using him we got a 30% discount on our tiles at CDT, so we assumed he'd be reputable to have something like that set up with CDT.

I have contacted CDT and explained what he's done and that we spotted his company in their store but they advised they are not responsible for who advertises in their store, which I thought would be the case anyway. I'm not sure if they've since removed his card from the board or not as I've not been in to check.

I suppose the lesson learnt here is that anyone can advertise their business on the board in that store and to be more careful next time, I certainly will be too.

I'm not looking for sympathy, just worried that someone else may fall foul to the same problems we had with this company.

RAB

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Re: Tile Care in Hyde - Damaged bathroom and ran off!!!
« Reply #52 on: 10:20:50, 23/04/08 »
How can this shop not be responsible for anyone who advertises in their store ?
They are most probably receiving some form of 'payback' or advantage for selling their tiles with the added bonus of a tiler 'thrown in'

I'd certainly threaten them with newspaper and media coverage and legal action naming them to a small claims court if they don't stop advertising that wretched cowboy character immediately
Mention Trading Standards and consumer rights  :-\

Keep on at them - they are wrong to do that and you have a right to harass them a litle

But bear in mind that if you can get a few quotes and ask around for a recommended workman next time it is always the better solution, unless you have the time and enthusiasm to learn to do it yourself
:)



« Last Edit: 10:24:21, 23/04/08 by RAB »