Potentially being taken to court. What should I do?

[armyash]

Hi everyone

Had a call this afternoon from a customer, I fitted a toilet in their half finished cloakroom approximately 2months ago. The floor was newly tiled, and there was an open stud wall at the back where it looks like there was a cistern at one point.

I fitted a toilet, supplied by the customer and I drilled through the tiles for the fixings. Phone call today to say she has had to have the tiles ripped up, And the central heating pipe repaired.

I have spoken to her partner who is a decent bloke and he told me what's happened. He said she wants to take me to court but he said he would speak to me first to sort something out.

She doesn't want me back in the house which is why they didn't have me do the repairs. I said they should have called me.

I don't want to go to court over it but I don't want to be slagged off online either. I had no way of knowing the heating pipes were there as I didn't do the previous work.

I boarded up the stud wall and I also renewed the old basin for a small wall hung unit/basin. Which there is no issue with.

They have said repairs are approximately £350. I would have done the repairs for free (obviously) if they had let me know. They have said they will send me pictures and copies of bills for repairs so they are not trying it on.

What would you do? I'm thinking offer them 50% of the repair bill as they could have come to me for it. I don't want to be a walkover but I don't want to bend over either.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

No pressure drop?

Could the plug of sealed the hole / point of the screw etc

 

[rpm]

Could the plug of sealed the hole / point of the screw etc

On a pressurised system?
By the way why are you deleting my posts again? (Not this thread).

 

[Harvest Fields]

On a pressurised system?
By the way why are you deleting my posts again? (Not this thread).

Not again rpm

 

[ShaunCorbs]

On a pressurised system?
By the way why are you deleting my posts again? (Not this thread).

Moved both posts to his ongoing topic as he jumped on someone's else's didn't yours ?

 

[rpm]

Not that one Shaun, the muppet who hijacked a thread with a different topic, I wasn`t even rude for once

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Not that one Shaun, the muppet who hijacked a thread with a different topic, I wasn`t even rude for once

Yes that's the one I moved your two posts to the original one he posted ages ago did yours go missing ?

 

[rpm]

Yes that's the one I moved your two posts to the original one he posted ages ago did yours go missing ?

No idea.
Apologises Ash.

 

[armyash]

See so many where silicone used instead of screws though LP.
Now starting to think the tiler would of seen the pipes(?).

I see plenty of pans stuck down too but I see it as lazy unless it's known there are pipes beneath. I'm sure most mi's on pans would say to fix down with correct fixings. I could be wrong and maybe they say it's OK to stick down.

 

[armyash]

No idea.
Apologises Ash.

No probs.

Also I have my call to TS recorded. I haven't heard any thing back from the customer today.

I have a new call recorder app and it works perfectly, once the call has ended I can send a copy of the recording to my email. If I hear from the customer again or if I decide to write to them I will make it clear that all communication is being recorded/logged.

 

[Scott_D]

What is the money they want for?
The pipe repair or full job, repair, tile, refit the toilet, inhibitor etc

 

[rpm]

No probs.

Also I have my call to TS recorded. I haven't heard any thing back from the customer today.

I have a new call recorder app and it works perfectly, once the call has ended I can send a copy of the recording to my email. If I hear from the customer again or if I decide to write to them I will make it clear that all communication is being recorded/logged.

Sounds useful Ash, which app is it?
I agree with you doing it properly with the fixings by the way.

 

[armyash]

They have said they want 300, the total cost for repairs is more I believe from what they have said but I don't know thr final figure. I don't know if it's more than one firm involved or exactly what they are paying for.

 

[armyash]

Sounds useful Ash, which app is it?
I agree with you doing it properly with the fixings by the way.

Its called 'call recorder'

You may get ads on your phone from downloading it but there looks to be a few apps that do the same thing.

This came top of the search results and no problems so far.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Fyi you need to inform the customer your recording there phone call

 

[armyash]

Fyi you need to inform the customer your recording there phone call

I will do that. I haven't recorded any calls with them yet but will make them aware that all communication will be recorded.

 

[rpm]

tbh, I`m thinking of the answer machine calls where the customers speak at 100mph and I struggle to get their name and address.
What is it with some people speaking to a machine for gawd sake!

 

[ShaunCorbs]

tbh, I`m thinking of the answer machine calls where the customers speak at 100mph and I struggle to get their name and address.
What is it with some people speaking to a machine for gawd sake!

or keep saying emm emmm then the phone goes dead

 

[armyash]

The customers partner also said to me she would be happy to accept the payment in instalments "because she knows you don't have a lot of money"

That was a strange thing to say as I've never discussed my finances with them, it makes me believe even more that she is a bit of a snob. Must be because I get dirty in work I couldn't possibly earn good money. Even when I would say hello or at the end of the job I was overly polite if anything always grateful for my payment and she would look at me like something she had stood in.

I earn half decent money and my partner earns good money. Not that this has anything to do with the matter but I took it as a way to belittle me.

 

[rpm]

Mate on my life, went to maybe a £4mill house the other week, knocked on the front door and the lady asked if I would use the door round the back!!!

 

[rpm]

The customers partner also said to me she would be happy to accept the payment in instalments "because she knows you don't have a lot of money"

That was a strange thing to say as I've never discussed my finances with them, it makes me believe even more that she is a bit of a snob. Must be because I get dirty in work I couldn't possibly earn good money. Even when I would say hello or at the end of the job I was overly polite if anything always grateful for my payment and she would look at me like something she had stood in.

I earn half decent money and my partner earns good money. Not that this has anything to do with the matter but I took it as a way to belittle me.

Excellent, offer her a £1 a week

 

[armyash]

I'm going to write a letter tomorrow to explain everything to them. I will ask for all the relevant information, say why I don't accept liability.

I will say I surely needed to be made aware of the situation before any repairs were Carried out or at least been informed sooner than I have been.

Will say all calls will be recorded and logged.

Will explain it was an accident and that all reasonable care was taken when carrying out the work. Will add some plumbing related stuff in about pipe in screeded floor depths, not being run in the best place. Toilet was already there.

Will add plenty more and may have to write it a few times. Will send recorded delivery.

All thanks to the replies on here! Thanks.

If it ended up in court and I lost. I could live with that but I don't like how it's all been done.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

i would say this "Will explain it was an accident" as it sort of admits

i would say along the lines of

sometimes accidents happen etc

 

[armyash]

Does anyone have a link to something that shows I legally should have been made aware of the problem or been given a chance to arrange repairs before it got this far.

I have been told to quote consumer act 2015 but I can't find anything that shows what I need. Im hoping to quote something in the letter.

 

[Scott_D]

I would probably say something along the lines of
Please send me pictures and copies of all invoices and reports so that I can pass it onto my insurance company to investigate. Unfortunately as you didn't notify me of the issue, give me chance to rectify myself ,arrange another comply to do so or involve my insurance provider I don't think there is anything that can be done.

 

[Best]

You will probably over think this and worry too much.
Just keep gathering any evidence and facts together and stay calm. Also hope the woman gets angry and says something stupid in writing.
Get a friend who has some experience in legal sort of issues to help you at each stage.

 

[Welder]

Shaun etc. Sorry, but you are wrong on the recording of your own calls.

You DO NOT need to inform anyone you are recording UNLESS it is to be used by another party. That was straight from the ICO and when we joked about that being recorded he said perfectly fine.

YOU may legally record what you like so long as it is for your OWN use. That includes using it as evidence if ness as that's for you. As soon as third parties are involved (training, quality etc) then notification is needed.

I'll carry on reading now...

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Shaun etc. Sorry, but you are wrong on the recording of your own calls.

You DO NOT need to inform anyone you are recording UNLESS it is to be used by another party. That was straight from the ICO and when we joked about that being recorded he said perfectly fine.

YOU may legally record what you like so long as it is for your OWN use. That includes using it as evidence if ness as that's for you. As soon as third parties are involved (training, quality etc) then notification is needed.

I'll carry on reading now...

You sure about this as there's new rulings coming down due to the Facebook stuff that includes all records etc

 

[Best]

You sure about this as there's new rulings coming down due to the Facebook stuff that includes all records etc

Still think the rule - as long as the information isn't passed on to a third party, then it is still legal.
I did it once to protect myself from any possible allegations and it proved handy to note take later precisely what was said.
Sadly I think recording audio and often video is now the way to do a lot of business, just to keep accuracy and to protect ourselves from false allegations.

 

[Welder]

AA. Your life, but as I've explained, I've been there done it and won.

As I have already said, you are being mugged. This is actually VERY simple to resolve so do not be sidetracked.

Send a letter asking for full details of everything. By that I mean a complete breakdown - her story and copies of everything. Happy to put it together for you if it would help. You have my number so you can text me an email address. The point of this is to see what they have. You cannot begin to negotiate if you have no info and no point to start from. The letter needs to 'infer' that its point is to assess your liability so you can cough up an appropriate amount. However it must not even infer any form of liability.

Once the info is received it shows their hand. Once their hand is exposed an appropriate response can be formulated. It allows you to go back and either say 'fine here's £50' or 'go away'.

DO NOT try to make a letter look legal. It is fraught with problems and will immediately put them on the defensive. It has to be an honest letter (always keep 1/2 and eye on the fact it may end up in court), reasonable and open. In other words very carefully crafted an unambiguous in its content.

This can very easily go away. Let me know if I can help.

 

[Welder]

100%. GDPR applies from 25th May and until then its old (98) data protection act. Even so, so long as it's for personal use its fine. GDPR is all about non exploitation.