Carpet damage - customer pulling a fast one but are us tradeppl over a barrel?

[Murdoch]

Carpets don’t go threadbare when they lifted ... that description suggests it was worn out

 

[Ben-gee]

How long was it down for ? The one I used (think it was roll ‘n’ stroll) said to be left for a maximum of 4 weeks, not sure if others are the same?

 

[Brandnewcombineharvester]

Feel for you dude.
I've been self employed all my life, but recently decided to take it a bit more easily.
I now work for a housing association, and trust me it's the norm.
I worked for a local council when I left school, and it all came flooding back (no pun intended).
Oh mate they will pull any stunt to either get out of paying or seek some form off bill reduction/compensation.

Where I work now, and apparently this is quite normal, we are not permitted to remove any fitted carpet of any sort (every time without fail they try to claim for damaged carpets.
I know your case is slightly different, but we have to get the tnt to either sign a disclaimer or get the carpet removed pre repair.

All I can suggest is in future get a small disclaimer underwritten in your initial quotation and also on any bills.

Interesting 'thread' this one. (sorry)

 

[SimonG]

C'mon Shaun, get your finger out want to see what's happening with this.
[automerge]1603661636[/automerge]
The smart phone is king.

Customer wanted trv on radiator. Went, rad valve leaking on gland nut, damaged laminate underneath, changed valve, billed, paid and left.

Two days later, you've damaged my laminate.

Nope.

It was fine before you did the valve.

Well the picture I took of the valve and the damaged flooring before I started seems to agree with me.

Oh, right, yes, well, erm, must have made a mistake.


I've warned everybody i know to avoid like the plague.

 

[PETE 123]

Yes i do the same sometimes take photo b4 work if you think it will lead to some sort of claim. Same as you would with id or warning notice & sticker (attached to appliance )

 

[Ric2013]

What a pain in the ersa! I love working in scruffy houses when the people themselves are the type that wouldn't notice let alone care if you do cause cosmetic damage because the house is already scruffy (because they generally are more interesting to chat to), but it sounds like you've found a sisp-taker (who may genuinely, however, have only just noted a slight deterioration in a carpet that was already worn).

The 'damage' may be hard to prove or disprove, though it's up to you whether you want to go for the easy life or call their bluff and see if the customer will actually go to court. If you didn't take notes and have no evidence of the condition prior to work taking place, I think it may go against you, though if you want to fight it, you could offer a percentage based on the condition of the carpet which you have not applied your protector to being already very poor. Perhaps you could offer 33% of the cost of a new carpet as the amount that is not in dispute and give that upfront? At least you would probably then have the judge's sympathy. This, incidentally, is very similar to best practice method if it were a rental property and the carpet had been 'damaged' by tenants (cost of new carpet x percentage of the expected life of the carpet remaining).

As for the shaver socket, did the customer authorise the work or not? If the customer authorised it and didn't agree a price, they can be expected to pay the reasonable cost. I think it would be hard to argue that £75 is unreasonable.

The electrician needs to understand the system and determine whether the circuit is fit to connect a new socket to, do the work and clean up after (which may indeed take only an hour) and then test the new socket in accordance with BSblabla. The total labour cost is the time spent on the job, not just the time spent chiselling out the wall and tightening the terminals.

Plus, if the sparky is under your subcontract, then you need to add a small percentage for the administrational cost and responsibility you take and that you incur in providing the customer with the convenience of having you as the single point of contact, same as you would put a small margin on the materials you supply. FWIW, back in 2008, a Colchester-based electrical firm's callout and first hour's labour charge was significantly more than the £75 which your customer is disputing.