Not paid for a job

[macpi4u]

Hi All,

I hope you can help me. I did a job a few months(February) ago and I have not been paid. I have chased the client up and still nothing. Now today they emailed me because they are having a problem. With the floor that was laid.

Now legally because I have not been paid for the work do I have to go and rectify the problem? I pretty much wrote this job off as a lost, And Now, this!
Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[jono1987]

I cant answer the legal question but my initial reaction would be yes because they contracted you to do the work which you did, it has now gone wrong and if it is because of something you did wrong (which im not saying it is) then you need to repair it. the payment problem is a completely different issue. If it is something out of your control it will become a second Job though so you coulod decline (knowing the payment problems you had)
either way I would go round to see whats what and ask for payment for the first job you did and if required payment up front for the second job at least for parts.
That is only how i would try and handle things though. Hope this helps ?

 

[heatserve]

Did you lay the floor? what has that got to do with plumbing? confused (easily)

 

[hiretools]

Tell the client with the money they saved not payin u in the first place to use that to recitfy the job themselves i very much doubt that u would get any referalls or future work so wot does it matter as for the legal patter i doubt they would follow through as they have a cheek not payin and then have the cheek to ring you up to rectify wot job u did.... Did you not mention the fact that they never paid u in the first place... blimey they have some front let me know wot u said to them when they said ur job has gone wrong,
me personally would tellthem tuff luk next time they want a job pay the bloke and u might get it rectified....

 

[REDSAW]

i would jump at the chance to go round. tell them the prob is under floor. rip it up then bugger of.

 

[turnpin]

Hi macpi4u I think you should email them and tell them you would be happy to call round and sort things out just as soon as the cheque you are still waiting for the previous work arrives and is cleared into your bank account look forward to hearing from you soon. keep all emails for future ref in case they go legal cant see that myself but as we all know there can be 2 sides to every story good luck in your questregards turnpin

 

[macpi4u]

Did you lay the floor? what has that got to do with plumbing? confused (easily)

My tiler laid the floor and apparently they had someone come by and said the floor has too much give. So the grout is cracked. I have no problem fixing a problem it is my fault but not if I have not been paid for the work.

 

[Puddle]

Well they have probably broken any contract you had in standard law by not paying you
Do not know all works and cost involved

But,if it was me,as said, would go round ,say yes ,will sort out,lift floor,put it in van and then request payment outstanding ,plus a realistic penalty for late payment up front before re laying

Teach them a good lesson,cowboy customers need such action in my personal opinion !!!!!

If you can not be bothered,forget about it,they can will not chase you to pit right works you have not been paid for
On the off chance make sure the person who is ringing ,knows you have not been paid,I have had it were the Husband rings up about something and when I point out monies outstanding,he knew nothing about it,wife spend money else where !!!

 

[Mbear]

Why are u even considering fixing it for them?

You sound like a soft touch mate.

If someone doesn't pay u for completed work then sometimes u have to go to the extreme of imtimidation, maybe Send the boys round to "ask" for the cash.

As for the rework, tell them to go and chase themselves.

No cash, no guarantee. Ppl have got a right brass neck these days

 

[carpstu]

your tiler mate have you checked with him/her that they used the right rubberised stick and grout if they have used the right stuff and you are sure their was enough timbers under the floor the surely its not ur fault people/ customers all ways have so call mates who hav someone come round and say thats not right but if they were any good or knew what they were talkig about why did they not get them to do it in the first place. if u go down the legal route then all they need to say is uve not done what they agreed then u dont stand much chance. think id go and take it up take pic's and see how you get on from their

 

[nealbyuk]

Perfect opportunity to ask for money for the job. Tell them original tiler refuses to do any more work for you because he doesn't get paid for it. He told you if he wanted to earn nothing he could do that by staying in bed.
Also state you would be happy to find another tiler but will need money upfront.
Surely there has to be some methods available or that someone knows of to ensure workmen get paid without loads of hassle.
Also aren't they breaking their part ofagreement by not paying you.

 

[WHPES]

If the tiler was working for you and the tiling work is substandard, they are quite within their right to withold payment until fixed. Until the tiling is sorted, the job is not "finished".

You could ask for part payment (excluding the price of the tiling) which they may be more amenable to.

Personally, I would never pay for a job until I am satisfied (learnt that lesson once when getting the van resprayed and overhauled).

 

[hiretools]

I think people are missing the point no contract will stand up in court under english law where no money has changed hands....FACT..... also who cares about tiler this and tiler that on the first thread it states that this job is at least a month old minimum so who cares about holding payment due to substandard work see my thread on page 1 and take heed of wot Puddle says at the end of the day pull the floor up keep it and demand payment from them upfront to put it back.. Sorted.. man people go around houses for nish... do ur self a favour m8 and either forget it or rip it end of...

 

[WHPES]

Ah, missed the February bit.

Yes, offer to go round, rip it up and take away as much of your materials as you can (bear in mind they are yours until paid for).

A friend who does fencing did not get paid for a job, and afer a couple of months, turned up earl one morning with his tractor and dragged the entire length of fence out. Customer rang to say the cattle were in the corn. mate said tough, fence was his until paid for.

 

[turnpin]

any truth in that possesion is 9 tenths of the law? if you have a contract with these people and its under £ 5000 take them to the small claims courtregards turnpin

 

[oldplumber]

you should note that now the floor is laid, if you were to rip it up and not replace it, that becoes criinal damage, not a civil case and the boys in blue become involved. No questions asked your immediately in the wrong. if youve done work and it is not upto standard, you are responsible for putting it right, standard contract law, whether or not youve signed a contract, you are liable, trading standards can start action against you as you have technically left the property worse than when you started in some cases, and your name reputation is blighted. time to get in there make good, take less money if need be and run away having learnt some lessons, theres always a lemon of a job out there for all of us. the customer can ask you to finish the job, if you fail to do so, they can take you to court for loss of monies on goods they have bought and for having to eploy someone else to make good, its not fair but thats life.

 

[Mbear]

you should note that now the floor is laid, if you were to rip it up and not replace it, that becoes criinal damage, not a civil case and the boys in blue become involved. No questions asked your immediately in the wrong. if youve done work and it is not upto standard, you are responsible for putting it right, standard contract law, whether or not youve signed a contract, you are liable, trading standards can start action against you as you have technically left the property worse than when you started in some cases, and your name reputation is blighted. time to get in there make good, take less money if need be and run away having learnt some lessons, theres always a lemon of a job out there for all of us. the customer can ask you to finish the job, if you fail to do so, they can take you to court for loss of monies on goods they have bought and for having to eploy someone else to make good, its not fair but thats life.

why on earth would he do that? They havnt paid him.

They're lucky they've still got windows left in the house as fas as I'm concerned. Where I come from if u don't pay u would know all about it

 

[oldplumber]

it hasnt been ascertained from what i read as to wether or not the job was done correctly first time round, i may be wrong, but having an attitude like yours does none of us any favours, like i said its not fair but thats the way the law works. criminal damage and threats do you no favours and youll never see your cash, a mature attitude normally wins through. Remeber their freinds may be bigger and meaner than you, and your van is such an easy target especially if your proud enough to sign write it
rather sad to see our moderators not advocating a moderate response, i know i am a cynical old sod but this thread is leading down the wrong path

 

[Mbear]

Don't be daft old plumber, I'd never do such stuff, doesn't mean my friends wouldn't though.

I'll tell u a story.

My friend does the same as me. Repairs heating and also fits it.
An Asian man asked him to fit a new boiler and system.7rads.
Price was agreed by both parties. No money up front, all to be paid on completion. My friend does the job to a high standard as always. Completes job by day 2. Comes back on day 3 to collect payment in full. The customer then trys to pull a fly one, "come back in 3month so I know it's working and then I'll pay u". My friend was not having this at all. HE gave the man a hr to pay(my friend stayed in the house during this hr). hr passes, Still no payment. My friend proceeds to start uninstalling the complete system. The customer phones the police, police arrive and they back my friend up. The cust hadn't payed for anything Inc materials so the police said he could carry on removing it. The cust finally gave in, opens a 'suitcase full of cash' and pays my friend. The customer was lucky my mate wasn't dragging him by the neck down to a cashpoint.

 

[Puddle]

If police are called,thy should escort you from the promises,if you do not have or no longer have permission to be there,who owns what is not their responsibility at that point,so if you are on a job and things turn bad,get as much out the house as possible before they arrive ,as after that point ,they will stop you removing anything and as said,escort you from the premises and leave you to argue who owns and owes what in court,if you refuse to leave or try to take any thing with you,it is you that will be arrested and charged.
imho

 

[oldplumber]

been there myself, old boy refused to pay final installment as sink wasnt where his wife wanted it, he had agreed position with me, popped back to dsicuss problem, asked him to turn off mains downstairs as kitchen on 1st floor, so i whipped off to service valves and connectors to sink, he noticed and asked me to stop, at that point you have too stop or criminal damage is then a potential threat to you, he then coughed the readies after offering a cheque, i went to go and he wanted the connections remade. I pointed out id done the work once, been paid and wasnt interested in repeating the job and off i went. no violence threatened, no damage done money paid and i felt good, he couldnt turn his water on until someone replumbed it in again. Wouldnt reccomend this method if your 4foot 6 and slim build tho especially if their wifes built like the average outhouse, women dontfight fair do they.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mbear]

If police are called,thy should escort you from the promises,if you do not have or no longer have permission to be there,who owns what is not their responsibility at that point,so if you are on a job and things turn bad,get as much out the house as possible before they arrive ,as after that point ,they will stop you removing anything and as said,escort you from the premises and leave you to argue who owns and owes what in court,if you refuse to leave or try to take any thing with you,it is you that will be arrested and charged.
imho

The cust wasn't asking him to leave, merely not to leave with the rads etc. How much of a brass neck must u have to ask a fitter to come back in 3month for payment.

 

[emerald]

its only happened to me once, i asked for weeks for the money, i know she had it but it was one excuse after another, so i went out late one evening and turned there water of in the pavement, when she phoned me the next morning, i said she would have to pay me what she owed when i got there and she was all to happy to, she then watched me walk down her steps, lift the cover and switch it back on, she didnt say a word

 

[Puddle]

Met all kinds,the worst are the ones with money because they know they can pay straight away when required,they push and push and just as you are going to get them in court or as your friend did make them come un-stuck,they just throw the outstanding money at you,nothing to do with the job,just a game.When I worked in the city, had a few well off people pay a bill at £30.00 week just for fun,sad but true

 

[oldplumber]

the only reason you knew that she had the money emerald , was that she was your gran wasnt she!!!!!!!!
seriously tho em, if your asked to do some work by an old girl who owns hotels around here and she drives a french estate car, give us a shout and I'll tell you her normal working practices with the local tradesmen. One roofer poured blue circle down 20 of her wc pans when she wouldnt cough for his bill, most of its still there from what i heard, i certainly wouldnt work for her replacing them

 

[emerald]

the only reason you knew that she had the money emerald , was that she was your gran wasnt she!!!!!!!!

was that she was your gran? have you you been drinking ?

 

[moogwai]

i got done by a toss hole builder who i did work for on a project....installed a central heating system with 13 rads on.....a bathroom suite..a en-suite..a downstairs toilet...all of which was a pain in the bum,i even paid a couple of mates to come in and help me for a day just to get job finished on time and never got paid,couldn't even argue with the home owner as i was working for the builder......4 weeks after job finished he bankrupted himself so i couldn't even take him to the small claims....even worse,his wife is best mates with my sister so i can't even get some sort of payback...sooo frustrating especially when work is slow at the min and could do with the 3g he owes me. i'm not a violent man and it takes somethin massive to wind me up but he did it!!!

 

[oldplumber]

sypathy with you on that one, did the householder pay the builder? u could always ask

 

[REDSAW]

in my veiw, the tradesman has been invited back to remedy the problem. it is the decission of this person of what method is used in rectifying the fault. if he decides that the floor is to come up, then so be it. what and how he handles the situation after doing so is up to him, it may be, i need x amount of cash for materials, or i need paying for the removal of the floor before i can put it back etc.
the ball will be now in his court.
the law will protect the custard from unauthorised removal or deconstruction of works without their consent only, not when invited back for rectifications. and theres nothing telling us how long we take to rectify is there?.

e.g. (1)
a builder builds a porch, customer wont pay up. builder returns next day knocks it down = £5,000 fine 2 years suspended for criminal dammage.

e.g. (2) he builds the porch, customer wont pay, claims later (some months) there is cracks in brick work. turn up on aggreed day tell them some bricks need removing, knock it down clear up and b*gger of.
law cant do nothing, reply from tradesman ' i had to make it safe, but dont worry i didnt charge them a penny'.

easy option for getting paid..... sell your debt and paper work to debt collection agency for approx £40. let them do it for you.

have your oppinion but keep it polite = constructive.

think i was reading the wrong page of replies, doh.

.
cheers,.

 

[tamz]

I had a bathroom job years back where the cust wouldn't pay. Kept saying this or that not right so not paying until fixed. After going back about twice before for nothing really. Next time she rang saying something not right with the shower i i said ok i'll come round.
Me and the apprentice went round, told her i had to turn the water off to fix things then removed the suite and put it in the back of the van.
When done went downstairs and told her that everything was sorted and that was us done. Had to dash because had to be at another job.
I never got 200yards from her house until she was on the phone screaming.
That night i had the police at the door, explained what happened and they said it was a civil matter and noting to do with them. Never heard any more about it.
Lost a few quid but it was worth it

 

[moogwai]

sypathy with you on that one, did the householder pay the builder? u could always ask

yeah the householder did pay and i got on with him and he had sympathy for me but understandably wasn't gonna layout anymore money and the builder used the excuse of "well ive done a ton of extra's on the job which i aint been paid for and i was gonna pay you with that money!!" he only lives up the road from me too....soo angry!!

 

[emerald]

I had a bathroom job years back where the cust wouldn't pay. Kept saying this or that not right so not paying until fixed. After going back about twice before for nothing really. Next time she rang saying something not right with the shower i i said ok i'll come round.
Me and the apprentice went round, told her i had to turn the water off to fix things then removed the suite and put it in the back of the van.
When done went downstairs and told her that everything was sorted and that was us done. Had to dash because had to be at another job.
I never got 200yards from her house until she was on the phone screaming.
That night i had the police at the door, explained what happened and they said it was a civil matter and noting to do with them. Never heard any more about it.
Lost a few quid but it was worth it

happy days mate

 

[Mbear]

in my veiw, the tradesman has been invited back to remedy the problem. it is the decission of this person of what method is used in rectifying the fault. if he decides that the floor is to come up, then so be it. what and how he handles the situation after doing so is up to him, it may be, i need x amount of cash for materials, or i need paying for the removal of the floor before i can put it back etc.
the ball will be now in his court.
the law will protect the custard from unauthorised removal or deconstruction of works without their consent only, not when invited back for rectifications. and theres nothing telling us how long we take to rectify is there?.

e.g. (1)
a builder builds a porch, customer wont pay up. builder returns next day knocks it down = £5,000 fine 2 years suspended for criminal dammage.

e.g. (2) he builds the porch, customer wont pay, claims later (some months) there is cracks in brick work. turn up on aggreed day tell them some bricks need removing, knock it down clear up and b*gger of.
law cant do nothing, reply from tradesman ' i had to make it safe, but dont worry i didnt charge them a penny'.

easy option for getting paid..... sell your debt and paper work to debt collection agency for approx £40. let them do it for you.

have your oppinion but keep it polite = constructive.

think i was reading the wrong page of replies, doh.

.
cheers,.

debt collector is a great idea, just threaten the cust with it, no doubt they would absolutely poo themselves about being blacklisted etc, bound to cough up without incident. Best idea I've heard yet, although intimidation also works, debt collection is the best way to stay on the right side of the law

 

[WHPES]

Surely if you buy a bathroom suite and the customer doesn't pay you, then it is still your property until paid for in full?

Most people will pay when they discover a small claim is being made - they are frightened that they will get a bad credit rating. Those that don't probably don't have any money to pay you or have a bad credit rating already.

 

[Toddyplumb]

Did your invoice state your payment terms ? ie payment within 7 days
Have they said they are not going to pay you ?