Fed up with rogue tradesmen

Never use Stiled Home Improvements from Cradley Heath in West Midlands.We used this company to refit our bathroom but they completely messed it up. They fitted the shower enclosure incorrectly - in fact it was overhanging the tray. They came back to put this right but then the shower leaked through the ceiling below. We later discovered that they had left two gaps in the tiling behind the edge of the enclosure. They did not secure the pipework for the mixer shower so it became loose after a few uses. They also came back to fix this twice but just ended up sticking it to the wall with loads of sealant. We also had many other problems such as leaks, loose taps and poor tiling and flooring. The worst thing is their feedback on Mybuilder.com is fantastic and they appear to be very busy. I didn't hire them through mybuilder.com so can't leave negative feedback. I have posted this again because they have changed their name slightly.

Three things off the top of my head one should remember: get a fixed quote for the whole job not based on the hours guestimated to complete it; give them no more than 10% of the cost of the work to be done for the deposit asked; treat not tradesmen as your friends or they will walk all over you.

Be firm and professional when you deal with the many pinheads who'd otherwise take you for a fool. But someone once advised me that a decent man is a nickname for a fool. So, maintain your balance and don't be over-compensating; give them back what they deserve.

Never use S-tile-d Home Improvements from Cradley Heath in West Midlands.We used this company to refit our bathroom but they completely messed it up. They fitted the shower enclosure incorrectly - in fact it was overhanging the tray. They came back to put this right but then the shower leaked through the ceiling below. We later discovered that they had left two gaps in the tiling behind the edge of the enclosure. They did not secure the pipework for the mixer shower so it became loose after a few uses. They also came back to fix this twice but just ended up sticking it to the wall with loads of sealant. We also had many other problems such as leaks, loose taps and poor tiling and flooring. The worst thing is their feedback on Mybuilder.com is fantastic and they appear to be very busy. I didn't hire them through mybuilder.com so can't leave negative feedback.

Never ever use Aindow & Aindow. They fitted my kitchen, well they didn't actually fit it as threw it in. The electrics are dangerous and keep tripping. They never delivered all equipment. I asked for quartz and got granit. They said it was Silestone which was good quality but it's not. They damaged worktops and cupboards whilst fitting equipment. The gas pipe was capped by them and they are not corgi registered and it was capped at the wrong side of the tap which they left on. Surely it will be the tap that leaks. They damaged the stack pipe and haven't repaired it properly. When I try to contact them they just ignore me. They have walked off with my money and left me with nothing but a headache. It's going to cost me money I haven't got to ave it taken out and refit. Cowboys isn't a word I would use for them. More like thiefs. Now I have found out that they have folded their last company owing thousands. Cheats.

Avoid St James Design bathroom fitters and 'designers'. James presents well but he is utterly incompetent to do the work he says he can do. Our bathroom work was a complete disaster. Constantly late, way over schedule, dreadful workmanship... so bad i could barely believe what i was seeing. Avoid this guy like the plague.

My elderly neighbour had a leak in her bathroom and I went to her assistance, I switched off the flow and located the leak, it proved to require removing a shelf to get access to the joint and general mopping up of water. On examination I hadn't got parts to repair the fault and as we live in a McCarthy & Stone property and there was a number for calling out a plumber, I did. When he came a did the repair and made the charge of £60. for less than half hours work and considering I had done most of his job for him, I was very annoyed to think my neighbour had been ripped off and to add an insult to injury it turns out that the Plumber is a relative our House Manager. So much for looking after her elderly residents, she and her family are doing very nicely out of us, from plumbing, gardening and catering. Nepotism is a word that springs to mind. .

PJN you must be one of the few, it is not for me to doubt you but (part of them missing)?
(months for them to arrive)? gives one room to does it not?

The problem with most people like mrs a rubbens is they keep wanting it cheaper and cheaper so would not pay to have the gates galvanised which would stop them rusting but becuase it costs extra they think your ripping them off.
As for the comment from boblet they are made in stoke on trent at are own workshop.

As I have said in earlier posts Mrs A a lot of metal gates & railings are not made here in the traditional way any more they are imported from China, it is so cheap.

I ordered some metal gates from pjn engineering in Stoke On Trent. They took the money up front and then I waited months for them to arrive. When they finally did, part of them was missing which took another 6 weeks to arrive. By then, they had gone rusty already. When I contacted them, they basically said tough luck. I only live a few miles donw the road, so why it took so long to make them I will never know. Useles. I will never use them again.

I totally agree. I had some work done by a firm called OSM contractors based in Leicestershire, Guy called Dale Ruddy. Just to put in a damp proof course they trashed the entire house and the garden. I paid them £500 in advance for materials and then they demanded another £2,000 cash in the middle of the job without giving me any itemized bill or invoice for anything. I told them they could only have another £500 maximum and the balance would be paid when the job was complete. They walked out leaving the whole place like a tip. There was rubble everywhere, in the house and garden even inside cupboards. They tore out all the fittings and contents of the rooms and a lot of things we wanted to re-install went missing. They mixed cement or plaster on the lawn and had a fire there. They dismantled all the electrical connections, destroyed the switches and wiring and left the boiler not working so that the house was freezing cold during the worst of the winter until we could get someone else to repair the boiler.
They destroyed all the brand-new carpets in the downstairs part of the house because they never covered up anything before taking the plaster off. They opened sacks of cement on carpets, literally, and walked all over the place with wet feet covered in cement and plaster.
It was an absolute nightmare.
You have been warned.

Another vote of no confidence for NICK MARLE - ESSENTIAL SERVICES.

Did extremely mediocre job and then refused to provide an invoice for insurance purposes on the grounds that, wait for it, he "couldn't remember doing the job"!!!!!!
This was the week before Christmas, so perhaps a bit much of the wrong type of Christmas spirit??? Ignorant as hell, too. AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE.

I had a near identical experience, including over-run and wandering around the house! Does your kitchen fitter operate from a town in mid-Derbyshire by any chance?
However I found Andy Brown of Nottingham on the Age Concern Business Directory and he quickly dealt with the leaking shower and incorrect fittings that our 'cowboy' had also installed! There are some good guys out there!

I unfortunately used a company called serviceteam ltd, which is a business from hell. They are based in london and have very BAD BAD customer service. Very ironic that they are called serviceteam. They allegedly provide domestic service. Would never use or recommend this company to any householder. POOR SERVICE, POOR QUALITY, POOR VALUE

We had an issue in 2007 after Aquablue Bathrooms (now Aquablue Bathrooms and Kitchens I believe) installed a wetroom. The drain in the shower was blocked by grout, no overflow waste on wash basin. Floor tiling so uneven that water from the shower area did not run back to the one drain but ran under the wall hung toilet and collected in puddles. The owner, Carl Dalton, was not interested in putting right his bad workmanship and insisted he would only fit a shower tray or full width door to stop water from escaping, this would then have not been a wet-room which is what we paid him for!
The room has been leaking and we can no longer use it.
After many letters between Trading Standards, Aquablue and ourselves (during which he moved house and did not tell us!) we ended up taking him to court in Warrington, he did not turn up for two of the four appearances including the final one where the court found against him and awarded us over £2,500. He has not paid despite sending court baliffs, his house is registered to his son not Carl so he avoids any charges on his property.
The courts do not help after this point, they have your money and it's then up to you to chase the tradesman, you can of course spend more money in court but they have no powers to enforce any payment at all. Seems to us now it was a complete waste of time, effort and money to get absolutely no help in the end!!
Carl is now saying he is finding it difficult with a CCJ on his record and wants us to void it, if we don't do so he is going to a solicitor! He says the court papers were incorrect in naming him as trading as Aquablue Bathrooms as it is a limited company but we are seething that he has had the cheek to send this letter!!
I have a video of the floor problem for Youtube so people can see the state he left it in.

I used RatePeople.com for a plumbing job and this guy called Nick Marle from Esessential Services accepted the job. He came around 4pm after promising to come at 10am. By that time I wasn't at home, only my mother in law. He then took my boiler apart and to 'investigate' and told my MIL that he requires a £50 call out fee. After paying him £60 quid (Nick didn't have change), he said that he'd pop out to get a part. At 7pm he returned saying that he needs £150 for the part which he had already ordered for the following morning. My mother in law then paid him the £150 and that was the last time we ever saw Nick Marle. I called him a several times, to hear replies like the part was delayed, he's got the flu, he got delayed, but he never showed up. Its been nearly a month and I have now taken legal action against him.

So here's a warning to everyone: stay away from Essential Services on RatedPeople.com. Check their DL and other certifications before letting anyone touch your plumbing/heating. Also if its your boiler you are better off going with British Gas insurance than trusting some cowboy.

I used RatePeople.com for a plumbing job and this guy called Nick Marle from Esessential Services accepted the job. He came around 4pm after promising to come at 10am. By that time I wasn't at home, only my mother in law. He then took my boiler apart and to 'investigate' and told my MIL that he requires a £50 call out fee. After paying him £60 quid (Nick didn't have change), he said that he'd pop out to get a part. At 7pm he returned saying that he needs £150 for the part which he had already ordered for the following morning. My mother in law then paid him the £150 and that was the last time we ever saw Nick Marle. I called him a several times, to hear replies like the part was delayed, he's got the flu, he got delayed, but he never showed up. Its been nearly a month and I have now taken legal action against him.

So here's a warning to everyone: stay away from Essential Services on RatedPeople.com. Check their DL and other certifications before letting anyone touch your plumbing/heating. Also if its your boiler you are better off going with British Gas insurance than trusting some cowboy.

I used blair &patterson of hawick to fit my kitchen its been over a year and its still not right a new kichen door has a gap of over an inch down the side,they fitted the wrong tiles on walls and floor in fact just a shower of very expensive cowboys be warned

My gripe is about service people, you know the ones who come over to your house to do repair work like the plumber, electrician, carpenter, etc. I mean, what is up with these people. How many here remember the days when those you summoned to do repairs were eager and happy to be there. It meant to them the chance of adding to their business another satisfied customer. Apparently, that is no longer the case. Today you walk around your own house with your tail between your legs afraid of making any suggestions, and God help you if open you mouth to ask for an explanation as to why their are doing the job in a way you had not intended. I understand that people and times have changed. We are no longer people who feel proud of our accomplishments. We have created a bunch who has done away with personal satisfaction; we have becomes complacent with mediocrity and the "so-what" mentality, I understand all that, but I long for the days when the guy you hired to fix the leak in your house sat with you for a cup of coffee after the job was done. What a deplorable down spiral descent we're in!

In March this year ( March2010) I employed DTD Building Services of Tottenham N/london to refurbish my bathroom new shower tray, sink, wc and completely tile the whole room. The work seemed ok when they finished, However after about 8 weeks I started getting problems with drainage which I still have not resolved. In october I noticed that some of the tiles in the shower unit were coming away from the wall. I contacted them as the job was less than a year old to arrange for them to come and do a repair only to be told that the did not guarantee the job, I asked why they said you used B&Q tile cement which is no good. When I pointed out that they had asked me to get the cement in the first place as they did not have cash available at the start of the job he still said it was not there fault. They finally agreed to come but only if I paid them to. So please beware of this company and do not buy any material for them and make sure you get a written guarantee