non paying customer

[jay1969]

i fitted a kitchen for a customer in mid december labour only,got payed by cheque but the work tops i fitted were the wrong colour although i didnt supply them and had no prior knoledge of this the customer stopped the cheque and has refused to pay for my labour

[bednobs]

right .... and?

[jay1969]

by your repy i am presuming that i am in the wrong in someway?

[kjl1972]

Did your customer purchase the work tops from someone else? If so then you are not responsible. If it was me I would explain that I fitted the materials as supplied and if there is a problem they must contact the original supplier. Legally they will have to pay the bill.

Kev

[jay1969]

it is a bit more complex,the guy that is the owner of the house is a partner with the main builder who is responsible for the work at the house,the supplier sold the kitchen to the owner of the house who says they are the wrong colour,the builder has paid for the kitchen in total,the supplier is adimant it is the owners fault they chose the wrong colour,the builder is not paying us because he says that the kitchen is not finished.Neither the owner or supplier are admitting liability for the worktops which come to around �1500 inc vat

[bednobs]

no, im not implying you are in the wrong, just that you havent asked a question. What do you want to know? How to get your money? how to use small claims court? If its legal for the person to withold the money? What to do next? or are you just getting it off your chest?

[jay1969]

i am just not sure what to do about this problem as the supplier and myself get work for each other not partners as such.

[themas]

Someone - presumably the builder from what you say - engaged you to do the work. You have a contract with that person or company. There is (from what you say) no complaint about your work. Therefore the builder has an obligation to pay you. If he won't then you will have to claim through the Courts. Use the hm courts service website to get details of how to go about it.

The above assumes it is not the supplier who engaged you to do the work & that the copntractual position is straightforward. I'm not sure from your final comment why you envisage your relationship with the supplier might cause a problem - could you clarify this?

[jay1969]

just pointing out that i know the supplier well but not the other two persons in this situation.

[themas]

Ethel is right up to a point. If the debt can be paid by insurance or from any assets your husband left (after his funeral expenses have been paid), then it must be.

However, creditors cannot get blood out of a stone. If you have no assets & are on Income Support then you should not be expected to pay more than �1 per month off the debt, and any interest and charges should be frozen. If necessary, get help with this from your local CAB but do not get involved with any commercial debt management company.

[tufty7]

I think I will disregard the above post !! another thread i reckon , Right I do labour only work for lots of companys and individuals, I fit what they give me, As long as there is no fault in my fitment , the colour , style and finish is up to them so I reckon they have no right in stopping this cheque, in a nutshell you have fitted this kitchen correct and well , the colour of the work top is imaterial . you did what you said on the tin!

[themas]

My apologies � I don�t know how my above post managed to appear here!

There are two disputes here - one between you and the builder (assuming he engaged you to do the work); the other between the supplier and the builder & house owner jointly (because they are partners, one of whom disputes the colour & the other of whom has paid for the kitchen). Legally, these two disputes are not connected unless there is something you haven't said.

I can't see that the fact that you know the supplier has anything to do with your dispute with the builder. Yes - the builder is involved in both disputes but to succeed in not paying you he would have to prove that the work he engaged you to do was not finished or was unsatisfactory.

This assumes, of course, that the builder cannot successfully argue that you were engaged by the supplier & not by him (i.e. that he entered into one contract with the supplier to supply & fit & the supplier used you as a sub-contractor to do the fitting). If this was the case (which does not seem likely from what you have said), then the supplier would be responsible for paying you & your dispute would be with him.