Asked by Anonymous on 15-09-2014 12:15:30
Question posted in the General Law category relating to KwaZulu-Natal
Question posted in the General Law category relating to KwaZulu-Natal
Good day ---A freevlance painter gave a quotation to paint my house which i accepted however he walked off site after 5 days saying i was too fussy about the workmanship ie specically the cottage pane type steel windows which his employees did a sloppy untidy job not using putty for gaps and not using masking tape to make sure of neatness and that the paint does not spill onto the glass.I complained and he said he and his workers not happy to work here anymore and he was going to refund 50% of my deposit and take all equipment off site and not come back.
They had already done the prepainting preparation of the walls ie damp proof and cleaned the bargeboards and cleaned the gutters/downpipes and were ready to start painting the walls etc and leace the windows for last but he told his worker to paint some windows to see if his way would be acceptable ie no putty and no using masking tape
I now find myself in a positon that I will have to find another painter who is prepared to take over a job not even half way completed -- my question is can I force the painter to return to complete the job -- I did in desparation offer to help ie to pay for the materails to pay for another worker as I could see that there was a major problem with the no of panes that needed to be painted and maybe he had underestimated the time factor involved in fact I think he underquoted for the job and just wanted to get out of it but then he should have said to me can we discuss this.
He also threated to walk off on the 3rd day becuse I complained that the workers were sloppy with the preparation work and made a mess which they did not clean up at the end of the day -- also Ii complained because they took a towel out of the laundry to use at the end of workday and used my fridge etc without asking so there was friction already.
The fundemental question is can he just decide to walk off because Ii complained about the sloppy workmansuip and general untidyness of his employees and unilaterally decide to refund the amount of the deposit and does he not have a legal obligation to complete the job based on an emailed quotation and my acceptance verbally -- we discussed which paint etc that I must buy and what I must do to get ready for the job to start which I did. ie I even cut back the undergrowth so that working could be easier.
I thought I treated his employees well and he has done other work for me in the past and that was excellent
there has not been any friction before (different work ie storm damage to the rook and ceiling boards internally and he used more skilled workforce and he was there all the time )and I am at a loss to understand his sudden change this week.
I would appreciate your views on the legality aspect and in general any comments from you -- thanks very much
regards
Peter
They had already done the prepainting preparation of the walls ie damp proof and cleaned the bargeboards and cleaned the gutters/downpipes and were ready to start painting the walls etc and leace the windows for last but he told his worker to paint some windows to see if his way would be acceptable ie no putty and no using masking tape
I now find myself in a positon that I will have to find another painter who is prepared to take over a job not even half way completed -- my question is can I force the painter to return to complete the job -- I did in desparation offer to help ie to pay for the materails to pay for another worker as I could see that there was a major problem with the no of panes that needed to be painted and maybe he had underestimated the time factor involved in fact I think he underquoted for the job and just wanted to get out of it but then he should have said to me can we discuss this.
He also threated to walk off on the 3rd day becuse I complained that the workers were sloppy with the preparation work and made a mess which they did not clean up at the end of the day -- also Ii complained because they took a towel out of the laundry to use at the end of workday and used my fridge etc without asking so there was friction already.
The fundemental question is can he just decide to walk off because Ii complained about the sloppy workmansuip and general untidyness of his employees and unilaterally decide to refund the amount of the deposit and does he not have a legal obligation to complete the job based on an emailed quotation and my acceptance verbally -- we discussed which paint etc that I must buy and what I must do to get ready for the job to start which I did. ie I even cut back the undergrowth so that working could be easier.
I thought I treated his employees well and he has done other work for me in the past and that was excellent
there has not been any friction before (different work ie storm damage to the rook and ceiling boards internally and he used more skilled workforce and he was there all the time )and I am at a loss to understand his sudden change this week.
I would appreciate your views on the legality aspect and in general any comments from you -- thanks very much
regards
Peter
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