MyBuilder Feedback response - what to do?

chris.tarry85 · 13 Jul 2015 at 10:12

Hi All,

A couple of months ago I had some plastering work done by someone I found through MyBuilder (with a high amount of positive feedback).

Unfortunately I was not at all happy with the work done, and after giving him several chances to correct it (to which he made very token efforts) I left him fact based negative feedback in late April.

I noticed a few days ago that he has left an abusive, potentially defamatory response to this. Including such things as calling me several expletives, saying several people on the site told him not to deal with me (quite how considering this was the first job I posted?!?) and that I am a skinflint and this is why his work was poor because I forced him to do the job in a way he didn't want to.

In a way I am pleased, because this response is public and I am hoping his demeanour will dissuade people from hiring him in the future, however I am not particularly happy for these accusations to be left in the public domain.

I have contacted MyBuilder, but am yet to receive a reply.

What would you do in this situation?

the_r_sole · 13 Jul 2015 at 13:05

chris.tarry85 said:
What would you do in this situation?

not care as it's him that looks unprofessional in his response

did you make him do it a certain way and did you trim his price to the bone?

Adam · 13 Jul 2015 at 13:22

It's his reputation he is damaging, not yours.

Just move on. That's what the feedback system is for, if he wants to make himself look a tit then let him. Hopefully your feedback was factual and written in a constructive way and not just a rant yourself?

chris.tarry85 · 13 Jul 2015 at 13:39

the_r_sole said:
not care as it's him that looks unprofessional in his response

did you make him do it a certain way and did you trim his price to the bone?

No, I accepted his quote as it was for his recommended works.

My feedback, I think this is fair and objective:

"Not particularly happy with the quality of either the advice offered or the work carried out here.

Had a large ceiling which had a number of cracks due to joins in the plasterboard, but apart from this was flat and even. Requested that Phil quote to rectify as well as fill some small holes from removed air-vents.

Whilst I fully understand that the ideal solution would have been to re-board, but when you ask a plasterer "will skimming get rid of the cracks permanently?" and he replies "yes" this seems to be a good solution.

However, as you may have guessed, the cracks came back less than two weeks after skimming! On top of this the plaster in the previously un-cracked area's is now much less even than it was before.

Phil visited and made a token attempt to sand the uneven areas, but frankly the effect was negligible.

In short, I feel that miss-leading advice was given to secure the job and that the work carried out was sub-standard."

Adam · 13 Jul 2015 at 15:04

Sounds like a pretty informative review, I'd just ignore it personally. You have nothing to gain by entering in to an argument/discussion with him.

Destination · 13 Jul 2015 at 16:57

Following that review, I would leave his description, You seem reasonable, he doesn't. It'll be better for anyone checking the site to have everything kept exactly as it is.

Bunka · 13 Jul 2015 at 17:15

Leave it as it is, move on and anybody looking at that review in the future will think that the guy is a ****.

lsg1r · 13 Jul 2015 at 20:20

chris.tarry85 said:
Whilst I fully understand that the ideal solution would have been to re-board, but when you ask a plasterer "will skimming get rid of the cracks permanently?" and he replies "yes" this seems to be a good solution.

I'm not even a plasterer (dad is a builder) and know that just a skim over plasterboard isn't going to work in most cases, you'd need to add something like scrim over the cracks (likely at joints) or the cracks will just flex as before. Although depending on the type of cracks it may need a full re-board like you say. Actually the joints on the board should have had scrim over the first time it was plastered....

Did he actually use anything like scrim (it's like a netted tape) over the cracks because that's likely why the cracks came back?

I'd maybe reply with a response regarding his accusation from other builders, although as others said I'd leave as is, he's ruining his own rep with that type of reply.

chris.tarry85 · 13 Jul 2015 at 20:47

Thanks everyone - Reassuring to know that you would all read his response and think the same as me.

You'd think choosing someone with 40+ positive feedback was a safe bet wouldn't you!

AshD93 · 13 Jul 2015 at 21:47

Quite a funny reply. Obviously digging his own grave here considering this is public. OP sounds like you need your whole house plastering though

This feedback is laughable.every ceiling in this mans house has cracks on it,which I warned him could be structural.i told him the best way to go with it is to take the coving down,re board and skim.He clearly wanted to save on costs with an over-skim.i reluctantly agreed.After reading Chris tarrys comment about how I said they will disappear permanently it's clear this man is a liar,as I gave him the same sound advice as as I believe every other plasterer would have for this particular job.i should have listened to other people's advice and stayed away from this *******!!.as u can see in all my previous comments I am a good reliable tradesmen,but like most tradesmen every now and thenyou come across an skinflint!

chris.tarry85 · 14 Jul 2015 at 08:01

Obviously I do - It seems he must have X-Ray vision seeing as he only ever went into the hallway and the room he worked in!

Syla5 · 14 Jul 2015 at 09:48

The main question here is did he sugguest scrim tape and you say "no thanks" or did he just never mention it at all?

Scrim tape over the gaps between the boards is a basic must, and i am no plasterer!

chris.tarry85 · 14 Jul 2015 at 10:01

Syla5 said:
The main question here is did he sugguest scrim tape and you say "no thanks" or did he just never mention it at all?

Scrim tape over the gaps between the boards is a basic must, and i am no plasterer!

Never mentioned - like I say I accepted his proposal as was, did not ask him to make any changes / cut corners.

jas72 · 14 Jul 2015 at 10:08

We had our ceiling done and it wasdone like Syla5 said dug out taped and redone that was a year ago and it's as good as new. The plasterer sounds like he wanted most bucks for least work. You don't have to reboard for a few ceiling cracks (madness)

Syla5 · 14 Jul 2015 at 10:38

I also got a couple of ceilings skimmed and scrim tape was used on all the gaps, 3 years down the line and no cracks have appeared to date.