Wooden flooring laid badly

[ck1]

I was on holiday last week and arranged for somebody to remove carpet / laminate from my lounge / dining room and lay an engineered walnut floor while away. The whole job is very poor from the layout of the wood to the skirting boards being put on incorrectly. The workmen have said that it is the best job I am going to get and they have done more floors than I've had hot dinners etc, What's the best way forward with regards to getting the job done to my satisfaction, can I realistically ask them to pull it up and start again?

[Figi]

I'm sorry, but given the general standard of workmanship these days, I would never have engaged a company to do any work in my house in my absence - they all need watching over like a hawk. That said, I think you have every right to refuse to pay up and insist on having the job done properly - just be there next time!

[dilligaf]

If you are there or not, you have paid to have a floor laid and if it is not to a satisfactory standard you should not be expected to pay for it.

Contact the company (preferably in writing) telling them what the problem is and you are not satisfied with the result.

Ask them what they are prepared to do to rectify the situation and if they fail to come up with a satisfactory solution tell them you will peruse the matter with the local Trading Standards office or even seek recompense through the local County Court.

If you paid by credit card contact the card company to stop payment and sit back and see what happens.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

[ck1]

Thanks all for your replies, it's a real pain having these conflicts with workmen

They have agreed to come back and take it all up, lay it down correctly and glue the planks together which was previously not done - although that was a battle in itself as apparently they have done more floors than I've had hot dinners so they know what they're talking about, how sweet to watch them admit they got it wrong!
I'd spoken to the OFT today and apparently the fact that it was laid in the wrong direction was deniable as there was no proof that I'd asked for that, but as they hadn't used glue this shows they had not excercised reasonable care and skill and were therefore in breach of the services and goods act so at the very least they would have had to take it up and glue it together or pay the bill for somebody else to do it. 2 weeks til they come back so we'll see what happens then
If you have any similar problems I would certainly recommend looking at consumerdirect.gov.uk