Clueless guy, think I had a dodgy job done? Please advise

[Shy Guy]

I have a holiday lodge, they're like static caravans except more permanent residential type fixtures. But essentially, one story, 13 windows total (4 being front conservatory style with french doors). I paid over £3000, which I was asked to pay up front for the work. I paid someone with good reviews etc, and all reviews mention him by name as having done the job, so expected him to come.

 

But on the day, a random dude turned up in a sports coupe. The guy I paid was in Tenerife. I have ZERO familiarity with tinting etc so thought it was normal that he laid out film on the carpets etc. There was major bubbling which I was not that worried about because I knew from Google etc that it would dry.

 

However in some small places there were corners of the film cut off jagged with big gaps. So I did message the guy and said there's a lot of bubbles and some of the jagged edges. He said it takes ages to dry which I expected, and said the jagged cut off bit was nothing to worry about.

 

I did not know this was abnormal, but now 6 weeks later having been in a heatwave, there are still large amounts of water, bubbles, and two films are peeling off... So I got a third party to come in. He said it was one of the most disgusting jobs he'd ever seen, he did not want me to hire him to fix it because he said I need to either get my money back or the guy needs to fix this. He also said it's not normal for film to just be cut on the floors etc, that he has a special table type tool he lays it over to cut etc. In fact I think the guy who came in to see it third party is going to ring up this guy.

 

It left me feeling very upset as I was told that most of these issues were incompetence and permanent, would not magically dry out. He did a holiday lodge about 100 foot away 2 weeks ago (ours was 6 weeks ago). I think he said he installed DR25 onto it. I had Opalux (sp?) Cool Grey 20 on mine. Looking at the other, the flaws in mine was completely absent.

 

He said every single window has a fault, one has 5mm gaps between the film and window edge, measured bubbles at around 20 to 40mm in places, creases, air bubbles, and a few other things. He made a list for me and said to message the company I used and send photos. So I did as advised, and the guy who owns the company I used said that "someone has tampered with it", in other words, basically saying that obviously I went ahead and purposefully yanked off edges of film and w.e. else and that the job was done perfectly.

 

I'm reserved and don't like confrontation, and the guy from the first company is acting very aggressive claiming I must have done all this to the windows (even though we didn't so much as even OPEN them save two doors, in the heat, for a couple weeks which I thought was average drying time), so I don't really feel good arguing about it.

 

In my opinion, because I was polite etc the guy I hired to do this job thought I was a "mark", took 3K up front, used that money to go vacation for several weeks in Tenerife, and hired an amateur subcontractor to come and do whatever. That's what I believe has happened. The guy who came was very young, like 23? and said he had only been doing this job for about a year.

 

...

 

Now, I don't know whether to just take this £3000 loss. I know I can get it stripped and re-done. I know this guy did the other owner's lodge for £600, and I have seen that the work is much superior.

 

Right now we have Cool Grey 20 as said.

 

If I do get it done again, I would probably use the other guy who would be doing it himself. He uses DR25 which would be similar to what we have now.

 

I am not sure whether to go with DR35 as the views are one of the lodge's nicest features. But I want privacy. If there's not much noticeable difference in daytime privacy between DR25 and DR35 I'd probably go 35 and enjoy the additional brightness indoors. But essentially I want to do away with needing nets, and just have films replace the nets entirely with curtains for night (as I currently have it).

 

...

 

Not really sure what to do etc and have been reading random threads on here all day, so thought I would post up everything that has happened, for general advice/thoughts, and ideas on film choice if I do get it re-done, between DR25 and 35, wishing for good privacy with as much brightness as possible (I get there's a tradeoff) - which I think I will get it redone in any case because I don't want an aggressive guy who hates me coming back here.

[Dano]

If you used a credit/debit card, call and dispute the charges with the bank. Otherwise I would drag his sorry ass into court. Jackwagons like that have been a blight on our industry for years. No good installer should be laying out patterns on carpet...ever.

[Shy Guy]

The dude said on the 15th that he would get the pictures off the installer and send them to me (to show me that the job was perfect). I haven't received any reply since, how long is it reasonable to wait before chasing up, as it's the weekend and bank holiday.

 

14 hours ago, Dano said:

If you used a credit/debit card, call and dispute the charges with the bank. Otherwise I would drag his sorry ass into court. Jackwagons like that have been a blight on our industry for years. No good installer should be laying out patterns on carpet...ever.

 

That's what the guy I had in to inspect it said, yeah.

[Dano]

Sounds like you've already been pretty patient.