Don't trust their promises
UNHELPFUL, UNRELIABLE, AND UNCOMMUNICATIVE.
BROKE 3 PANES OF GLASS. REPEATEDLY PROMISED TO TAKE SCAFFOLDING DOWN, BUT IT TOOK OVER A MONTH. SO I LEARNT THAT I COULDN’T TRUST THEIR PROMISES.
Whilst putting the scaffolding up, on 5th February 2024, for repairs on the roof of our ancient listed building, Bluetube Scaffolding managed to break 3 panes of original crown glass (which is irreplaceable). Richard Chard, the boss, called me about this and promised that they would pay for the repair. He offered to arrange repair himself, or (given that it is a listed building) offered that I could get my own glaziers in. At this stage Richard was really good. ‘I give you my word this will be sorted.’ I arranged to have the specialist glaziers who renovated the house, to do the repair after the scaffolding was down. Luckily, I got this on an email from Richard, as later he said he had not agreed that the glaziers could proceed.
The roof work was done. We asked to keep the scaffolding up for an extra 3 days and agreed a price of £150 for this. We then asked for the scaffolding to be taken down on 19th Feb. They kept promising to take it down, and not doing so. We had repeated emails back and forth, requesting they take it down. Weeks later, it still had not been taken down, which was disappointing.
The scaffolding was covering the whole of the front of our beautiful listed building. Twenty two days after we asked them to take the scaffolding down, on 12th March, I rang the office. I told them we were having a party on 18th March, and we definitely needed it down. We were also having some other work done on the roof that needed access using a cherry picker, at the very location of the scaffolding on 19th March.
I was promised, by their office on the phone, that the scaffolding would be taken down by midday on Saturday 16th March. No one appeared on the 16th March. So, late morning on 16th March, I contacted the owner Richard Chard, and he texted, ‘they are behind because of the weather through this week. I can however dismantle it on Monday.’ Which was 18th March. I would have thought it would have been polite for them to have called me to let me know they were not coming on 16th March, but no one had thought to do that.
Richard and I spoke later on 16th March, and he gave me his word, that it would be down by 1.00pm on 18th March. During that conversation he said he would waive the cost of rental for the 3 days – the £150. Later I texted to ask, ‘Will it be down even if it is raining on that day?’ And Richard texted ‘Yes, I’ll put extra guys on it.’
Then on 18th March I got an email from the office saying they would not be taking it down that day. Despite Richard Chard having given me his word. Despite them having been asked to take it down weeks before, on 19th Feb. Eventually they came and took it down on 20 March, which was too late for our party and also too late for the Cherry Picker to have the access it needed.
Then, to add insult to injury, when asked to pay the glaziers, Richard sent an email saying, ‘I didn’t authorise the work and so the invoice should have gone to the homeowner’.
I sent him a copy of the email he had sent me on 6th Feb where he had said ‘Can you please instruct the glazers to proceed. We will need an invoice to pay them.’
He also reneged on the arrangement to waive the £150 for the ‘rental’ of scaffolding 3 days from 16 – 19 Feb.
Eventually Bluetube Scaffolding paid part of the glaziers bill, and I paid £150 of their bill (instead of paying the rental to Bluetube scaffolding – the rental fee which Richard Chard had told me he would waive).
So be warned. They broke windows putting the scaffolding up. Left it up 30 days more than we needed. Promised to take it down on multiple occasions and broke those promises. Even Richard Chard, the boss, who said several times, ‘I give you my word’ didn’t once keep to his promise. On many occasions didn’t bother to respond to my email. This all happened whilst my husband was having open heart surgery – which I had also told them. They were particularly unreliable and unhelpful from start to finish.