Well, I'll get the ball rolling with my own review of:
Ray Hallet Carpentry from South London.
Having recently purchased my own house, the front and rear doors of the property were not in great shape and needed replacing as soon as possible, so I ordered my new doors and frames from
XL Joinery but they were solid oak doors and frames, and pretty expensive too.
Despite being a very nifty hand at DIY, this was one job I just did NOT want to do, as these doors were a 2 man job, and I had 200 other things to take care of, so after treating and priming the doors, the timber yard I purchased the doors from gave me a recommendation, who was too busy, but recommended another carpenter, Ray Hallet from Battersea.
After arranging to come and look at the job, I specifically made it crystal clear to him on the inspection that both the doors and frames need installing and finishing, and the only thing I should be left with is to paint the doors.
Ray assured me that this was not a problem and that both doors could be done in 1 day as he would bring his father with him but would cost £500 to complete the job.
He measured up VERY carefully and assured me things would be just fine, but I would need to go and get some extra oak timber to pack out the frames as they were 1 inch smaller than the openings and he didnt want to pack out the frames with spacers as it wasnt as good a fix.
(This I knew and was very glad he had also noticed and suggested to do it this way)
So, after an expensive trip to Travis perkins a few days later, the day finally came and Ray arrived as promised at 8am sharp with his dad...
All sounds fine so far right?
Well, the first thing Ray said to me was that he had to be away no later than 5 as he had to go somewhere.....
(Not the best start)
Well, after much banging, cutting, and fixing, and many hours later, he told me he was finished, but on inspection of his and his fathers work, I noticed that the extra timber I had purchased was still sitting on the driveway
He had not used any of it, and had packed out my brand new oak frames with metal and plastic spacers, he didnt fix the tops or the bottoms of the frames to the brickwork, left gaps all round the frames and had not sealed the frames at all.
He then told me I need to fill the edges with cement myself and re-fix the architrave he had put on (With gaps all round the top) and that he could then come back in a few weeks and seal it all up
Well, if I said I was NOT impressed, that wold be an understatement.
Job not finished, not even close to finished, and he had also cut the letterbox out with a jigsaw by hand (Not straight at all) I was really ****ed off, especially as he was suggesting it was done, and he was asking for full payment!
(Ray, what were you thinking!)
His father had made several splits in one of my door frames trying to fix it to the wall and I had to point out to him several times that screws shouldnt go in the places he was trying to fix them as it would split the frame.
Honestly, what kind of cowboy have I ended up with here...
Needless to say, he left with what he "Thought" was full payment (Ray, did you ever check those bank notes?) and I ended up calling on a friend to asist me finishing the job ourselves (Properly) all sealed, and took out all of his smeggy spacers and replacing it with the proper oak like it should have been done the first time round.
Honest to god, if you ever ever hear of "Ray Hallet", avoid him like the plague, and dont let his dad with any powertool near your property.
He will offer you references, but there all mobile numbers and first names..
My advice, use one of those trusted tradesmen websites because at least you have something to come back on once they have left.
If you ever read this ray... Shame on you.
Oh.
Ray's details:
Ray Hallet: 07939 780 700 /
rayhallett@hotmail.com
