Property Damage in bathroom advice

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Dear all

i was hoping i could get some advice from you guys. The nightmare bathroom i;ve been working on is finally complete. However yesterday the woman asked me to move up a mirror cabinet about 6 inches. I took the unit down a couple of times to mark up the holes properly. I was very careful when taking it down and moving it around. I placed it on a couple of dust sheets.

I then put it back up onto the wall in the correct position, and screwed it in. I then noticed that in the bottom left corner, a small area of mirror was missing, about 1 cm wide, 4 centimetres up. I couldnt figure out what had happened so looked around on the floor and found the missing peice which had broken/cracked off. Now i know i was very careful when moving this around so was surprised it was damaged.

The only thing i can assume is the customer had previously knocked it and weakened it, or its a poor quality mirror, as considering how i was moving it around and placing it on the floor, it was not put down with enought force to break a small bit of the mirror off.

However the customer noticed and i advised her i dont see how it was damaged as i was very cautious moving it around. She asked if i had dropped it and i said no.

What should i do from here? The mirror cabinet costs £100. She still owes me £50. Should i contact the company and complain about the poor quality of material and send it back? Or do i accept full responsibility and pay the customer for the damage? Or do i refuse to pay her anything based on the fact i dont feel i did anything to damage it in the first place?
 
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any advice anyone? I'm going back tonight to discuss it with her so would be grateful if anyone could let me know what approach i could take.
 
Everyone is going to deny everything here, I fear - although the woman probably did it herself, she'll surely deny it. The manufacturer won't want to know either.
Anyway, see if you can get a new bit from the makers, or maybe a glazier can cut you piece to replace it?
I think its a case of shyte happens - we've all been there - so see if you can come to some amicable agreement. And put her bill up next time....
Be lucky!
John :)
 
Thanks for the reply John.

I did manage to find the peice and stuck it back on with clear glue, and it fit perfectly. You can see it as a little crack in the corner but its nothing major. However this woman is a difficult one, has given nothing but hassle on this job so will assume she will try and get me to pay for anew one which i will refuse to do. But then she will refuse to pay me the remaining £50 she owes me.
 
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Surely, if it had been repaired before there would be signs of glue or adhesive around the broken area. ;) ;)
 
Surely, if it had been repaired before there would be signs of glue or adhesive around the broken area. ;) ;)

no i'm not saying it was broken before, but it must have been knocked and weakened as i did not do anything yesterday which would have caused that peice to break off.

I was very careful when moving it around and placed in on 2 dust sheets on the floor so i really cannot possibly see how i managed to break it.

Either that of the manufacturer gave a shoddy product.
 
Its just giving her ammunition to shoot you with mate - she'll agree to nowt but a brand spankers replacement, I reckon. Either that or she'll not give you the 50 quid as compensation - and that crack will be there until the end of time.
It sounds like she's been an awkward one from the off - the world's full of 'em.
Be lucky!
John :)
 
I can;t see you gaining anything here, you will lose £50 either way. Reading thru the posts it seems you've sold yourself well short on this one, going in cheap is not always the answer.
 
just a thought
did you take any pictures off the bathroom that may include the cabinet concerned

would think you could get a bit off mirror glass cut to fit

i am sure she is trying it on

ask for proof off purchase or where she got the cabinet from as your insurance company needs proof off any claim over £30 as suspected false claims will be investigated as a matter off course and prosecution will follow because off the recent number off false claims

watch her reaction closely as this will tell you if she is telling porkys
 

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