Hi, I did get some legal advice. I can’t walk away from the job because I would be in breach of the contract. i did reply to them reaffirmed my position and suggested a proposed way forward but they have rejected it and are going straight to the courts. They are demanding a full refund plus their ‘expenses’, and I know I’m not duty bound to provide this. I have verification that my work is good. I know I’ll be ok, as a lawyer he should know better than to do this, I have held my counsel but they have been so vile and abusive, on paper they do not look good. Thanks anyway

Thanks for this. I contacted my insurers who put me on to a legal team, they have given me the advice I need to move forward. It’s not a very nice experience. The advice I have been given is that I can’t just walk away from a contract but that if everything has been done with ‘reasonable care and skill’ I am protected by law. I can set out how much the work so far has cost me and as it’s so toxic (their doing, not mine), I can offer that we go our separate ways. The guy has threatened to sue me, before any other course of action. He’s a lawyer but in a different field and I think once he has read the law he will see that I can recuperate my costs and drop it. My costs leave him £145 short but me £500. I’ve taken back the work that needed to be done so he has the cost of his first payment now in his house less £145. The work is good, I had it verified by 3 independent professionals

Ok. Someone said if there is a dispute and it’s bespoke that we are protected and can keep our expenses to pay people who made the work etc, eg I had to pay about £1400 to my fitters and curtain makers, if I leave 8 blinds I am out of pocket but I’ll do it just to be free of the abuse that’s flying at me

I took an order for a large job of curtains and blinds for a whole house. they paid a 50% deposit up front. We fitted 13 of the blinds. There were a couple of sewing errors that are easily fixable, as you might expect some as there was about 100 hours work done. when you walk into the customer's bedroom its long and thin and you can see behind the blinds to the outside when you stand in certain parts of the room. One of those blinds needs to be widened but the others are all correct sizes. They have all been made to the high standards, the sewing was beautiful and aside from the fixable errors the work was good. However, the customer is adamant that its all wrong, the linings aren't fit for purpose, some little side covers to cover the sides of the blind tracks are inadequate, the blind tracks are too thick so the blinds stick out, the fitting was bad, they weren't even, there were pinholes in the fabric, the treads might rot in the sun... she complained that the blinds weren't exactly even to less than half a cm, they weren't substantial, I was there for 2 hours and this went on and on. Every time I tried to defend myself she would say that I was wrong. There was nothing I could say to try and restore a bit of faith in my work. When my fitters left they said that one rod was missing from one from the blinds and one of the side covers had come loose, otherwise the work was fine. When I went there most of the side covers had been tugged at and were half hanging off, and she had picked at the bottom linings and pulled the stitches apart. When I was there she literally started to pull and yank them and say that they were coming a part. I said, Well they will if you do that? and then I said "Don't do that!" Her reply was, "Do I need to treat them with kid gloves?" I have tried to be quiet and diplomatic and diffuse the situation but its not working, what ever I say she gets more and more angry. The blind tracks are a legal requirement due to child fatalities with roman blinds. I use the best ones which cost me more and they dont have to have the chain screwed into the wall which pleases the customer. I used the best, thickest linings and she didn't want blackout lining. She wants a lining thats more fit for purpose, but you cant get more fit for purpose than what we gave her. We made the blinds to the width of the widow sills, which is how we and most curtain makers do them. We have been doing them for years like this and never had a complaint. I am sorry that we made the errors we did and I would go out of my way to fix anything and negotiate compensation if necessary, but its impossible to deal with her. She has ended up being so aggressive that I don't want to deal with her any more. I suggested to her that we take 8 of the blinds back this Friday, if she is happy with them she can settle the bill for them and we can do her bedroom. I offered to do a re-make for this, although I didn't have to. Then if she is happy with this we can do the last bit of work which is downstairs and we would be paid before we leave. I did this because I dont want to do any more work and have them still not happy and refuse to pay. I can't afford this. Because of her aggressive behaiour, I no longer want to finish the job. I think I am on a hiding to nothing and I could plough all my energy into it and not get paid. She was so toxic in her email tonight that I have asked another curtain maker to go and take the blinds for me on Friday, I just can't go there anymore. Here is my question. If we put the 8 blinds mentioned back up, (she already has a pair of curtains that we have made as part of the job, waiting to be hung in her house), the cost of the curtains, roman blinids, fitting and labour, and fabric will cost more than the deposit that she has paid me. It means she will owe me money. Can I walk away once I have delivered the blinds?

I make soft furnishings, and I totally agree with you about ignorant people seeing something right as a defect, I just want to know where I stand legally

HI there, I have had some issues with a customer who we have made some furnishings for. There are a couple of errors which are easily fixable but I think, to add to their case, the customer has pointed out a whole load of things that in their eyes are unacceptable but are actually the product is well made. They are demanding that we right the wrongs which aren't wrongs and that we perform the impossible, our work, aside from the fixable issues was done to a very high standard and some of the faults were not there when we delivered the product. We have the goods back, and have agreed to put them back as we think they should be, then the customer can get a second opinion. There are 3 stages to this work that are to be delivered, and 2 more stages to come. I don't think they are going to pay us. They paid a 50% deposit and the balance is to be paid at the point of completion. If I deliver stage one of the goods it leaves me out of pocket, it means that they will have some of the goods but not all, the deposit they paid will cover the cost of the fitting, my workers who did the work and some of the blinds but I will have lost out. If I deliver this to them can I just walk away and 'sack' my client? The client has been rude, very difficult and controlling, and damaged the goods I delivered while saying they were substandard. TBH if I delivered sub standard goods like that I wouldn't have a job