Brian Cates

[Anonymous]

After some good recommendations about Brian Cates the upholsterer, I dropped off some seats and door cards with him well over a year ago.
He assured me he’d do an excellent job (I have no doubt about this). He asked for £850 for the material. We fixed a date. So far, so good.

The date came and went. We are now stuck in this loop. I call his mobile and home phone and leave a string of messages. I leave several text messages. All very, very polite. Eventually he gets back and it’s always the same ‘I’m just finishing off a Bentley, your job will be next’. We set a date of around six weeks hence. And then so it goes on. The last time was 14th October and he said ‘cast iron end of November done’. Now he’s saying mid February.

Perhaps it’s been my undoing. Naturally trusting people and refusing to be ‘assertive’ on the phone. Question is, will I ever see my £850 and seats, let alone a complete job?

Worried from Cambridge.

[Anonymous]

On balance I would stick with it as to do otherwise could be quite stressful though you could ask for the materials to be sent to you (or collect them) and start again with someone else.
I did an internet search on him following your comments and this sort of delay has happened before but generally he does seem to deliver eventually and to have customers pleased with his work. You might want to look him up.
Speaking to another trimmer today he was suggesting that I purchase the materials for the work and provide them to him. This would certainly be a better way of proceeding.

[Anonymous]

Indeed, and internet search is quite revealing (I suppose that applies to many of us, self included). There is some unpleasant reading, but seems to be confined to spats with Lancia owners (I had no idea he is a car collector). But as you say, there appears to be very little negative feedback, apart from somebody being very unhappy with a door card job. I’m more than happy to wait for a job well done, but I don’t want to lose the seats and deposit.
In fairness to Brian, he has been working with another trimmer who has been doing roof lining (that’s another job I need doing), and this trimmer seems to have retired due to ill health. So I guess this has increased his workload.
Will wait for mid February to see what happens next.

[Author]

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