In the gripping exchange which was seen and commented on by dozens of people, there were no winners. Neither the customer nor the tradesman came out unscathed because both were partly right and equally at fault.

The customer was complaining that work done to their bathroom was of a poor standard and they wanted to share it to warn other people about a ‘cowboy builder’.

The builder replied saying that the customer wanted to cut corners and save money wherever possible and they had done the best job they could in the circumstances and would return to sort out any snagging.

As the to-and-froing continued, dozens of group members offered their opinions on who was in the wrong and the conversation eventually ended up with threats of involving trading standards and the builder considering legal action over defamatory remarks.

The Facebook group court of public opinion swayed in favour of the customer, while those who thought the householder was in the wrong didn’t hold back in giving their reasons why.

And this is why no one wins when disputes like this are aired in public and the flames are fanned by social medial likes, shares and comments.

There were no written contracts – revealing the sort of detail the exchange went into – but there were plenty of recollections about what was discussed, what had been agreed and issues that were flagged up.

And it could all have been resolved in a couple of minutes, face to face, as they went over the resident’s concerns and the builder explained the problems he encountered. They could have agreed how to put it right and got on with it, instead of being caught up in a social media storm and dragging things out.

The images shared of the work suggest the job isn’t quite finished, but it looks like it would take less than an hour’s work to complete. Without knowing the details, you would have thought the builder would have taken the extra time to finish the job and be clear to move on to the next one.

Equally, the householder made it clear that they did not want to spend a lot of money on the project and apparently said no to suggestions which might have improved the overall quality. No one likes spending huge sums of money on home-improvement projects, but it is also a case of managing the expectations of the client. While they knew they were on a tight budget, I’m sure on some level they imagined or hoped the end result might look more at home in a Premier League footballer’s mansion.

Now, whether or not he takes legal action over what he called defamatory remarks, the builder’s reputation has been tarnished and he will have to work hard to restore it.

And, whatever shortcomings there might be in relation to the work carried out, the householder doesn’t come out of it smelling of roses either.

It could have been sorted out quickly, quietly and in a civil manner, rather than the social media slanging match that ensued.

If a customer takes to social media to air a complaint, it is better to contact them directly and privately to deal with it, rather than risking a public row that could turn nasty and harm your business.

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