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Ta. Amicable is fair enough.
There's a fairly lengthy and detailed chain of emails from them saying what work will be done on what days, then when I question why that work wasn't completed they give a new set of dates/work with no reasonable explanation as to what caused the delay. So I think 'my word against theirs' would probably favour me. A couple of the guys who have come in have to do the work have been OK - friendly and civil, just too slow but I'm happy to pay, within reason, for their time. One or two of the trades have been shit - tiler turned up, saw the floor and left saying he'd be back tomorrow (last Tuesday) and to get next day delivery on extra tiles after the quoted measurement from the PM was deemed not enough - even though I had oversupplied by a 15%). I paid 90 quid to courier the extra tiles down so they'd be ready first thing Tuesday. The PM tells me he's coming next Wednesday (August 3rd) instead. No explanation why. The guy doing the project management has been utterly farcical.
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Trunkie
CYOA
@Fox
Legally speaking if there's no contract and you haven't signed anything then neither of you has a leg to stand on. Yes verbal contracts are a thing, but it would be their word against yours.
However, it is fair to pay them a fair amount for what they've done, so if you do want them out (and speed, or lack of, is a sound reason) then I'd agree with @Sumo that it's a good idea to work out what is fair and have that figure in mind before you have the discussion.
I would try and keep it amicable if at all possible, better all round.
I had to call our polished concrete contractor this morning - we've not had a great experience with them at all, issues with the floor inside and they recommended a different product to the one we originally selected because we had exterior areas too. Half way through doing the outside bits they then decided they don't do external concrete, it's too hard (?!).
After much discussion with the architect we decided we'd mutually agree to give up on the exterior bits if it wasn't going to work, as long as we didn't have to pay. Got told they'd be back Monday to finally finish off the interior part (which we've been waiting months for).
So, called them this morning. Architect had told them how unhappy we were and had a strop, told them we weren't going to pay any of the balance. Unsurprisingly they'd thought fuck that and had no intention of turning up. I had to make it clear that (if they actually finish it) we have every intention of paying for the inside, but would definitely not be paying them for the outside part, seeing as they'd cocked it up. Which seemed to be good news for them.
tl:dr - even when the shit hits the fan keep it fair and amicable if you want the best outcome.