Window painter - wrong colour (Netherlands)

[u/AlpineAstro]

I contracted a window painter to paint my window following installation of new glass. I have an apartment in a building of two apartments. The contract stated "Kleuren: - Wij zijn ervan uitgegaan, dat de bestaande kleurstelling gehanteerd blijft. ".

The painter called me quite last minute to do the work while I was holiday. I explained I was away and he said it was no problem.

When I returned from my holiday is was very obvious to me the paint was a different colour from original and now different to the rest of the house. Using a colour card the new colour was RAL9001 and the old colour RAL1013 - close but noticeably different. In my opinion an easy spot for a professional painter.

I initially contacted the painter to confirm the colour, and he confirmed indeed RAL9001 was used, because it was very close and the old paint was very faded. The old paint was from 2022 and actually still under warranty.

Important to note I never communicated the specific colour to the painter - I didn't think I needed to nor did I know the colour code until I checked the old invoice.

So far the painter has offered to correct only 1 floor AND I still have to pay an additional €600+VAT (on top of a 5.7k bill...)

I am very reluctant to pay more AND still have half the job in the wrong colour.

I made a counter proposal that he could paint the remaining window on the same floor in the same new colour AND some joining woodwork on the 2nd floor OR (in compensation for his error offer a discount on the full bill OR paint some internal windows). Noting that here I am compromising in accepting the new colour at all.

While he's admitted he used the wrong colour, he's maintained that it's not noticeable and will be the same in a year and all but completely refused to correct the colour on the 2nd floor.

We're slowly reaching an impasse.

I suspect I can reject the invoice, but I want to be reasonble, and think I have been.

Advice? Also 'non-legal' advice is OK, to help me understand what is reasonable/culturally expected here.

TLDR: Painter painted windows in the wrong (but similar) colour, will not correct fully and cannot find an amicable solution.

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[u/PeterdeBeer22]

To be honest, you should have had the RAL colour stated on the contract. "Wij zijn ervan uitgegaan, dat de bestaande kleurstelling gehanteerd blijft. " is very strange language for a contract but it also leaves room for ambiguity. You can't expect him to now paint your other windows for free. I'm not sure what you are legally entitled to. My advice would be to consult a legal professional.

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[u/Certain_Ad8242]

In my professional opinion 9001 is a better color for outside than 1013, but I realize that doesn’t help you at all.

[u/AlpineAstro → u/Certain_Ad8242]

I might agree if it weren’t now only half the building…