Brickies! Am I being ripped off?

[tomfe]

Also a labourer spent the best part of a day using a grinder with an abrasive flap disc/sandpaper to remove the most stubborn remains of concrete render.

If this was orginised by the guy who did the repointing, I think you've found a good trades person.

 

[geraldthehamster]

Thanks for the kind and unkind comments guys it’s giving me perspective, at least.
The front was brick acid-ed after the god-awful render was removed, twice. Also a labourer spent the best part of a day using a grinder with an abrasive flap disc/sandpaper to remove the most stubborn remains of concrete render. Then it was brick acid-ed again, then it was raked out, then it was jet-washed. See pics immediately after render taken off, to after it being jet washed ready for repointing.
It’s got ‘character’

So you can't fault the preparation, then. It's just down to the lack of care of skill of the person who then did the pointing.

It's all very well him saying a bit of brick acid will sort it out. When my own mediocre brick laying and pointing skills were even less good than they are now, I did that to remedy some of my own pointing. It's unpleasant, time consuming and not very effective.