Advice - paid money to a builder that won't build!

markp

markp

Suspended / Banned
Messages
972
Name
Mark
Edit My Images
Yes
Just a quick thread to tap on the fountain of all knowledge that is the TP forums! I'll try not to rant too much...

Our next door neighbour has a son who does building work. We wanted our front garden gravelled so we had some extra parking. Our neighbour said he'd get his son to give us a price, which he did, and so we saved up some money to get the drive done.

The guy called up back at the end of October and said he would be ordering the skip and materials and was after half of the money up-front (£150).
He turned up the next day to pick up the cash, and that was the last I've seen of him.

I've had a few phone conversations with him, where he's promised to come round and said he's had problems with time, skips, materials, etc and he's not kept to any one of his promises.

More recently I told him I wanted my money back, which he agreed to. He's said on 4 occasions he'd come round and hasn't shown up. I then said I'd meet him at his house to pick it up, but the address he gave me was a house which didn't look occupied, and after an hour of waiting he didn't show up.

He's now stopped returning calls, or even answering. Oddly enough if I call him from one of my work phones then he answers usually - because he doesn't recognise the number I suspect. Again, when I do speak to him it's just more promises that he doesn't keep.

Does anyone know what I can do? I've not got a receipt for the £150 I've paid and I suspect he's trying to pull a bit of a fast one. His Dad (my neighbour) is usually a really nice guy, but is away on holiday at the minute so I can't really call on him to ask for confirmation of his address or a home phone number.

I know it's not a life-chaning amount of money, but it's £150 and more importantly the principal of the whole thing. I've left him countless voicemail messages this evening, but doubt it'll do any good.
 
Sorry to hear that Mark if you are willing to wait try talking to your neighbour's when they get back, see if anything happens that way :thinking::shrug:
Failing that try Franks bat :bat:
 
Yeh the bat does appeal, but sadly I don't know what his real address is! Hopefully his dad'll be back this weekend and can offer some help.

Thanks for the comments, I just hate being taken advantage of!
 
Is the phone number you have for jim a land line or a mobile?

If a landline you could go through the names like his in the phone book to find his address.
 
yup i agree go take a baseball bat to him!!!
 
being more serious. Take him to the small claims court. You can do it online pretty easily
http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/

last time i used it, it was £30 and if you win he will have to pay the £30.
The most likely thing is he will give you the £150 back and ask you to cancel the claim. So, you'll be £120 down instead of £150.
As you dont have a receipt he could contest it and possibly win, but its most likely he will open the letter from the courts and decide its not worth the hassle.
Of course, you need his address, though. But you might be able to address it to him c/o his parents.
 
If his parents are decent folk and and to save face can afford to pay you off you may be in luck.
If that does not work then as he has already demonstrated that he is not of good character you may just have to take it on the chin, not worth getting involved with such lowlife.
The moral of the story is never to pay up front for anything.
 
badgerbaiter said:
being more serious. Take him to the small claims court. You can do it online pretty easily
http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/

last time i used it, it was £30 and if you win he will have to pay the £30.
The most likely thing is he will give you the £150 back and ask you to cancel the claim. So, you'll be £120 down instead of £150.
As you dont have a receipt he could contest it and possibly win, but its most likely he will open the letter from the courts and decide its not worth the hassle.
Of course, you need his address, though. But you might be able to address it to him c/o his parents.
Click to expand...

Agree with this, I used it once for a dodgy lens I was sold a while back (not from anyone at TP I hasten to add), it was easily done on-line, and on receipt of a summons, the feller paid up pretty quick (plus court fee).

It is advisable to write to the person, stating unless the money owed is paid by XX date, then you will be commencing court proceedings.
 
Posted by Badgerbaiter >>>>As you dont have a receipt he could contest it and possibly win, but its most likely he will open the letter from the courts and decide its not worth the hassle.<<<<

No hassle on his count, rogues like him will just ignore the letter and not turn up for the court hearing and as there is no receipt then the outcome is obvious.


Sorry to disagree with you this time Gary ;)
 
Galaxy66 said:
Posted by Badgerbaiter >>>>As you dont have a receipt he could contest it and possibly win, but its most likely he will open the letter from the courts and decide its not worth the hassle.<<<<

No hassle on his count, rogues like him will just ignore the letter and not turn up for the court hearing and as there is no receipt then the outcome is obvious.


Sorry to disagree with you this time Gary ;)
Click to expand...

No need to apologise. Agreeing with me once is enough for me :)

There is a chance they will just ignore it, but if they do then they get a County Court Judgment against them, which makes it harder for them to get things like bank loans or credit cards.

I've used it twice before. Once it worked like a charm, the other time it was just a waste of time because the company went bankrupt. Luckily it didnt cost anything, though, as its free if you are unemployed (as i was at the time)
 
Second disagreement Gary;) there would be no county court judgement if there is no proof of guilt:thumbsdown:
 
If you've got a landline number I think 192.com will do a reverse look up and give you an address for that number. But hopefully a word from his parents will get him to do the right thing.
 
Failing all that you could post his telephone number here on TP and perhaps other forums. We could all take turns of phoning him at all times of the day and night just to p!%s him off.
 
pxl8 said:
If you've got a landline number I think 192.com will do a reverse look up and give you an address for that number. But hopefully a word from his parents will get him to do the right thing.
Click to expand...

I'm afraid not, Reverse serarching is not available for the general public in the UK !!

I would suggest waiting for his parents to return and hugely embarrasing them !
 
frank said:
Failing all that you could post his telephone number here on TP and perhaps other forums. We could all take turns of phoning him at all times of the day and night just to p!%s him off.
Click to expand...

A karma pleasing idea, but the rules on here don't allow it ;)
 
Whatever happens you have to live next door to his parents afterwards, so be reasonable not nasty when dealing with the issue. Small claims is a good idea but a letter stating your intent to sue might be enough, for either you will need his address.
 
He's probably realised that he's not gonna make any money out of doing it for £300. It cost us just under that do our (tiny) back garden ourselves and about a good weeks hard graft digging soil out. A word with his parents should do the trick hopefully.
 
I would have thought the tax man would like a word with him too!
 
Thanks for all the comments!

He text me over the weekend to say he'd be round this afternoon (Monday) to hand the money back. I'm not going to hold my breath.

If he doesn't show up this time, then I'll most definitely get a letter passed to him by his parents - hopefully that'll persuade him to give me my money back!
 
I hope that is the end of it for you and lesson learnt, Never pay upfront especially to jobbing builders.
 
It cheeses me off that so many people have horror stories about builders (I am a builder..!)
As a trade, we deserve a bad name, as so many are just idiots who ruin it for the others, who spend so much time trying to do a proper job.
Hope you get it sorted - no advice to offer, as I have only had bad clients....!
 
He didn't turn up, but called to say he'd be round Wednesday. Can't say I'm surprised.

It is a shame there are so many people out there that give the good guys a bad name.
 
How about writing a note that says "Your son still owes me £150 for work not carried out. If this amount has been paid in the last seven day please ignore this reminder" tying it to a brick and chucking it through your next door neighbours window.

Seriously though, sorry to hear about your troubles. I needed a builder to replace some windows and a new front door and frame in my house and was scared about getting a cowboy. I went to "The Guild of Master Craftsman" website and did a local search. He wasn't the cheapest but came round when he said he would to price it up. Gave me a typed up quote, we arranged a time for the work and he finished it all in the time given. Didn't ask for anything up front. Gave me various options to make it cheaper (e.g. I paint the windows myself it will be £x cheaper). Very pleased with the results.

For future reference: http://www.findacraftsman.com/ Good luck :thumbs:
 
Mark,when this is all sorted try a landscape gardener for the work you want doing, a quick look in yellow pages will throw up a few but beware there are rouges in that business also.

Just a thought,have you not considered doing the work yourself, you could always employ a couple of strapping young men to do the digging out. A proper job I guess would be 6 ins dolomite sub base, covered with a sheet material to prevent weeds (important), then about 3-4 ins of gravel of your choice but do not use round pebbles as your wheels will just sink. You will also need a skip which varies in price depending where you are mine cost me £100 inc.
You will then know it is being done properly.
 
Well, he's not shown up and his mobile's not ringing. I sent him a text today to "remind" him to pop round, but seems it was to no avail.
I popped next door to ask his Dad and even he's had trouble getting hold of him too over Xmas! He said he'd try and get hold of him and have a word. Guess I'll just have to keep trying.

Galaxy66: Thanks, several people have said that I should just do it myself. Since it's only a 2m x 4m patch I think I'll probably have a go. I just want to make sure the Land Rover doesn't sink in to the gravel. If anyone can offer advice I'd be very grateful, since I don't think I can be bothered to try and find another builder to do this.
 
my frontage is covered in a 3 inch deep layer of 15 mm limestone chippings. cars dont sink in as it tends to level out. its irregular shapes dont roll out onto the street like gravel either. buy in 1 tonne bulk bags fairly cheaply too. my last was £70 i think.proper builders merchants NOT b and q.
.. def use a pond liner type material or weed membrane. i used sheet plastic in black. pulling the odd weed now and agian isnt a prob.
2x4 m. two tonnes should be plenty.
 
Don't buy from b&q FFS! :D

Seriously... doing it yourself I'd lay down a 6" layer of sub-base (type 1 probably) then cover with a proper membrane/weed fabric, then cover with approx 2" of your chosen decorative. Don't go for anything smaller than 20mm (although the new spec on gravels is 20-5mm) and robert's your mothers brother.

6" of subbase = approx 2.5 tonne
2" of decorative = approx 1/2 tonne

Both calculations are a bit under, so you might need a bit more.

If you can try and order from a sand and gravel merchant (yell.com;)) you'll save more getting it loose.

I'd be looking for around £106 inc vat but + delivery for the material, but prices vary up and down the country, should help as a guide though :)
 
Thank you very much! Does the sub-base need compacting, or is it ok to drop it all in then just level it off and place the membrane over?
 
I've bought from various merchants around Nottingham.
Depending on what you want it may be worth shopping around to get the best deal ie delivery included etc., buy one part from merchant A other from merchant B.

Last load I got was from Buildbase (Noel Clay) you may find you have a Buildbase in your area.

http://www.buildbase.co.uk/pages/branchlocator_searchbyregion_westmidlands.html

1 tonne of 20mm Decorative Stone - £86 delivered
1 tonne MOT £35 delivered.

Hope this helps.
 
markp said:
Thank you very much! Does the sub-base need compacting, or is it ok to drop it all in then just level it off and place the membrane over?
Click to expand...

Yes it will need compacting

Glen said:
I've bought from various merchants around Nottingham.
Depending on what you want it may be worth shopping around to get the best deal ie delivery included etc., buy one part from merchant A other from merchant B.

Last load I got was from Buildbase (Noel Clay) you may find you have a Buildbase in your area.

http://www.buildbase.co.uk/pages/branchlocator_searchbyregion_westmidlands.html

1 tonne of 20mm Decorative Stone - £86 delivered
1 tonne MOT £35 delivered.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...


a tonne of MOT £35? :eek:

Nice work if you can get it! Mind you, thats probably about the going rate for merchants now :)
 
OK, now his dad claims he doesn't have a phone number or know his address. I suspect he's covering for him, but he's said he'll try and contact him for me (how??). I've got a few people trying to track the guy down so I can pop round and drag him to the nearest cash machine.

When I get some money back I'll just do it myself - this just isn't worth the hassle.
 
markp said:
OK, now his dad claims he doesn't have a phone number or know his address. I suspect he's covering for him,
Click to expand...

You suspect?? is your neighbour worth keeping on the good side of? If not and it goes on much longer I'd consider telling him you'll take him to court for the money his son owes you, after all you 'employed' the lad on his say so.

Where's Judge Judy when you need her...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top