Hi,
Update- we have taken him to small claims court and waiting for our hearing date. He has lied about suppliers and we now have letters from them confirming they don't even know him. He has also not filed any paperwork in his defense. We are very hopeful to get some kind of resolution soon.
My builder took a £1000 deposit before he started work to buy supplies. He messed us around for 2 weeks and then just left the job. The only work he has done is take tiles off the walls and rendered two walls. He has also taken broken tile rubbish and old bath in his van. Now he is refusing to return any of our money. He has worked a total of 6 hours work over two week period. He used to come in and leave after 1 hour. Then disappear without informing us for days. Also, made up stories about family emergencies which led us to agree to a delay for a week and then another 4 days. He also turned up with no tools and no idea what he needs to do. Took taps off without checking if they are connected to mains or water tank. This has led to the new builder wasting his time trying to figure that out. My question is how much work would you say he has done and how much is that work worth. Thanks
We are starting the small claims procedure.
Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?
Personally if a job is worth over 500 I normally as for 10% upfront for materials cost personally myself by reading everything he has tried to pull a fast one and isn’t experienced in the trade
Answered27 March 2019
4
Anonymous user
If you have paper work, ie proof of bank transfer, to confirm your payment to your builder you should not have much trouble making a claim throungh the small claims court. If you haven't then there is not a lot you can do other than put it down to experience and never make the same mistake again. My best advice in this situation is never pay tradespeople in cash especially without a signed receipt always enable yourself to be able to prove that a payment has been made. If the builder is ligitimate he will have no problem with you paying money into his bank account which of course can then be varified if nesscessary. We at Xcell Building Contractors do not usually take deposits for small jobs but for larger jobs ie extensions, we take an agreed deposit and then agreed stage payments there after. We produce a schdule of works for all big jobs so that the client can cross check amount of work done with the stage payment sheet. If the work done doesn't match stage payment sheet no payment is made. This gives the client a way of making sure that their project is running on time and the money side of things are where they should be This is all part of the contract that will be signed by both parties and their wittnesses.
As a company we don’t take any payments up front but if it’s a large job such as an extension etc we will agree with the client in a contract that stage payments will be made etc. My advice would be whatever the total cost of the job was divide it by how many weeks he thought the job would take and break it down to an hourly rate.
I hope this helps
Hillcrest Developments
Answered27 March 2019
1
Anonymous user
Perhaps it would be a good idea to check ratings and references before hiring, just to prevent such matters, going for the cheapest price is often very expensive.
I doubt you can do much about apart from legal action, I'm sorry to hear about your troubles.
Good luck.
