Gardening & Landscaping

Landscaper walked away from job and demanding payment for blocks not laid

Anonymous user 16/03/2024 - 2.38 PM

I hired a landscaper to block pave my drive. He quit the job part way through and has refused to refund for work not yet done. He also says I have to pay for materials (blocks) but he will not lay them. He wants to deliver them and leave them at my property even though he knows I have nowhere to store them, as he has dug up the entire front area of the property (house to road). The area is not ready to have blocks laid yet as he did not get as far as laying the stone sub-base and compacting it. Am I entitled to a refund on the blocks that he ordered specifically for my job? He says it is too late to get a refund from the supplier as the blocks were delivered to his yard weeks ago. The job was paid for 33% upfront and 33% on the day he started work. The final 33% was due on completion but he agrees that is not due. EDIT: The landscaper insisted on money upfront to pay for materials, the grabs and the digger man/digger costs. It is not entirely unusual to ask this, particularly when the tradesman is a one-man band who hires contractors (and passes the savings of having no full-time employees onto the customer to give a cheaper quote).