I have been let down

Hi Fiona, Sorry to hear about your experience. Did you receive a detailed Quote from the tradesman stating materials and labour costs including approximate timescale for work to be undertaken ? If so I can only suggest seeking advice from a small claims lawyer. If you received a quote through My Builder and accepted it through My Builder then you should have an Email with a contract on it.

Sorry to hear about this. I’ve had the same issue but with a client refusing to pay, assuming you have “evidence” your best bet would be to contact citizen’s advice asap.

For any job first of all you should ask for quote for materials. Then how long going to take to complete the work - day rate and certain price for it depends of the task. Some works take short time, but needs experience and certain skill. Even whatever happened to you now - to go to the lawyers and deal with all the processes going to cost you more money and your own time. From my own experience taking over other builders costs more money then should to the landlords or house owner employing wrong people. You should ask at least for 2 opinions or 2 builders to compare in the future.

The scope of works is most definitely not for a handyman. You would never get paperwork only from an architect or under building control. 2k doesn't sound all that expensive for a garden room office. I feel you tried to do it on the cheap and it's now bit you

Dear Fiona, It is unfortunate to hear you have had a bad experience with your project but it is important to ensure you do everything reasonably expected of you to resolve the dispute before legal action is taken in some cases this will reduce any difficulty making a small claim if it is required. All work should be quoted for or an estimation provided before a contract is approved make sure you have copies of this. Ensure all requirements to be met are detailed within the contract If there are problems with workmanship, material quality (if provided by contractor) or both make sure you clearly convey this to the contractor and ask it is rectified under your consumer rights keep evidence of this email or letter with dates and times. Check if any workmanship guarantee is provided or if materials are covered by manufacturer warranty if contractor refuses to rectify than you should request refund. If a refund is refused after all reasonable efforts are made to fix the issue seek legal advice to make a small claim. Finally report all to trading standards with help of citizens advice to prevent bad trading practices affecting others in the future. Hope this helps resolve your query.