Our builder won't give receipts for materials

24_hour_sparks

jesus a builder charging £15 pe hour, what ever you do dont upset him.

loveandlight

Yes £15.00 per hour plus petrol expenses plus overcharging on materials that he gets when we were supposed to be paying for all the materials plus we pay for his time and petrol when he goes on his buying trips and then we find out at the same time he goes to other peoples houses and gives them quotes which means we are actually paying for that as well.

£15.00 per hour sounds really good...... until you employ him. On hindsight it would have been so much cheaper to have got a builder who quoted a total price for everything including materials and paid his own petrol.Then we wouldn't have cared how much he was getting his materials for.

As a customer we have to have some control otherwise just give every builder a blank cheque as soon as they walk through the door.

Since receiving all your replies, we have spoken to a couple of builders this morning and they have told us that our builder is out of order.

We have also taken legal advice and we are entitled to those receipts!!

We couldn't care less now if he does down tools and go. We don't trust him anymore in our home. There will always be builders ready to work for the right price. We have found two already.

David_B_2

If I was given a quote that i had accepted, then the final price matched that then I would not expect to see the receipts. If nowever it had increased then I would want to now why.

So I don't think it is unreasonable for him not to show you the receipts.

Alan_M_2

If you want that control you should have got a price up front and agreed it.

You can't get any better control than that, You've created a rod for your own back by doing what you've done.

If the builder is halfway through something, finds He needs specific materials what's He supposed to do? Tell you to go get them and stand around whilst you do or just go get them himself?

What are you going to do whilst He's waiting for you to get it? Deduct the 30 minutes it takes from his days money?

You live and learn, next time get a quote for the job and leave them to it, it just doesn't matter how long it takes.

You're penny pinching and missing the big picture altogether. Let him finish or end the work now, there is no middle ground on what you're trying to achieve.

djohn2002uk

Good on you, get rid of him. He thinks he's on a good thing buying the materials and adding on at least 30% and probably 50% on some things. You also made a mistake letting him work by the hour, then he can go as slow as he likes and go off doing "free" estimates while you are paying. Demand all the receipts from him before paying another penny and then deduct all the overcharges he's made. Remember, your deal with him was labour only, plus his petrol so he's not entitled to profit on the materials and that's why he doesn't want you to see the receipts.
Just check the VAT aspect too, builders like him often charge VAT when they aren't registered and keep it themselves.

Alan_M_2

I almost certainly guarantee that there will be no VAT involved in this transaction, I can just tell that from the original posters nature.

Even if there was VAT I'm sure cash would be offered to avoid VAT, as Tax Fraud is seen to be socially acceptable.

And before anyone asks, no I don't take cash, I run a legitimate business, or if I take cash it all goes through the books, in fact as a business it costs me more to accept cash and pay into a bank than it does to take the same transaction by Debit card.

Bossyboots

djohn2002uk wrote:

Good on you, get rid of him. He thinks he's on a good thing buying the materials and adding on at least 30% and probably 50% on some things. You also made a mistake letting him work by the hour, then he can go as slow as he likes and go off doing "free" estimates while you are paying. Demand all the receipts from him before paying another penny and then deduct all the overcharges he's made. Remember, your deal with him was labour only, plus his petrol so he's not entitled to profit on the materials and that's why he doesn't want you to see the receipts.
Just check the VAT aspect too, builders like him often charge VAT when they aren't registered and keep it themselves.

Now it has all been explained, I agree with this view completely.

Alan_M_2

The entire above thread also clearly explains why I've only ever dealt on a price basis, all of this nitpicking nonsence is removed completely from the equation.

Put a price in with a clearly written estimate detailing exactly what you will do and won't do, any deviation from that estimate is discussed, re estimated and agreed before the work undertaken, fixed price for a certain amount of work. No arguments, no bad feeling, no feeling of being conned everyone knows where they stand.

I'm sure you'll do things differently next time.

robby-01

loveandlight wrote:

£15.00 per hour sounds really good...... until you employ him. On hindsight it would have been so much cheaper to have got a builder who quoted a total price for everything including materials and paid his own petrol.Then we wouldn't have cared how much he was getting his materials for. .[/QUOTE
#
Your greed has brought about this situation.You have gone for this guy for one reason and one reason only .PRICE.The cheapest quote is usually not the best quote and you have found out the hard way.

{QUOTE=loveandlight}As a customer we have to have some control otherwise just give every builder a blank cheque as soon as they walk through the door. .[/QUOTE

No. Agree a price for a job up front and get the quote in writing that way there is no need for "blank cheques or spreadsheets for that matter.

loveandlight wrote:

Since receiving all your replies, we have spoken to a couple of builders this morning and they have told us that our builder is out of order. .[/QUOTE

What did you do go down the local builders merchants and conduct a survey. The opinion of a few hairy !!!!!! is hardly gonna sort this problem out.

loveandlight wrote:

We have also taken legal advice and we are entitled to those receipts!![/.QUOTE

Take him to court for them then . You might drop lucky and get a solicitor to work for 15quid an hour plus petrol .I cant see it myself though

loveandlight wrote:

We couldn't care less now if he does down tools and go. We don't trust him anymore in our home. There will always be builders ready to work for the right price. We have found two already].[/QUOTE

Why dont you tell him that.I am sure there are builders who will work for the right price but believe me 15quid an hour is not the right price.Still you might get lucky

woodbutcher_2

That puts a different light on things but you really gave him the opportunity to do this by not being clear from the start.Also,i wish i could charge £15 per hour and get all my petrol paid for as well.I know there are people on this site that think £15 is cheap but that is about top whack where i live and i still have to run a van.I think i may be heading down south soon as this site has been a real eye opener for me.

Loveandlight,yes he is taking the proverbial and you should take him to task.It's guys like him who get everyone else in the industry a bad name and a public that doesn't trust builders any more.