Builder threat of legal action.

Hintza

The question then is what sort of builder is it? Is he a local tradesman or a fly by night? All I know is that a local tradesman around us would only get away with something untoward once and they would be blackballed.

So if it is a local tradesman then there might geunuinely have been more work than was at first envisaged. The other point being he might be working on "my word is my bond" principal which would be how a job like this would be done around us.

If it's a fly by night cowboy then the gloves would be off.....:D

OP just think very carefully about every move you make and say.

skivington

Hintza wrote: »

The question then is what sort of builder is it? Is he a local tradesman or a fly by night? All I know is that a local tradesman around us would only get away with something untoward once and they would be blackballed.

So if it is a local tradesman then there might geunuinely have been more work than was at first envisaged. The other point being he might be working on "my word is my bond" principal which would be how a job like this would be done around us.

If it's a fly by night cowboy then the gloves would be off.....:D

OP just think very carefully about every move you make and say.

For info the guy is a local builder and well established, I am new to the area but have coleauges who said they have asked him to do work and he has offered 'mates rates' by verbal agreement and charged a fortune which they have felt obliged to pay (dont know why as I would always challenge what I felt was unfair), I am getting the feeling that the guy works on loose verbal agreements and overcharges for the finished article. I know that he did not spend the full time he invoiced at the address and that he had a tradesman and an aprentice on the job and the tradesman was 'off site' for hours at a time leaving the apprentice doing nothing. I am sure that the hours on the invoices reflect a timesheet submission, but that is not my worry. I do take your point that I need to be very careful, I have an appointment with CAB tomorrow, they may have local knowledge of prior dealings with this guy.

skivington

neilmcl wrote: »

I would suggest he doesn't do this. He doesn't need to get a breakdown of the costs, he's not disputing the costs he's disputing the fact that the builder is coming after him at all. The OP needs to back away and not further embroil himself with this situation whilst providing whatever support he can to his neighbour.

Unfortunatley I am now embroiled in it - I am not prepared to wash my hands of this as at the end of the day it is a shared chimney. Were the total invoiced reasonable I would have paid it irrespective of whether I felt I had asked for the work or not, I feel a moral obligation to my neighbour for the shared upkeep of our terrace.

neilmcl

skivington wrote: »

Unfortunatley I am now embroiled in it - I am not prepared to wash my hands of this as at the end of the day it is a shared chimney. Were the total invoiced reasonable I would have paid it irrespective of whether I felt I had asked for the work or not, I feel a moral obligation to my neighbour for the shared upkeep of our terrace.

That's not the point. By all means help out your neighbour with this but don't go contacting the builder as if you have some contractual arrangement with him which is now in dispute, there was no contract between you and the builder which you should make clear to him. If you want to help out financially then keep this between yourself and you neighbour, it's got nothing to do with the builder.

skivington

neilmcl wrote: »

That's not the point. By all means help out your neighbour with this but don't go contacting the builder as if you have some contractual arrangement with him which is now in dispute, there was no contract between you and the builder which you should make clear to him. If you want to help out financially then keep this between yourself and you neighbour, it's got nothing to do with the builder.

Exactly what I needed, thanks. Makes perfect sense to do this, although I did want to 'shield' my neighbour from this (she seemed a wee bit frail and sheepish) it will be best to ditch him (Foxtrot Oscar Mr Builder) and support her :T

trevormax

skivington wrote: »

For info the guy is a local builder and well established, I am new to the area but have coleauges who said they have asked him to do work and he has offered 'mates rates' by verbal agreement and charged a fortune which they have felt obliged to pay .

He sounds like a con artist, intentionally misleading people into thinking they will get a cheap deal to prevent them asking for any kind of breakdown before the job starts, then hitting them with a big bill they will find hard to contest as they have no quote or anything.

skivington

trevormax wrote: »

He sounds like a con artist, intentionally misleading people into thinking they will get a cheap deal to prevent them asking for any kind of breakdown before the job starts, then hitting them with a big bill they will find hard to contest as they have no quote or anything.

I would totally agree with this. I just hope that his lawyers letter was his last throw of the dice. I am almost sure that he will not want to stand in a small claims court and argue his corner, but you never know. All the advice, pointers and reassurance are appreciated, thanks.