Ripped off By Builder

skintdragon

hey,

Just wanted to say keep on with the fight and don't lose hope. I am one of lisawater's followers (haha it's like a cult) and have seen your posts on his thread. So I will egg you on with what I have; not alot of knowledge on the subject, but just moral support. :j

Hang in there pal.:A

Esoog

Its actually a complete joke that this kind of thing can happen.

Sadly obviously the builder is all too aware of the difficulties you're facing trying to do him; hence why he knows (or thinks) he can get away with it.

Don't give up mate, take him for every penny he's got. You'll get there in the end.

Butti

I just wanted to say Hang in there.....and do have a cry if you need to. Crying is a release for pent up anger and will help your blood pressure from not going through the ceiling, and as they say 'It's better out than in' even if you are a man.

B

Poosmate

Hi Johnny, another one of "Mike's Mob" here.

Just wanted to wish you luck in your journey forward.

I can't really offer any more advice regarding court action or DIY TV programmes than what Mike has already.

I know you mentioned living in a tent in your back garden (I guess tongue in cheek) but you must be spending a fortune on accommodation at the moment. Maybe, given your situation being so dire, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to do that over these summer months and maybe work on securing a caravan or chalet for the winter months. Hopefully by next spring or sooner you will have a bit more than a shell of a house to move back into (as you will have saved a lot on your alternative accommodation costs), even if it's only a couple of rooms.

I know it would be very difficult as a family but families go camping all the time and camping is camping whether it's on a camping site or in your back garden. You would need a plan to do this. If the house is completely off limits and your garden is big enough think about getting a shed to store your "work" and "best" clothes and shoes and maybe a camping type toilet. Use your tent(s) for sleeping and (trying to) relax in. Hopefully the weather would be kind to you and you could spend much of your home time out in the garden or away from the house anyway. Use a BBQ for cooking. Use your camp as a base, not a home so much) and try to do as much free stuff away from it as possible.

I know it would be difficult, depending on ages of children and illness of wife, but it would free up some cash that could be used to rebuild your home. You'd be on site to oversee the works and hopefully seeing the progress and your ultimate moving back in date get closer would ease the difficult conditions you'd be living in.

If you look at Mikes thread, on page 149 (I think) there is a link to some photos and you'll see what conditions he's had to live in (i.e. a whopping great hole in the wall plugged with a tarpaulin) and he lived in that through the winter.

I know camping through it seems extreme, but then you are coping with extreme circumstances.

Hope you can sort it soon.

Poo

mrslawrence2003

aloha!

am sorry to hear that you're having such an awful time, but you've definitely come to the right place for support, and help.

my tuppence worth - i know how when things go wrong, everything becomes too much to cope with and all you can see is what's wrong and terrible, and you have no hope of getting out of your mess. first things first, which you may have already done, try to break all the problems down into separate areas. it seems like currently, the most pressing problem is accommodation for your family. you mention a tent, which, if the weather men are correct, may be a workable solution over the summer. of course, it's far from ideal, but it's a start. you mentioned earlier that you had stayed in a caravan - is it possible to get a caravan on site as somewhere for you and your family to live? again, it's not ideal but should problems continue past the summer, it provides a bit more shelter than a tent in winter.

secondly, on the legal stuff, perhaps it may not be necessary to pay a lawyer for everything? in my, (albeit not great) experience, lawyers are very good at giving you lots of confidence that you'll definitely win, but charging you an absolute fortune for the privilege. perhaps mike, having been through all of this can advise you better than i can, as i really am not sure what would be required. however, if you have time to investigate and research, perhaps there is a lot that you can do yourself. whilst saving you money, this would also give you a lot of power back in a situation where you currently feel powerless.

hanyways, that's my tuppence, for what it's worth. best of luck, and do keep posting here.

lisawaters

Lots of good practical advice here, and there will be more, and lots of support, but there's another side to this which you're probably well aware of - what's going on inside your head.

I can only echo the comments of others who've said it's essential to talk to people about this problem. You need lots of people to share the load. Whether they offer practical advice or not is irrelevant, you need to be told repeatedly that THIS IS NOT YOUR FAULT, that ANYONE COULD HAVE DONE WHAT YOU DID and IT'S NOT BECAUSE YOU'RE STUPID. The best conmen are totally believable and you really see them as being on your side.

Talk to your GP about the situation now and accept any support you're offered, such as open depression groups. You might not think you're depressed, but you probably will be if you try and go it alone. You have to maybe break the habit of a lifetime and get used to sharing what you're feeling. What's happened is very serious and no-one can get through it without help. No man is a island, certainly not when the poo hits the fan.

The only practical suggestion I have to offer at the moment is to see if anyone's got an old static caravan you could have or borrow. It's better than nothing and it's a step on the ladder towards getting things better for your family and yourself.

Keep talking and sharing.


Mike

Bunnyinthelights

I cant afford advice but I do feel for you.

dont worry about the 'man stuff' I am sure most men would be howling at suck a horrific predicament. xx

JohnnyJet

Thanks for all the support,I really do appreciate it. Trying to have a break from all the bad thoughts tonight. This is really sad and I really shouldn't admit to it, but I'm watching a bit of Eurovision tonight. Haven't heard the UK song yet but I bet it is just as embarrassing as usual.

mc33033

JohnnyJet wrote: »

I tried to contact Trading Standard but got told to go to Consumer Direct first. Is there a way that I can go to Trading Standard directly?

CD give advice on behalf of Trading Standards - if you have already spoken with them, they should have given you a basic understanding of the legislation involved here. Now, as Trading Standards are run by your local council, you will find that there is a difference in the way local authorities run their departments - in a nutshell, you will find some TS will be willing to look at civil cases like this and try to mediate between the parties, but they aren't obliged to offer this service (this is why different posters have different expectations of what TS will do - the more local government cutbacks there are, the more likely that other TS departments will have to focus solely on criminal cases).

Some departments will be too busy with criminal cases to help with these civil cases. Your TS is most likely to fall into this category, otherwise CD would most likely have given them the case rather than tell you to go a solicitor - don't think that they are just being awkward, they'd be following your councils instructions. You should know as well that TS have no authority to order any builder to complete works or pay you damages, only a court can do this. TS officers have no automatic right of audience in a civil court either so can't represent you there - it's either yourself or a solicitor.

You should find out as much as possible about this builder and any assets he has. Is it a Ltd Co? How close was his quote to any others? Has he given any reason for the overruns in schedule and costs? Lots of other useful info given in other posters threads about how to deal with these cases.

UnderPressure

Hi JohnnyJet

Feel a bit stupid posting this as I cannot really offer anything in the way of advice, I just di not want to "read and run".

You and your family have our thoughts at this time, what a terrible story I really hope you manage to sort this out and make this cowboy accountable for his actions, in an ideal world stuff like this should be classed as fraud as far as I am concerned then he could rot in prison for a few years nothing short of what he deserves.

At least you are being pro-active and trying to sort things out, it looks like you have some wonderful people behind you on this forum offering some fantastic advice, I really hope all of this straightens itself out for you soon