What would you do?

speedy2056

Please bare with this, I know it's a bit long but I need help.

I got my drive way concreted over by two cowboy builders (one of them is/was my "mate" who recommended this guy to do it) and they screwed it up by adding a thin layer of concrete, so thin that it could be kicked with your shoe and you would put a hole in it!!

They never dug 4 inches which is apparently the standard, just took away the grass and slapped quick sand/cement mix on it. It can be done this way but it has to be a 3:1 ratio and it was nowhere near that.

I paid for 8 bags of cement, the boss, Richard, said that 7 bags were used.

Anyway, me being disabled and in a wheelchair, my mum and stepdad went round to Richard's house to demand all the money back last Thursday. He was charging £300.

I was given £150 the next day, last Friday.

I've just had proper builders out to correct the problem and it cost me an extra £100 to dig all the rubbish up, bag it and clean my drive, as they also left it in a state. There is dry concrete on my drive that won't come off!

The builders who have corrected the problem claimed that there is no way they used 7 bags of cement...they used about 2 or 3 at the most by his judgement at how thin the concrete was.

My mate has a child and a wife, is living in a 2 bedroom house and is on JSA. He has all his rent paid for him but is always claiming to be in debt with bills.

He took to working with this Richard guy because he wanted more money, cash in hand, as working in an officlal job would boost his rent considerably which he won't be able to afford.

I know I shouldn't be but I'm sympathetic toward his situation, it's this Richard guy that I am mad at the most.

He's "freelance", doing jobs for people that he probably has no business doing.

He's even working on boilers!!!

If they screw up a concrete drive, I dread to think what potential problems they can cause with boilers!

I called my mate tonight and asked him if he will have the rest of the money ready for me this weekend but he claims that they have had no jobs this week and that the woman they were doing jobs for has had a problem with her estate agent (he said about Foxtons, she signed an agreement that she shouldn't have) and now they can't touch the house, legally, or whatever the problem is.

I know how people can be to get out of things and I'm thinking that I won't see the rest of the money.

Mysteriously, I called his house phone and it was just completely silent so am wondering if he blocked me? He said "maybe virgin cut him off" but didn't sound too bothered.

I called his mobile to talk to him.

What would you do in this situation?

I only went ahead with this in the beginning because I've known my mate for, like, 8-10 years and I trusted him!

esuhl

What a nightmare! I would have got some photos showing the bad workmanship (a bit late now - but maybe it would be worth taking a photo of the dried-on concrete that is still on your drive in case it helps).

I'd also speak to the builders you had to correct the problems and see if you can get them to write a short statement (signed & on letter-headed paper) to back up what you're saying. Think about any points you'd like them to make (e.g. number of bags of cement that appeared to have been used, thickness of the cement compared to official/legal standards, their impression of the overall quality & appearance, how long they would expect the driveway to stay in good condition, etc.).

Do you have any text messages, emails, written quotations that say exactly what work the cowboys were going to do?

Also, consider what you want to achieve. Is it so shoddy that you want a full refund? Worth paying £75 for? Have the cowboys left you with a situation so bad that you want a full refund and compensation for any extra work that will need to be done to rectify the problem?

If you don't get what you want, you could show your "mate" the statement from the professionals and hope that he feels sufficiently guilty to refund your cash. And if that doesn't help, you can make a small claim in the county courts quite easily. The government have set up the Money Claim Online website that guides you through the process and lets you submit your claim.

Good luck!

speedy2056

esuhl wrote: »

What a nightmare! I would have got some photos showing the bad workmanship (a bit late now - but maybe it would be worth taking a photo of the dried-on concrete that is still on your drive in case it helps).

I'd also speak to the builders you had to correct the problems and see if you can get them to write a short statement (signed & on letter-headed paper) to back up what you're saying. Think about any points you'd like them to make (e.g. number of bags of cement that appeared to have been used, thickness of the cement compared to official/legal standards, their impression of the overall quality & appearance, how long they would expect the driveway to stay in good condition, etc.).

Do you have any text messages, emails, written quotations that say exactly what work the cowboys were going to do?

Also, consider what you want to achieve. Is it so shoddy that you want a full refund? Worth paying £75 for? Have the cowboys left you with a situation so bad that you want a full refund and compensation for any extra work that will need to be done to rectify the problem?

If you don't get what you want, you could show your "mate" the statement from the professionals and hope that he feels sufficiently guilty to refund your cash. And if that doesn't help, you can make a small claim in the county courts quite easily. The government have set up the Money Claim Online website that guides you through the process and lets you submit your claim.

Good luck!

Esuhl, thanks for the reply, it's much appreciated!

I may take photos of the drive and ask the proper builders if they would give statements, that's a great idea!

Unfortunately, I have nothing written in stone saying what they were doing.

I do have cameras on my house, how much I wish now that I had them turned on!

I had to pay nearly an extra £100 on top of the price of the proper work to have their shoddy job dug up and taken away so that's the only reason why I want the full refund.

I know for a fact that "the boss" isn't working officially and is not registered so that's a bad offense of the law right there, especially as he is working on boilers so I can report him for that and also tax evasion since all his work are cash in hand jobs.

My mate can also get done for working while on JSA and probably tax evasion, too, which is really quite funny since it's his ambition to work with the police force and had applied for a position that got turned down but is currently appealing.

My mate definetely has a lot more to lose, that's his whole future he is gambling with.

esuhl

speedy2056 wrote: »

I had to pay nearly an extra £100 on top of the price of the proper work to have their shoddy job dug up and taken away...

In that case, I'd be asking them for a full refund plus £100 in damages.

speedy2056 wrote: »

I know for a fact that "the boss" isn't working officially and is not registered so that's a bad offense of the law right there, especially as he is working on boilers so I can report him for that and also tax evasion since all his work are cash in hand jobs.

My mate can also get done for working while on JSA and probably tax evasion, too, which is really quite funny since it's his ambition to work with the police force and had applied for a position that got turned down but is currently appealing.

My mate definetely has a lot more to lose, that's his whole future he is gambling with.

It sounds like you could cause them an awful lot of hassle if you wanted to! Remind your mate how hard it would be to work for the police if he had a criminal record for benefit fraud or tax evasion.

It might be worth giving them a deadline, so they don't just try to string you along for months on end. If they don't play ball, I'm sure the police, HMRC and DWP would be interested to hear what they've been up to. And you might even be able to sue them if you can get the professional builders' statement as evidence.

You've got the upper-hand here, I think, so don't let them intimidate you in any way. They'd be pretty dumb not to comply with your wishes. With a bit of luck you should have your money back in no time! Fingers crossed...

speedy2056

I contacted my mate on Thursday just to ask if he would have the money ready and he said they have had no jobs this week.

I said fine, I'll give them a couple of weeks maximum but also stressed my point that they are not to take advantage of that.

Yesterday he contacted me to say that, again, they have had no work so I think he took that phone call quite seriously.

It's just a wait and see game right now.

pmduk

Unfortunately your "mate" has proved that he is happy to lie and cheat, and steal from the taxpayer. That should give you a clue as to the type of person he is and that he frequents with.

I_know_my_ABC_and_my_CMYK

If they have a business name put your experience on Blaggar.com as well as Trading standards, plus benefit fraud reporting.

Doesn't matter if you get all your money back but what does matter is the next disabled, elderly person that is ripped off by these guys who cannot get their money back as you can.

Antispam

Report them to tax office because I bet they dont declare tax on any work

KimYeovil

You deliberately engaged the services of someone you knew to be a thief. You were prepared to knowingly pay money to a thief. You now turn round all innocent acting surprised that not only is he a thief but he is an incompetent worker.

It seems you would have been perfectly happy to be party to this corruption if the work was up to scratch. Why should anyone have sympathy for you?

skintbint_2

i'd tell him he has a week,no ifs buts or inbetweens - not your problem he has a wife and child, rent, debts etc - we all have but we're not all crooks! he's obviously fit enough to work so he should get off his ar*e and find a real job. i'd also tell him the cameras were on, i also agree with Kim in post above if the job was done correctly you wouldnt have bothered about him working on the side, picking up taxpayers hard earned money , and us subsdisying his lifestyle -

Optimist

KimYeovil wrote: »

You deliberately engaged the services of someone you knew to be a thief. You were prepared to knowingly pay money to a thief. You now turn round all innocent acting surprised that not only is he a thief but he is an incompetent worker.

It seems you would have been perfectly happy to be party to this corruption if the work was up to scratch. Why should anyone have sympathy for you?

Harsh but true...