Work carried out and billed against my wishes

highgreen_2

Hi - I was purchasing a property late last year and had instructed a qualified electrician to pick up keys for the property from the estate agents so he could carry out a full electrical check.

A couple of days in advance of the work being carried out I rang and left a message on the electricians mobile asking that he did not carry out the work as I had been advised not to go ahead with the purchase of the property due to the survey report which had come back.

I received a text a couple of days later from the electrician advising me the work had been done, I texted him back asking why he had done the work when I had left a message asking him not to go ahead and he never replied back to me.

Some months later he is still chasing payment and threatening legal action so am just wondering what my position is as I have no real proof that I asked him not to go ahead so it would be my word against his if it went to court.

Thanks for any advice you might have, and I hope the above doesn't make me sound like I am trying to wriggle out of payment, I am an honest guy and would rather pay up then get myself in hot water.

HG

thechippy

Do you still have the texts on your phone? They can be printed off as evidence.

globalds

In hindsight phoning back until you got to speak to him would have been far better.

Mojisola

highgreen wrote: »

Some months later he is still chasing payment and threatening legal action so am just wondering what my position is as I have no real proof that I asked him not to go ahead so it would be my word against his if it went to court.

Thanks for any advice you might have, and I hope the above doesn't make me sound like I am trying to wriggle out of payment, I am an honest guy and would rather pay up then get myself in hot water.

I think you're going to have to pay up in this case.

You have no way of knowing that he got the message. Always try to speak personally if you're going to change plans with a workman.

thechippy

Mojisola wrote: »

I think you're going to have to pay up in this case.

You have no way of knowing that he got the message. Always try to speak personally if you're going to change plans with a workman.

You're right, but I'll bet a £1 to a penny he got the message....;)

Mojisola

thechippy wrote: »

You're right, but I'll bet a £1 to a penny he got the message....;)

Would it be worth his while to do the work knowing that he wouldn't get paid for it without a long wait and a fight?

DVardysShadow

Mojisola wrote: »

Would it be worth his while to do the work knowing that he wouldn't get paid for it without a long wait and a fight?

If he couldn't get an early start on his next job and would be stood idle on this one, then yes it would be worth his while.

gas4you

I have to ask as to why, if you were not going ahead with the purchase, the estate agents didn't ask him why you were getting him to do some work on this property when he picked the keys up?

Have you spoken to them about this?

hippyadam

Whilst the OP has no proof they did not ask for any work to be carried out, does the electrician have any proof he was authorised to carry out any work?

I doubt it frankly...

I think he's chancing it personally! My suggestion would be either to try and agree a suitable settlement Ie for the visit and X amount extra. Or simply tell him to fire away and you'll see him in court. If he has no documentary evidence agreeing to the work how can he prove he is owed anything?

pendulum

hippyadam wrote: »

... does the electrician have any proof he was authorised to carry out any work?

Why else would he have gone round there?
The OP and the electrician had recordable contact beforehand (phone). The OP was thinking of buying the same property as the electrician went round. The OP admits he originally asked the electrician to do the work. The only thing in dispute is whether the OP cancelled in time or not.

I say "cancelled in time", but if you make a contract for someone to go and do some work, you don't have the automatic right to cancel. So whether the OP got the "cancellation message" left on his phone may not even be relevant.

I'd pay up because I can see him winning if he takes it to court. You did after all authorise the work.

[Deleted User]

I agree that you should have spoken to him rather than realying on a message. However, if there is nothing in writing between the two parts, surely he can't force you to pay? Speak to CAB.