Joiner Threatened Me On Phone Today

Butterfliesarepretty

Hi guys well im pretty scared.

My friend paul who I lived on the same street as when kids and who has done work on my mums house recommended me a guy who is a joiner. I have a interior door which is pine and now warped. I needed a white panelled one picking up from B & Q for £19.98 as I cant pick it up because I have a two seater car.

Anyway the guy arrives a few weeks ago and says he can do it in the new year £40 labour + £20 for the door using the old handles and hinges. I am happy with that.

My mum gave me the money £60 as I wanted it as my xmas present from her.

After paul had to chase him to ring me for appointment scheduled for my day off last week Thursday. I mentioned to him that I would have to go to my new dentist at 11.35am that day and he also said he had a hospital appt that afternoon. He said he would come earlier. I said thats fine. Thats why he came at 9am.

So after he takes off old door and hinges and handles, he gets my wheelie bins and uses them to lean door on to trim the new door and he then fitted the door on the hinges. I made him a brew and chatted about my job, my car and my dad passing away in 2010 from cancer. Seemed a nice bloke. So hes shaving the door and then it got to 11.15am and I said hi its time I have to go to the dentist now.

He seemed a bit peeved and so I gave him half of the £60, and asked him to give me a call when he has a spare hour (as he said it would only be another hour to finish). He went off in a mood and said he wont be back for weeks.

Anyway I was back at work friday, picked my car roof up saturday as my car roof was vandalised at work the other week and I took the replacement roof to my friends in wigan (will be fitted in few weeks) to replace vandalised one. I was in all day sunday. Went back to work monday and tuesday. Monday night i was in bed and my GPO STYLE DIAL TELEPHONE was ringing and I was very tired. I rang my mum tues night to see if it was her ringing. Bearing in mind I dont have answermachine on my old dial phone.

Today its my rest day as I work 4 days 8-6 and the joiner knew this when we chatted about our lives. I got up and switched tv on and let cats in at 8.30am and then went upstairs to have a shower. When I came down I found my front gate wide open and a note through the letter box.

It says " 1st Feb.
You still owe me £20 for the door.
To complete the job will be £35.00
I dont know why you dont answer the phone or door.
Give the money to P*** when you see him and he will pass it on."

At the bottom was his first name and mobile number.

Shocked at this I rang him and said "What is this letter? he said Ive been ringing you and coming to the door all week. I said what times have you been ringing ?? He said during the day and 9'oclock on monday night and also I have been calling at the house during the day. So I replied that I had told him I worked 8-6 four days a week and that if I didnt answer the door its because Im at work!!!!

He then went onto say i had only given him £10. I told him straight I gave him £30 on thursday and the rest would be given when he came back to finish the job and that first of all he should contact me by phone on my mobile and arrange it for my day off which could have been today and the job would have been finished and he would have been happy and paid.
He then went onto say 'You have now made an enemy' I couldnt believe that so I said right if thats your way then do what you have to do and I will fight it. I then told him that no way now is he welcome at my house and that I no longer want him to finish the job and that I would get someone else to put the handle on and trim the door. I also told him that I was brought up to do things the right way and that I am not the sort of person to rip people off.
He then hung up.

I have called my friend to ring me back and also rang the police to report his threat and am waiting for them to advise me on it.

When I was talking on the phone to the police I nearly broke down with the worry.:(

I had been waiting for him to call me on my mobile to arrange another appointment when he was ready????

Chunks

Not sure the maths works here based on your detailed account (if according to him you owe him £35 it implies that he must have received at least £25 on account)? Presumably you didn't get a receipt (you may have well thought it unnecessary give that he's doing the work on the back of a friends recommendation).

Would it be better to take a deep breath and discuss it perhaps get Paul involved? Jaw, jaw is better than war, war.

Butterfliesarepretty

Chunks wrote: »

Not sure the maths works here based on your detailed account (if according to him you owe him £35 it implies that he must have received at least £25 on account)? Presumably you didn't get a receipt (you may have well thought it unnecessary give that he's doing the work on the back of a friends recommendation).

Would it be better to take a deep breath and discuss it perhaps get Paul involved? Jaw, jaw is better than war, war.

Im not a liar, and he quoted £60 including the door. I told him which one I wanted and I had checked the price £19.98 he said £40 labour so thats £60. I made him welcome in my home and trusted him and even though i had told him to just call me when hes coming back he commented it would be weeks.

How the hell can I reply to him if Im at work and I have no idea he has even called while Im at work?????

Yes if I get tradesmen in I always get a quotation on letter first. Ive just called an electrician to come round for a quote on fitting a security light and I will ask for the normal quote written.

Because he was a friend of of my friend I trusted him.

When I was on the phone to him he was almost smiling and seemed to find it funny I was upset.

Anyway I will find someone else to finish putting the handles and trimming the top of the door.

Because he threatened me he has no chance of coming back now.

LandyAndy

Butterfliesarepretty wrote: »

He then went onto say i had only given him £10. I told him straight I gave him £30 on thursday and the rest would be given when he came back to finish

Well you have only given him £10 because presumably he had to spend the other £20 on the door.

Get someone else to finish the job and move on.

LandyAndy

Butterfliesarepretty wrote: »

When I was on the phone to him he was almost smiling

.

? How do you know that? And what does a smile almost look like?

evoke

No, she gave him half the money for the job and the other half would have been paid when the job was completed.

OP: let the police deal with it. There's no need to rogue tradesmen to threaten their customers. Harrassment is a criminal offence.

Butterfliesarepretty

LandyAndy wrote: »

Well you have only given him £10 because presumably he had to spend the other £20 on the door.

Get someone else to finish the job and move on.

yes exactly! durrrrrr lets see now, I could have given him the whole lot and never seen him again. When paying cash only give the full amount when the job is completely finished!

£20 + £10 = £30 which is what i gave him.

next appointment £30 would have been paid - result finished job and the guy got his £40 labour + £20 door.

Anyway got a tradesmen coming in ten minutes £30 to finish the job.

Butterfliesarepretty

LandyAndy wrote: »

? How do you know that? And what does a smile almost look like?

because he was chuckling as he spoke.:mad:

Chunks

Butterfliesarepretty wrote: »

Im not a liar

I am sure you are not. Setting aside that you are clear that you gave him £30 (so would owe him £30 when the job was done (and the unpleasentness that followed didn't happen)) I was merely suggesting that there is ambiguity (in his account...). In other words his numbers don't add up.

Anyway, glad you are getting it sorted.

Acc72

Chunks wrote: »

Anyway, glad you are getting it sorted.

So am I.

However ...... you do not come across very well in your replies (and this is to people who are trying to help you !).

Maybe from the joiners perspective he was trying to do a "friend of a friend" a favour and got himself a very difficult customer (this does not excuse the "enemy" comment).

Butterfliesarepretty

Acc72 wrote: »

So am I.

However ...... you do not come across very well in your replies (and this is to people who are trying to help you !).

Maybe from the joiners perspective he was trying to do a "friend of a friend" a favour and got himself a very difficult customer (this does not excuse the "enemy" comment).

How do you mean I dont come across very well??? Is it because I am firm and stick up for myself. Im a well meaning person and treat everyone with respect, but if someone comes across as threatening and trying to take the !!!! I will defend myself. I have a lot of good friends who do say Im the nicest person, but because Im nice and pleasant I have noticed that some people do take advantage and I wont let that happen.
I appreciate all the replies thankyou.

Anyway I got a call after posting my job on tradesmen site, joiner came out from my area, turns out the six panel door £19.98 white is not a solid door and the previous joiner has cut too much of the bottom and its now left a gap inside the door. New joiner said he should have cut half off top and half off bottom to leave the timber in the top and bottom. anyway he said he can try and repair it and if it doesnt work wont charge you, and he will get a solid pine door and fit it later next week.

He managed to fix it, put the handle on cut the joints for the latch using a drill bit that cuts the hole exact and he sanded the edges top and bottom. Job done. He asked for £30.:D

He was great. He said the reason the guy threatened you is because he knew he couldnt do the job properly and wanted all his money. Previous joiner took 3 hours to get to stage with no handles on and door still needed planing. New joiner said he cant understand why it took him so long.

So Im just waiting for the police to ring me now. This guy may have threatened other people and I dont like it.:mad:
Ive just had my car vandalised, last year my house was almost broken into so just imagine if you lived on your own and how you would feel at this moment in time.:(