Rogue/Cowboy/Bad Builder - Basingstoke/Hampshire borders area

harassedhomeowner

Hi All,

New on here, but need your help already!

Have you had a bad experience with a Builder who is based in the Basingstoke/Hampshire borders area?

I can't be more specific for obvious reasons, but suffice to say I have had a very, VERY bad experience with a builder who is based in that area, although he has also worked in other areas of the country too, often in cahoots with a plumber who is also somewhat suspect in his workmanship.

For it to be taken seriously by the authorities and something be done about him, I need to try and find others who've been a victim of his shoddy workmanship and the fraudulent acquisition of their money. There's a world of difference between a one off contract gone bad and a pattern of behaviour going back years where his guilt is clear and unequivocal. I've been left with a home that is far from finished and have lost A LOT of money that I couldn't afford to lose and cannot do without.

If you've had problems can you post or message me please? I hope against hope that with a bit of group effort we could stop this guy, and if along the way we manage to stop a few others and link up cases it's all to the good!

Strikes me that there is a real need for a specific bad builder forum/site or confidential helpline reporting service where victims of bad building can convene at a central point and join the dots to others ripped off by the same firm/person. From what I've seen so far in trying to get help and support (and there is precious little out there unless you've got very deep pockets), everyone wants to know about other cases, but the means of finding those other cases is severely limited unless you turn private eye... but last I heard, stalking someone is not an entirely legal pastime!

Bottom line, it seems Trading Standards seem to no longer have the manpower or resources to fully investigate cases from scratch and make the required links between them because of budget cuts, and the crime rate just keeps on rising. Those in a position to offer help and support only get excited if you can hand them everything on a plate, documented and evidenced, tied up with a bow and sealed with a kiss. This puts the onus of being a detective onto the homeowner...bizarre, but true.

My one consolation through the frustration of trying to find other victims over the last few months, (without resorting to a public post on a forum), is the belief that leopards don't change their spots, and if a builder is prepared to rip off one person in such a detrimental and far reaching way, it's a pretty safe bet he's done it to other people. I just can't find them...

Please help if you can, and in doing so perhaps it will help you with your case too.

A Very Harassed Homeowner!

keystone

Well without naming him and laying yourself and the site open to a defamation case you ain't going to get very far with this plea TBH. Have you actually spoken to your local Trading Standards and got a Building Inspector round to make a report? If its that bad then you don't need a posse - TS will go after him based on the evifdence of your case alone - provided it stands up of course. You could always get the pr@ Dom on the case if you feel that way inclined.

Cheers

harassedhomeowner

Thanks Keystone, I've done all of the above and yes, it does stand up, but I still need more examples apparently. Who/what is pr@ Dom?

harassedhomeowner

Also I wouldn't expect anyone to post names etc on the forum, I wouldn't do that either! My forlorn hope was that if someone did have something to share, that this would be a means of making initial contact with eachother. I figured the details would happen either by private message or off the site completely. I don't want to get anyone (or myself) into trouble...but I am desperate. He has left us in a very big mess that without help, we can't fix...

Leif

I had rogue builders (Basingstoke) screw up a bathroom refit. My approach was to take photographs, collect evidence such as manufacturers data sheets, get as many independent surveys as I could, some paid for, and then go to the Small Claims Court. Trading Standards seem to be in chocolate teapot land as I know several crooks who are still in business and have been so for years.

bob_a_builder

Who/what is pr@ Dom?

This

harassedhomeowner

Hi Leif,

It's sort of comforting to know I'm not the only one out there, but I'm also very sorry to hear of your problems, I hope you had success with the court. Unfortunately the amount of money concerned in my case is too big for the small claims court and it's hard getting 'the no win, no fee' vultures interested in builders as they know that many of them are men of straw. I want to try and secure a reprimand by the authorities at least, in the hope it will make him think twice about doing this again. For him to blaze ahead with his life and his business, and to suffer no consequences for his criminal actions seems so wrong, and with months of being fobbed off from every quarter behind me, I feel have to try every angle. Defeat is not an option!

I'm based outside of B'stoke which is why I'm finding it so hard to find people, I don't have local knowledge. I would welcome the opportunity to talk to you so we could acertain if it is the same builder, or even if you had any other contacts that you were aware of in a similar position, but clearly it's not appropriate to do this on an open forum. Perhaps we could do it via the site admins so it's not too personal? I truly don't want to impose on you, I'm so grateful for your response and without being invasive to your privacy it would be good to see if it is the same guy.

I'm going to email them now and see if they can advise a communication protocol that would be comfortable for us both. I hope thats OK, but if you'd rather not respond I also understand.

Very best wishes,
Harassedhomeowner

southcoastrgi

If it had happened to me i would just name & shame em on here & anywhere else i could find, providing you aren't telling lies or embelising things you can't get done for telling the truth.

But then of course that's just me.

aarchk

I am in tadley, currently having plastering and electrical works done on my kitchen. I'll ask the chaps doing the work if they have heard of anything, they are due back on Monday.

I would perhaps ask at the local builders merchants in Basingstoke. Dom on cowboy builders usually finds a supplier thats been diddled out of stock.

please_dont_worry

I think I can help you with this cant say anymore on here can you private message me?

Tiredofbuilders

Hi Harassedhomeowner,

I found what you have posted on here and another forum very interesting as we are in a similar situation caused by a Basingstoke builder. Did you have any luck establishing an acceptable method of contact, off a public forum, to discuss this further??

I hope your situation has improved some what from when you posted this although I know it takes a LONG time as we have been in turmoil for the past 5 months due to our Cowboy builder and are still finding problems pretty much every day!

I would love to hear your response,

Kind Regards
Tiredofbuilders