Ripped off ! please help

fabrav

I hired "North Star Roofing" to repair my roof - Amos Taylor came down on Saturday 9th January to have a look around and made me sign a contract after agreeing on a price. He also wanted a deposit of £500 - I told him I would arrange something. On Sunday evening I received a text saying if I wanted my roof doing on the Wednesday he would need the £500 transferring into his Business Account before midday on Monday - I arranged the funds for Monday morning and informed him - he said he would turn up on "Wednesday weather permitting" - I then heard about his reputation - please type "North Star Roofing Leicester Mercury" and you will see the horror stories - so I decided to cancel the contract with him in writing using one of his own cancellation slips on the contract - Amos told me I would not receive my deposit back - none of it - absolutely disgusting service - he has ripped me off without doing any work to my property - he refuses to refund me after so many times requesting to come to some sort of agreement - it is a waste of time dealing with him - I have also found out that he has 2 CCJ's to his name and his company will be folding soon if he carries on like this - his credit rating is so poor he asks everyone for a deposit - no other roofer has asked me for this - please can someone help me get my money back? He will end up ripping many people off.

macman

To state the obvious, what does your contract say, which you freely signed? If you break the contract, then the deposit may not be returnable, as he is entitled to compensation for your breach.
You can sue him through the small claims process, but that will not guaranteee you your money back unfortunately.
A shame you didn't do your research before agreeing the contract. No reputable roofer would ask for £500 upfront for some repair work.

stator

Contact Trading Standards / Citizens Advice.
But you paid a £500 deposit then tried to cancel the contract? Usually when you do that you lose your deposit. That's what a deposit is it, to stop people from pulling out.
However you may be entitled to a refund if it falls within the cooling off period, but you'd need an expert to tell you if that applies.

dominoman

Unfortunately you're going to have to write this one down to experience.

Going through the small claims court will cost you time and money, but will get you nowhere. I've googled North Star Roofing Leicester Mercury as you suggested and the evidence is clear.

Next time check the workman's reputation carefully before handing over any money.

dominoman

Interesting to see that he has 100% positive rating on MyBuilder: https://www.mybuilder.com/profile/view/north_star_roofing_ltd

That shows you how little value these "review" sites have

fabrav

Contract clearly says i am entitled to a 14 day cooling off period in which i can cancel...however it also says if cancelled you may have to pay for goods or services supplied if the performance of the contract has begun.....which it hasnt as far as i can tell...unless that means buying materials...in which case i have asked for the materials back but still no reply

fabrav

Have just found out from companies house website that he has a letter sent to him in october 2015 stating if "things continue this way" then the company will dissolve in 3 months and therefore any assets will go to hm revenue....this means he knew the state of the company before he took my money..and that means he will be going bust anytime this month...just need my money back...have tried to do a money transfer recall from my bank and they are investigating....possibly by sending an indemnity or somethimg to his bank...anyone have a clue what this means and what my chances are of recovering the money this way?

saverbuyer

Hope of recovering the money. Bob Hope and No hope.