Shed co. want to come round and remove shed - help!

hazel_davey

I'll keep a very long story short; we're in a civil dispute with a shed company over a poorly built shed (Large, expensive). We've paid over £1,000 deposit to the agents.

My OH, as per CAB advice, gave them one week to rectify the issues which they failed to do. So as per civil law and the letter he sent them he sorted out some of the issues as best he could (some of them are so bad short of dismantling the whole thing they're never going to get sorted) and deducted the cost of doing so from their bill. Bearing in mind this is now 6+ months since the order went in, we cracked on and installed electrics, flooring, guttering etc.

The shed company told us last Friday that they are not happy with the amended bill and have stated they will be attending this Friday to remove the shed. Which we would have been only too happy with 6 weeks ago, but now we've done all that work.. :-(

Are they legally within their rights to do so? We thought they'd be trespassing at least...

Help! Thankyou

maninthestreet

Don't let them on your property. They will need to go to court if they think they have a good case for the rest of the money.

stator

Offer to take it to arbitration or see you in court.

shaun_from_Africa

If you have lockable gates, make sure that these are kept secure at all times.
It would also be worth sending a signed for letter to the company stating that you are refusing them permission to enter your property and surrounding land and that any attempt by them to do so will result in your calling the police.

I realise that it's unlikely that the police would actually respond but by doing this you will have a verifiable record that you informed the shed firm that they could not go onto your land.

Furts

I think the CAB advise was wrong. You should have rejected the shed as "Not fit for purpose". Then the Agent should have sorted a response.

Giving a one week time frame was also wrong. If a new shed was to be sourced, then to manufacture and import, or to mobilise repairs, or whatever was totally unrealistic in one week.

An independent third party report could/should have been commissioned. Ideally jointly agreed and funded if a proactive move forward was needed.

Going ahead with your own works if nothing had been agreed in writing, with all the details sorted would be foolish. You do not own this shed until the payments have been finalised.

Six months is a short time frame for full resolution, and you need dates in writing before you step in with works, and I believe you have jumped the gun. Last week I resolved a case with a bathroom I stated was not fit for purpose. This has been going on for 4+ years. Equally kitchen worktops were condemned and this took 2.5 years to resolve. A defective pv inverter took 4 years to resolve...all these examples were in the same home! The consumer was correct to fight - why should all these rogues expect to get away with cr-p service? Of course you will disagree with these time frames and I am the first to admit they are ridiculous, but that is the way of the world and life these days.

I would expect the T&C to say the "Goods remain the property of the vendor until paid in full". You will have agreed to these terms when signing the order. Hence the shed company are entitled to reclaim their shed.

To make matters worse you could loose your deposit. The shed company could argue you have damaged their goods by installing a floor and electrics and contra charge you for this.

All this will not be what you want to hear, but I am putting my common sense mindset to work and this is what comes to me. This approach is also typical of construction industry disputes.

Add to this the underlying issue. A garden building is a highly risky proposition, and totally unregulated. Dubious operators are inevitable, as is dubious quality, dubious practice,and all round cowboys everywhere. You have made a conscious decision to jump into this, and in effect swim with the sharks.

If matters went to Court a Judge could ask why you felt it appropriate to put in electrics and guttering and anything else, plus what intentions and expectations you had.

Hope this helps.

cajef

Before anyone else posts see OP's duplicate thread, problem sorted, just wish people would not post identical posts in two different forums. :mad:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5463687

Furts

cajef wrote: »

Before anyone else posts see OP's duplicate thread, problem sorted, just wish people would not post identical posts in two different forums. :mad:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5463687

Well spotted. It would be helpful to other forum users if hazel_davey had mentioned the shed company. Then future consumers could benefit from all the collected wisdom that was offered...

Time will tell on that one!