Help - Builder Problem

TheGame21

We are currently fitting a new kitchen, the job was a straightforward one and should have taken 2 weeks however we are now over 6 weeks into the work and it still has not been completed. We hired a 'family friend' who has done a lot of work for us before to fit the kitchen and he gave us a quote for the work £3,200. He said he wanted £1,000 up front for materials which as we trusted him we saw no problem with.

He was constantly whinging as he was doing the work that this is a big job, it will take me a while etc etc. Then during the middle of the second week, he suddenly downed tools and said he had been rushed into his original quote and that the quote was now higher. Despite being angry at his behaviour, we agreed to negotiate how much he wanted and he said around £500 more which we then agreed with. However he then said he wanted the money up front which we didn't want to do as we were becoming suspicious. After a number of arguments, he said he would come back if he got some of the money up front and would finish the job in 5 days (despite there being at least 2 weeks of work left!)

We then had other builders come round to give us a quote for the rest of the work who then criticised his work and said he had done a number of things incorrectly. We mentioned this to him and unsurprisingly we haven't heard back. Eventually we hired another builder for the work however he has had to spend time undoing some of the previous guy's work and due to incorrect work by our previous builder, this has now cost us more money. The job still hasn't been done to date and we are just very stressed with it all and at our wits end.

I am so angry at this situation and even more so that he was a family friend. As he left through the job is there any way we can get the £1,000 back from him? We are thinking of reporting him to trading standards for the work. Any hep appreciated please and me and wife are very stressed at the whole situation.

iamlucky18

Did you set up a contract with him? Paperwork? Have you got and correspondence to back your claims etc.?

If not, it is possible you not be able to get your money back - even via claims court or trading standards.

The big thing was setting up the contract.

iamlucky18

Has he done this to any other customers? Can you get in touch with them?

ST1991

This is the problem with family friends... we had the same with a car mechanic who was a family friend and royalty ****ed up our truck. It's then difficult to bring up with said family.

Always best to go with a company or recommendation. As above, did you have a contract in place? If not, i don't think there is anything you can do... perhaps small claims court?

TheGame21

Thanks for the replies. We have got everything sent via email and text message so have everything in writing. Someone at work mentioned I could use legal cover via home insurance. Is this an option?

SuzieSue

TheGame21 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. We have got everything sent via email and text message so have everything in writing. Someone at work mentioned I could use legal cover via home insurance. Is this an option?

Yes, if you've got it as an add-on (there is usually an additional premium). Just ring them and ask as they all have different exclusions etc. It won't affect your no-claims bonus (well, mine doesn't).

TheGame21

SuzieSue wrote: »

Yes, if you've got it as an add-on (there is usually an additional premium). Just ring them and ask as they all have different exclusions etc. It won't affect your no-claims bonus (well, mine doesn't).

Thanks, we do have it so will look into that,.

trailingspouse

What is it with family friends? We had my brother-in-law lay wood flooring - it looks dreadful, but we can't really sue him. We then used his neighbour to fit some door handles (we wanted all the handles in the house changed so that they matched - OH perfectly capable of doing this, just didn't have the time). Again, a rubbish job. OH is now picking off one door at a time on a weekend and re-doing them himself. Such a mess.

Things we've had done by professionals who we've found for ourselves? Not a single problem. Lesson learnt.