Problem with Landscaping job - company ignoring me

joshtbh

Dear all,

I'm losing sleep and wonder if I could ask anyone's advice about some landscaping work I had completed in September 2017.

6 months on from the completion of the work (£15,000) some of the paving has fallen away, meaning it's all cracked and no longer level.

I contacted the company who did the work and they said they came to inspect it, and remarked that it was like an earthquake had hit, the damage was that bad! They said they think a tree's causing it which is right up against the paving (we did have a bad storm).

They said they would happily remediate by preparing the ground again and re-laying the paving, if I paid for the small amount of aggregates. They had one condition - that I had the tree professionally removed.

I was happy with this (the tree is half dead anyway) so had the tree removed by a tree surgeon with all council checks performed etc, for £1000.

Now the Landscape company are avoiding me for 6 weeks and I'm becoming quite unwell with worry, I am quite a nervous person and I don't really know what to do next as I feel I've not only got a faulty £15k garden but that I also spent £1000 on tree removal now for no reason.

Any advice welcome.

EachPenny

joshtbh wrote: »

Now the Landscape company are avoiding me for 6 weeks and I'm becoming quite unwell with worry, I am quite a nervous person and I don't really know what to do next as I feel I've not only got a faulty £15k garden but that I also spent £1000 on tree removal now for no reason.

If the tree was dead/dying, and damaging the paving, then you needed to get it removed anyway. So the £1000 for the tree removal is not wasted.

It is annoying that the contractor isn't getting back to you, but then they had agreed to carry out additional work at no cost for labour so you possibly need to view this as someone doing you a favour in 'spare time' rather than being a priority job.

That said, 6 weeks without a response is quite a long time. So you might need to think about getting someone else to quote you for relaying the slabs. You need to make it clear that you only want them relaid with whatever materials are required for the laying, rather than them supplying brand new paving as well.

You'll then need to consider whether the cost of having someone else do the work is worth it not to have the stress and worry of waiting for the original contractor to come back.

If you are thinking of making some kind of claim against the original contractor then you'll need to look at the way in which you specified the work. Did you ask them to provide special measures around the tree for example?

joshtbh

You'll then need to consider whether the cost of having someone else do the work is worth it not to have the stress and worry of waiting for the original contractor to come back.

That is a very good way to look at it. I posted here to further my issue to make sleeping easier and this is a positive thing I can look into doing. I will indeed get quotes for this from independent pavers, thanks for the idea!

Regarding your question about the tree. No I did not order special instruction about the tree, however subsidence and quality of previous land boundaries were discussed in detail with said contractor prior an during the works. Indeed part of the contract was to enhance the support of the boundary wall where subsidence is suspected

joshtbh

Looking for some advice still on this situation please, it has now been another 7 weeks and the guy is now not answering my calls and has stopped providing garden services completely.

Does anyone have any advice on what legal action would be recommended to get this resolved?

AndyMc.....

What sort of company does/did he have?

Is it still active on companies house?

If a limited company's gone bust your money's gone.

Fire_Fox

joshtbh wrote: »

Looking for some advice still on this situation please, it has now been another 7 weeks and the guy is now not answering my calls and has stopped providing garden services completely.

Does anyone have any advice on what legal action would be recommended to get this resolved?

((Hugs)) from another stresshead.

Do you have a current business address? If not a home address that is DEFINITELY his, not his mother or on-off ladyfriend. Obviously home and business may be the same that is fine.

You need a paper trail before leaping into legal action. Letters sent Signed For and/ or two copies from different Post Offices (keep the proof of posting/ receipts).

joshtbh

Yes I have a home address from a newly registered company (nothing to do with the original business), it doesn't look like the original company was ever registered with companies house but it was a well established business with lots of customers / online presence so I assume he was a sole trade originally for the garden services.

I do have some recorded phone calls and emails or promising to rectify the work, will this help my case?

What is the best thing for me to send by post do you think?

AndyMc.....

Letter before action.

Fire_Fox

joshtbh wrote: »

Yes I have a home address from a newly registered company (nothing to do with the original business), it doesn't look like the original company was ever registered with companies house but it was a well established business with lots of customers / online presence so I assume he was a sole trade originally for the garden services.

I do have some recorded phone calls and emails or promising to rectify the work, will this help my case?

What is the best thing for me to send by post do you think?

Assume nothing. Shysters wriggle out of any little loophole.

Clarification please: what entity estimated or quoted for the work initially/ what entity were you being invoiced by/ what entity were paying? By entity I mean a named individual or a named company or something else?

Did you have a different address for that entity last year? If so cover your bum and use both addresses. IMO you are one letter away from the Letter Before Action (templates on various reputable sites).

What you say somewhat depends on the communication to date. What else do you have in writing/ that you can evidence? Estimate/ invoice, itemised phone bills, etc. E-mails are brilliant, and you can refer to dates/ times/ even quote word-for-word from a recording. Dates and quotes put the wind up some, they realise you mean business.

If you have a fairly clear trail up to, say, a specific date in December (e-mails back and forth) you can follow from that. Stick to facts, be clear what you are seeking.

Your first post was clear and succinct up to "the landscape company are avoiding me for six weeks". List your attempts to contact (x answerphone messages to business mobile/ y e-mails to business address/ whatever you can evidence). Note your increasing concern/ disappointment/ surprise .... not least because on x dates they offered/ agreed to ....

Clearly state what you want next and when. That might be contact to agree a start date, as a matter of some urgency. In which case offer a selection of trackable contact methods (e-mail, landline with ansaphone, note through door).

HTH!

joshtbh

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Assume nothing. Shysters wriggle out of any little loophole.

Clarification please: what entity estimated or quoted for the work initially/ what entity were you being invoiced by/ what entity were paying? By entity I mean a named individual or a named company or something else?

Did you have a different address for that entity last year? If so cover your bum and use both addresses. IMO you are one letter away from the Letter Before Action (templates on various reputable sites).

What you say somewhat depends on the communication to date. What else do you have in writing/ that you can evidence? Estimate/ invoice, itemised phone bills, etc. E-mails are brilliant, and you can refer to dates/ times/ even quote word-for-word from a recording. Dates and quotes put the wind up some, they realise you mean business.

If you have a fairly clear trail up to, say, a specific date in December (e-mails back and forth) you can follow from that. Stick to facts, be clear what you are seeking.

Your first post was clear and succinct up to "the landscape company are avoiding me for six weeks". List your attempts to contact (x answerphone messages to business mobile/ y e-mails to business address/ whatever you can evidence). Note your increasing concern/ disappointment/ surprise .... not least because on x dates they offered/ agreed to ....

Clearly state what you want next and when. That might be contact to agree a start date, as a matter of some urgency. In which case offer a selection of trackable contact methods (e-mail, landline with ansaphone, note through door).

HTH!

Recorded Delivery letter didn't manage to get to him today (Gut says he refused it)

Clarification please: what entity estimated or quoted for the work initially/ what entity were you being invoiced by/ what entity were paying? By entity I mean a named individual or a named company or something else?

Who I contracted and paid have got a company name but I noticed there is no such company filed under that name in Companies House.

However he has now set up a Ltd company which is listed (this is how I found his new address as I know he moved house)

Fire_Fox

joshtbh wrote: »

Recorded Delivery letter didn't manage to get to him today (Gut says he refused it)

Who I contracted and paid have got a company name but I noticed there is no such company filed under that name in Companies House.

However he has now set up a Ltd company which is listed (this is how I found his new address as I know he moved house)

Keep the evidence of Signed For, if returned by Royal Mail keep that. But you are organised anyway, you will. :cool:

Send two copies of the same letter from different Post Offices, keep the receipts safe. This is a longstanding MSE recommendation, accepted by judge in small claims actions. But only if it is the right address, one that they cannot wriggle out of!

Your claim is against the old company and/ or the individual, depending exactly how things were set up. It is very important to get that part right legally or you waste time and money, have to start again.

Ideally for you he would be named, because then you can chase personal assets if you win in court. Family car, huge TV .....

IMO have someone look over all your documents, including quote/ estimate/ payment stuff. Citizens Advice say (also check their website). Very brief advisory session with a legal eagle if funds allow, to dot the I's and cross the t's with the name/ address/ court forms.

Keep updating us: I will keep an eye out for posts from a fellow stress head! Many here on MSE have far more experience than I do with small claims actions. The collective knowledge of MSE is mightier than someone refusing a Signed For letter.