Driveway company false advertising.

MattEng · 29 January 2019 at 8:28AM

Hi All.
Last week I had my driveway block paved from a local company that was recommended to me.

The driveway looks great and overall I think they have done a nice job but I am a little concerned that they may have cut corners on the prep work. Because of this I want to pay them by credit card for the protection provided by my bank.

The company advertise that they accept debit and credit card payments on there website and also on the side of their vehicles.

Now it has come to the time of payment I have been told that they can't currently accept card payments as apparently they have fallen out with the company they use for their card reader.

They came back yesterday to resolve some niggles I had with the drive and I told them that I must insist on paying by credit card, He replied how much I would need to pay by credit card. (I have read that the bank will protect for the full invoice price even if part payment is payed by card) so I told him £500 by credit card. Now he has suggested that I pay the £500 to one of his suppliers instead of him.

As I want to pay him by credit card for the protection and not because I cant afford to pay by other methods I don't want to do this.

What do you suggest? Is there another way I can pay and have peace of mind for any issues in the future? Is there anyone I can contact for advice on this matter? The company offer a 5 year warranty but i'm concerned they will not honor this.
At the moment he has only mentioned bank transfer as a method of payment.

Any help will be greatly appreciated

Kind Regards

Matt

Aylesbury_Duck · 29 January 2019 at 8:35AM

I don't think you can force him to accept a credit card payment. I believe he can decline it as a form of payment if he wishes to, even if he says he accepts them on his website. If you wanted to pay some or all of the price by credit card it would have been wise to write this into the pre-work agreement.

Have you got legal cover on your home insurance? If anything does go wrong it might be of help.

DoaM · 29 January 2019 at 8:43AM

Offer to pay £10 by CC and the rest by whatever alternative payment method you agree. (For S75 protection the invoice price must be £100 or more, not the amount you pay by CC). If he accepts this then his comment about the card reader was borrocks - he was simply trying to avoid transaction fees.

MattEng · 29 January 2019 at 8:52AM

I'm not sure if my home insurance includes legal expenses. How would this work if I was to claim in 2 years time when I had changed insurance company? Would they claim it was an existing problem?

As mentioned in the OP I have offered to send part payment via credit card as i'm aware that the full invoice price will be covered and he has asked me to send this to one of his supplier companies. As this isn't to him directly i'm assuming it won't work.

Aylesbury_Duck · 29 January 2019 at 8:56AM

Indeed. Your contract is with him so it is him you need to pay. That applies if you were paying cash.

As for the insurance situation, it's more about making use of the legal cover if you need to, not actually insuring the driveway work. If you have problems down the line, it means you have a resource you can call on for advice and help if you decide to pursue something.

MattEng · 29 January 2019 at 9:02AM

Seems that it may be a good idea to ensure legal expenses are included with any future policies.

I have sent a message asking if I can send a payment of £10 to him via credit card and will see what he says.

Do you know if he will be required to take the payment via a card reader? Or can I transfer the £10 to him via my online banking or at a bank? On my app it says I can send the payment to a current account in my name so i'm assuming I cant send it to him.

pmduk · 29 January 2019 at 9:11AM

DON'T pay by bank transfer, it provides you with no consumer rights protection whatsoever.

MattEng · 29 January 2019 at 9:18AM

How would you advise I pay then?

DoaM · 29 January 2019 at 11:54AM

See what he says about the £10 offer first. If he agrees (at which point you should resist the temptation to call him out about the card reader) you can both then agree on the method of payment for the balance - you'd have the S75 protection regardless of if you paid the balance by bank transfer.