£1000 up front on car repairs. 9 months later no repairs

Yav

Long story short my precious classic car suffered frontal damage. A year or so later I had saved enough money to start repairs and probably pay for the remainder with loans,

A very good friend recommended a “very good friend” as contractor for the repairs Lets call him Tony.” After several F2F meetings with Tony we agreed on a quote (written down) but he needed £1000 up front to get the process going. Which I assumed was usual practice

During the NINE MONTHS possession the only “work” he did was cut off the bumper with a grinder, and detach a wing . My current mechanic (Brett) says this would have taken an hour at most.

Tony told me the job was complicated because my car had bad chassis damage

After 9 months with Tony I switched the job to Brett who was immediately able to tell me the chassis was undamaged and the parts I had bought to complete the job were almost compete. Infact within a week he has been able to reconstruct most of the car..

So for the past three weeks I have asked Tony for my money back but each time he says “tomorrow - i need to work out how much the job owes me” Eventually I say enough is enough, you are sodding me about . Within 5 mins he was on my doorstep threatening to kill me, beat me up, and smash my other car up (the one I was forced to buy eventually when it became obvious I as getting swindled. - and by then desperate for transport.) Needless to say this F2F resulted in nothing more than a shouting match, purposely constructed by Tony to intimidate me and obfuscate the issue!

So it seems my options are limited. The other party is aggressive, obnoxious and potentially violent.. No sort of mediation would be viable under these circumstances.

So I guess my question is - what am I getting myself into? Presumably Small Court Claim combined with a Trading standards complaint. This is all new to me. I’ve never in my life been in such a position

Any advice please?

EdGasketTheSecond

Do you have evidence of paying £1000 to 'Tony'? If not you won't get far if he denies receiving it.

AdrianC

Unfortunately, I think Ed has it. Tony is simply going to claim he never had any money off you. Prove otherwise... Trading Standards certainly don't have the time or manpower to get involved.

By all means you can launch a small claim - at the very least, a letter before action - but I really wouldn't hold your breath. And by the sound of his visit to you, he wouldn't be averse to taking it personally.

missile

First thing I would do is report his aggression and threats to the police. Did you have a witness to this altercation?
Did you have a witness to handing over the cash?
I would raise a court action. You can DIY, it is not difficult. Hopefully you might get some of your money back.

kmb500

I would call the police for harmful threats and theft then maybe he will give you your money back.

DoaM

I can't see it in the OP ... how was the £1000 originally paid? Cash? Bank transfer?

The former gives no proof you gave "Tony" anything - the latter does.

marlot

DoaM wrote: »

I can't see it in the OP ... how was the £1000 originally paid? Cash? Bank transfer?

The former gives no proof you gave "Tony" anything - the latter does.

And was it to Tony personally, or to a limited company?

Yav

Sorry for the late reply - i didnt get any notifications. Yes I have a receipt for the £1000. No witnesses. I’m an ex policeman so know it’s pointless to report to the police, I’ll be pursuing a claim through small claims. Thanks for all the advice. I have since put a camera up in case of future altercations.

foxy-stoat

Ask your very good friend why his very good friend is being a !!!!......and is this normal behavior..

Yav

My friend is very embarrassed about it, he got no hint of this behaviour before. I did ask him to intervene to no avail.

DoaM

Yav wrote: »

I did ask him to intervene to no avail.

He intervened but the "friend" ignored it? Or he declined to intervene? (I'm hoping the former, else you should ensure that your friends list count is reduced by one).