Gardener Dispute

mr_c_86

Hi everyone,

I had a gardener come over to look at some work I needed to get done. He said he could start on the Monday and be finished by the Saturday... it is 4 weeks later and not a lot has been done.

Week 1 he showed up twice. Week 2 he showed up for 30 mins. Week 3 he showed up twice. Now week 4 he has not turned up.

Every day is a different excuse, he never tells me when he is coming or not, I have to text every single morning to find out if he is coming and sometimes he replies sometimes he doesn't. Todays excuse is that his van is broken and it will take a few weeks for him to get a new one through insurance.... do not believe this at all.

He quoted me £1200 for labour. He has been paid £550 of this so far. That is 45% of the labour costs but 45% of the work has not been done. It is more like 25-30%.

On day 1 I sent him £120 to hire some equipment…. this equipment has never turned up.

I sent him £50 to buy some concrete, he bought the wrong type, said he would go and return it and get the correct type... I still do not have the correct concrete nor do I have my £50 back.

I want to know where I stand here legally.

I want my £120 for the mystery equipment back and the £50 for the concrete. I also want some of the labour costs I have paid him back as he has been paid more than he has actually done.

Could anyone please advise on where I stand here and what my next actions should be. There was no signed contract or anything but I have messages confirming the quote and the work that was required.

elsien

Do you have receipts or evidence for the money that has been paid so far?

mr_c_86

elsien said:

Do you have receipts or evidence for the money that has been paid so far?

yes, everything was sent via bank transfer

pinkshoes

I would send him an email saying that unfortunately that is not acceptable, and as he is already 3 weeks past the date he said he would finish it by, he either needs to finish the job this week, or you will be getting quotes from someone else to finish the work. Start getting a couple of other quotes for someone else to do the work. 

mr_c_86

pinkshoes said:

I would send him an email saying that unfortunately that is not acceptable, and as he is already 3 weeks past the date he said he would finish it by, he either needs to finish the job this week, or you will be getting quotes from someone else to finish the work. Start getting a couple of other quotes for someone else to do the work. 

Thanks. but I think the issue is more about the fact that he has been paid for work not completed and has been given money for equipment/materials that have not turned up. so I want to know where I stand, legally, on getting this money back from him.

He won't come back to finish the work, I know that for a fact.

kazwookie

Send him a breakdown of cost so far you consider is fair, inform him you require £x back as the job is not completed, give him x number of days to reply, then I would take him to small claims court.  You may just have to suck it up, as he is unlikely to pay back the money.

Get more quotes for the work you want doing, and I suggest you pay no more than 20% up front.

mr_c_86

kazwookie said:

Send him a breakdown of cost so far you consider is fair, inform him you require £x back as the job is not completed, give him x number of days to reply, then I would take him to small claims court.  You may just have to suck it up, as he is unlikely to pay back the money.

Get more quotes for the work you want doing, and I suggest you pay no more than 20% up front.

Thanks. Yes I am anticipating him saying no to paying the money back and so I am expecting to go down a legal/court route. I am just not sure on how to go about this, I have seen various documents online such as a 'letter before action'

LilElvis

Do you have his home/ business address as you will need this if you pursue him legally for a refund?

mr_c_86

Yes i have an address for him

mr_c_86

So I have sent him a message explaining the situation and that I want my money refunding.
I am not expecting a response, if I don't receive a response by the weekend can I begin legal action? 

Aylesbury_Duck

Have a look at that letter before action process.  You need to go through proper process.  Sending a text message and then escalating to legal action three days later is not proper process.