Landscaping job done incorrectly - company says they did what they were told

brumbill

I find it pretty ridiculous that they’ve had to resort to intimidation in a school playground. Just incredible. Sadly shows how little chance there is if this being resolved though - even if it goes through small claims and the outcome goes in our favour, how is that enforced to make sure they do what they have to...??

brumbill

We’ve sent a letter detailing the work that needs to be done, following getting an independent report done. We gave them 14 days to respond. It’s now gone beyond that and we’ve heard nothing

brumbill

They still haven’t replied - what would be the next step? Is there a template ‘you haven’t replied so now we’re g ET ting someone else and you have to pay’ letter?

Were_Doomed

In your previous letter did you state that you'd seek to get the work completed by others and raise a claim against them for the costs? If yes then no need for another letter - if no then send another letter making that point, and make it clear that their failure to respond/engage in the process will lead to you proceeding straight to a court claim (after the works are completed) without further recourse to them.

Were_Doomed

Just to add ... does the business appear to be on a sound footing? i.e. if you did go to court would you be confident in getting anything out of them (if/when you win)?

Aylesbury_Duck

brumbill said:

They still haven’t replied - what would be the next step? Is there a template ‘you haven’t replied so now we’re g ET ting someone else and you have to pay’ letter?

What did you say would be the consequences of inaction?  You've made the threat, you need to follow up on it or they'll know it's an empty threat.

brumbill

They seem to be on a sound footing, they are a well established local firm - I guess any form can fold at any time at the moment though!

in terms of letters, we sent the initial letter and then a second letter giving them another 7 days to respond before we get quotes from other firms and claim the money back. They replied after 9 days, and are still only saying they will do part of the work (issues with crumbling wall mortar and drainage). Do they have to do all or nothing and do we have to accept this even though they’ve missed two (very fair) deadlines?

brumbill

I’ve now also discovered that the top bricks on pretty much the entire wall are loose and coming away - the mortar is like sand. And, on top of this, we’ve had issues with our oil boiler which we were unable to sort because they conveyed over a filter which we explicitly told them we needed access to for annual servicing. We’ve had to pay nearly £300 to get this sorted

do we have to get them back to fix the issues they caused? I don’t trust them one bit

red_boots2

Did you ever do anything after they didn't respond to your letters?

brumbill

They replied to the second letter about two weeks after the due date saying they would come out to fix the ‘snags’ but would expect full payment the same day. However between sending the letter and getting their (late) response we found out about the further issue with the oil pipe/filter/heating. They also still will not resolve the initial issue of the thousands of pounds of slabs being laid wrong in the first place and refuse to rectify that