New Kitchen - Fitter not returned refund money

photome

David713 said:

Do you have a contact address for the fitter? and what is the approximate value of the items?

If so, I would stop being polite and send them 2 letters, one signed for and one "normal" post (making sure that you get proof of postage) advising them that they have 14 days to either return your goods or to provide a full refund for them and failure to do so will result in your reporting them for theft (which is what it is) and pursuing them through the court system. (but depending on the value, this may not be worthwhile doing). 

comeandgo said:

So you agreed a price and paid him.  So why do you think you are due any money back.

Yes, they agreed a price and paid him but this doesn't give the fitter the legal right to remove items from the OP's house without permission.
If you booked your car into a garage for some work, paid for that work and then took your car home, what would you do if you found that one of the mechanics had taken your spare wheel out of your vehicle, sold it and kept the money for themselves?

That analogy doesn’t make sense to me
its more like you agree a price to have your car repaired including parts but the garage doesn’t use all the parts , you still pay the agreed price but the garage keeps the spare parts

sharpj

Thanks David713
I don't expect to receive any reply from the kitchen company, because the branch manager told me it was a known flaw in working practices, in other words normal practice to swindle the customer. So, the fitter pinched a glass splashback, a Franke tap, a pelmet and base decor End. The kitchen company confirmed these items were refunded to his account on 17/12/20 the day after he finished.

sharpj

Photome:- I bought the kitchen, so I own all the items. He took the items from my home without permission and refunded £600 worth of items to himself. I got nothing. So that is fair in your eyes is it?

pbartlett

if i understand you properly (apologies if not), you got a 'supply and fit' quote for the kitchen. This being so, it is irrelevant what the fitter did or did not order or send back for refund - as long as you got the kitchen you agreed. 

If, as part of the work, you subsequently bought eg a larger splashback and asked the fitter to install it instead of the original one, then unless the fitter specifically said they would refund you the smaller one cost then again you are not due anything back.

Although seemingly unfair, it all stems from the fact that you agreed a package deal, supply and fit.

David713

photome said:

David713 said:

Do you have a contact address for the fitter? and what is the approximate value of the items?

If so, I would stop being polite and send them 2 letters, one signed for and one "normal" post (making sure that you get proof of postage) advising them that they have 14 days to either return your goods or to provide a full refund for them and failure to do so will result in your reporting them for theft (which is what it is) and pursuing them through the court system. (but depending on the value, this may not be worthwhile doing). 

comeandgo said:

So you agreed a price and paid him.  So why do you think you are due any money back.

Yes, they agreed a price and paid him but this doesn't give the fitter the legal right to remove items from the OP's house without permission.
If you booked your car into a garage for some work, paid for that work and then took your car home, what would you do if you found that one of the mechanics had taken your spare wheel out of your vehicle, sold it and kept the money for themselves?

That analogy doesn’t make sense to me
its more like you agree a price to have your car repaired including parts but the garage doesn’t use all the parts , you still pay the agreed price but the garage keeps the spare parts

Whichever it was, the spare wheel or parts ordered and not used, it's pretty much the same thing in the the mechanic removed something that was the property of the car owner without having permission to do so and disposed of those parts, keeping the refunded money for himself.

pbartlett

in a supply and fit contract, the kitchen parts never belong to the owner until.the project is completed. They are bought by, and belong to, the fitter

If the op had purchased and paid for the parts themselves as a seperate thing,  that would be a different matter.

photome

sharpj said:

Photome:- I bought the kitchen, so I own all the items. He took the items from my home without permission and refunded £600 worth of items to himself. I got nothing. So that is fair in your eyes is it?

I am still not exactly clear what happened but if you bought and paid for the kitchen separately  then yes those items were yours

 if you paid the fitter separately for his work then he shouldn’t have taken any items and he owes you for them.

it wasnt clear in your OP wether you paid separately or you paid for supply and fit as a package  ( still not entirely sure)

Who was the supplier, was it a trade only supplier and that’s where the problem is ?

sharpj

I paid the fitter seperate

sharpj

Also, I rang the kitchen company for the invoice prior to agreement, but they said I had to go through the fitter. So I asked the fitter but he would not give me or let me view the invoice from the Kitchen company. Stating this was normal practice.

Manxman_in_exile

sharpj said:

For Example:- The fitter suggested that I purchase a larger Glass Splashback from another supplier, which cost me £305. He returned the original splashback and had the money credited to his account and not returned to me. ...

sharpj said:

I had already bought a tap, but the fitter ordered a tap and then took it back and got the money for it for himself. Where's my money?

sharpj said:

So [ I ] would expect the items I paid for and not used to still be in my garage not at the kitchen company.

Like several other posters I am more than a little confused by the OP's story, but if what they say above is correct, then I think I agree with them - I'd also be asking where my money is.

What arrangement the OP had with the fitter is irrelevant in regard of items the OP had already bought or which the fitter suggested needed to be purchased as an alternative.

So the OP had delivered to him (according to the delivery note as explained in the first post) various bits of kitchen equipment - presumably including a splashback and tap.  The fitter suggested an alternative splashback* which the OP buys for £300.  The OP had also already purchased a tap for the kitchen, but the fitter, presumably, used the one that came with the delivery.

Now the OP wants to know where the original splashback and tap are - or he wants their value back.

Seems perfectly reasonable to me in respect of the splashback and tap.  They've been bought personally by the OP with his own money, and I don't understand how the fitter has "acquired" them.

*That seems to me a bit odd on the fitter's part?  If the OP had paid a single price for the fitter to supply and fit the kitchen, I would expect the fitter to be sorting out the alternative splashback - not have the OP purchase it separately.