Rights if tradesman’s proposed solution doesn’t work

craigeyp

Hi,

I recently had some work done to address drainage on my lawn, which gets waterlogged in heavy rain. A local groundwork company proposed a soakaway and French drain and I accepted their quote. Work was completed but hasn’t made a difference and, in fact I now have standing water next to the soakaway! The company claims they have completed the work requested and to standard. My issue is not the standard of work, rather that it hasn’t solved the problem (they are the experts and proposed the work) and that it actually seems to have made it worse. They are now saying that the issue is the soil composition and needs to be looked at as a wider issue. 

what are my rights? Am I entitled to a refund / partial refund? 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Craig

donemedosh

It depends what is on the quote. If it says improve lawn drainage by installing soakaway & fench drain then I think you may have a case. If it just states what they have done then it is very hard & even if the person said it would/should work it is hard to prove. I had simular issue a few years ago & when I complained work done did not solve the problem They kept putting me off when I asked for a refund but in the end I got some back. Talk to them again & if they are on checkatrade etc tell them you will leave a negative response. But if the problem is with the lawn try landscape gardeners. hope this helps

FaceHead

For you to have some sort of claim, and be entitled to some sort of refund, it needs to be completely clear to someone skilled in the field that the work they have proposed and done was inappropriate and never going to work. 

If it was worth trying, but didn't work out this time, then it's what you paid for - you'd leave a negative review, but have no entitlement to a refund. 

craigeyp

FaceHead said:

For you to have some sort of claim, and be entitled to some sort of refund, it needs to be completely clear to someone skilled in the field that the work they have proposed and done was inappropriate and never going to work. 

If it was worth trying, but didn't work out this time, then it's what you paid for - you'd leave a negative review, but have no entitlement to a refund. 

Thanks for the response. I’ve asked another landscape gardener to come out and give a second opinion and quote for the work needed so I’ll see what he says, but the chap who did the work has now said that the issue is my soil composition - if that’s the case, then surely installing a soakaway and French drain was a pointless exercise?

I’ve written to him and proposed a 50% refund to mitigate my losses but assume he will simply ignore. If I did want to take it further am I right in thinking this would be via the small claims court?

craigeyp

donemedosh said:

It depends what is on the quote. If it says improve lawn drainage by installing soakaway & fench drain then I think you may have a case. If it just states what they have done then it is very hard & even if the person said it would/should work it is hard to prove. I had simular issue a few years ago & when I complained work done did not solve the problem They kept putting me off when I asked for a refund but in the end I got some back. Talk to them again & if they are on checkatrade etc tell them you will leave a negative response. But if the problem is with the lawn try landscape gardeners. hope this helps

The quote says “…to install drainage system consisting of main drain and two laterals to pull water from wettest part of lawn to the soakaway...”

Doesn’t say anything about improving drainage admittedly but why else would you install a drainage system 🤷‍♂️

That said, water now seems to be pooling at a point just beyond the soakaway, so technically it doesn’t do what the quote says It should (maybe the soakaway is too small).

stuart45

If it's heavy clay soil with a high water table a soakaway won't work. Where does your rainwater from the roof go?

craigeyp

stuart45 said:

If it's heavy clay soil with a high water table a soakaway won't work. Where does your rainwater from the roof go?

Presumably to the sewer system, there’s a downpipe from the roof that goes underground.

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head - I think it is heavy clay soil (don’t know about the high water table) but surely any skilled landscape gardener (he claims to be such on his website) would know this and would propose an appropriate solution instead.

stuart45

If he's local he should have known. Needs to go with the rainwater.

donemedosh

As they have put to pull water from the wettest part of the lawn & it doesn't then you have some wiggle room for a complaint. But they also said soil composition which I would have thought they would of checked first. As for small claims court it can be done online & is cheap to do but it should be a last resort but worth telling the people who fitted soakaway you are thinking of doing it.MSE website covers the details of small claims so worth a look. See what the second person thinks if they agree with you then you know you are on the right track

craigeyp

donemedosh said:

As they have put to pull water from the wettest part of the lawn & it doesn't then you have some wiggle room for a complaint. But they also said soil composition which I would have thought they would of checked first. As for small claims court it can be done online & is cheap to do but it should be a last resort but worth telling the people who fitted soakaway you are thinking of doing it.MSE website covers the details of small claims so worth a look. See what the second person thinks if they agree with you then you know you are on the right track

Technically I think it does pull the water from the wettest part. What it doesn’t do though is take it to the soakaway,  considering I now have standing water just beyond where the soakaway has been installed. I suspect a combination of the possibly heavy clay soil, and a soakaway that’s not large enough for the volume of water it’s pulling from the rest of the lawn 🤷‍♂️

As you suggest, I’ll see what the other chap says and go from there. 

Thanks for the advice 👍