Plumber thief

petek782

Morning. Last December, I paid a plumber to source a bathroom waste water pump which cost £549. Since then, the plumber has basically gone AWOL. He occasionally responds to my messages, emails and voice mails with excuses for why he can't do the job: appendicitis, honeymoon in Thailand and then a family death. His phone number is now invalid. His address is not on his invoices and receipts so I have asked the web site, which put me in contact with him, for this info. I'll take him to the Small Claims court when I get this but I was wondering if there is anything else I can do to make this scoundrel's life more difficult. Any ideas? TIA

Aylesbury_Duck

Not really.  Without an address you can't take him to court, so that's your priority.  Even if you take him to court and win (which it sounds like you would), there remains the problem of forcing him to pay.

diystarter7

Hi OP

Another point, its oly wrht taking someone like that to court if you feel they can/will pay, but your choice

How did you find the plumber out of interest?

Thanks

Undervalued

petek782 said:

Morning. Last December, I paid a plumber to source a bathroom waste water pump which cost £549. Since then, the plumber has basically gone AWOL. He occasionally responds to my messages, emails and voice mails with excuses for why he can't do the job: appendicitis, honeymoon in Thailand and then a family death. His phone number is now invalid. His address is not on his invoices and receipts so I have asked the web site, which put me in contact with him, for this info. I'll take him to the Small Claims court when I get this but I was wondering if there is anything else I can do to make this scoundrel's life more difficult. Any ideas? TIA

Well you could publicise the problem on social media but be very careful to stick to provable facts.

Avoid emotive terms like "theif". Theft, legally, requires the intent to permanently deprive and nothing in your post suggests that you have proof of that.

petek782

I found him MyJobQuote. They are investigating at their end and it's obvious he won't get any more business via them. I've asked them to provide me with his address. I have his quotes and invoice for the amount paid so I'm on firm ground however, I have thought of the possibility that he may not pay even if ordered to. These people tend to live outside the law.

Alderbank

petek782 said:

These people tend to live outside the law.

What do you mean by 'these people'?
Plumbers?

Aylesbury_Duck

petek782 said:

I found him MyJobQuote. They are investigating at their end and it's obvious he won't get any more business via them. I've asked them to provide me with his address. I have his quotes and invoice for the amount paid so I'm on firm ground however, I have thought of the possibility that he may not pay even if ordered to. These people tend to live outside the law.

They may not do so, and have no obligation to do so, so you're not on solid ground just yet.

If you believe that "these people tend to live outside the law" (whatever you mean by that), why did you choose them?

SpudGunPaul

Aylesbury_Duck said:

petek782 said:

I found him MyJobQuote. They are investigating at their end and it's obvious he won't get any more business via them. I've asked them to provide me with his address. I have his quotes and invoice for the amount paid so I'm on firm ground however, I have thought of the possibility that he may not pay even if ordered to. These people tend to live outside the law.

They may not do so, and have no obligation to do so, so you're not on solid ground just yet.

If you believe that "these people tend to live outside the law" (whatever you mean by that), why did you choose them?

Data protection will prevent them giving the address. 

Alderbank

SpudGunPaul said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

petek782 said:

I found him MyJobQuote. They are investigating at their end and it's obvious he won't get any more business via them. I've asked them to provide me with his address. I have his quotes and invoice for the amount paid so I'm on firm ground however, I have thought of the possibility that he may not pay even if ordered to. These people tend to live outside the law.

They may not do so, and have no obligation to do so, so you're not on solid ground just yet.

If you believe that "these people tend to live outside the law" (whatever you mean by that), why did you choose them?

Data protection will prevent them giving the address. 

Is the registered address of a business protected by data protection? Companies House seems quite happy to make them available to all and sundry

HillStreetBlues

petek782 said:

Morning. Last December, I paid a plumber to source a bathroom waste water pump which cost £549. Since then, the plumber has basically gone AWOL. He occasionally responds to my messages, emails and voice mails with excuses for why he can't do the job: appendicitis, honeymoon in Thailand and then a family death. His phone number is now invalid. His address is not on his invoices and receipts so I have asked the web site, which put me in contact with him, for this info. I'll take him to the Small Claims court when I get this but I was wondering if there is anything else I can do to make this scoundrel's life more difficult. Any ideas? TIA

What payment method did you use?

macman

Sole trader, or limited company? You must sue the right one. If the latter, then you can just use the reg'd address on Companies House
Was not the lack of any physical address on his quote a huge red light?
Have you asked him for his address in your emails? You can still send an LBA by email if you have no postal address, and he's a sole trader.
Wost case, you'll need to use a tracing agent.
I very much doubt that MyJobQuote will disclose his address, even if they have it, because of data protection rules.