Rights of consumer

born_again

Did they lay the whole patio, or just the lighter colour ones?

Dewdrops1420

They did the area infront of the conservatory in an L shape. Reused few of our old slabs which are yellowish in colour.The line just infront of the conservatory has the old reused slabs and rest were purchased by them and they left few of the unused slabs as well.The first photo shows the normal patio laid by the builder and you can notice the colour difference 

tightauldgit

Dewdrops1420 said:

I just got a reply from the landscaper that they have sought the advice of trading standards regarding my email about the unmatching slabs and pooling of patio.
The next line is that they have done the work to the full satisfaction of the client and not breached any law.
We never said we are satisfied verbally or in writing.
They are clearly not planning to own their mistakes inspite of the photo proof.

What can we do now?

I'd be surprised if the landscaper has actually spoken to trading standards. 

You mentioned that you now have a new landscaper - have they set out for you the problems with the first guy's work and given you a quote to put it right? 

If not then I think you probably need to get something like that. If they have then I would provide that information to the first landscaper and ask them for a refund to the amount of the work needed to fix his work. 

If and when they say no then you would have to pursue it in court but be aware there's no guarantee of winning in court and even if you do it can be difficult to recover money from these small businesses. 

Dewdrops1420

Ok I already asked the new landscaper to meet us today for the quote.

whynis it difficult to win the case when we have all
the proof and why is it difficult to get the money from them?

Aylesbury_Duck

Winning the case will involve the new landscaper providing credible evidence that the job wasn't performed properly, and the court accepting that. Perhaps difficult was the wrong word, but it's not a certainty you would win, and the process will take many months to see through.

Assuming you win the case, the court can't force the landscaper to pay. You'd have to hope he does, and that he has the means to pay. You might be looking at further delays, a payment plan or perhaps a refusal to pay at all. There are things you can do if that happens, but if he doesn't have the money or assets to pay you, you won't be paid. That's the worst case scenario, but the main message here is that you're unlikely to get a quick resolution in any case, this will almost certainly take many months.

Dewdrops1420

Atleast can we make sure that their business will be stopped with this issue as they should not fool another person like us.
Can we complain to the companies house as they are a private limited company?

TELLIT01

Slabs will not change colour in a few days, but the old slabs do look very dirty.  Pressure washing may reduce the difference in colour, but trying to match new with old is extremely difficult as slabs will fade over a number of years.

comeandgo

Dewdrops1420 said:

Atleast can we make sure that their business will be stopped with this issue as they should not fool another person like us.
Can we complain to the companies house as they are a private limited company?

I think you are expecting far too much of both the work done and what court can do.  New slabs and old slabs will never be the same colour.  You may get some money from court proceedings but then again you may not.  You did not give any instructions on what you wanted.  No point in contacting companies house, they are just therefore filing of documents.

Aylesbury_Duck

I agree with the slab colour comments. Over time, the slabs will weather. It hasn't helped that the new ones are all together rather than dispersing them about the patio so the difference is visibly stark. Was it the trader who insisted on using old slabs, or did you ask him to to save cost? If the latter, then you have some culpability there.

For me, the drainage and pooling is the more significant problem, and the one you should focus on in your complaint.  

Dewdrops1420

TELLIT01 said:

Slabs will not change colour in a few days, but the old slabs do look very dirty.  Pressure washing may reduce the difference in colour, but trying to match new with old is extremely difficult as slabs will fade over a number of years.

We did jet wash and found that the colour is indeed different and our old slabs were laid down in June 2021, so not many years have passed to fade the colour.
Also we have proof that landscaper said, ‘ Matching slabs’ will be laid.

so will the court not accept that?