Should I just dispose of a rogue tradesman's ladder he left behind.

anotherquestion

Hi,

I used a community app called Nextdoor to get a guy to fix a leak in roof of the boiler house last January, seemed a friendly enough guy and just wanted £150 to do it (over a period of almost 20 years I had got a few guys out and none of them fixed it) I was getting a new boiler in so had to have it done. Anyway I offered to give him £180 and taking some rubble away I paid a total of £220 and he fixed the leak, He actually worked hard for over six hours and I was more than happy and thought he was a very decent worker, that I would use again.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I had a leak in my house so have to have that sorted, I decided to put in felt support trays as well, so once again got him out. full details on this thread,

Felt installed under Eaves felt support trays-and other issues. — MoneySavingExpert Forum

A totally botched job, he did actually work more or less in the dark with an led light on his head for over three hours and returned the following morning for about an hour to finish it off, told me how many problems he had found and fixed, I paid him £220 in total £20 over the asking price.

A day or so later leak was still present, and the other work was botched as well. He simply put silicone over a few tiles where leak was rather than deal with the underlying problem. My phone is blocked by him and he won't answer any messages. I wouldn't let him go near it again anyway.

Posting on the Nextdoor app again I have been contacted by a few others, that he has done the same to them, one guy has told me he needed some lead replaced in roof, once again he just used silicone and made a total mess and was paid £250. It seems he is on the loose where I live and scams poeple, some jobs turn out ok, like my first job, but others are just botched.

This rogue tradesman has been using a few different names and it seems he has a full time day job and will only come late in the evening or a Saturday morning. 

Anyway he remarked how good my own stepladder was as it can be easily turned into a ladder as he had used it once, he then left his old useless ladder saying he would collect it a few days later, but never did. Should I just dump that useless ladder as now I honestly believe he just dumped it here, and was going to buy a new one with the money I paid him anyway, its only a reminder to me of loosing the money

I am down £220 and will get it done by someone  else more reliable, it does seem he is a con man, as he has a very friendly personality but what can you do, he comes out, he puts in the time to do the job, though it ends up botched.

I have reported him to 101 but other than that I think its just one of those things that happen, so many rogue tradesmen about it seems.

Aylesbury_Duck

anotherquestion said:

Hi,

I used a community app called Nextdoor to get a guy to fix a leak in roof of the boiler house last January, seemed a friendly enough guy and just wanted £150 to do it (over a period of almost 20 years I had got a few guys out and none of them fixed it) I was getting a new boiler in so had to have it done. Anyway I offered to give him £180 and taking some rubble away I paid a total of £220 and he fixed the leak, He actually worked hard for over six hours and I was more than happy and thought he was a very decent worker, that I would use again.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I had a leak in my house so have to have that sorted, I decided to put in felt support trays as well, so once again got him out. full details on this thread,

Felt installed under Eaves felt support trays-and other issues. — MoneySavingExpert Forum

A totally botched job, he did actually work more or less in the dark with an led light on his head for over three hours and returned the following morning for about an hour to finish it off, told me how many problems he had found and fixed, I paid him £220 in total £20 over the asking price.

A day or so later leak was still present, and the other work was botched as well. He simply put silicone over a few tiles where leak was rather than deal with the underlying problem. My phone is blocked by him and he won't answer any messages. I wouldn't let him go near it again anyway.

Posting on the Nextdoor app again I have been contacted by a few others, that he has done the same to them, one guy has told me he needed some lead replaced in roof, once again he just used silicone and made a total mess and was paid £250. It seems he is on the loose where I live and scams poeple, some jobs turn out ok, like my first job, but others are just botched.

This rogue tradesman has been using a few different names and it seems he has a full time day job and will only come late in the evening or a Saturday morning. 

Anyway he remarked how good my own stepladder was as it can be easily turned into a ladder as he had used it once, he then left his old useless ladder saying he would collect it a few days later, but never did. Should I just dump that useless ladder as now I honestly believe he just dumped it here, and was going to buy a new one with the money I paid him anyway, its only a reminder to me of loosing the money

I am down £220 and will get it done by someone  else more reliable, it does seem he is a con man, as he has a very friendly personality but what can you do, he comes out, he puts in the time to do the job, though it ends up botched.

I have reported him to 101 but other than that I think its just one of those things that happen, so many rogue tradesmen about it seems.

Much of that is irrelevant.  Technically the ladder is not your property so if you dispose of it and he later comes back for it, you'd owe him its approximate value.  If you think that's unlikely, then get rid of it.

Rogue traders often need rogue customers in order to sustain their practice.  Paying £180 for over six hours of labour from someone you suspect is doing this as a (cash?) sideline alongside a full time job was never going to get you a qualified, registered professional, and it seems it's come back to bite you.

tacpot12

You can't just dispose of his property without making some effort to contact him. You need to try to find an address for him. If you can't find an address, and you have sent him a few messages saying that you will dispose of his ladder if he doesn't collect them, then you can dispose of his ladder. Your messages need to give him reasonable time to collect the ladder. Three weeks is usually considered a reasonable time. You  don't know that he isn't receiving your messages, and you need to send them to evidence that you have tried to contact him. 

You need to try to sell them, and give him the money if he comes back for them. You must tell them where you are selling them. I would try to sell the ladder on eBay. If they don't sell after a month (you might need to relist them), you can dispose of them. You can deduct reasonable storage costs and any selling costs (e.g. eBay fees). 

If you want to use the money to offset your losses from their botched job, you need to wait three months before disposing of the ladders. 

anotherquestion

Yes you are right it certainly has come back to bite me. Saying that I do think I would have trouble finding a registered professional where I live anyways, 

sheramber

You can report to Citizens Advice who can pass to Trading Standards

eskbanker

anotherquestion said:

I have reported him to 101 but other than that I think its just one of those things that happen, so many rogue tradesmen about it seems.

You reported a tradesman to the police for not doing a good enough job? 

anotherquestion said:

It seems he is on the loose where I live...

Do you prefer to use tradesmen who are kept in captivity?


Flippant comments aside, the theoretical answer is that you write to him and state that if he fails to collect his property within n days then you'll dispose of it - he is technically entitled to the proceeds if you do so, but when you describe the ladder as 'useless', is it actually broken or just not as good as yours?

anotherquestion

Thanks for replies, I do have to see the funny side of it "in captivity" what I mean is, he seeks out clients on the app under different names, will offer to do any work whatsoever. whether he is able to or not, and when a job is botched he will not offer to rectify it (not that I would let him do it anyways as he has proved how incompetent he is) and is willing to continue doing this in the area where I live.

As regards reporting him to 101 is that something I shouldn't have done, and just let him continue, with some jobs probably turning out ok, such as the first one he did for me, and other jobs totally botched and people having to repay again.

I know its lost money, and there is probably no law stating that a tradesman can't take on a job, botch it and just continue to work like that taking peoples money. 

born_again

anotherquestion said:

Thanks for replies, I do have to see the funny side of it "in captivity" what I mean is, he seeks out clients on the app under different names, will offer to do any work whatsoever. whether he is able to or not, and when a job is botched he will not offer to rectify it (not that I would let him do it anyways as he has proved how incompetent he is) and is willing to continue doing this in the area where I live.

As regards reporting him to 101 is that something I shouldn't have done, and just let him continue, with some jobs probably turning out ok, such as the first one he did for me, and other jobs totally botched and people having to repay again.

I know its lost money, and there is probably no law stating that a tradesman can't take on a job, botch it and just continue to work like that taking peoples money. 

If you know who they are & where they live then you could look at money claim online.

eskbanker

anotherquestion said:

As regards reporting him to 101 is that something I shouldn't have done, and just let him continue, with some jobs probably turning out ok, such as the first one he did for me, and other jobs totally botched and people having to repay again.

I know its lost money, and there is probably no law stating that a tradesman can't take on a job, botch it and just continue to work like that taking peoples money. 

You've answered your own question really - I'm certainly not condoning his approach but it's purely a civil matter rather than a criminal one for the police, unless it really is fraudulent, e.g. if he was repeatedly and wilfully taking the money and not showing up at all.  As above, Trading Standards is the route for this sort of thing....

Edit: actually there is a law prohibiting botched work, in terms of the obligations under the Consumer Rights Act for a trader to "perform the service with reasonable care and skill", but still not a police matter.

anotherquestion

Thanks for all replies, probably happens to most people sooner or later in one area or another, time to move on I think.

Grumpy_chap

anotherquestion said:

a guy to fix a leak in roof of the boiler house last January, seemed a friendly enough guy and just wanted £150 to do it.   Anyway I offered to give him £180 and taking some rubble away I paid a total of £220 and he fixed the leak, He actually worked hard for over six hours and I was more than happy and thought he was a very decent worker, that I would use again.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I had a leak in my house so have to have that sorted,  told me how many problems he had found and fixed, I paid him £220 in total £20 over the asking price.

I think it is a difficult ask to have this individual marked as a rogue if, twice, you have been so satisfied with the work as to pay more than the tradesman asked for.

That might well have you marked as a bit gullible by the tradesman.

With regard to the ladder, you can't just dispose of it but need to make efforts to return it to the tradesman.