Have I lost this money for good?

Tsissons

Hi,

Apologies if this is in the wrong place! Im looking for some advice. I recently had a gardener do a small job for me, I was pleased with the work and decided to use him for a bigger job. He quoted, I accepted and paid 2.5k for materials. This was 3 weeks ago, he is not answering any calls or messages. I called the garden supplies company, he has not placed an order and nor has the promised skip turned up. I think I don't want to believe he's done this but im starting to have to believe it. I have no idea what to do next, I have sent another message via Facebook this morning (he is still active on there) beseeching him to do the right thing. Does anyone know what my next steps should be or my chances of seeing the money again? I'm devastated and feel sick about this.

sheramber

How did you pay him? Bank transfer?

Tsissons

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82085760#Comment_82085760

Yes, bank transfer

Worried_fool

Do you know his address?

The law offers two approaches to this situation.

Firstly, if he accepted your money with no intention of carrying out the work, he committed fraud. That would be a criminal offence, and a matter for the police.

Secondly, if he accepted your money in good faith but then failed to do anything about the work, it becomes a civil matter. You should send a formal letter to his home address, and if that does produce a satisfactory response begin proceedings in the county court (probably by using MoneyClaimOnLine).

As a first step, I would be tempted to ask a friend or neighbour to respond to his Facebook activity to see if he is still accepting work: that might provide evidence of fraud.

Tsissons

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82085784#Comment_82085784

Thanks for your reply. I have tracked down his address and went to his house. There was a woman there who had no knowledge of him, seemed genuinely surprised but that was his address on the electoral roll. So yes I have an address but he doesn't seem to live there. His last activity on Facebook was 5 days ago where he was offering to quote somebody for gardening work…

Alderbank

What agreement was there in the quote and acceptance about when the work would start and when it would be completed? I would be surprised if a reasonably competent gardener could guarantee to start a 'big' job in midsummer in as little as 3 weeks time.

Also I would cut him a little slack about his speed of replying to your social media message sent a couple of hours ago. He could be up to his elbows in John Innes number 3.

I would allow him at least 24 hours to respond and I would not be shouting 'Fraud!' until I had way more facts about his intentions.

Tsissons

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82085801#Comment_82085801

I don't think you've read my post correctly. He has had the money for 3 weeks, He has not replied to any messages for a week, all materials and a skip should have arrived on Saturday, they didn't and the garden supplies company have not received any order from him. I don't expect a reply to the social media message at all, it was a last ditch as all my messages and calls to him have gone unanswered yet he is on Facebook touting for new gardening work. Work was supposed to begin 2 weeks ago, as agreed.

Grumpy_chap

Accepted the quote and paid the deposit 3 weeks ago. When was the work indicated to start?

Given the time of year, is it possible that he is on holiday?

How much is the £2.5k deposit from the total?

How big is this job compared to the successful job?

FWIW, I understand that push payment fraud protection would not apply, subject to the assumptions I am making about questions asked and answers given in doing the bank transfer.

Tsissons

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82085835#Comment_82085835

The work was due to start 2 weeks ago.

He is not on holiday.

The 2.5k was to cover all the materials and skip hire, not labour which was extra on top.

This new job is much larger than the previous job but as that job was done to a high standard, on time and with good communication i.e pictures and updates sent throughout, I was happy to proceed on with the larger job

[Deleted User]

Why don't you try asking your bank if they will get the payment to him reversed - they do this in cases of fraud etc.

sheramber

Have posted on his offers to quote to warn that he he has taken your money, not ordered the materials and is now ignoring you?