John Doherty operates a company based in Leeds called 'ATY Gardening' also known as 'ATY', 'ATY Gardens' and 'All the Year Gardening', not to be confused with other companies with similar names. The company boasts a ten year guarantee and discount for OAP's in its adverts, but you might want to think twice before you pick up the phone.
John Doherty and other Doherty's have been named in complaints regarding ATY Gardening, citing poor workmanship, work carried out at inflated prices, and feeling intimidated by John Doherty when they questioned his workmanship.
According to Trading Standards, John Doherty is known to use 27 other trading names, which have received no fewer than 95 complaints in the last three years. We decided it was time the Rogue Traders team had a look at what John Doherty was up to.
So Matt and Dan headed north to meet 88 year old Myra Batty and her friend 91 year old Alzheimer sufferer Daniel Hill. Myra and Daniel had the misfortune of encountering just how poor the Doherty's workmanship can be in January of this year.
Daniel's driveway was in dire need of an overhaul so Myra turned to the Yellow Pages to find someone who could do the job for him. She called up ATY Gardening and spoke to John Doherty who offered to come and have a look at the job and give her a quote. Myra found him very persuasive "he talks for England, he is very convincing"
John Doherty asked Myra for a written quote but when it didn't appear she phoned him to cancel the job.
But John Doherty took no heed of her message and showed up to start work much to Daniel's confusion. Matt listened as Myra told him Daniel's reactions when they showed up "When they arrived Mr Hill was very upset, very distressed about it. He told them to go away he didn't want them, he didn't want the work doing - if they didn't go he would call the police, but he didn't know how to ring."
The Doherty's stayed to finish the job as Myra felt she had little choice once they had commenced. But on seeing the finished job she wasn't happy with what the Doherty's had done and contacted the Yorkshire and Humber Scambuster Team and the Police.
John was persistent in demanding money from Myra and she felt he was quite menacing in how he behaved toward her, but she managed to put him off until the Police and Trading Standards could be there when he arrived. John was arrested but later released without charge albeit with a formal warning letter from Trading Stnadards.
Matt and Dan are not impressed with the condition of Daniel's driveway, which is lumpy, bumpy and has weeds growing through it. They are even less impressed with his behaviour towards Myra and Daniel. So with no further ado the Rogue team spring into action.
Having heard what happened to Mrs Batty, Matt and the team enlist the services of an actress - let's call her Anne, and the Don of driveway's Mitch Westwood to find out what the Doherty's are up to.
A house in desperate need of a new driveway is found and Mitch takes a look at the drive to assess what is needed for a good job to be done, he takes his measurements, and we set our rogue house with cameras. Our stage is set cue lights, camera, Doherty's - action!
Anne calls up our rogue John Doherty, and he comes over and gives her a quote which is 74% higher than it should be - a whopping £1950. Mitch is watching John as he looks at the driveway during the quote and he isn't impressed. John walks around with a tape measure but doesn't actually measure a thing, plus he is massively overcharging.
With a ten year guarantee in place and a promise from John Doherty that you will be able to drive a wagon on the drive once it's finished, work commences on the drive. The ATY gardening team that turn up to start work on the drive includes Tommy, John's business partner.
They start digging - an important stage in laying a drive as it ensures the foundation is deep enough and that the drive will not sink. One of the men doing the digging points out to John that it is a bit rocky by the garage door and they won't be able to dig down enough to lay the blocks properly meaning the garage door won't open. But John isn't bothered.
After three days' work the driveway is finished to the standards of the Doherty's but our expert is less than impressed. Cosmetically some of the blocks are not laid straight and the edging is not cemented in, plus we can't even open the garage door. But more fundamentally with insufficient foundations having been laid our expert has predicted that with a few weeks of normal use our driveway will sink.
When we point out we are not happy John's team endeavour to rectify some of the cosmetic faults with the driveway but the problem is not just skin deep.
So we decide to simulate using the driveway for 6 weeks. As we have only got a few days in which to do this we drive on and off the driveway a hundred and sixty eight times over a couple of days.
And we find our experts' predictions come true as the driveway sinks in several places. Mitch casts his eye over the results and is unimpressed with the dips and divots in the drive. And when he looks at the garage door he is shocked to discover they haven't bedded the edging blocks in concrete - a sloppy job.
But not to worry as John told us our driveway comes with a ten year guarantee so we call him up to tell him the bad news and explain that we lifted up a brick and found the foundations are too shallow.
ATY are less than not happy when we call to tell them of our sinking driveway, and tell us we have invalidated our guarantee. Although they do come and do a little remedial work- it is certainly not enough.
Not one to let them off the hook that easily the Rogue Traders team find another house in Leeds and call John up to see if he can come over and give a quote on relaying the driveway.
But when he arrives to the house John finds he has more to look at than just a dodgy driveway when Matt pops out for a chat about the poor quality of his work. Sadly John doesn't seem keen to stay and chat to Matt. With no more than a quick 'Goodbye matey' he hops in his van and drives off leaving Matt's questions unanswered.
So how do you spot and avoid a rogue trader and how do you find a reputable tradesperson? Read on to find out.
If you are thinking of getting some work done on your home do some research, ask friends, work colleagues and neighbours to recommend a tradesperson they have used.
Ask the tradesperson for references and ring up and speak to previous customers. Ensure that the company has a business address rather than a residential address and a landline as well as a mobile phone number.
Do not employ cold callers. They can often be quite persuasive pointing out problems with your home that you hadn't noticed. Try not to engage them in conversation explaining that you do not buy goods and services at the door and you will need to compare prices and discuss this with your son, neighbour, or friend before proceeding with any work.
If you do proceed with having work done on your property get a detailed brief drawn up and a written quote prior to work starting which lists everything included in the price. Work out a payment plan that you agree with the tradesperson before work commences and do not pay in advance of completion of the work. Do not pay all of the sum in cash try to pay for a minimum of £101 of it on your credit card as this can offer you more protection.
Rogue Traders dig up the dirt on 'ATY gardens'
John Doherty and other Doherty's have been named in complaints regarding ATY Gardening, citing poor workmanship, work carried out at inflated prices, and feeling intimidated by John Doherty when they questioned his workmanship.
According to Trading Standards, John Doherty is known to use 27 other trading names, which have received no fewer than 95 complaints in the last three years. We decided it was time the Rogue Traders team had a look at what John Doherty was up to.
So Matt and Dan headed north to meet 88 year old Myra Batty and her friend 91 year old Alzheimer sufferer Daniel Hill. Myra and Daniel had the misfortune of encountering just how poor the Doherty's workmanship can be in January of this year.
Daniel's driveway was in dire need of an overhaul so Myra turned to the Yellow Pages to find someone who could do the job for him. She called up ATY Gardening and spoke to John Doherty who offered to come and have a look at the job and give her a quote. Myra found him very persuasive "he talks for England, he is very convincing"
John Doherty asked Myra for a written quote but when it didn't appear she phoned him to cancel the job.
But John Doherty took no heed of her message and showed up to start work much to Daniel's confusion. Matt listened as Myra told him Daniel's reactions when they showed up "When they arrived Mr Hill was very upset, very distressed about it. He told them to go away he didn't want them, he didn't want the work doing - if they didn't go he would call the police, but he didn't know how to ring."
The Doherty's stayed to finish the job as Myra felt she had little choice once they had commenced. But on seeing the finished job she wasn't happy with what the Doherty's had done and contacted the Yorkshire and Humber Scambuster Team and the Police.
John was persistent in demanding money from Myra and she felt he was quite menacing in how he behaved toward her, but she managed to put him off until the Police and Trading Standards could be there when he arrived. John was arrested but later released without charge albeit with a formal warning letter from Trading Stnadards.
Matt and Dan are not impressed with the condition of Daniel's driveway, which is lumpy, bumpy and has weeds growing through it. They are even less impressed with his behaviour towards Myra and Daniel. So with no further ado the Rogue team spring into action.
Having heard what happened to Mrs Batty, Matt and the team enlist the services of an actress - let's call her Anne, and the Don of driveway's Mitch Westwood to find out what the Doherty's are up to.
A house in desperate need of a new driveway is found and Mitch takes a look at the drive to assess what is needed for a good job to be done, he takes his measurements, and we set our rogue house with cameras. Our stage is set cue lights, camera, Doherty's - action!
Anne calls up our rogue John Doherty, and he comes over and gives her a quote which is 74% higher than it should be - a whopping £1950. Mitch is watching John as he looks at the driveway during the quote and he isn't impressed. John walks around with a tape measure but doesn't actually measure a thing, plus he is massively overcharging.
With a ten year guarantee in place and a promise from John Doherty that you will be able to drive a wagon on the drive once it's finished, work commences on the drive. The ATY gardening team that turn up to start work on the drive includes Tommy, John's business partner.
They start digging - an important stage in laying a drive as it ensures the foundation is deep enough and that the drive will not sink. One of the men doing the digging points out to John that it is a bit rocky by the garage door and they won't be able to dig down enough to lay the blocks properly meaning the garage door won't open. But John isn't bothered.
After three days' work the driveway is finished to the standards of the Doherty's but our expert is less than impressed. Cosmetically some of the blocks are not laid straight and the edging is not cemented in, plus we can't even open the garage door. But more fundamentally with insufficient foundations having been laid our expert has predicted that with a few weeks of normal use our driveway will sink.
When we point out we are not happy John's team endeavour to rectify some of the cosmetic faults with the driveway but the problem is not just skin deep.
So we decide to simulate using the driveway for 6 weeks. As we have only got a few days in which to do this we drive on and off the driveway a hundred and sixty eight times over a couple of days.
And we find our experts' predictions come true as the driveway sinks in several places. Mitch casts his eye over the results and is unimpressed with the dips and divots in the drive. And when he looks at the garage door he is shocked to discover they haven't bedded the edging blocks in concrete - a sloppy job.
But not to worry as John told us our driveway comes with a ten year guarantee so we call him up to tell him the bad news and explain that we lifted up a brick and found the foundations are too shallow.
ATY are less than not happy when we call to tell them of our sinking driveway, and tell us we have invalidated our guarantee. Although they do come and do a little remedial work- it is certainly not enough.
Not one to let them off the hook that easily the Rogue Traders team find another house in Leeds and call John up to see if he can come over and give a quote on relaying the driveway.
But when he arrives to the house John finds he has more to look at than just a dodgy driveway when Matt pops out for a chat about the poor quality of his work. Sadly John doesn't seem keen to stay and chat to Matt. With no more than a quick 'Goodbye matey' he hops in his van and drives off leaving Matt's questions unanswered.
So how do you spot and avoid a rogue trader and how do you find a reputable tradesperson? Read on to find out.
If you are thinking of getting some work done on your home do some research, ask friends, work colleagues and neighbours to recommend a tradesperson they have used.
Ask the tradesperson for references and ring up and speak to previous customers. Ensure that the company has a business address rather than a residential address and a landline as well as a mobile phone number.
Do not employ cold callers. They can often be quite persuasive pointing out problems with your home that you hadn't noticed. Try not to engage them in conversation explaining that you do not buy goods and services at the door and you will need to compare prices and discuss this with your son, neighbour, or friend before proceeding with any work.
If you do proceed with having work done on your property get a detailed brief drawn up and a written quote prior to work starting which lists everything included in the price. Work out a payment plan that you agree with the tradesperson before work commences and do not pay in advance of completion of the work. Do not pay all of the sum in cash try to pay for a minimum of £101 of it on your credit card as this can offer you more protection.
Rogue Traders dig up the dirt on 'ATY gardens'