Are you the victim of bad builders?
- Thread starter Tony
- Start date
looking at the damage about £5000 but that a rough guess will find out when we get another builder round :
If not more than £5000 you can refer to small calims court. Before you do anything like that there are things you need to do first. Is the builder a limited company? How do know most of the work is wrong?
Your house insurance won't cover you for bad building work. Is this the tpe of insurance you are talking about?
I want to name and shame a builder who took £24,000 and left our house in a state of dispair.I did contact a local solicitor but this method is going to cost alot of money in legal fees.The builders name is Martin heap builders from Thornton/Cleveleys near to blackpool.
Has anyone else been a victim of this cowboy builder
Has anyone else been a victim of this cowboy builder
chelsea
Hi there.
I am not opposed to naming bad companies but I think in order to justify your post you should include a bit more detail or this forum becomes a board where people 'name and shame' for the wrong reasons.
It will also help in others more.
Hi there.
I am not opposed to naming bad companies but I think in order to justify your post you should include a bit more detail or this forum becomes a board where people 'name and shame' for the wrong reasons.
It will also help in others more.
hello
I recently had my roof re tiled,part of the deal was all gutters,soffits,facias,down pipes etc,
I paid cash & do have a reciept for the work,but while I was on a late shift 10 days ago he said he would be finished that day ,he finished around 7pm & i had the money in the house & the wife paid him,
unfortunately & I am kicking myself ,I never held money back till I inspected all the work,hence there is about 5 jobs that need completing including down pipes ,I have missing gutters on my facias ,beading needs sorting as there are big gaps everywere when you look up.there is even a hammer hanging of the gutter on top of my conservatory & if that falls its coming straight through the roof.builder won't answer the phone to me or reply any text messages ,been to his home through his website address & it does not exist,his business premises is a big house converted into flates,I have found another address on the receipt & I am going to wait till after 5pm & knock round tonight which may be heated ,all I wanted was a complete job for the money ,was that such a big ask ???
any tips on what I should do if or if I dont get hold of him most grateful,
Thanks.
I recently had my roof re tiled,part of the deal was all gutters,soffits,facias,down pipes etc,
I paid cash & do have a reciept for the work,but while I was on a late shift 10 days ago he said he would be finished that day ,he finished around 7pm & i had the money in the house & the wife paid him,
unfortunately & I am kicking myself ,I never held money back till I inspected all the work,hence there is about 5 jobs that need completing including down pipes ,I have missing gutters on my facias ,beading needs sorting as there are big gaps everywere when you look up.there is even a hammer hanging of the gutter on top of my conservatory & if that falls its coming straight through the roof.builder won't answer the phone to me or reply any text messages ,been to his home through his website address & it does not exist,his business premises is a big house converted into flates,I have found another address on the receipt & I am going to wait till after 5pm & knock round tonight which may be heated ,all I wanted was a complete job for the money ,was that such a big ask ???
any tips on what I should do if or if I dont get hold of him most grateful,
Thanks.
slimseydy
Firstly and you are not going to like this, but a lesson for everyone who is reading this.
There is NO reason why a builder needs to be paid cash over cheque or even credit card if they take it. One good reason is that cash does not act like a receipt and cant be traced. A cheque can. The receipt he gave you, as you have found out, is not worth the paper it is written on. Any ten year old can make a letter head and receipt on a computer. In short, it looks like you have been scammed and may well have no way to redress the situation. Even the mobile phone number could be a pay as you go untraceable number.
Now in respect of your problem, unless you can trace the guy you might as well forget it and start again using a reputable company. If you can find the guy you need to write to him and let him know that unless he returns and rectifies/finishes the work you will start a claim in the small claims section of the county court.
In effect it might also be a case of fraud. I would also contact trading standards and possibly the police but again paying cash, you will have to prove certain things. If you did not have a contract to start with it is messy.
Where on earth did you find this guy?
Also, I assume he is not a limited company. If he is i can check him out. If he is not then chances are if he does this to you, he also swindles the state and doesn't pay tax etc. so no way of finding him as such. maybe it would be a start to name him and his details in case anyone else has come across him.
Sorry for being blunt, but I deal with this all day long and I am a bit hardened to it.
Firstly and you are not going to like this, but a lesson for everyone who is reading this.
There is NO reason why a builder needs to be paid cash over cheque or even credit card if they take it. One good reason is that cash does not act like a receipt and cant be traced. A cheque can. The receipt he gave you, as you have found out, is not worth the paper it is written on. Any ten year old can make a letter head and receipt on a computer. In short, it looks like you have been scammed and may well have no way to redress the situation. Even the mobile phone number could be a pay as you go untraceable number.
Now in respect of your problem, unless you can trace the guy you might as well forget it and start again using a reputable company. If you can find the guy you need to write to him and let him know that unless he returns and rectifies/finishes the work you will start a claim in the small claims section of the county court.
In effect it might also be a case of fraud. I would also contact trading standards and possibly the police but again paying cash, you will have to prove certain things. If you did not have a contract to start with it is messy.
Where on earth did you find this guy?
Also, I assume he is not a limited company. If he is i can check him out. If he is not then chances are if he does this to you, he also swindles the state and doesn't pay tax etc. so no way of finding him as such. maybe it would be a start to name him and his details in case anyone else has come across him.
Sorry for being blunt, but I deal with this all day long and I am a bit hardened to it.
Thanks for the reply
I found him in yell.com under roofers
web site looked all the business,
roofing section,building section etc & was local which I try to adopt as giving my money to local firms ,but will think again in future,I paid cash as I did not know any better,my last building job was a conservatory & every trader that come in & done there bit was paid in stages so thought it was the norm
Builder by the way is
T-Dan Roofing Liverpool
I found him in yell.com under roofers
web site looked all the business,
roofing section,building section etc & was local which I try to adopt as giving my money to local firms ,but will think again in future,I paid cash as I did not know any better,my last building job was a conservatory & every trader that come in & done there bit was paid in stages so thought it was the norm
Builder by the way is
T-Dan Roofing Liverpool
slimseydy
Just had a look at the website and the guy takes credit card?
The comapny is limited is appears. I can help outside this forum if you require. If you want you can contact me below.
regards
Just had a look at the website and the guy takes credit card?
The comapny is limited is appears. I can help outside this forum if you require. If you want you can contact me below.
regards
ello
we sure are vitims of bad roofers. its along story so bear with me.
we wanted the flat room doing last oct. we looked on a website called rated people.com, found one they came round looked at roof gave us a price. seemed reasonable so asked if they would do it, came along did the job looked quite good was satified. we where thinking of having solar panels on the house roof so asked how much it would was a bit expensive but decided we would have it done.
we went away when the work started and left the money for the roofers at home. daughter was in while they where working but she never kept an eye on what they where doing. the 1st thing to go wrong was they put wrong tiles on we wanted clay they put concreat on. we had rang the boss of the company (which was fibrerite) said we wanted clay on the roof left an answer message as he didnt answer the phone.
we arrived home a few days after roof was just about finished, wasnt happy we knew wrong tiles had been used. roof wasnt finished but even so it looked a mess. next door neighbour was angry she said they had gone over on her roof which they had a bit but couldnt be helped. they came to finish the roof and tidy up the mess. told them we wherent happy wrong tiles etc. boss was rung by one of the builders was siad they wud strip it off put rite tiles would cost us anoother £1, 500 i think. no way was we doing that. so builder left and where never seen of or heard of again, the roof cost us £4,000 and the flat i think £2,000.
we wherent happy with the roof it looked like it was sagging and the edges where all wrong not stright and the grouting they had put along the edges looked all wrong. we rang and rang them numerous times always answer phone. we did get a few emails backa at 1st but the grammer was all wrong if the boss was writing them he cant have been to school much.
a few months if not weeks went by next door neighbours had roofers in on their roof. we asked them if they would look at ours. 1st the wood they had put on to support the heavy tiles where strong enough or and not enough of them. the flat roof at the courner at the back of flat roof where it jioned the apex roof had hole a foot wide i think. a few more th ings where wrong too.
we asked if they would put it rite for us. the cost was another £1,500. we had it done we had too.
we wherent happy at paying more. in the end we contacted trading standards who did thier best at tracing the roofers down. no luck at all. they think they where travelersa dnhad moved on to another proffesion if that was u can call them. the 2 roofs on all cost us about £6 to 7,000 . we will never get the money back although i think we could take this futher.
have u heard of fibrerite ahas anyone else had them do their roof for them.
we still arent happy.
please send message if you have been scammed like us. silly us we payed cash as well which we never ever normally do.
so everybody out there even if u go on a site like rated people please check , check and double check the tradesmen.
ps.
rated people had fibrerite on the book for 6 weeks and had that many problems with them they took them off their books.
we sure are vitims of bad roofers. its along story so bear with me.
we wanted the flat room doing last oct. we looked on a website called rated people.com, found one they came round looked at roof gave us a price. seemed reasonable so asked if they would do it, came along did the job looked quite good was satified. we where thinking of having solar panels on the house roof so asked how much it would was a bit expensive but decided we would have it done.
we went away when the work started and left the money for the roofers at home. daughter was in while they where working but she never kept an eye on what they where doing. the 1st thing to go wrong was they put wrong tiles on we wanted clay they put concreat on. we had rang the boss of the company (which was fibrerite) said we wanted clay on the roof left an answer message as he didnt answer the phone.
we arrived home a few days after roof was just about finished, wasnt happy we knew wrong tiles had been used. roof wasnt finished but even so it looked a mess. next door neighbour was angry she said they had gone over on her roof which they had a bit but couldnt be helped. they came to finish the roof and tidy up the mess. told them we wherent happy wrong tiles etc. boss was rung by one of the builders was siad they wud strip it off put rite tiles would cost us anoother £1, 500 i think. no way was we doing that. so builder left and where never seen of or heard of again, the roof cost us £4,000 and the flat i think £2,000.
we wherent happy with the roof it looked like it was sagging and the edges where all wrong not stright and the grouting they had put along the edges looked all wrong. we rang and rang them numerous times always answer phone. we did get a few emails backa at 1st but the grammer was all wrong if the boss was writing them he cant have been to school much.
a few months if not weeks went by next door neighbours had roofers in on their roof. we asked them if they would look at ours. 1st the wood they had put on to support the heavy tiles where strong enough or and not enough of them. the flat roof at the courner at the back of flat roof where it jioned the apex roof had hole a foot wide i think. a few more th ings where wrong too.
we asked if they would put it rite for us. the cost was another £1,500. we had it done we had too.
we wherent happy at paying more. in the end we contacted trading standards who did thier best at tracing the roofers down. no luck at all. they think they where travelersa dnhad moved on to another proffesion if that was u can call them. the 2 roofs on all cost us about £6 to 7,000 . we will never get the money back although i think we could take this futher.
have u heard of fibrerite ahas anyone else had them do their roof for them.
we still arent happy.
please send message if you have been scammed like us. silly us we payed cash as well which we never ever normally do.
so everybody out there even if u go on a site like rated people please check , check and double check the tradesmen.
ps.
rated people had fibrerite on the book for 6 weeks and had that many problems with them they took them off their books.
If you Google fibrerite there is a link on mybuilder which has a picture of the company transit van with the registration plate showing.
If there has been a fraud comitted the police would be able to trace the vehicle through the registration?
What I did notice is that the van only has a mobile number on it............!Do I need say anymore?
If there has been a fraud comitted the police would be able to trace the vehicle through the registration?
What I did notice is that the van only has a mobile number on it............!Do I need say anymore?
Whilst we are on the subject of websites for finding tradesmen I am no fan of this method. These websites have sprung up everywhere and I can't see how this can be an effective way to find someone to do your work.
I once saw a person advertise a bathroom that needed to be fitted in his house. At the end of the advert it said 'this a small job and anyone quoting more that £250 dont bother'. What sort of system is this where the customer tells the builder how much to charge? If they know all about pricing and how the job is done they should be doing it themselves!
It seems to me that these websites do no more than turn the building work into an auction driving down prices. The saying is if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
It is a lottery and as people find out these sites are not foolproof. They seem to be the place to go if you want ten builders all chasing your job with cut throat pricing in which case what can you expect?
End of rant!
I once saw a person advertise a bathroom that needed to be fitted in his house. At the end of the advert it said 'this a small job and anyone quoting more that £250 dont bother'. What sort of system is this where the customer tells the builder how much to charge? If they know all about pricing and how the job is done they should be doing it themselves!
It seems to me that these websites do no more than turn the building work into an auction driving down prices. The saying is if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
It is a lottery and as people find out these sites are not foolproof. They seem to be the place to go if you want ten builders all chasing your job with cut throat pricing in which case what can you expect?
End of rant!
Funny you should post this as I was thinking exactly the same thing when I heard a radio advert for one of these websites requesting tradesmen get in touch to join them and how good it woulld be for business! that is hardly a recommendation for 'trusted tradesman'
However tender auctions are now being commonly used by the major construction companies so it may be only a matter of time before we have "ebay for builders" .......hang on, that could be an money-spinner......
However tender auctions are now being commonly used by the major construction companies so it may be only a matter of time before we have "ebay for builders" .......hang on, that could be an money-spinner......
I think the difference with the traditional tendering system is that tenders are sent to a select group of companies maybe no more that five. The client isnt neccessarily looking for the cheapest and is obviously not bound to accept the cheapest either. Quite often the cheapest doen't get the work. Then the tenders that have been returned are checked by the clients own team for mistakes etc. That is the difference I think, proffessionals checking the returned tenders for anomolies.
The people using the domestic work websites are often looking for cheap as far as I can see and cheap in the building industry very oftern equates to poor. Also the companies on these websites can be such as the previous post where the company vehicle has Fibrerite and nothing else on it apart from a mobile number?
See...this subject gets me ranting every time
The people using the domestic work websites are often looking for cheap as far as I can see and cheap in the building industry very oftern equates to poor. Also the companies on these websites can be such as the previous post where the company vehicle has Fibrerite and nothing else on it apart from a mobile number?
See...this subject gets me ranting every time
Talking of which, if you want a good read about about a so called 'national' franchise operation go to How One Man Brought The Preservation Industry Into Disrepute.
If you are thinking of such a business it may save you money.
If you are thinking of such a business it may save you money.
This is the link to where I found the transit van Fibrerite roofing: Roofer, Loft Conversion Specialist, Garage & Shed Builder in Swansea