Are you the victim of bad builders?
- Thread starter Tony
- Start date
Hi thanks for the info you said it all, I'm now off to Google fibrerite link on mybuilders,hope I make it new to computers I'm all over the place!!!
valerie turner
they didn't change vans, their names were all over them & phone numbers
not only that it was advertised n their clothing, builders to me are all the same unless you can afford to pay private and still a risky. valerie turner
thanks you may right about going on ebay!!!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......
In September 2009 I posted about Gateway Developments who completely ruined our house, our lives and the lives of our children. Here's an update.
We paid Gateway £18,500 and they walked off site. The local authority on inspection said the structure was so bad it should be condemned. We had a new baby (with congenital problems needing major surgery) and a teenager going through exams who ended up having to live in a caravan on the front drive.
We lived in fear of the roof collapsing - and worse - until we could afford to pay another builder to put it right. When the new builders took off the flat roof they found it was made of plywood, joists supporting a whole floor didn't even connect to the external walls - it was really frightening.
The total cost to us so far in four years for the original build and then rebuild is a whopping £50,000. What upsets us still is that we have to put this into court before we can claim our money back at a cost of £7 - 10K because it has to go to crown court due to the size of the claim. Where is the help to do that? Meanwhile the builders do nothing and do not reply to any solicitors letters. Seems if you ignore things long enough you can pretty much wash your hands of the misery created.
We paid Gateway £18,500 and they walked off site. The local authority on inspection said the structure was so bad it should be condemned. We had a new baby (with congenital problems needing major surgery) and a teenager going through exams who ended up having to live in a caravan on the front drive.
We lived in fear of the roof collapsing - and worse - until we could afford to pay another builder to put it right. When the new builders took off the flat roof they found it was made of plywood, joists supporting a whole floor didn't even connect to the external walls - it was really frightening.
The total cost to us so far in four years for the original build and then rebuild is a whopping £50,000. What upsets us still is that we have to put this into court before we can claim our money back at a cost of £7 - 10K because it has to go to crown court due to the size of the claim. Where is the help to do that? Meanwhile the builders do nothing and do not reply to any solicitors letters. Seems if you ignore things long enough you can pretty much wash your hands of the misery created.
Hi DawnE, I'm so sorry for you and family it is absolutely disgraceful the way these people have treated you,I don't know how they keep getting away with it, seems you have more rights with a can of beans, I wish we could all get together and protest outside Number 10 something has got to be done for us especially you. I'm a pensioner my builders Keepmoat who use other well known builders too, have robbed me of all my savings and every thing I worked hard for the only reason I was able to get a Solicitor involved was because I took out a higher house/contents insurance so glad I did plus it's the first time in my entire life that I chose 5 star insurance,but really DawnE my heart goes out to you all and hope you get some good luck soon,take care and please let me know how you get on.
Hi, They do change names and Logos my builders Keepmoat ltd use other builders too, so you think when your buying a home you have chosen one company when in fact their could be many others involved,and most of them are certainly not qualified or skilled, and as for the site manager he just couldn't be bothered to leave he's cabin, so there was no supervision what so ever, when I moved into my home they were still building around some of us and we witnessed first hand what went on " absolutely shocking" any way better stop ranting. keep in touch and I'l let you all know what happens with my case.
I think building companies or should I say COW BOYS, get into trouble and then change their names, it would be a good idea to expose them on the net and put photos of them so we could see these nasty people who keep robbing people.
Hi DawnE
No I'm just leaving it to the Solicitor now, I'm not very good at that sort of thing and very new to using a computer,it's all too confusing for me" must be old age",and I'm so sick of the builders attitude towards me I think they thought I would give up because I,m a pensioner and on my own, they did offer me £5,000 and sign a confidentiality form (in other words they want to shut me up) and they said that they would not finish the jobs also it would affect my rights with the NHBC,it would cost a lot more then £5,000 to put this house right I've already paid for this house and it's fixtures,you see I would have to spend that money putting things right. sorry I'm ranting again. hope this makes sense to you.
No I'm just leaving it to the Solicitor now, I'm not very good at that sort of thing and very new to using a computer,it's all too confusing for me" must be old age",and I'm so sick of the builders attitude towards me I think they thought I would give up because I,m a pensioner and on my own, they did offer me £5,000 and sign a confidentiality form (in other words they want to shut me up) and they said that they would not finish the jobs also it would affect my rights with the NHBC,it would cost a lot more then £5,000 to put this house right I've already paid for this house and it's fixtures,you see I would have to spend that money putting things right. sorry I'm ranting again. hope this makes sense to you.
Hi I live close to disused railway line and it's full of trees and weeds, and have noticed that the weeds or it may be tree roots? seem to be lifting my paving slabs up and cracks are appearing in the concrete, It's my access path to garden and bin area, what do you think I should do. please can you advise me .
valeri turner
valeri turner
Victim Of Acornfirst Ltd T/A Cosyloft Ltd. Found out we didn't need Planning Regs but you absolutely HAVE to have Building Regs...oh yeah... and a joiner who can use a tape measure! Turned out to be the most dangerous and badly built conversion the council had ever come across, and every-one else who saw it. Will we get our money back?? Time and perserverance will tell. AVOID THEM AND SPREAD THE WORD. Based in E4 but working all over the place. Loft built in under two weeks for £6-7000....I know ....I know... Steels just gone in now having ripped their work all out..not hard as hardly attached to anything. Waiting to find funding to complete. Won't bore you all with the sick DAD saga...
David atkin trading as ridgeway block paving
We are currently in a fit but wish to highlight this matter and bring it to the attention of anyone who may be intending to have their garden landscaped so as to allow others to avoid this predicament which we are currently faced with.
Back in September 2012 we decided to have the back garden landscaped so as to allow us to deal with our 9 dogs (6 shih tzus and 3 borzois) more conveniently. My husband had fainted in June this year and I was looking to ‘ease’ his burden by designing the garden in such a way as to allow dealing with the dogs more manageable. Without going into much technical detail, the idea was basically to have some of our garden paved and a wall (with pillars) located right across the garden.
We had searched for several weeks for a garden landscaper and finally came across Ridgeway Block Paving. We arranged for David Atkin, the owner of Ridgeway to meet us and carefully explained our situation and plans to him. We also told him that with the dog’s routine and my husband’s health, time is of the essence and that we would simultaneously be proceeding with our sun lounge extension. He did not appear to have any problems with this. I looked through his website prior to appointing him and it appeared legitimate. It stated that he was Marshalls registered contractor and claimed to employ several employees. He quoted £4000 for wages approximating 13-15 days subject to weather. This quote included:-
i. walls with pillars for gate and 5 panels of fences;
ii. the removal of our old dog kennel;
iii. cement paving slabs to carry one dog kennel measuring 4m by 4m;
iv. an extended run and roof with wire fencing surrounding run;
v. cement base to carry our log cabin measuring 4.5m by 3.5m;
vi. erection of the log cabin; and
vii. paving for roughly 70 square metres with two features in it, raised bed with victorian edgings and a star feature in the paving.
This was the beginning of our nightmare. To cut the long story short, as with all rogue traders, he asked for wages in advance and his work was of very very poor quality. When asked to rectify the botched work, it just created more problems that needed more rectifying and more money had to be provided to remedy the problems which he had created. Our paving were not in a straight line, the kennel base was off square. The walls had pillars which were irregularly spaced and all pillars measured different height. The paving started to sag and left the premise a health and safety hazard for my family. All rubbish were not removed, i.e. the old kennel which he took down was not removed and just left further down in our garden causing yet more danger as it had nails sticking out. Our builders (Ken Jenkinsons) who had witnessed all this found his work absolutely shocking !!!! When confronted with the quality of his work, he blamed it on his workmen, or otherwise the fact that Ken Jenkinson's builders were around. But the blinking wall in the shape of a banana now is 10m away from the building site!! We finally dismissed him and he had the cheek to ask for more wages. We are thinking of bringing an action against him having paid out £3000 now and are consolidating all the evidence and new estimates as to how much the rectification is going to cost us.
This has been an utter nightmare. What was supposed to be finished in 13-15 days took 2 months and is still ongoing. This person is an utter utter disaster. If you wanna shorten your life please proceed association of the above-mentioned individual.
We are currently in a fit but wish to highlight this matter and bring it to the attention of anyone who may be intending to have their garden landscaped so as to allow others to avoid this predicament which we are currently faced with.
Back in September 2012 we decided to have the back garden landscaped so as to allow us to deal with our 9 dogs (6 shih tzus and 3 borzois) more conveniently. My husband had fainted in June this year and I was looking to ‘ease’ his burden by designing the garden in such a way as to allow dealing with the dogs more manageable. Without going into much technical detail, the idea was basically to have some of our garden paved and a wall (with pillars) located right across the garden.
We had searched for several weeks for a garden landscaper and finally came across Ridgeway Block Paving. We arranged for David Atkin, the owner of Ridgeway to meet us and carefully explained our situation and plans to him. We also told him that with the dog’s routine and my husband’s health, time is of the essence and that we would simultaneously be proceeding with our sun lounge extension. He did not appear to have any problems with this. I looked through his website prior to appointing him and it appeared legitimate. It stated that he was Marshalls registered contractor and claimed to employ several employees. He quoted £4000 for wages approximating 13-15 days subject to weather. This quote included:-
i. walls with pillars for gate and 5 panels of fences;
ii. the removal of our old dog kennel;
iii. cement paving slabs to carry one dog kennel measuring 4m by 4m;
iv. an extended run and roof with wire fencing surrounding run;
v. cement base to carry our log cabin measuring 4.5m by 3.5m;
vi. erection of the log cabin; and
vii. paving for roughly 70 square metres with two features in it, raised bed with victorian edgings and a star feature in the paving.
This was the beginning of our nightmare. To cut the long story short, as with all rogue traders, he asked for wages in advance and his work was of very very poor quality. When asked to rectify the botched work, it just created more problems that needed more rectifying and more money had to be provided to remedy the problems which he had created. Our paving were not in a straight line, the kennel base was off square. The walls had pillars which were irregularly spaced and all pillars measured different height. The paving started to sag and left the premise a health and safety hazard for my family. All rubbish were not removed, i.e. the old kennel which he took down was not removed and just left further down in our garden causing yet more danger as it had nails sticking out. Our builders (Ken Jenkinsons) who had witnessed all this found his work absolutely shocking !!!! When confronted with the quality of his work, he blamed it on his workmen, or otherwise the fact that Ken Jenkinson's builders were around. But the blinking wall in the shape of a banana now is 10m away from the building site!!
We finally dismissed him and he had the cheek to ask for more wages. We are thinking of bringing an action against him having paid out £3000 now and are consolidating all the evidence and new estimates as to how much the rectification is going to cost us. This has been an utter nightmare. What was supposed to be finished in 13-15 days took 2 months and is still ongoing. This person is an utter utter disaster. If you wanna shorten your life please proceed association of the above-mentioned individual.
Sorry to hear about your problems, hopefully others may benefit from your experience.
I cannot stress enough how irrelevant a web site is when choosing goods and services, most are produced by professional companies or software without any requirement to make them honest or accurate.
I cannot stress enough how irrelevant a web site is when choosing goods and services, most are produced by professional companies or software without any requirement to make them honest or accurate.
Yes. Thanks for your kind words. I would hope that anyone who is considering landscape works avoid ridgeway block paving at all costs. It was really disappointing given the fact that it had some form of endorsement by Marshalls which had an international reputation. The representation that he had 'several' employees which was a TOTAL MISREPRESENTATION.
I know the sum we've lost out may seem small in comparison to others, but the hassle it caused us and given that my husband was and still is in a poor state of health. It was totally unbelievable and he had the gall to say to us that he did everything legally right !!
Geezz .. talk about living on another planet !!!!
I know the sum we've lost out may seem small in comparison to others, but the hassle it caused us and given that my husband was and still is in a poor state of health. It was totally unbelievable and he had the gall to say to us that he did everything legally right !!
Geezz .. talk about living on another planet !!!!
i am a builder and see so many people who have had problems, i have put work right by other builders too. My experience is bad customers and 2 come to mind, it is a shame there is not a programme about the flip side of this . people who pay money up front is a two way thing trust is paramount. i have had two customers who knocked me for alot of money. Regarding going back for snagging works on two large projects i carried out there was none if the work is carried out correctly there should be no snagging.The guy on channel five has he ever actually done any building work????
Tim
Thanks for your input, of course there are two sides to every story, but not all the time.
My Dad was a builder and sometimes he also went unpaid, often by those who could most afford to pay!
We're just as happy to recommend good tradesman as we are to warn people of bad ones but people tend only to come to sites like this when they have a problem and there are many, many cowboys out there who give the building trade a bad name.
Thanks for your input, of course there are two sides to every story, but not all the time.
My Dad was a builder and sometimes he also went unpaid, often by those who could most afford to pay!
We're just as happy to recommend good tradesman as we are to warn people of bad ones but people tend only to come to sites like this when they have a problem and there are many, many cowboys out there who give the building trade a bad name.