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.