I have had this builder from Brentford, who said he could tile, he came in with the wrong tools, tilled the walls badly and took off with our money. I have his address and now all other tillers want to charge me a fortune to repair the work, how can I get my money back with out a baraclava and a dark night?
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Crap Builder from Brentford
- Thread starter biddog
- Start date
I have had this builder from Brentford, who said he could tile, he came in with the wrong tools, tilled the walls badly and took off with our money. I have his address and now all other tillers want to charge me a fortune to repair the work, how can I get my money back with out a baraclava and a dark night?I have had the same scenario with my bathroom. However I consider it to be my fault for being so stupid as to pay / trust him - having said that I didn't pay in full until the time he said he had one days work left and paid the day before - there was more like a weeks work (I had to finish it myself) then another 2 days putting right all his leaks / mistakes. His references were excellent - I think now they were fake.
have you tried asking him?
the usual route is to make clear that you are not happy with his work and then give him chance to either personally rectify or for him to pay somebody to rectify his work.
failing this, you can follow the legal route, i.e. direct to small claims court or inform the builder that you intend having the work rectified and that he the dodgy builder shall foot the bill.
it is back to small claims though if he does not agree to pay.
you could also go down the other route.
Small claims is only OK if they actually care about having a CCJ against them and that thay have any money to pay you back. I have been down the CCJ route & Baliffs for someone who wrote me a £500 rubber cheque.
I never got my money and the 2 times I sent the baliffs (because it costs you to send them) the "person" said none of the property in the house was theirs so they couldn't take anything away.
I never got my money and the 2 times I sent the baliffs (because it costs you to send them) the "person" said none of the property in the house was theirs so they couldn't take anything away.
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If you were not happy with the job he left why the f*ck did you part with your cash ? Phone him up get him up to your house . Say for argument sake you need the kitchen wall done. And would he be interested in carrying out the work? Once he turns up to the house. In you come mate how you doing come through here I have something to show you !!!
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Was he a handyman/general builder/builder/jack of all trades?
Should have got a tiler in!!
Should have got a tiler in!!
Presumably the 'all-rounder' was cheaper than a professional tiler.
What's the expression again? No use crying over....
What's the expression again? No use crying over....
Indeed.
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Harsh lesson but learn from this...
Builders think they do do anything rather let someone else do it..
They are qualified to build and thats all..they aint plumbers, painters ..or tilers...unless they havnt got any work on.
It always make me laugh when people say 'oh so an so's doing the painting for me...me a builder you know'
..the reality of it being he will be getting a couple of swiss role labourers to do it when its raining.
I you want tilers, painters, carpenters,..hire tilers, painters and carpenters not builders who 'ave a go'
There was no sugestion of that..the builder probably charged top dollar because he didnt know what he was doing of and allowed to take longer than a real tradesman.
Spilt silk?
[/quote]
Builders think they do do anything rather let someone else do it..
They are qualified to build and thats all..they aint plumbers, painters ..or tilers...unless they havnt got any work on.
It always make me laugh when people say 'oh so an so's doing the painting for me...me a builder you know'
..the reality of it being he will be getting a couple of swiss role labourers to do it when its raining.I you want tilers, painters, carpenters,..hire tilers, painters and carpenters not builders who 'ave a go'
There was no sugestion of that..the builder probably charged top dollar because he didnt know what he was doing of and allowed to take longer than a real tradesman.
Spilt silk?
[/quote]
The golden rule of not paying up front for anything more than materials on a small job such as this has clearly been ignored.
The warning signs were there early on and should have been picked up on, wrong tools etc.
Ask the guy to come back as you have some issues with the work that has been done, if he won't come back then your recourse of the local small claims court can be brought into play.
Tough lesson learnt methinks.
I have a "mate" who calls himself a tiler and if you put all his tools together they probably wouldn't come to £100.
I class myself as a handyman and I have 2 Rubi manual cutters and a decent electric wet tile cutter, in total my tiling kit would probably add up to £800 plus. I only take on small projects and always point out when larger jobs are offered that a pro tiler would be quicker than me and would probably work out cheaper in the long run. I also know my limitations and avoid taking on jobs beyond my skill level.
I get paid when the job is done, if the client is not happy then I won't get paid. (It hasn't happened yet)
My "mate" can't understand why I won't lend him my tilecutters
The warning signs were there early on and should have been picked up on, wrong tools etc.
Ask the guy to come back as you have some issues with the work that has been done, if he won't come back then your recourse of the local small claims court can be brought into play.
Tough lesson learnt methinks.
I have a "mate" who calls himself a tiler and if you put all his tools together they probably wouldn't come to £100.
I class myself as a handyman and I have 2 Rubi manual cutters and a decent electric wet tile cutter, in total my tiling kit would probably add up to £800 plus. I only take on small projects and always point out when larger jobs are offered that a pro tiler would be quicker than me and would probably work out cheaper in the long run. I also know my limitations and avoid taking on jobs beyond my skill level.
I get paid when the job is done, if the client is not happy then I won't get paid. (It hasn't happened yet)
My "mate" can't understand why I won't lend him my tilecutters
have you tried asking him?
the usual route is to make clear that you are not happy with his work and then give him chance to either personally rectify or for him to pay somebody to rectify his work.
failing this, you can follow the legal route, i.e. direct to small claims court or inform the builder that you intend having the work rectified and that he the dodgy builder shall foot the bill.
it is back to small claims though if he does not agree to pay.
you could also go down the other route.
He looks like he works out the left side of his body 3 times a week, and his right side 1 time a week
saying that, would mess with him though!