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Builders have walked off the job
Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 4:48 am
by Blue Mermaid
Starting a new thread (hope that's ok), because the other one had so many pages to it.
The builders have walked off the job. So, we are now in the position of having to find someone else to finish it and there's still quite a lot to do.
After all the stress and problems they caused us over the last few months, they've now left us to it. I'm so angry, depressed, hurt, upset. You name it, I feel it!
In their opinion, from what I can gather from the conversation my mum had on the phone with them yesterday, (which started for the first time to get a bit heated), they think we were expecting them to work for free now and that's why they've walked, refusing to do that.
My dad gave them £3000 of the £3,500 outstanding when they were here about a week ago but again, in their opinion that was for work they did for us weeks ago.
I dread to think what they would have charged us on top if we'd paid them to finish the job. We've already paid them £11,000!
They didn't even have the decency to phone when they didn't turn up and we're assuming they've walked off the job now. I know they have. I tried to call them on their mobile and they rejected the call. When I tried several times afterwards, they'd switched it off.
How can they treat a frail and elderly couple the way they have. They should be ashamed of themselves. I'm sure they think we were trying to rip them off though, rather than the other way around!
What a nightmare.
Re: Builders have walked off the job
Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 8:39 am
by northwales4u
have you been in touch with Trading Standards?
Re: Builders have walked off the job
Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 9:54 am
by marc1106
blue i told you in a previous post in the last thread that you need to get a proffesional mediator in to get both sides of the story, i fear that if at this stage you get another builder in you will pay a premium just for them to A finish the project, B put right was has been done incorrectly!
i do feel for you and your family and i do many jobs through the year where previous tradesmen "havent got it right" and it does annoy me, and having spoken to many of them they feel that they just couldnt please the clients! (thats not a comment on your parents as i dont know the full story) i can only point you back to get a third party in to iron out the differences and see if a way forward can be found, somtimes its easier for the third party to be more objective to acheive the goals of both groups!
hope this helps and good luck!
Re: Builders have walked off the job
Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 6:41 pm
by Blue Mermaid
Thanks to both of you for your replies.
I contacted Consumer Direct a few weeks back when everything started to go wrong, to find out whether it was Wickes responsibility or the builders'. They advised me to send a Recorded Delivery letter to both Wickes and the builders, quoting the 1982 Goods and Services Act and asking both of them if they took responsibility for the mistakes. If they said no or just didn't reply, they said Trading Standards would take it further.
I didn't go down that route at the time but started the complaints procedure with Wickes instead. I felt at that time that it was all down to them.
It would be difficult to go down that route now as we have no address for the builders. Only a business card and I've looked for their company online and there's a lot of companys with similar names. Found one which might be them but can't be sure. Phone number not recognised when I've tried calling it.
Even if Trading Standards got involved, I think it would end up with us having to take the builders to court in order to try and get some compensation. I know my parents won't want the stress of that, let alone pay out for a court case.
Marc, a professional mediator would cost a lot of money and my dad isn't made of it (not that I'd know where to find a professional mediator). He's already paid out over £16,000 on the whole job. The builders aren't answering the phone, (tried again today), so we can't get hold of them anyway to start mediation. My dad wouldn't go for the idea anyway. He just wants the job finished and the house cleared up. Both my parents are unwell and he has an op to cope with on 20th December.
There's only one thing for sure in all this and that is that we are the innocent party. The builders were on the home run now and could have finished the job with 2 days work. They've decided not to see it through because they have the £3000 from the last bill. £11,000 for fitting a kitchen, which as many of you have said here they fitted like amateurs. They really are having a laugh at our expense. That was a big mistake on my dad's part paying that last bill and only keeping back £500. He shouldn't have paid that last bill until completion.
Re: Builders have walked off the job
Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 8:37 pm
by marc1106
http://www.ccgroup.org.uk/conciliators.html just in case you decide to actually go and get em! oh and theyll answer the phone if they dont think its you!
so call from someone elses
Re: Builders have walked off the job
Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:30 pm
by lockie
Blue Mermaid wrote:Thanks to both of you for your replies.
I contacted Consumer Direct a few weeks back when everything started to go wrong, to find out whether it was Wickes responsibility or the builders'. They advised me to send a Recorded Delivery letter to both Wickes and the builders, quoting the 1982 Goods and Services Act and asking both of them if they took responsibility for the mistakes. If they said no or just didn't reply, they said Trading Standards would take it further.
I didn't go down that route at the time but started the complaints procedure with Wickes instead. I felt at that time that it was all down to them.
It would be difficult to go down that route now as we have no address for the builders. Only a business card and I've looked for their company online and there's a lot of companys with similar names. Found one which might be them but can't be sure. Phone number not recognised when I've tried calling it.
Even if Trading Standards got involved, I think it would end up with us having to take the builders to court in order to try and get some compensation. I know my parents won't want the stress of that, let alone pay out for a court case.
Marc, a professional mediator would cost a lot of money and my dad isn't made of it (not that I'd know where to find a professional mediator). He's already paid out over £16,000 on the whole job. The builders aren't answering the phone, (tried again today), so we can't get hold of them anyway to start mediation. My dad wouldn't go for the idea anyway. He just wants the job finished and the house cleared up. Both my parents are unwell and he has an op to cope with on 20th December.
There's only one thing for sure in all this and that is that we are the innocent party. The builders were on the home run now and could have finished the job with 2 days work. They've decided not to see it through because they have the £3000 from the last bill. £11,000 for fitting a kitchen, which as many of you have said here they fitted like amateurs. They really are having a laugh at our expense. That was a big mistake on my dad's part paying that last bill and only keeping back £500. He shouldn't have paid that last bill until completion.
Why on earth did you contact consumer direct then ignore the advice they gave ? What was the point in calling them ?
Who employed the builders was it yourself or wickes ? If it was wickes then the contract is with wickes and they are the ones you should be sorting it out with.Did you have any form of written contract with payments upon completition of work etc ?
Re: Builders have walked off the job
Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:35 pm
by wine~o
lockie wrote:Blue Mermaid wrote:Thanks to both of you for your replies.
I contacted Consumer Direct a few weeks back when everything started to go wrong, to find out whether it was Wickes responsibility or the builders'. They advised me to send a Recorded Delivery letter to both Wickes and the builders, quoting the 1982 Goods and Services Act and asking both of them if they took responsibility for the mistakes. If they said no or just didn't reply, they said Trading Standards would take it further.
I didn't go down that route at the time but started the complaints procedure with Wickes instead. I felt at that time that it was all down to them.
It would be difficult to go down that route now as we have no address for the builders. Only a business card and I've looked for their company online and there's a lot of companys with similar names. Found one which might be them but can't be sure. Phone number not recognised when I've tried calling it.
LOCKIE....have you read these 11 pages......
Even if Trading Standards got involved, I think it would end up with us having to take the builders to court in order to try and get some compensation. I know my parents won't want the stress of that, let alone pay out for a court case.
Marc, a professional mediator would cost a lot of money and my dad isn't made of it (not that I'd know where to find a professional mediator). He's already paid out over £16,000 on the whole job. The builders aren't answering the phone, (tried again today), so we can't get hold of them anyway to start mediation. My dad wouldn't go for the idea anyway. He just wants the job finished and the house cleared up. Both my parents are unwell and he has an op to cope with on 20th December.
There's only one thing for sure in all this and that is that we are the innocent party. The builders were on the home run now and could have finished the job with 2 days work. They've decided not to see it through because they have the £3000 from the last bill. £11,000 for fitting a kitchen, which as many of you have said here they fitted like amateurs. They really are having a laugh at our expense. That was a big mistake on my dad's part paying that last bill and only keeping back £500. He shouldn't have paid that last bill until completion.
Why on earth did you contact consumer direct then ignore the advice they gave ? What was the point in calling them ?
Who employed the builders was it yourself or wickes ? If it was wickes then the contract is with wickes and they are the ones you should be sorting it out with.Did you have any form of written contract with payments upon completition of work etc ?
Re: Builders have walked off the job
Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:48 pm
by Blue Mermaid
Thanks for the link Marc. Already tried phoning from someone elses phone and still got voicemail.
It was CAB who advised I phoned Consumer Direct, when I asked if their legal department would be able to tell me if they knew whose responsibility the problems were, as Wickes and the builders were both blaming eachother. Consumer Direct couldn't tell me that either but gave me the advice I told you about in my previous post. I didn't take it at the time, as I fel the designer at Wickes was to blame. Therefore, I wanted to start a complaints procedure with Wickes about the designer, before I did anything else.
We employed the builders. It would have been a lot more straight forward if Wickes had.
No written contract. In hindsight we were very naive but unfortunately we were desperate at the time to sort out the kitchen, which was in an awful state. Mouldy, damp and infested with thousands of drain flies (all caused by the builder who built the extension over 20 years ago and made the drain inside, instead of outside in the garden! Had no idea until we had a blocked drain this summer).
We had a very professional pest controller kill the drain flies and he told us about the builders. They did a great job of sealing up the drain and building one outside. We trusted them when they said they could refit the kitchen for us too.
Re: Builders have walked off the job
Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:56 pm
by Blue Mermaid
PS The kitchen was rotting and mouldy because the drain inside had obviously been backing up into the kitchen for some time. Dyno Rod then cleared a blockage by jetting the manhole outside in the garden, which then caused a flood in the kitchen. We didn't know the kitchen was rotting and mouldy, as it was all happening behind the cupboards (the drain was under the sink cupboards). The first sign of trouble was the sink making awful glugging noises and the toilet water coming right up when flushed. Then we started noticing the drain flies in the kitchen. Just a few at first but they soon increased in numbers. It was horrific how quickly they multiplied. Laid thousands of eggs behind the cupboards. Disgusting! That was the worst part of all of this for me. I couldn't eat because they were everywhere.
Re: Builders have walked off the job
Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 9:01 pm
by Blue Mermaid
Before you ask how we didn't know the builder 20 years ago made a drain in the kitchen (was actually just a hole in the ground, not even covered!), my mum and I went to stay in a cottage in Oxfordshire while the extension was being built, as I was very ill at the time. My father stayed behind and was out at work all day. The builder must have managed to conceal what he had done from my dad, as he had no idea either.
Re: Builders have walked off the job
Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 10:54 pm
by lockie
Ok i see you are pretty hostile with anything i write so i shall tread carefully, how do you know legal action will be expensive, have you actually looked into it ? The sale of goods and services act is what you need to look into and also contact your local trading standards. If you feel you have been mislead then you can use the consumer protection regulations
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/draft/ ... 11574_en_1 which are quite clear on mis selling.
Re: Builders have walked off the job
Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2010 12:41 am
by Blue Mermaid
Thanks Lockie. I will have a look at that.