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speedy
Posts : 35
Join date : 2010-10-01
Age : 42

What would you do? Empty What would you do?

Thu Oct 07, 2010 9:57 pm
Please bare with this, I know it's a bit long but I need help.

I got my drive way concreted over by two cowboy builders (one of them is/was my "mate" who recommended this guy to do it) and they screwed it up by adding a thin layer of concrete, so thin that it could be kicked with your shoe and you would put a hole in it!!

They never dug 4 inches which is apparently the standard, just took away the grass and slapped quick sand/cement mix on it. It can be done this way but it has to be a 3:1 ratio and it was nowhere near that.

I paid for 8 bags of cement, the boss, Richard, said that 7 bags were used.

Anyway, me being disabled and in a wheelchair, my mum and stepdad went round to Richard's house to demand all the money back last Thursday. He was charging £300.

I was given £150 the next day, last Friday.

I've just had proper builders out to correct the problem and it cost me an extra £100 to dig all the rubbish up, bag it and clean my drive, as they also left it in a state. There is dry concrete on my drive that won't come off!

The builders who have corrected the problem claimed that there is no way they used 7 bags of cement...they used about 2 or 3 at the most by his judgement at how thin the concrete was.

My mate has a child and a wife, is living in a 2 bedroom house and is on JSA. He has all his rent paid for him but is always claiming to be in debt with bills.

He took to working with this Richard guy because he wanted more money, cash in hand, as working in an officlal job would boost his rent considerably which he won't be able to afford.

I know I shouldn't be but I'm sympathetic toward his situation, it's this Richard guy that I am mad at the most.

He's "freelance", doing jobs for people that he probably has no business doing.

He's even working on boilers!!!

If they screw up a concrete drive, I dread to think what potential problems they can cause with boilers!

I called my mate tonight and asked him if he will have the rest of the money ready for me this weekend but he claims that they have had no jobs this week and that the woman they were doing jobs for has had a problem with her estate agent (he said about Foxtons, she signed an agreement that she shouldn't have) and now they can't touch the house, legally, or whatever the problem is.

I know how people can be to get out of things and I'm thinking that I won't see the rest of the money.

Mysteriously, I called his house phone and it was just completely silent so am wondering if he blocked me? He said "maybe virgin cut him off" but didn't sound too bothered.

I called his mobile to talk to him.

What would you do in this situation?

I only went ahead with this in the beginning because I've known my mate for, like, 8-10 years and I trusted him!
Lee
Lee
Posts : 123
Join date : 2010-01-19
Location : Cambridge

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Fri Oct 08, 2010 7:23 am
He's not a mate, he's screwed you over to make a few quid. On top of that, he's claiming money I pay in taxes and getting a nice bit of cash in hand on the side, theres a number to ring for these people.
They say lend a mate 20 quid and if you never get it back it was worth it...
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speedy
Posts : 35
Join date : 2010-10-01
Age : 42

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Fri Oct 08, 2010 10:36 am
The thing is, I don't think he was intending to rip me off. I don't think even both of them were (until I found out yesterday that the proper builders said that only 2-3 bags of concrete were used instead of the 8 I paid for but my mate wouldn't know anything about making drives, he was learning from "the boss"), they were fully confident in the job they were doing and my mate was actually angry that maybe I was thinking he'd rip me off and had to tell him that I didn't think that at all, because I really don't.

However, I may call HMRC, both are fiddling but it will be "the boss" that gets done for it.

He's keeping my mate on as an employee dirt cheap so that's another bonus for him.

The hillarious thing is that my mate wants to work in the police force and had applied for a position and got turned down but is currently appealing.

So why he would take risks like this is quite beyond belief, really.




HALLOWEENKNIGHTS
HALLOWEENKNIGHTS
Posts : 220
Join date : 2010-01-27
Age : 83
Location : Buckinghamshire
http://halloweenknights.weebly.com/

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Fri Oct 08, 2010 3:29 pm
have you thought of contacting cowboy buiolders to expose him??

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chrisw
Posts : 15
Join date : 2010-10-08
Age : 43
Location : Loughborough
http://www.tunamotorsport.com

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Sat Oct 09, 2010 12:39 pm
speedy wrote: my mate was actually angry that maybe I was thinking he'd rip me off

Anger is normally a defensive tool pal, if i ask someone if they did something and they angrily deny it then 9/10 times it usually means they did. If they reply with a shocked demeanour then they're usually innocent.
Not saying he definitely ripped u off on purpose, just my experiences of bad liars.

cheers chris
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speedy
Posts : 35
Join date : 2010-10-01
Age : 42

What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

Sat Oct 09, 2010 1:34 pm
Well, he contacted me yesterday saying they have had no work so he can't pay me back yet so at least he's doing the right thing there.

Just a matter of waiting and seeing.

If I don't get it, I'll call the cash a loss and phone HMRC and get them done for tax evasion.

Simples.

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What would you do? Empty Re: What would you do?

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