Drive getting redone bloke not turned up
Discussion
This sounds like the work a utility company would do
http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/g/gasmanco.html
It was on the Monday morning when the gas-man came to call
http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/g/gasmanco.html
It was on the Monday morning when the gas-man came to call
Further update. Blocks arrived this morning/sand. Bloke said he cant drop off till he is paid, i phoned drive chap up and said i thought ud already paid for them, he said no the money you gave me was for digger hire etc. He has asked me to pay the £1458.00 and he will give it me tomorrow as he was driving to Manchester and couldnt do it. Anway I told him no, so driver got sent away. He said he will sort it tomorrow. I dont hold much hope.
So the other week when he said he had paid for them was a lie.
Ive spoken to a friend of a friend who does landscaping and he said if need be he would help me finish it off.
Some bloke walking his dog asked me who was doing my drive and could i recommend them!
So the other week when he said he had paid for them was a lie.
Ive spoken to a friend of a friend who does landscaping and he said if need be he would help me finish it off.
Some bloke walking his dog asked me who was doing my drive and could i recommend them!
wjwren said:
Further update. Blocks arrived this morning/sand. Bloke said he cant drop off till he is paid, i phoned drive chap up and said i thought ud already paid for them, he said no the money you gave me was for digger hire etc. He has asked me to pay the £1458.00 and he will give it me tomorrow as he was driving to Manchester and couldnt do it. Anway I told him no, so driver got sent away. He said he will sort it tomorrow. I dont hold much hope.
So the other week when he said he had paid for them was a lie.
Ive spoken to a friend of a friend who does landscaping and he said if need be he would help me finish it off.
Some bloke walking his dog asked me who was doing my drive and could i recommend them!
People told you so!!!So the other week when he said he had paid for them was a lie.
Ive spoken to a friend of a friend who does landscaping and he said if need be he would help me finish it off.
Some bloke walking his dog asked me who was doing my drive and could i recommend them!
Hindsight is great, deposits etc should have at least be written down what they are for.
Good money after bad- I wouldn't give another penny until it's finished. So he says the deposit was for the blocks and instead of saying forgot (you wouldn't forget having £1200 in your hands) he makes up a line and asks you to pay out even more?
If he becomes arsy and passively and passively threatening I'd firm with him but NOT rude. Remind him of the delays etc and if there is a threat it'll be a Police matter.
If he becomes arsy and passively and passively threatening I'd firm with him but NOT rude. Remind him of the delays etc and if there is a threat it'll be a Police matter.
wjwren said:
Further update. Blocks arrived this morning/sand. Bloke said he cant drop off till he is paid, i phoned drive chap up and said i thought ud already paid for them, he said no the money you gave me was for digger hire etc. He has asked me to pay the £1458.00 and he will give it me tomorrow as he was driving to Manchester and couldnt do it.
Diggers only cost £60-90 per day...I think it's gone belly up now. He lies then forgets what he has said. He said to me the other week I've bought your blocks and can show you the invoice. So talking utter b
ks. I text him earlier asking are the blocks coming today as you said you sort it yesterday. Now I get this text..
No I have to much money outstanding on other jobs to pay for them at the minute just remember I'm only a one man band and I charge a lot less than any other block paving company Like I said yesterday yes you paid £1200 take off £450 sat morning for grab and stone £300 hire charge for digger and then two lads money which I have to pay on a daily basic there's about £150 left in your job I will probably make about £300 after drop kerb which isn't a lot at all but that's the price I gave you and I go by my word your mate can tell you I'm not in to ripping people off and I stick to my word I get the job done now I asked u to pay for that yesterday and you said you didn't have that much in your account which then makes me think hold on I can finish your drive and kerb in two days what if you haven't got it when I've finished I've had to pay a £50 pound penalty at builders yard for that which I'm a bit pissed off about because now I have to pay cash before I can have a delivery so you can ether transfer me the money and I can get blocks there for Friday morning to be all finished Saturday afternoon or wait until I've collected cash in of other jobs because you ask Simon if I asked for money it was there and he trusted me with a lot more than what yours is worth its your call mate
ks. I text him earlier asking are the blocks coming today as you said you sort it yesterday. Now I get this text..No I have to much money outstanding on other jobs to pay for them at the minute just remember I'm only a one man band and I charge a lot less than any other block paving company Like I said yesterday yes you paid £1200 take off £450 sat morning for grab and stone £300 hire charge for digger and then two lads money which I have to pay on a daily basic there's about £150 left in your job I will probably make about £300 after drop kerb which isn't a lot at all but that's the price I gave you and I go by my word your mate can tell you I'm not in to ripping people off and I stick to my word I get the job done now I asked u to pay for that yesterday and you said you didn't have that much in your account which then makes me think hold on I can finish your drive and kerb in two days what if you haven't got it when I've finished I've had to pay a £50 pound penalty at builders yard for that which I'm a bit pissed off about because now I have to pay cash before I can have a delivery so you can ether transfer me the money and I can get blocks there for Friday morning to be all finished Saturday afternoon or wait until I've collected cash in of other jobs because you ask Simon if I asked for money it was there and he trusted me with a lot more than what yours is worth its your call mate
Vaud said:
Sadly he is the definition of a trader that gives others a bad name.
The only thing OP has done wrong is to tell the builder he's not got the cash. Better to keep the facts true and just tell him you are not someone who pays up-front for this type of stuff.Now that the builder thinks you may not be able to pay, he'll use that as a reason to expect you to!
It is still possible that the builder is OK (especially as OP's friend has used him) but there is zero trust on both sides now and that's a recipe for failure.
wjwren said:
I think it's gone belly up now. He lies then forgets what he has said. He said to me the other week I've bought your blocks and can show you the invoice. So talking utter bks. I text him earlier asking are the blocks coming today as you said you sort it yesterday. Now I get this text..
No I have to much money outstanding on other jobs to pay for them at the minute just remember I'm only a one man band and I charge a lot less than any other block paving company Like I said yesterday yes you paid £1200 take off £450 sat morning for grab and stone £300 hire charge for digger and then two lads money which I have to pay on a daily basic there's about £150 left in your job I will probably make about £300 after drop kerb which isn't a lot at all but that's the price I gave you and I go by my word your mate can tell you I'm not in to ripping people off and I stick to my word I get the job done now I asked u to pay for that yesterday and you said you didn't have that much in your account which then makes me think hold on I can finish your drive and kerb in two days what if you haven't got it when I've finished I've had to pay a £50 pound penalty at builders yard for that which I'm a bit pissed off about because now I have to pay cash before I can have a delivery so you can ether transfer me the money and I can get blocks there for Friday morning to be all finished Saturday afternoon or wait until I've collected cash in of other jobs because you ask Simon if I asked for money it was there and he trusted me with a lot more than what yours is worth its your call mate
Taking him on face value he may well have short term cash flow issues. ks. I text him earlier asking are the blocks coming today as you said you sort it yesterday. Now I get this text..No I have to much money outstanding on other jobs to pay for them at the minute just remember I'm only a one man band and I charge a lot less than any other block paving company Like I said yesterday yes you paid £1200 take off £450 sat morning for grab and stone £300 hire charge for digger and then two lads money which I have to pay on a daily basic there's about £150 left in your job I will probably make about £300 after drop kerb which isn't a lot at all but that's the price I gave you and I go by my word your mate can tell you I'm not in to ripping people off and I stick to my word I get the job done now I asked u to pay for that yesterday and you said you didn't have that much in your account which then makes me think hold on I can finish your drive and kerb in two days what if you haven't got it when I've finished I've had to pay a £50 pound penalty at builders yard for that which I'm a bit pissed off about because now I have to pay cash before I can have a delivery so you can ether transfer me the money and I can get blocks there for Friday morning to be all finished Saturday afternoon or wait until I've collected cash in of other jobs because you ask Simon if I asked for money it was there and he trusted me with a lot more than what yours is worth its your call mate
Did you tell him you didn't have enough money or did you tell him you aren't paying as that's what the deposit was for?
Doesn't really matter anyway - seems like the mutual trust for the work to be completed (and paid for) is gone on both sides of the table.
xjay1337 said:
Taking him on face value he may well have short term cash flow issues.
Did you tell him you didn't have enough money or did you tell him you aren't paying as that's what the deposit was for?
Doesn't really matter anyway - seems like the mutual trust for the work to be completed (and paid for) is gone on both sides of the table.
Poor communication skills by the trader (not particularly surprising) as I have already said, and loads of people on here winding up the customer with his own help.Did you tell him you didn't have enough money or did you tell him you aren't paying as that's what the deposit was for?
Doesn't really matter anyway - seems like the mutual trust for the work to be completed (and paid for) is gone on both sides of the table.
End result....it goes pear-shaped.
Its nob heads like these i have to compete with and it drives me insane. un professional, un organised, lies about stuff, straight away thats bks the grab was 480 unless he had 2 which it doesn't look like. Who pays labour out daily? £300 on stone might be true though.
How much was this job? I'm guessing about 3k?
Constantly competing with people who charge themselves out at less than they would get if they got a proper job, total recipe for disaster, they don't grasp that you need to earn a profit in order to be able to bank roll your business, it takes a long while of being careful before it doesn't matter when you get paid iykwim.
ks the grab was 480 unless he had 2 which it doesn't look like. Who pays labour out daily? £300 on stone might be true though. How much was this job? I'm guessing about 3k?
Constantly competing with people who charge themselves out at less than they would get if they got a proper job, total recipe for disaster, they don't grasp that you need to earn a profit in order to be able to bank roll your business, it takes a long while of being careful before it doesn't matter when you get paid iykwim.
To the OP...
...on page 2 of this thread I gave a reply which can basically be summarised as:
1. The tradesman is lying to you.
2. Get your money back.
3. His business has financial issues.
Several other PHers also warned you to get your money back.
You didn't listen - that was your choice. He's now started the job which complicates things somewhat and it's STILL not going to plan with this man.
Here's my advice now - get a contract written up (can even be written on some bog roll), make sure it's legible, make sure it has details of the job to be done, what has already been done, how much is left to be paid, how much has already been paid and when the job is to be completed by. Make sure both your signatures are on there.
Failing that, get someone like m3jappa to finish the work - he actually seems to know how a business like this should be operated.
Good luck.
...on page 2 of this thread I gave a reply which can basically be summarised as:
1. The tradesman is lying to you.
2. Get your money back.
3. His business has financial issues.
Several other PHers also warned you to get your money back.
You didn't listen - that was your choice. He's now started the job which complicates things somewhat and it's STILL not going to plan with this man.
Here's my advice now - get a contract written up (can even be written on some bog roll), make sure it's legible, make sure it has details of the job to be done, what has already been done, how much is left to be paid, how much has already been paid and when the job is to be completed by. Make sure both your signatures are on there.
Failing that, get someone like m3jappa to finish the work - he actually seems to know how a business like this should be operated.
Good luck.
The Surveyor said:
Strange, why would he order blocks for the drive if he's no intention of laying them?
OP, when you spoke to him about the blocks arriving and needing payment, did he say anything about when he's going to lay them?
He sounds more disorganised than dishonest.
He ordered them but hadnt paid and as he was out the area was hoping full well that I had paid as he hasnt got an account at the builders merchants.OP, when you spoke to him about the blocks arriving and needing payment, did he say anything about when he's going to lay them?
He sounds more disorganised than dishonest.
Cheap job at that price and even if he completes it, looking at how much has been dug out on the right hand side, there's likely insufficient sub base and it will look like a ploughed field in 12 months time. But that's how to keep the price down.
Cut your losses and find a professional to do the job.
Cut your losses and find a professional to do the job.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff