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Advice from fellow landlords - rogue trader

Started by zorz, July 08, 2019, 08:41:07 AM

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zorz

Good Morning

I would like advice from fellow landlords who have possibly been in a similar situation to myself.

In May 2019, I decided for my property (recently vacated and seeking new tenants) to have several improvements (so that I could raise the rent slightly) and repairs (to meet regulatory requirements) so arranged for an "electrician/handyman" (I will refer to him as "John Smith") to review the property (in person) then prepare an estimate. The estimate was satisfactory and "John Smith" asked for 50% (£250) in order to purchase the necessary materials which - as I had used him before - felt was fair. Roll on a month from the estimate and the payment of the "deposit", the work had still not been started and - eventually - over a series of text and WhatsApp messages, "John Smith" admitted that he would have no time to do the work due to unforeseen circumstances. Whilst I was disappointed, we can all be affected by unforeseen circumstances that impact our job, so I asked for the £250 to be refunded.

This is where the fiasco started.

I had excuse after excuse as to why he could not refund the money. Again, after yet more WhatsApp messages, "John Smith" told me that he had already purchased the materials (after initially telling me he hadn't). Again, I thought that this kind of thing happens and asked for him to contact his suppliers, arrange returns then refund me. He went silent. I chased again and - after several days - "John Smith" said that he hadn't had the time to arrange returns. I then asked him for a list of the items together with proof of purchase (did he really spend the £250?) so I could perhaps arrange collection and re-sale once they were in my possession. "John Smith" made further excuses and eventually started talking about supplier/client confidentiality as the reason he couldn't supply a proof of purchase. I could not see how me knowing who his suppliers were could affect anything but I reluctantly accepted this and again requested for a straight-forward itemised list without proof of purchase. More silence.

Note that this is not a list of items spanning several pages and - I'm guessing - would take 2 hours tops to copy-paste from receipts/emails/invoices. Not much to ask.

The back-and-forth continued along the same lines with similar excuses for a further month with no progress. I did find a buyer (to whom I supplied a copy of the estimate) who would purchase all the items but - understandably - he himself asked for proof of purchase so that he could be certain that the items he was purchasing were as-new and not obtained fraudulently. I explained this to "John Smith" who repeated the aforementioned "supplier/client confidentiality" excuse (?) and refused to cooperate. I again asked for just an itemised list so that I (and the potentially) buyer could research and do our own assessment of value using information from the internet. Yet more silence and no list.

Now approaching two months, "John Smith" has started talking about charging me for storage of the items (!) which have somehow made their way from Swansea to a house in Llanelli. Obviously I felt this was not acceptable as I had actively been chasing with no cooperation his side. "John Smith" next said that a colleague of his could drop off the items at my property (I do not live anywhere near it) if someone was there to collect them. I (again) asked for a list so that the person (the letting manager) whom his colleague was to meet at my property could check off what he received. No list was supplied (no surprise) so I asked for "John Smith" to speak to his colleague and arrange to simply drop off the items and end this all. "John Smith's" colleague allegedly went to the property and claimed no-one was there to meet him. I asked why he (or his colleague) had not called me (he also had the letting managers contact details) to mention this. More excuses and another few days silence.

At this point, I arranged for the potential buyer to collect them on my behalf (I do not drive for medical reasons) and "John Smith" - rather reluctantly in my opinion - eventually revealed half (!) of the Llanelli address and "promised" to reveal the full address once a collection date and time had been agreed. The potential buyer again asked for - at the very least - an itemised list so he knew exactly what he was collecting. He is in a similar trade as "John Smith" and would be able to determine whether or not at a glance whether everything that was being collected was indeed £250 in value and worth paying for.

...and that is where it currently stands - more silence for over a week. The last contact from the "John Smith" (by WhatsApp) was the 28th June 2019. I have - every other day - requested a list but to no avail.

Whilst this has all been going on, I have been unable to let the property (no incoming rent) due to the outstanding repairs to meet regulatory safety requirements. You may ask why I did not just choose another electrician to do the job? I simply do not have the spare cash. Any remaining money (I have decided not to do the improvements) is required to arrange new tenants - cleaning, advertising and the letting manager - but these can't be done until after the regulatory repairs. It is essential that I get the £250 back (or £250 from the sale of the items).

Apologies for the long post and thank you if you have read this far.

- Is this something that I can go to the small claims court over?
- Is it possible to seek compensation?

Any advice of any nature would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

heavykarma

I would be very surprised indeed if you would get any money back.Forgive me,but you have been quite naïve letting him give you the runaround like this.Have you contacted the local Trading Standards office? He may be known to them.What is worrying is that your finances are so tight that you cannot afford to get essential work done.Maybe you should stop this now,and sell up.An empty house cannot earn it's keep.