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Posted by Thurston Howell on August 23, 2005, 11:37 am
Was the builder, by chance, wearing a hat, big belt buckle and chaps?
> Hi,
>
> A friend of mine hired builders who were working for another friend of
> his but this friend of mine did not satisfy himself with the quality of
> work they are doing and hired them to build a porch and fit kitchen just
> on hearsay. He gave the builders £8000 advance and sent these builders
> to me to build my porch and toilet.
>
> I also did not see what they have done at my friend's place and thinking
> that they are reliable and good builders gave them the advance of £3500
> against a contract worth £6500.
>
> Then these builders did not appear to be reliable and after digging the
> foundation of my friend's porch, they left the muck lying around with no
> skip to take it away.
>
> After the builders left my friend in lurch, then he was worried as to be
> the genuineness of the builders. My friend visited the Builder's address
> in Gloucester to talk to the builders why they are delaying his project?
> Then, the builders brought in some blocks and material for him and that
> was it.
>
> These builders have put two others known to my friend in the same
> situation and they have paid the builders sums of £40,000 each.
>
> Hearing all these stories, I became suspicious of the builders and when
> they sent a team of three on Saturday, 6th August to dig my foundation
> without any skip to put the dug out material, I told the workers that I
> do not want a mess in front of my house and they should bring the
> construction material and the skip before starting the job as the
> advance was paid against the materials, skip, etc.
>
> They promised to bring in material last Monday/Tuesday 15/16 August but
> nothing so far and they promised to finish my job within 5 weeks of 27
> July.
>
> Now, the builders have disconnected their telephone line that used to
> have a fax as well and there is no way we can contact them and it seems
> the address is of a rented house. Mobile phones are not answered. I
> sent them a Special Delivery Letter on 04 August, 05 demanding my money
> back but no reply or telephone call.
>
> Now, the facts of the case in a nutshell are:-
>
> The Company is a sole trader and is owned by a person who never visits
> the sites or signs the contracts but sends workers. The persons
> representing his company do not have any business cards that they are
> authorised to sign the contracts and these two representatives are
> taking money in the name of a private person who claims to be an
> employee of the company. The signatures of the person signing the
> contract are also dubious. For example, our cheque was taken in his
> name on 27 July and presented the very day to be cashed next day from my
> Abbey National Bank. I did contact this person on his mobile and asked
> him when would he bring the materials but he made false promises and
> refused to give his private address saying that he is just an employee
> of the company/sole trader.
>
> To me the whole thing is a scam and I would like your advise what course
> of action should I take to recover my money please? How could I find
> the private address of this private person to sue him for the money
> please? I have written to the Police of Gloucester but so far I have
> not heard from them.
>
> This Builder has done no work at my place but in the other cases, he
> just dug his teeth in to argue his case. Total money involved is around
> £91,500. The other three being in a deeper waters rang some solicitors
> in Gloucester for assistance but they claim to be already acting for
> this Builder.
>
> Trading Standards Officer of Gloucester has been informed for assistance
> but he says, we should forget about recovering our money. The employees
> of the Builder who have collected the money already stress that they
> have not committed any crime and Police cannot touch them.
>
> Rajinder Nijjhar
>
>
>
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