Need advice on deposit to carpenter..please

Hi, we need some work done. So I rang 2 carpenters to come and give us quotes. Both were around the same price. So, we went with one of them because he seemed to offer more advice on the best way to do the work. He told us that because he had to buy alot of wood that he would want a deposit. The job is costing 850euro and we gave him 300euro. He signed a piece of paper for us to say he had gotten 300e. We haven't seen him since. We call and leave a message every day for the past 2 weeks. Any advice on what we should do now? thanks....

Sorry for your troubles.

Did the piece of paper suggest any of the following:

Business registration details.
Business address or landline numbers
VAT number
When he would start the project
When he would finish the project
What the project entails

If you have none of this information and have only a name and a mobile number, I suspect your money is gone and you will have no way of finding where he lives in order to get the small claims court involved.

Sorry.

This is a form of theft. When leaving the next message on his phone let him know that if you don't hear back you will be reporting him to the gardai and do report it.

I would call him from a different phone number just to see if he answers.

How did you get his number initially, do you have a fixed number/address for him did anyone recommend him

niceoneted said:

This is a form of theft. When leaving the next message on his phone let him know that if you don't hear back you will be reporting him to the gardai and do report it.

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+ 1

I'd also be looking for my money back as you couldn't have confidence in this person.

I would get a friend to ring this guy from a different number asking him to quote them for a big job..something that would be real attractive to him, maybe laying solid wood floors in a 4000sqf house, get them to arrange an appointment...and you be there waiting at the appointment to confront him.

alternatively if you're not into the whole cloak & dagger approach then i'd ring the gardai and report him.

Just be thankful it's not the ten grand in cash someone I met gave to a guy who vanished.

bamboozle said:

I would get a friend to ring this guy from a different number asking him to quote them for a big job..something that would be real attractive to him, maybe laying solid wood floors in a 4000sqf house, get them to arrange an appointment...and you be there waiting at the appointment to confront him..

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Good idea. Make sure you get his van reg number when he parks; better again, let him see you write it down.

At this stage, you might be uncomfortable with him starting and completing the job so ask for refund.

Also, don't forget JOE DUFFY. I have often suggested on this website to threaten ringing Joe Duffy radio show. That generally scares the sh!te out of people. I have used it a twice with success event hough I don't listen to his show.

Thanks to all of your replies. Unfortunately, as sconhome had suggested, I should have written down, all the details as to when he was starting, VAT number etc...but no, I thought I was being clever (obviously Not) by getting him to sign a piece of paper that just said how much the job was and deposit amount paid and dated. I have called him every day and 2 days ago as another poster suggested I left a message on his phone telling him that if I didn't hear from him I was taking legal action. I also sent the messge by text, so I had a record of it. All of a sudden, mentioning legal action, I got a text message from him, apologising for not answering my messages and that he would send back the 300euro deposit by postal order. Well lets see if that happens! I can't believe there are people like this out there....thanks for all your advice...I will definitely be contacting the well known DIY store to let them know, they are issuing business cards for people like him....and the guards...thanks again..I'll keep you posted on any updated...hopefully there will be a good end to this saga....