M
molly39
Guest
Unfortunately my retired parents seem to have had the wool pulled over their eyes by a cowboy builder and I'm looking for ways to limit damage. Fella knocked on their door a couple of weeks back and offered to clean their fascia boards for €250, they agreed he started the work and then told them there some loose tiles but he'd fix them for another €200.
Again they agreed, he did some work but didn't finish it and said he'd be back next day, my mother was on her own at this stage and paid him the full €450. They didn't hear from him ( he'd left fascia in a mess and only done half of it) and called him a week later.
He came back and told them their tile ridges were cracked but he'd fix them for €500 , incredibly I know, they agreed and paid him that money too, only realising at the end that he hadn't finished. He said he'd be back Monday (today) and sent two of his guys who started on the rest of the work and then called my Dad to tell him there was another hole in the roof that they could fix with a tube, no price was mentioned and he agreed again !! (He's not a feeble old man by the way, but has been incredibly foolish in this instance in my view). They came in at end of day, still not having finished original work and tried to get him to pay €1200, which he refused to do and demanded to speak to the original fella. This chap will be round in the morning, and I and my husband are going to be there too, along with a friend of ours who is a builder to give us an estimate as to what work has been done, quality and value.
So, if it looks as if the work is genuine and done to standard , I'll tell my parents to pay it and just be more careful in future . BUT if the work is substandard and not worth the money quoted.. where do we go from here ? Can we refuse to pay for work done ? I can't find any reference to a regulatory body for such tradesmen or a Trading Standards body. Are they likely to come back and terrorise my parents when we're not there ? Anyone had any experience with this sort of thing?
Again they agreed, he did some work but didn't finish it and said he'd be back next day, my mother was on her own at this stage and paid him the full €450. They didn't hear from him ( he'd left fascia in a mess and only done half of it) and called him a week later.
He came back and told them their tile ridges were cracked but he'd fix them for €500 , incredibly I know, they agreed and paid him that money too, only realising at the end that he hadn't finished. He said he'd be back Monday (today) and sent two of his guys who started on the rest of the work and then called my Dad to tell him there was another hole in the roof that they could fix with a tube, no price was mentioned and he agreed again !! (He's not a feeble old man by the way, but has been incredibly foolish in this instance in my view). They came in at end of day, still not having finished original work and tried to get him to pay €1200, which he refused to do and demanded to speak to the original fella. This chap will be round in the morning, and I and my husband are going to be there too, along with a friend of ours who is a builder to give us an estimate as to what work has been done, quality and value.
So, if it looks as if the work is genuine and done to standard , I'll tell my parents to pay it and just be more careful in future . BUT if the work is substandard and not worth the money quoted.. where do we go from here ? Can we refuse to pay for work done ? I can't find any reference to a regulatory body for such tradesmen or a Trading Standards body. Are they likely to come back and terrorise my parents when we're not there ? Anyone had any experience with this sort of thing?
