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Reporting An Unreliable Tradesman

By: Tracy Whitelaw - Updated: 24 Mar 2020 | comments*Discuss
 
Reporting An Unreliable Tradesman

It can be financially and emotional crippling when you realise that your hard-earned cash has been wasted on a rogue tradesman. As the number of 'have-a-go' tradesmen continue to rise in the UK, there are a number of reliable firms popping up that offer advice and help on choosing a reputable tradesman when you need work conducted on your home. If you're unfortunate enough to be one of the people who do end up involved with a rogue trader though, you need to know where to report your grievances in order to ensure nobody else is conned by them.

Talk to the Tradesman First

If things go wrong when you're having work carried out by a tradesman, the first step to try and resolve any issues is to speak to the tradesman. Always give them the chance to put it right and make any complaints known to them initially. Many tradesmen will take this opportunity to try and rectify the situation, as they won't want their reputation being harmed. If you feel that the tradesman isn't listening to your concerns, put them down in writing and give him a deadline. Send the complaint letter to the tradesman's head office, assuming there is one, but remember to always keep a copy of what you sent and when. If you find that there's no resolution through this means, the next step is to report your tradesman.

Citizen's Advice Bureau and Trading Standards

One of the most common places to report an unreliable tradesman is at your local Citizen's Advice Bureau. They will be able to give you advice on your legal status with regards to the work and also whether you may be able to make a claim against your tradesman. They may also be able to offer you some kind of conflict resolution or mediation, so they're definitely worth visiting and can give you advice for free on most occasions. Another possibility is to report your tradesman to Trading Standards. Trading Standards are specifically interested in protecting the rights of consumers against businesses and in ensuring that businesses are within the law and delivering what they promise. You can contact your local branch of Trading Standards and they will give you advice on the next step regarding your unreliable tradesman. They can often provide you with contact details for trade associations or advise on what the best course of action is for you to resolve your dispute with your tradesman. They may even investigate it themselves and keep you updated on the situation.

Reporting to a Trade Association

If your unreliable tradesman is part of a trade association, then you should be covered by their code of conduct. If speaking directly to the tradesman doesn't work, contact their governing body and ask for advice. They will want to uphold the standards of their association so will be keen to investigate anyone they believe to be unreliable. Normally, a trade association will speak to the tradesman on your behalf as well as offer you some kind of arbitration service to try and come to a resolution. They can also get the tradesman back to work if they've left the job unexpectedly. This is one of the reasons that it's important to check your tradesman's credentials before agreeing to any work being carried out - if your tradesman doesn't have a trade association backing him, you're putting yourself in financial danger.

Online Sources and Unreliable Tradesmen

Another option when it comes to reporting unreliable tradesmen is to use the multitude of online resources to warn others about their poor service. Websites such as TradeCheck or associations like TrustMark welcome information about poor tradesmen as they will make sure they spread this knowledge so others can avoid them. A new service from search engine AskAlex has also been introduced where individuals can run an immediate check on businesses to ensure they're reputable. The service is set up in conjunction with Dun & Bradstreet and will cost a mere 7.50GBP to obtain. It will give consumers a star rating for a business, full contact details, any criminal history, profit figures and an overall judgement of the business. This method should be used to avoid rogue tradesman initially, but can also help in your reporting of any unreliable tradesmen. If you do suffer problems with your tradesman, make sure you report them as early as possible - helping other avoid them can at least give you some peace of mind.

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Dean brightwell, from Coventry so unprofessional and kept asking for money but didnt finish any of the jobs he was asked to. Then he did a runner and im left in so much debt with a unfinished apartment. Works for his own company that he has listed as his own private business so can't even complain to anyone higher up. Alarm bells started ringing when he would do half a job then asl for more money for something else and carry on doing that. What a scammer!
Fa - 24-Mar-20 @ 11:26 PM
Dean brightwell, so unprofessional and kept asking for money but didnt finish any of the jobs he was asked to. Then he did a runner and im left in so much debt with a unfinished apartment. Works for his own company that he has listed as his own private business so can't even complain to anyone higher up. Alarm bells started ringing when he would do half a job then asl for more money for something else and carry on doing that. What a scammer!
Fa - 24-Mar-20 @ 11:24 PM
Ian newby of Trevelyan in Bracknell is a convicted. Pedo.
Pred - 17-Mar-20 @ 6:19 PM
Ben Nunes (Ben Nunesvaz) is an incompetent cowboy and a conman. I wouldn't trust him with a set of Lego bricks, let alone a building project. Standard of work is atrocious: he can't even get measurements correct so builds in the wrong place and the wrong size, with internal walls not correctly supported. He inflates the price as he goes, demanding money up front, then more money to finish the job he's already been paid for ! He has several "shell" companies including 'Precision Construction and Property Management ' and 'LTK Construction '. Swindles his way across Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and Hampshire.
SJW - 13-Mar-20 @ 1:14 AM
AMP Electrcal Manchester very bad work left the job half done stay well clear .
Phil - 9-Mar-20 @ 12:40 PM
Dave Arnold, DDA Landscapes stole money whilst working on my house
R - 8-Mar-20 @ 8:53 PM
A builder called Levi, all the information we have ! He’s admitted he’s a gypsy so travels around a lot. My parents used him to repair their roof as it leaked. Levi does a lot of work in a road where pensioners live My husband went into my parents roof and discovered they had ‘bodged’ the job so when they came back it’llbe a bigger job!! This is in Dymchurch at the moment. The excuse he gives why he can’t come and sort it is that he’s working in London.This has been going on since December!! My father is nearly 80 and he’s up on the roof every day sweeping water off. Every night he’s in the loft emptying buckets of water
Chas - 1-Mar-20 @ 10:44 AM
Ben Nunes / Benjamin Nunes / Ben Nunesvaz / Benjamin Nunesvaz Trading as:- Precision Construction HB Ltd (dissolved in 2019 after 2 years trading) Precision Developments and Property Management Ltd (Active, created Jan 2019) LTK Construction Ltd (Active, created Jan 2020) Demands payment in advance and payment for building supplies which don't arrive. Works a 3 or 4 day week to string the job out (when he doesn't decide to go to Spain for a week without telling you !) Work is of a poor standard. Blew the electrics out - twice.Left us without lights for over a week - only resolved when I said I was getting an electrician in...he got an electrician in, then I start getting demands for final payment in Ben's name at my address because he hasn't paid the guy. Also destroyed part of my garden fence and burnt it in one of my expensive planters because they were cold. After five weeks I'm now living in a partly demolished house waiting for the extension foundations to be finished. Highly recommended if you want an ulcer, stress-related medical issues and have £30,000 which you'd rather not set light to. AVOID !
Rogue Builder Alert - 20-Feb-20 @ 3:37 PM
Atlantic home solutions cardiff. Replaced my terraced roof 2 yrs ago. Gave me a 15yr guarantee.Two weeks ago woke up to big wet patch on bedroom ceiling , water is leaking in roof . Phoned the roofer , he came out had a look said he would sort it, then very evasive I had to chase and phone him , he never picks up , until I use different phone, he says he's really busy and can I pay someone else to sort it and he will reimburse me when it's done. Got another roofer In got roof fixed but have messaged him lots and spoke to him but no money .
Aidy - 18-Feb-20 @ 7:41 AM
Dean Brightwell, working around warckshire and West Midlands avoid using this man. He took£1200 of money and never done the job. Alarm bells started ringing when he kept asking for more money without completing any of the jobs agreed. Refused to give me a refund!
Sa - 10-Feb-20 @ 6:24 PM
Hired Craig Fitzgerald (C. F. Electrical) of Mexborough, to do a full electrical install.He messed about for weeks, was full of excuses. He took £2,800 as payment for parts and labour.When we challenged him about the level of work he had done he waited a couple of hours and then left the job. A replacement electrician confirmed his work was substandard and we had no choice but to replace everything that Mr Fitzgerald had done.Despite court action and bailiffs, Mr Fitzgerald refuses to return my money.
Angie158 - 9-Feb-20 @ 9:17 AM
Warning: 'Cowboys James and Jeff of Benedicts builders and decorators are posing as 'English Builders at work, determined to undercut ANY Foreign competitors'. They did, took my cash upfront, seeing I cannot move with a fractured spine, osteoporosis and having recently suffered a stroke. I have Austism and learning disabilty. So ashamed. Thought I was being independent, showing initive and ability to deal with people. It is clear I am unable and allowed myself to get into a vulnerable, potentially dangerous situation as I was defenseless and paralyse fromwaiste down. Terribly distressing to be left in this statehaving to wait on my carer to return and the front door open to intruders. are actively targeting single, elderly, vulnerable and physically disabled Regardless of cost, a new wave of convincing bogus builders posing as an 'ex-squaddie'skinhead and 'family man' accomplice vowed to "beat any price" on labour for "any work, cash-in-hand". The now distraught and ashamed wheelchair user suffered a recent stroke and fractured back once again to an unexpected attack from local criminals who pressured him in to giving them 530 for materials. - [ ] A 54 year old man who desperately needed help for his safe movement throughout the property. This included painting and making sure utitilies safe and removing rubble from his property. They took the money and scarpered, leaving a dangerous mess behind and outside on the road. Bendedicts Builders were initially enthusiastic and assuring competenet and competitive. Giving them the benefit of the doublt and 200 saving I hired them instead of recommended Polish builders of local repute, as I thought I'd support local citizens. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. I should have hired the more reliable Poles and "foreigners" in their words who they were intent on undercutting in order to facilitate the scam. Dont trust anyone. To add insult to injury, they helped themselves to all my garden tools, spades, forks, cutters, kitchen appliances and removed the keysafe outside the front door which is there for carers to get in and out and for emergency access. I had to change the lock for an extra 120 so in a day I was done out of 650 in cash. Dont pay cash in hand. Have a carer present throughout. Call the police as soon as you feel threatened or vulnerable which I failed to do. I never thought this would happen to me. I could happen to anyone. It happened to me yesterday.
Douglas - 7-Feb-20 @ 10:12 AM
Michael Woolner and Adam Bourne and John Coleridge. Operating under the company ‘BSW construction company Ltd’around Peterborough and Ely when we hired them. They stopped turning up to work, had 4major health issues between them during the course of 3 months as excuses to delay works/lack of comms. They left us with dangerous wiring exposed while my children were running around, crap finishes, nothing square, electrics that trip the rest of the house. Ultimately we are having to redo everything they touched at huge personal expense to us.
Frances1524 - 3-Feb-20 @ 10:24 AM
Sajid/Sajad Hussain, SS Builders, 5B Coldecote Grove, B9 5JA (also 55St. Agathas Road, B8 2TU).A incompetent and unqualified Cowboy builder.He nor his workers are competent nor qualified to carry out any gas, electric or tiling jobs let alone do any building work to any professional standard.Also, rips people off and does not follow building plans and avoids building regulations where he can get away with it.Ran off my job as I challenged him to many issues and is a compulsive liar.He has 2 business partner who he calls his employees, both illegal residents in the UK, who harass and intimidate people to give money before work is done. At all costs avoid this cowboy or you will regret it.
cowboy - 13-Jan-20 @ 9:55 AM
ALL OF THE BELOW IS ENTIRELY MY OPINION AND MY VIEW ON HOW THINGS HAPPENED. My wife for some bizarre reason employed the so called expert services of a roofer from Facebook of all places to install a fast dry ridge system and recoat our flat roof with a one coat fibreglass mix and put 2 lengths ofPVC fascia boards around the rear of the flat roof. for the princely sum of two and a half grand! The ridge is 12 metres long and the flat roof is 3 metres in width and 5 metres long, approx. I didn't like the look of as soon I met him, he looked like a tramps reject, he had a van that was chock-a-block with crap piled on top of crap. His labourer is a decent lad and I actually feel sorry for him as he may be under the impression that he has been taught properly by a professional.for whatever amount of time that he has been with him. I asked him if had any qualifications and he replied that when he started you didn't need any back in 89-90 and he said "I've been doing it for 30 years and don't worry". and my wife insisted to me, to "Just let him do his job and stop harassing people for no reason". How wrong she was... He installed (LOL) the fast dry ridge system in a way that goes against every bit of common sense I can think of and of the manufacturers instructions and supplied kit I'm not a roofer myself but when I see a roofer putting down the breathable membrane roll first and neglecting to put any metal support brackets onto the ridge and rafters I started to wonder is that correct? He went and put non treated timber battens on top, of the membrane roll and then laythe ridge tiles on top and fixed in the plastic covers and screws as an afterthought. Let me also delight you about the work carried out on the chimney. He removed the metal pot and started chipping at the old mortar with a chisel and the debris went into the metal flume and stack, at this point I suggested why did't he just aim the chisel outwards and away from the hole and not towards it? I got a blank look Also to put a tray or thick blanket on a string once the hole was big enough to fit into to avoid any more debris travelling down to the gas fire below, Another blank look. He then took a metal tray off the chimney which sits under the mortar and just chucked it without thinking he may need it as a template for a new one. This so called roofer then decided to re mortar the top of the chimney by replacingthe metal plate with a slate/fibre tile and didn't bother to put a thick length of wire into the mortar (gently pull back and forth when mortar is semi dry in order to slowly pull out the wire) around the metal pot to form a run off channel for water to trickle down onto what should have been a pliable DPC lead tray to prolong the life of the mortar. I only know all this as I called for a qualified roofer to come and inspect his work and he gave me his report that the entire ridge system is 'Floating' i.e the only thing holdi
pee'd off - 10-Jan-20 @ 2:26 PM
Antony Moore (also known as Webby). Newmarket area. Took £3700 up front, took most of my roof off including bits that should have stayed on. Put cheap membrane and batting on. Left me without slates for 8 weeks. Never bothered telling me he wasn't coming back. Over this period, Nov-Dec'19, tons of rain. Otherroofers estimate £1500 worth of work done, maximum. Costing me money to keep scaffold up, and new roofers having to correct bad workmanship before they can get slates on.
Basta - 6-Jan-20 @ 8:05 PM
Lee Watling, Total Build, Gainsborough Ave, Whiteleas, South Sheilds and his partner Kolin Kesson. Please do not trust these men with money upfront as we did. They were using sites like my builder to get money upfront jobs and ripping people off.
Jane - 5-Jan-20 @ 11:37 AM
Keep away from Thomas fishwick aka fishwick developments aka signature construction from Bishop Auckland Darlington Region. Scammed us out of cash for damp proofing terrible job won't fix it. Filed a claim form at court but won't give me his address. He is on Facebook looking as smug as ever. Watch this space he is a real liar and scanner.
Summer - 4-Jan-20 @ 6:27 PM
Do not use Elite roofing or a Martin as he takes your money and does not complete the works on time and does not pay back any money even after making promises. He fails on work times he agrees to and demands payment up front then does not pay back after failing to do the works
S - 27-Dec-19 @ 9:46 PM
Priority Building. Newcastle upon Tyne. Took my deposit to buy materials but failed twice to show up for job. Refuses refund or to deliver materials my money paid for.Never replies to messages and never answers our calls.
Li - 16-Dec-19 @ 9:28 PM
Platinum Emergency Services - avoid at all cost! We had a what appears to be a simple issue with the heating controls however the engineer came and spent 2 hours to diagnose the issue and came back with an array of issues and propose re-wiring the whole system and charges us £580 for the time. We eventually went with another company and they manage to fix and resolve the issue within an hour for a fraction of the cost.
D - 13-Dec-19 @ 9:58 AM
The aa plumbing and heating ltd company conning people out of money be aware and report do not use they pretend to service Danfoss and other makes but don’t have a clue, and become very aggressive jobs left half done
Exposer - 7-Dec-19 @ 1:08 PM
Please everyone avoid using Zippy Travel aka Brightsun Travel they are thieves and rogues. I asked them to book a flight for me which will give me free bag and choose a seat for me and my family with kids but the booked a basic one which means I hv to buy the 4 bags charged me over £1150 and refused to pay the difference. Please avoid by all means. When I asked to make a complaint suddenly all the team leaders and managers vanished.
Pee - 22-Nov-19 @ 3:42 PM
WB Infastructure, birmingham Waheed Hussain Bhutt Took my chimney out,without building regsas i was told by the council he uses unqualified men. Lies alot does not ring you back takes your money an does the job wrong and makes your life a misery CON man please please STAY CLEAR YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
Sara - 21-Nov-19 @ 10:52 PM
Avoid Dimension Abbas Builder Ltd. He is a cowboy builder. My roof is leaking, bathroom sink not fitted properly so now leaking. Left skirting unfinished. Hasn't sealed the bathroom. Tiling is hideous. Calling him to finish the job and he's avoiding our calls. When we get through to him he says tomorrow and doesn't turn up.
Princess - 14-Nov-19 @ 9:24 PM
Stay away from bathroom fitter Mr Nathan Westwood based in wakefield. He took 30%advance payment and never came to do the work. He will give excuses each time. Suchba shame to other sincere tradesmen but NEVER pay any advance. He will beat any quote because he had no plans to do the work! Full address. Nathan Westwood, 202 church Avenue, south kirby,pontefract, WF93QJ.
Ameen - 11-Nov-19 @ 12:14 AM
Please steer clear of waheed hussain butt of wb infrastructure limited Birmingham, he took out 2 Chimneys in my home which is still costing me till this day. He left holes in the roof which was letting in the rain, now I'm having to fork out a structural engineer to come out and assess the structure of the property. He's a liar and a thief don't trust him!
Caz - 4-Nov-19 @ 7:57 PM
Watch out for a Mr Chris wilson Newman from Durham / Teeside area. Scammed me out of Tens of Thousands of pounds on a large building project. A total Fraud. Deserves to be jailed. He has done this to many people living in Durham . He works sll over the Teeside area & north east. Originally From Newcastle. Also used to run a rogue company called Hartburn Lofts.
Jesh - 2-Nov-19 @ 10:48 PM
RUMOUR WINDOWS / HOME IMPROVEMENTS Frimley/Farnborough. Fitted me front door and windows. After 2 years issues arose with door not locking. Tried calling repeatedly and Left voicemail AND sent email. Never heard back. Got someone else to look at door, inferior fitting they said.
tinker - 26-Oct-19 @ 8:25 AM
We hired a local roofing company may 2009..we had a bad leaking roof .Paid 2400 deposit and after weeks of excuses had to get other roofers in in july .They then refuse to return deposits ..After a lot of digging which i know we should of done first we find out one of the roofers was made bankrupt december 2018 .He set up a new business in january 2019 . Chris lomas from winsford cheshire and jason lomas from same location .These two are liars and thiefs .We are currently going through the courts .Chris lomas is still trading with a new name and asking for deposits upfront .Please stay clear of him .
Lozzer - 14-Oct-19 @ 4:15 PM
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