Rogue builder

Hi there,

4 weeks ago my mom needed her roof done.
we have looked on Checkatrade and selected a company from there - reviews and references checked out and we gave the builder a call.

he gave us a quote, we have given him a £8000 deposit - paid into his personal account.

works were supposed to start on 18th June, but he never showed up.

we went to the adress on the contract and have been told he sold all his stuff, and left permanently for Poland.

I have asked around and I have been told to file a claim with local police; some friends mentioned its theft, and he might be extradited?

Realistically, do I stand any chance to catch him?

thanks

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Reply 1

StriderHort

Ouch

I wouldn't think so tbh, as soon as you sent a BACS payment to his personal account rather than a business account you probably lost a whole lot of rights. I'm not saying you can't make any sort of claim against him, but you'd need to find him for a start.

Reply 2

the bear

Original post by Jeanette7708

have a read of this:

https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/how-to/make-a-complaint-and-report-a-trader/

Checkatrade Phone: 01243 601234

give them a ring to ask them for their advice.

Reply 3

StriderHort

Original post by the bear

have a read of this:

https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/how-to/make-a-complaint-and-report-a-trader/

Checkatrade Phone: 01243 601234

give them a ring to ask them for their advice.

I had a skim and it doesn't look like they can do anything if you can't find the trader, all they can really do is send letters and offer arbitration, again... worthless if you can't find them and they no longer trade in the UK. :frown:

Reply 4

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

I'd suggest speaking with your local Citizens Advice Bureau in the first instance as they should be able to advise you on your rights and any avenues you can pursue.

Spoiler

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 5

RedGiant

Complain to your bank that you sent the transfer with. He’s probably untraceable now so there might not be much luck with trying to secure a judgement against him.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 6

StriderHort

Much as it won't be welcome, someone is as well saying it. Paying that sort of money as a roofing deposit to a sole trader is .. insanity really, for pretty much this exact obvious problem. NEVER give contractors a big wedge of cash in advance, NEVER, and I say that as a white van contractor.

The guy prob doesn't believe his luck and thinks he's been given a lifechanging golden ticket the hell out of dodge.

Reply 7

tinygirl96

Notify your bank. Also use this as a lesson in trust etc for the future.

Reply 8

StriderHort

Original post by tinygirl96

Notify your bank. Also use this as a lesson in trust etc for the future.

I honesty don't think a bank will do much, they're pretty clear that when you send a direct payment that is it gone, so you'd better be happy about it and they specially advice against these sort of transactions. They'll likely sound sympathetic and them politely start to disengage when told it's a personal account rather than a trading UK entity.

For the sake of £8000 its surely worth a try, but I wouldn't expect much.

Reply 9

Jeanette7708

Original post by StriderHort

Hi,

So what you are saying is that there are very slim chances of doing anything?

I know for sure he left UK as his co-tenant confirmed it.

Thanks

Reply 10

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by StriderHort

I would agree that banks typically don't recall BACS payments unless there's a lot of publicity around a case.

Worth a try certainly, but my expectations would be low.

Reply 11

StriderHort

Original post by Jeanette7708

Hi,

So what you are saying is that there are very slim chances of doing anything?

I know for sure he left UK as his co-tenant confirmed it.

Thanks

There might be options I'm not aware of, certainly don't just take my word for it. But... yeah, slim. Almost all the methods to chase a trader in the UK only work within the UK, the fact that we've left the EU likely doesn't make it any easier.

I would add that you do not know for sure he has left the UK, unless you have some v strange reason to assume his cotenant is any more honest than he seems to be. They/both have an interest in you not coming to their door again either way.

Like it's a lot of money, by all means contact banks, check-a-trade, citizens advice and the police, I just don't they will have much practical help. Check-a-trade are pretty much like Air B'n'B, Paypal, Spotify and such, they want to act as a paid gatekeeper but keep their clients at arms length and don't care much for other peoples problems.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 12

Jeanette7708

Original post by StriderHort

There might be options I'm not aware of, certainly don't just take my word for it. But... yeah, slim. Almost all the methods to chase a trader in the UK only work within the UK, the fact that we've left the EU likely doesn't make it any easier.

I would add that you do not know for sure he has left the UK, unless you have some v strange reason to assume his cotenant is any more honest than he seems to be. They/both have an interest in you not coming to their door again either way.

Like it's a lot of money, by all means contact banks, check-a-trade, citizens advice and the police, I just don't they will have much practical help. Check-a-trade are pretty much like Air B'n'B, Spotify and such, they want their clients at arms length and don't care much for other peoples problems.

Thanks for the reply.

I am not 100% sure, I just assumed he left for good after the guy who lived with him told me.

I now realise he set this up and heaybe was ready to leave as soon as the deposit was paid.

I have got in touch with solicitors and they were not able to advise me properly as this is a very weird issue.

Reply 13

Kutie Karen

I have used checkatrade and also had a bad experience too but not as bad as yours.Checktrade I think have a copy of passports and references. It might be worth asking the police to help you track this person through checktrade and see if he has actually left the country. He might be sitll here and using another builders site to con more people. I really feel for you and do hope you get your money back.
Report them to checkatrade too and ask them if they can help at all. Not sure how you are meant to pay as these builders always ask for payment upfront and don't have any choice. What can be done in such situations?

Reply 14

HaydenFordz

Cowboy builders time -- that brings back memories

Reply 15

Kutie Karen

Original post by HaydenFordz

Cowboy builders time -- that brings back memories

how do you tackle them? You get them from a reputable webisite and still get scammed.

Reply 16

HaydenFordz

Original post by Kutie Karen

how do you tackle them? You get them from a reputable webisite and still get scammed.

you have to look into things more. The reputable website. the best way to see if it legit or not is to go thru the website and click on everything, see if its just a template and see if It works properly. also check reviews on legitimate review leaving websites. There are plenty of things u can do to look

Reply 17

Kutie Karen

Original post by HaydenFordz

I think the OP did all that and still got scammed.

Reply 18

HaydenFordz

Original post by Kutie Karen

I think the OP did all that and still got scammed.

does it seem too good to be true, are they predicting a significantly lower price than what other would. Probably a scam.

Reply 19

Kutie Karen

Original post by HaydenFordz

does it seem too good to be true, are they predicting a significantly lower price than what other would. Probably a scam.

In my case it was the average price for the job. Not too cheap or way overpriced but still ended up feeling scammed when it started leaking agian. I am not sure about the OP case though. There has to be a better way.