Rogue Traders !!!!

[Karl]

No, not the TV programme, but the scum in real life!

I got an SOS call from an elderly lady last week, asking me to come and have a look at some decking which they had had done recently.

:shock:

This couple got fleeced for £1750 for this absolute shambles. Frame timbers are just rough sawn timber - not treated. nothing straight or level. nothing anchored to the ground. The actual supports were a nightmare - only a few of them actually made contact with the ground - and no footings had been prepared to give the structure a good support. Everything was basically "resting" on something, and the whole thing rocked when you walked on it (which I did little of!). Oh, and it all comes with a 5 year guarantee!!!! My pineapple!

Work is well underway on constructing a new deck, but I really feel for this couple. They've been well and truly had.

BTW, £1750 paid in cash up front. D'oh!!!!

Cheers

Karl

 

[Raggy]

There are some total @rses about

 

[bluezephyr]

Did they contact the original company asking for them to correct the work? Have they just voided their so called warranty by having someone else fix it.

Find out who the company is and set alight to all your offcuts in the owners lawn :evil:

Shame people have to do this to others.

 

[Paul Chapman]

That's awful, really awful.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[cornucopia]

disgusting
i'm a tradesman and i'm afraid that i see similar things on an all too regular basis.

 

[tim]

That is bad but why haven't they approached the original company and trading standards first - they now stand absolutely no chance of getting their money back, irrespective of how good a job you do.

Cheers

Tim

 

[BradNaylor]

The daft thing is that it wouldn't have taken them much longer or cost that much more in materials to do it properly.

I suspect that they are just totally incompetent and ignorant rather than deliberate conmen.

Why the hell did they get paid up front? Surely everyone knows that most tradesmen need the incentive of a pay-day to ensure that a good job is done!

That doesn't just go for tradesmen either. It's everyone. Human nature.

Cheers
Dan

 

[Karl]

That is bad but why haven't they approached the original company and trading standards first - they now stand absolutely no chance of getting their money back, irrespective of how good a job you do.

Cheers

Tim

Hi Tim

They did try and get the "company" back to sort it. I should clarify that this deck has only been up for a few weeks - it hasn't deteriorated over time, it was constructed like that. I advised them to contact TS, but I think they know that they've been had and there is little that is going to be done about it. The original contractor will probably deny ever doing the job, which is difficult to prove unless you have footage of them at work (hidden cam style).

Cheers

Karl

 

[Harbo]

When we were building or repairing roads in urban areas we often used to get gangs of Gypsies/Travellers "following behind" who called, in the evenings, on nearby properties saying they were working for the Contractor and had some surplus blacktop and could redo their driveways very cheap!!
We used to letter drop the householders warning them of this scam but lots of them ignored it and went ahead with it anyway. We used to look on with amazement with the crappy work being carried out (if my Clerk of Works tried to warn them again - they just got threatened with violence).
What really p****ed me off was these people, a few months later when their new drive was breaking up, would come and complain to us demanding their money back!!
We used to report it to the Police and the local Trading Standards but nothing was done about it as these rogues had moved on!

Rod

 

[RogerS]

.......... (if my Clerk of Works tried to warn them again - they just got threatened with violence)........
Rod

We must be made of fiercer stuff here in Herefordshire then! Some gypsies/travellers were recently around our way touting farms for scrap and got very abusive (swearing etc) at one of the farmers' wives when she said that she didn't have any. Factor in that her husband has terminal cancer and you'll understand that the neighbouring farmers took exception to this.

So...shotgun'd up...they tracked the gypsies/travellers down to where they were in a local pub, blocked them in with a couple of Landies and then had a very quiet word with them and strongly hinted that it wouldn't be in the gypsies/travellers interests to return to the area.

 

[Harbo]

Well perhaps if my merry men were armed they might be made of stronger stuff, but one of them was actually targeted and threatened by one gang for "interference".
The gang was waiting for him outside the site compound gates. The police were called but said nothing could be done until a violent act had been committed!
The poor chap had to be smuggled out in the boot of a car and transferred to another job until the travellers had moved on.

Rod

 

[RogerS]

Always wondered...if they like to be called travellers then why do they complain when they are asked to move on?

 

[davegw]

These kind of traders (if you can call them that) are beyond contempt. My Mum recently got caught out by a group of "Guttering" contractors who were "doing some work for the council" in her area and offered to fix her guttering (not that there were any problems) at the same time

£500 later and we called in a local, reputable, contractor to fix the problem.

However, I would not have described them as Gypsies, they may well have been travellers, but the difference in my eyes is key:

Gypsies are ethnically Romany, they have a strong tradition of respect and family (I went to school with 2 Romany Gypsies who were fiercly loyal to their friends & family). No Romany I know would allow a older person to be scammed for a couple of quid, and would have happily joined Rogers vigilantes to move on the travellers

Travellers, tend to be drop outs who are looking for a quick buck wherever they can get it, normally mumping of the social and anyone else whose gullible enough to give it up.

I don't deny that Gypsies cause problems, they tend to get too drunk too quickly and get into fights, and they are very loud. but I don't think you can lump them in with the layabouts and conmen who scrounge off us so much.

 

[RogerS]

Good point, Dave.

 

[Harbo]

It's difficult to differentiate between them now, though I suppose the true Romany would not wish to be called a Traveller which apart from the hippy drop-outs are generally Irish Tinkers that come over for the "season".
I am quite happy to exclude the true Romany from this debate.

In my working life I have built 4 permanent Gypsy sites (which effectively allows light industry to be carried out within the Green Belt - but that's another story!) and have had to deal with numerous Traveller encroachments, vandalism, fouling and theft problems (like stealing metal bridge parapets and signs). Travellers/Gypsies/Tinkers whatever - they are very rarely nice people to come across or deal with.

Rod

 

[Slim]

Reminds me of a story I once heard about someone my mate knew. He got a knock on the door one day from some Irish travellers. They asked if he wanted his drive relaying. He said yes (after a bit of persuasion I think). So they started the work and lifted the old drive. The travellers then aproached him again and said that while they had his drive up, they could connect him directly to the gas main, and he would never have to pay a gas bill again. This would only cost him £500. Great! he thought, and told them to go for it. The next day, he came home from work to find his new driveway layed and the travellers waiting for payment. After checking the gas was working and that it wasn't turning the meter, he paid them. About a week later, he was cooking on the stove when the flame went out and he couldn't re-light it. He eventually had to ring the gas board, who came out and dug up his new drive. Guess what they found...

A 15Kg Calor gas bottle buried under the tarmac and connected to his main gas pipe. :lol:

He wasn't prosecuted, but he definately got what he deserved as he had to pay a fortune to be reconnected. :lol:

 

[Digit]

A 'Gypsy' woman once told me that I would have seven years bad luck if I didn't buy from her.
I told her I had already been married longer than that and if she didn't leave right smartly her bad luck would start right then!

Roy.

 

[Lons]

Why the hell did they get paid up front? Surely everyone knows that most tradesmen need the incentive of a pay-day to ensure that a good job is done! That doesn't just go for tradesmen either. It's everyone. Human nature. Cheers Dan

Hi Dan

I note that you say "most". Just as well because as a tradesman who takes great pride in his work and fiercley protects his reputation I could take offence at that :wink:

I never ask for a payment up front unless there is a special make to order up and I need to pro forma payment and wouldn't dream of raising my own invoice untill my customer is happy with the job. I know a number of guys of like mind so maybe not as rare as you might think. That's probably why tradesmen like me are never short of work :lol:

Idiots like the ones who knocked up that decking should be strung up and whilst it gives trades a bad name, media coverage also means that potential customers are more careful in general and likely to go for companies on recommendation. Doesn't do my business any harm.

Bob

 

[doctor Bob]

wow, 5 and a half years.........

 

[adidat]

Maybe bob has been mulling over his reply all this time, to get a hard hitting post? :lol:


Adidat