Would you pay a builder who has let you down for 3 months?

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PMmeurbuttholepics@reddit

Ditch him. Pay for what you owe if you’re happy with the standard of work completed so far. Find another builder. Sorry you’ve had this experience!

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Portas30k@reddit

Disappearing tradesman is becoming an all too regualr experience. The answer is always to refuse to pay until the work is done.

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Sadly, non paying customers is also a regular occurrence I'm starting to think humanity is just generally at a low point right now 😕 @OP - hell no. That is not the way so deal with someone who's proven unreliable.

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Mindless_Owl_1239@reddit

Needs an escrow service. Dark web sorted this out ages ago.

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Even_Video7549@reddit

find someone else sounds like a right cowboy builder

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Commercial-Choice-31@reddit

Don’t pay anything up front

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mark35435@reddit

I, for one, would not work for you then. Payment schedule should be set out before the start

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twonaq@reddit

He’s not working anyway, why would you pay someone who’s not been turning up for 3 months?

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nay_bosh@reddit

In the post it states they agreed to pay after work was done. Also, not turning up is a bad sign. I think not giving him money is good advice.

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Mental-Sample-7490@reddit

Payment as per the contract. If they wanted stage payments, totally normal, then these should be linked to work completed, and amounts agreed. We just got rid of one of these blaggers.

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No-Cardiologist8433@reddit

Cocaine

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NessieGB@reddit

As someone who just made the mistake of paying £1200 for a joiner to fit my kitchen and gave him the cash before actually inspecting the work. Do not pay a penny till the work is completed AND you have inspected that the work is to the required standard. Absolutely kicking myself but I'd got complacent as Im a tradesman myself and I'd had a good run of other trades who were absolute stars.

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Neat-Ostrich7135@reddit

He didn't turn up when being paid depended on finishing. I'm sure he will turn up if he had your money. Suggest if he had a cash flow problem you can buy materials and deduct cost from bill.

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behemuffin@reddit

He's already not showing up despite you owing him money. Do you think he's going to be more likely to turn up once your money is safely in his pocket?

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Evening-Tomatillo-47@reddit

Didn't he also promise to do the job? Now he promises to do the job once you've set it up so that he can completely disappear and you can't do anything about it? Did he also demand untraceable cash too? Fuck this guy, you pay him and he'll be gone.

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Vladamir_pootinn@reddit

Obviously not

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Amazing_Economics_98@reddit

Is his name Bob?

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Johnnyfootwrinkle@reddit

Get a different builder, and get references. Sounds like he's stringing you along. Any decent person would keep his word and honour the contract. He's trying to play you because he assumes you will want to get the job finished and not have the hassle of a building site forever. he thinks he's got you in a corner. Tell him if he doesn't stop screwing you around, you'll take legal action with a solicitor and police, drag his name through the local media for fraud so nobody ever employs him again. There are countless stories of people going through very similar things only to get totally ripped off.

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Pretend-Commercial68@reddit

Why are police going to be concerned in a break of civil contract? Which Section of the Fraud Act 2006 are we referring to? Are all of the points to prove met or is the intention to simply go down the route of "I'm going to tell my teacher about you".

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NoTry8886@reddit

Under absolutely no circumstances pay him early/ different to what was agreed.

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snakeoildriller@reddit

Absolutely this! Our damp-proofing guy tried this and we found out he was using customers' up-front money to pay debts he incurred on other jobs. Bastard!

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YOF626@reddit

Definitely do not pay him in advance. There’s a good chance you won’t see him or your money again.

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Ok_Level_5237@reddit

I like to get recs from the extremely fussy and hard to please people in my life. They won’t put up with anything, and their recs are good.

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Optimal_Collection77@reddit

Absolutely not. Don't part with anymore money until he's done or off the job

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Ok_Level_5237@reddit

Fuck no!

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Ok_Level_5237@reddit

The original agreement is what you should stick to. If he fails to honor that agreement, take him to a small claims court, OP. This is straight bidness; he promised to deliver a service, he’s not honoring the agreement, so off to court we go. Bet you anything he’ll do the work as soon as you threaten him. (My family was in construction).

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Nirnroot_Enjoyer@reddit

If you haven't paid him anything yet, I'd recommend telling him you want to cancel the job. And tell him you'll pay for the work that has been done once he returns your keys etc. Every builder I've used for larger projects, we've periodically paid smaller amounts as the project has progressed, so that they've been able to fund the materials and wages of his workers. Leaving a final payment to be made once the job is completed to a satisfactory level. And it only works when you agree to everything up front, and have some form of basic quotes with a description of the work, and payment terms.

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Paradroid808@reddit

Had a similar situation with a guy doing some substantial landscaping on the garden. He kept saying he was skint and needed more money before the job was done. Eventually I paid the full amount as he seemed like he was a decent guy. He was doing the neighbour's garden at the same time. Eventually tried the same thing with them and got verbally violent when they wouldn't pay up front. He ended up ghosting and wouldn't respond to my calls. We both ended up with incomplete work in a hell of a state. One of the guys who was working for him came back to the neighbours off his own back and completed their work for the remaining money because what his boss had done 'wasn't right.' Didn't do the same for us, because of course there was no money in it. I wouldn't give the guy another penny.

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Dimac99@reddit

Change your locks.

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hhfugrr3@reddit

Why would you trust somebody who has already failed to stick to the agreement he made? If he's done half I'd pay him half and get somebody reliable on the job.

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bradpitt3@reddit

You have plenty of evidence that the builder is not reliable. There is no need to do anything else. Just tell him you will not continue to use him and find a decent builder instead.

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phatboi23@reddit

absolutely fucking not. sack him off and get someone who turns up to do the job properly. as i bet you a 5er what he's done so far is shit work too.

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OkTechnician4610@reddit

Nononono don’t pay him up front he will do a runner most likely.

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idontlikemondays321@reddit

No. I use a builder regularly and have a lot of trust in him and he has never asked for payment upfront, even when he’s had to buy unexpected materials.

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AffectionateJump7896@reddit

Absolutely no chance of paying anything up front. He doesn't turn up when you haven't paid him. If he already has the money, there will be even less chance of him turning up and doing a good job. So I'll assume it's a six day job, he has done 3 and as roughly 3 left. I would say "complete the job within the next 4 weeks or I will appoint someone else to complete it, and I will deduct their cost of completing it from your payment for the job". Realistically someone else will charge at least the full amount, or perhaps even more, for fixing someone else's mess, meaning he ends up with nothing for the 3 days of mess created.

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Sea-Still5427@reddit

He's already shown you he can't be trusted: the promise of the money is the only reason he's showing up at all. Either pay in installments, keeping 10-20% until after all work is completed to your satisfaction, or pay for what he's done up to now and get someone else to finish it. You'll lose money on the latter but it'll be less stressful in the long run. Find someone personally recommended by a neighbour.

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VerbingNoun413@reddit

Of course not, why would I?

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MostlyBoatsandBikes@reddit

My neighbour paid in advance and lost £8000. The builder was local and a member of their church - never trust a Catholic builder…

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3headsonaspike@reddit

Your only leverage is that you haven't paid.

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Commercial-Bat-4534@reddit

Get your key back and change the locks

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seriousrikk@reddit

This builder had already demonstrated how much you should trust them. Use that information in your decision.

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Consistent_Umpire443@reddit

Builder here ,please never pay unless the job is done if its a big job it should be broken up in stages for example one l once the kitchen is fitted you pay 1/4 then so on

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kipha01@reddit

If you pay him you'll never see him a again.

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Kip-Ling@reddit

Take your keys back when he next calls and tell him to fuck off

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El-Terrible777@reddit

Get a different builder. If he has no incentive to turn up and work for money, he’ll have even less incentive to turn up when you’ve paid him. Ask for the key back, go on checkatrade and hire someone with a high rating and lots of reviews, or reference from someone you trust.

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Think-Committee-4394@reddit

OP - never pay full balance - either dump the builder or do a sit down with them - check original quote what was promised by when for how much & break down what remains - lay out staged payments for specific completion targets & if they don’t get onboard dump them

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GuybrushFunkwood@reddit

He’d get a nice big delicious bucket of fresh Kentucky Fried ‘Get Fucked’ from me …. Tell him he either finishes the work as agreed or you’ll get someone else in and he can see you in small claims if he thinks he’s gonna a single penny

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BusyBeeBridgette@reddit

Don't pay him until the work is done. He is a cowboy builder.

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OriginalWay5245@reddit

Are the works under building regs? Have you arranged an inspector or dare i ask, has he? Dont pay anything more up front, it wont make him come, hes probably balancing a few jobs and you are coming lower in his list of priorities, sometimes when this is the case he’ll be wanting your money to pay off debts at merchants or wages for subbies etc. cant say without being him but if he’s disorganised its likely the case he isn’t organising his finances well. If that is the case he will not be motivated to finish your job for no wages (they have gone on debts) and he will be very morivated to get another job rolling that pays him another deposit. Pay him for what he has done, when he has done it and only then and don’t pay him extra as a result of him being bad at his job. Source, im a builder, domestic renovations for the last 15 years

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sssstttteeee@reddit

Robbing Peter to pay Paul. When I had my extension, I asked a school friend to do it as I knew what they were like. They tried this too and some other stuff, I made sure there was a indefensible schedule, and they only got paid for stuff that was completed. No advances. Don't pay, if you do they'll disappear. Spoke to another builder and apparently my school friend did this to a load of people - I have no complaint - all the work was rock-solid and the fitters he had were amazing. We are still Facebook friends and I have little tolerance.

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Fluffy_Ad2274@reddit

I'm dealing with one of these at the moment. Absolute scumbag (and has ensured that no other tradesman will be treated with flexibility and grace). I have no solution (other than Trading Standards, and Small Claims) but you have my sympathy and solidarity.

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Naive_Reach2007@reddit

Write to him and give him a completion date you need it done by, suggest stage payments based on a time frame with inspection of works done. But remember it will cost more to rectify ny issues at a later stage. So either pay up to what hes done and get someone else in(go to local builders merchants and ask for best customer or someone theyd happily have working on there house) or refuse ans risk going to court Either way take pictures and record everything

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RainbowPenguin1000@reddit

Get your keys back then fire him, review bomb him online and find someone else. He’s clearly terrible. If he is this bad at organisation and work rate I wouldn’t want him building anything near my house.

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Geezso@reddit

Nope move on. He will just let you down.

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Buddy-Matt@reddit

I'd he's about half way through, I'd pay him about 50% There's no way I'd pay someone up front who's already shown they're unreliable

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Jpmoz999@reddit

You know the answer. Don’t pay them. On you go, you want to help them out of whatever hole they’re in (as there is clearly one) on your own time if you like them and want to help? Go to work. Don’t give them another penny.

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Psychological-Fox97@reddit

I think I'd find someone else but full transparency I have not been in your position. Good luck.

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