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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 12:11 pm
by rustytabitha
I am having my driveway paved. It is about 100m2 and has an old tarmac and grass area cleared.
I have MS and recently tragically lost my son of 18 years and my mother had a massive stroke and I am now her 24 hour carer. With two other student kids money is very short. We were recently approached by a company offering to do this as we are on the main woodley thoroughfare and they say we would be a worthwhile advert for them. This may or may not be true. Their quote was just affordable at £4000, but I have no idea if this is what would normally be charged funerals etc have left us with almost no savings.They just turned up yesterday and started work. They have quoted membership of the guild of master craftsmen membership number a112610, but they are not.
I have visited others quoted as references and they have all been happy. I am concerned that they are breaking up the existing tarmac drive and putting it down as an under layer. Their quote stated MOT hardcore 1. What would you advise please? Many thanks Mandy
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 12:26 pm
by irishpaving
Hi Mandy
Have you handed over any money to them yet
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 12:53 pm
by rustytabitha
No not yet but they say they want paying at the end of Thursday this week when the job is done
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 1:32 pm
by TheVictorianCobbleCo
Mandy, try and get someone knowledgeable or a police officer or a couple of male friends around Thursday, it sounds like oyu've been bullied into this, if I'm wrong - no harm done - if otherwise you need to have support - to make sure the job is done properly. If they are a reputable firm they WILL wait a few days, and should back up their company with good paperwork. Be carful!!
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 3:07 pm
by rustytabitha
Hi, I think you are right . We were bullied into this. I said an absolute no and the chap argued with my hubbie until he agreed. The thing is that we are vulnerable at the moment.
Can anyone advise what I look for when the job is done please?
I am anxious that part of the sub layer is the old tarmac broken up. They say they will put MOT type 1 on top of this then sand then the paving.
Any thoughts? I am beside myself with worry on this and my elderly hubbie is just too worn down to deal with any of it.
Mandy
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 6:06 pm
by lutonlagerlout
i would stop them straight away
get trading standards involved
tarmac is not suitable as a subbase
when you say paving your drive,what are they paving it with?
most slabs and/or flags are not suitable for driveways
speak to the boss and tell him your not happy with the subbase and if he doesn't rectify it ,he wont be getting paid
they are saving money 2 ways here
by not removing waste
and using said waste instead of type 1 MOT
lastly are they pikeys?
LLL
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 7:23 pm
by GB_Groundworks
lutonlagerlout wrote:lastly are they pikeys?
LLL
my thoughts exactly
quoting a bogus master craftsman number
approaching you to have work done, not waiting to be asked (oldest trick, we've got some asphalt left over ....etc)
using the old asphalt as subbase, like LLL says savings 2 ways, they might blind it with a scattering of mot if your lucky.
so have you agreed to this works? said yes or go ahead etc doesn;t have to be in writing?
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 8:04 pm
by rustytabitha
Sorry not paving but block paving. I am really worried now. They have compacted it down and put type one mot on top and tamped it down. Is this still not ok I asked them and they said it was fine to do this "who told you that" got very cross and angry. They are intimidating.
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 8:31 pm
by 47p2
Amanda take lots of pictures of the work they are doing, take pictures whilst they are working also, the more the better, if you see something you don't like the look of then take pictures and notes of it. If you are feeling threatened call the CAB and ask their advice.
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 10:02 pm
by rab1
in your position would call the police and tell them your being harassed etc and would also call the cab. to harass/bully someone is a crime (assault) 
Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 8:39 pm
by rustytabitha
To give an update I took Luton Lager Lout's advice and called in Trading Standards. Also last night I phoned them and said I did not want them on sight until I had had the site inspected. I was so worried about being bullied by them. Thank you for confirming that bashed up asphalt is not a suitable surface. The TS guy was so helpful and told us exactly what to do. We were told that as it was just a couple of days since they approached us it was illegal that there was nothing on their paperwork to mention our consumer rights to change our mind iin 7 days. It is also illegal to start that work without a waiver of these rights signed by us. He told us to cancel the order in writing and tell them I do not want them on our property. Then I had to tell them that they could talk to trading standards any time. They said to let them know that the quality of work is doubtful and I will need the work done now and they will be liable to pay if it is more than the £4000 quoted. We will take them to court. All this is scary but I now know right is on my side. The drive is nothing sort of dangerous now but at least I know when we get it done it will be done properly. Thanks all who took the trouble to reply. Mandy x
Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 9:20 pm
by lutonlagerlout
TBH tabitha the price is too cheap to do a proper job, we are doing 180M drive shortly and that comes out about £60 +VAT/M2 for a grade A job
taking that as a rule of thumb
yours should be around £6 grand + VAT ish (within 20% deviation due to mitigating factors==> access ,kerbs,ic covers ,steps etc etc)
if they have ripped it up your cheapest option now would be type1 MOT wacked at 125mm thick then 25mm of 10 mm gravel
not what you had i know
LLL
Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 10:51 pm
by rustytabitha
Gravel is no good as I use a stick because of MS and mum has a wheelchair which will not work on gravel.Trading standards reckkon the cowboy can be sued for any shortfall.
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 4:37 am
by lutonlagerlout
you can sue, but you cant get feathers off a frog.
my father in law told me this after I had a tenant do a runner with 3 months rent owing
i wanted to sue but the legal process can be a nightmare
my mum has MS too and it is a debilitating condition,good luck with that
we should have a sticky on the site
"DONT USE ANYONE THAT KNOCKS ON YOUR DOOR"
lll
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 5:14 am
by mickg
I would not of thought you can sue anyone for a difference in the prices of one contractor to another as there can be lots of reasons why one contractor changes what they do per m2 and another contractor charges a lot more
thats like saying get joe small from down the road to start my driveway, he makes a mistake and gets thrown off the job then get everest to finish it off and sue the little guy for the difference
