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Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:30 pm
by MatthewWakeman
well
not a good day for justice today. Story goes.
Visited a job in november last year tarmac drive on a steep slope. It had had a few layers already but looking a bit rough.
its already high on the dpc plus 2 air bricks. I tell the customer the price for full construction ie level reduction etc etc she baulks at the cost and asks about an overlay i explain the implications she seems oblivious the quote £1300 approx 45m2 with a paved border. 3 aco chanells in front of the garage conected to the storm. Any how we complete the job and 3 days later i pop in to get the cheque. Husband comes out demanding extra work to a step to the side of the property i say no he says well im not paying. claiming the work was included.
suddenly their is an issue with the height of the paving on the dpc and the air bricks. oh dear
we pay for a surveyor he concludes the job is fine apart from the height of the paving on the dpc but agree's that the customer was aware
court requests another surveyor who says the same but adds that the tarmac height was already a problem and as the customer directed us to overlay it was out of our controll.
so in court this afternoon all nervous shirt and jacket thinking this is a no brainer after all we have done nothing wrong. The judge see's the report and the 2 quuotes 1 for capital reconstruction and the other for an overlay.Customer says we never told her about the dpc etc etc etc
any how judge rules against me
customer leaves smiling i leave 1300.00 quid out of pocket
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:44 pm
by slickboy
Sorry to hear that mate. We've been ripped off in the past and so we always get a deposit and interims, by the end of the job the customer owes us only part of the profit. We get quite pushy about it being ripped off for a job well done makes your skin crawl.
I always thought that the courts favoured the contractor but obviously not.
I'm still waiting to see the television series 'Rogue customers' commisioned. Or perhaps 'Customers from hell'. Maybee even 'Tradesmen from heaven' where people go on about how good a job they got done! 
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:45 pm
by dig dug dan
this is totally unbelievable. Is the judge stupid?
Words fail me as to the logic behind this.
What next? a gallon of old engine oil spilt on the drive one night?
a big a quick drying cement in the manhole?
won't get your money, but it would be satisfying.
You have my sympathy on this. from now on, we have to get things like this in writing before the job starts.
Shame we have to put up with this just to earn an honest living
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:16 pm
by Dave_L
4 - 5 gallons of diesel spilt onto the tarmac should do the trick.......just don't get caught! 
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:52 pm
by Mikey_C
Diesel on the tarmac may not help, they claim on insurance and get nice new drive (at level below DPC) for only the cost of excess plus part of the difference to the contractor. however, if you chose to go down that route rather take it on chin, (which takes the bigger man, who also believes in karma), then hopefully they drive a diesel car and you won't have to carry anything to site in the middle of the night except the cutters for the fuel line!!
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 10:49 pm
by James.Q
ouch you have my sympath but in todays compansation culture .this seems to be happening more and more. what i have only just started to do is GET EVERY LAST MF DETAIL IN WRITING SIGNED WITH COPIES. having probs with you said you would do loads
of other jobs not mentioned in quote.
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:06 am
by warnergrounds.co.uk
Hi Matthew
Did you ask for leave to appeal and did you have legal representation.
If you didn'[t its no great shakes. Will cost you approx £50 for a copy of the transcript of the hearing and I will give you the advice for nowt.
Before leaving the law to run our hard landscaping I was a qualified lawyer. I no longer hold a practicing certificate but am happy to help you out with drafting the documents and everything for the appeal. The only thing you need to be aware of is that there are costs implications on an appeal that there aren't in normal small claims.
The test for negligence is what a "reasonable contractor" would or would not have done. You may have legal expenses insurance under your public liability insurance in which case they should cover you for your costs in the event that you have a reasonable prospect of success.
You can PM me via here with the details and I will look into it for you. I will need to see copies of all the witness statements and the transcript of the hearing to draft an appeal. Birmingham is a bit far from me to travel up for the hearing but my guess is the householder will cave to a strong appeal if they have no legal cover for their costs.
I also have our standard contract terms which I always get signed by echosign on every job we do. I can send these to you so you are watertight on any future projects - that goes for any of you on here btw.
I hate it when the householder thinks they can take our hard earned cash and not give a damn how we pay our expenses or feed the numerous children in the Warner household. Thankfully we are "only" owed £8k at the moment by a PLC and I am issuing liquidation proceedings against them next week!
All the best and hope I hear from you
Lara Warner
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:24 am
by seanandruby
sounds like a P O S ( paying out stick ) solution one dark night :;):
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:56 pm
by dig dug dan
Thankfully we are "only" owed £8k at the moment by a PLC and I am issuing liquidation proceedings against them next week!
was hoping lara would reply. good to know there is a possibility of an appeal.
lara, you could earn a sideline with your service. sounds great!
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 2:07 pm
by matt h
hate it when the customer specifies some thing then denies any mention of it later.. Thats why I get every last detail in writing now, signed and sealed , and large deposit on every job. got taken for a ride too many times in the past and the old handshake deal does not work anymore, sadly to say. Hopefully laras' efforts will help out, best of luck;)
