Not able to contact plumber - he has £3000

And what contact details does this friend have other than a phone number?

Find another friend and try phoning his mobile from a completely different number.

I fully understand wanting a deposit to cover materials, that's fair enough but you need a proper contract when you hand over thousands of pounds to a stranger.

I think my concern with the chap I was dealing was that his estimate wasn't detailed properly in the first place and, as well as the deposit, he wanted the rest of the money while the work was being done rather than on completion, which I felt was all rather one way; everything seemed just a bit too casual.

Withholding payment is not on but if you've paid the whole lot before the job is finished it leaves you in the position of the job, potentially, not being finished on time, or even at all if the trader is unreliable.

Snap!
Once bitten, twice shy!

@Hello113 how did you find this plumber? Before handing over money, did you check his business details (companies house), customer reviews etc...

If you used due diligence and verified the plumber before handing over money then you send a letter before action to the business address giving him 14 days to refund in full as he failed to show up.

If you didn't get any sensible details you will need to do some online stalking to get some details. Get a friend to call asking for a quote then when he turns up, block his car in!

Best of luck- crossing my fingers for you on this one.
I agree with some of the posters have said : most plumbers ( and builders etc) have an agreement that they can get stuff and pay for it later in the week or they ask you to pay direct to a company and the goods come to you… or at least are yours if they get held at the building goods store for the trader to collect. They have to have a system like this ..
I know it’s harder on trades folk who don’t want to be out of pocket if clients don’t pay them maybe this will work itself out ..
but £3 k is a lot to pay upfront and before plumber and kit are on site.
but I’m sure it seemed sensible at the time and I have offered up smaller sums to try to get trades to commit to the job.
keepntrying to track it down.

Sounds reasonable

@pigsDOfly My DH is a retired bathroom installer, he always asked for 50% on day of commencement, he asked this as he was committing himself to say 2/3 weeks work and didn’t want to be in the position whereby at the end the customer wouldn’t pay, Materials would have been delivered a few days beforehand and paid for. Balance was always to be paid on completion. He was self employed and there was only himself plus one worker. In his 40+ years, only a couple of people weren’t happy with paying upfront, so he asked them to pay the materials themselves, but most were happy to pay this way. Most of DH’s work came from recommendations or through plumbing shop.

Hope you get your money back.

Thinking about it, I'm surprised there's no service that acts as a holding account for want of a better term.
people can pay the quoted amount into the holding account and the funds are released to the tradesperson to a schedule or materils bought from the holding account and delivered to the customer and the final amount is only given to the tradesperson when the job has been finished

holding account people get a fee of course but it's worth it for security all round
Seems like a win/win.
Customer knows the tradespeople can't vanish with all their money, tradespeople knows customer can't refuse to pay once the jobs finished, both parties know someone who refuses to use the scheme is a bit dodgy.

Sorry OP, no advice but obviously sounds like a scam!

Yep, have learned this the hard way. Proper contract, expectations laid out, schedule of works and schedule of payments. Otherwise someone (historically me) ends up unhappy.

Why on earth did you give him three grand?! Madness.

How did you pay? We had a similar issue with fencing last year and we were able to claim it back via our bank, we paid by BACS. They ask for the evidence and then claim it through their bank. Likewise, you can claim it back if paid by Credit Card. Good luck!

My worse half is a plumber...

1. Go on companies House website and put the name of the company in the search bar and will give you a business address you could possibly attend.

2. Agree with previous poster to get a friend/family member to call off another number and book a quote as a way to ambush him.

3. If payed by credit card see if you can claim it back.

4. it's normal in my part of the country that a deposit is requested for materials as another previous poster states its murder when the job is completed and the customer refuses payment for a host of stupid reasons. (One customer didn't like the tiles (that they picked). So atleast if payment is refused he's not 'out of pocket' per-say for materials and it's just the cost of his labour he's down.

There’s a vast difference between taking 25% upfront without lifting a finger. Vs taking interim payments at pre-determined intervals in the project which reflect fairly the work completed so far.
But always, the final balance shouldn’t be settled until work is completed to the pre-agreed standard.

I think you’ve been scammed.

Use a different number and pretend to be interested in a quote that way you’ll know if he’s ignoring you.
Search his name/company.
How did you pay? Contact your bank if it’s via banking.

There has been a massive increase in customers refusing to pay upon completion. I don’t really blame them for wanting a 25% deposit but I’d want that buttoned up with a signed contract and it would be a company I could verify was legit before I made any sort of payment.

Thanks for that, yes, that's what I thought.

Seems a lot of money to just hand over to a complete stranger on trust.

I do think he's a genuine tradesman but I'm probably not going to use him as some of his reviews are a bit iffy and I think I can find someone better.

It does sound like you've been scammed.

Really sorry. Contact your bank ASAP and the police too.

A good & reputable plumbing company will have sufficient cash flow to manage purchasing products in advance to start your bathroom. Most work on account with their suppliers anyway. I understand wanting some kind of deposit, but 25% upfront feels steep.

Call him from a different number.

You need to speak to your bank & explain what’s happened. The protections around BAC’s payments have changed and you need to explain that you think this individual is a fraudster.

It is also important you report the individual to trading standards. You can do this by contacting the Citizens Advice.

We had a similar (but different) situation with a plumber, and I’d love to know this persons name but that’s hard on here. It turned out the guy was a conman & had loads of jobs ‘started’ and unfinished. The amount of damage he caused to our property & someone else’s - if nothing else comes of it, at least he hasn’t touched your property.

Could you get a friend to contact him on the pretext of wanting a quote and then be at the friends house with support when he arrives?

Very interested in this post as I have also been asked to pay 25% of the total cost of a bathroom renovation, and wondered if this was normal as I feel very uncomfortable with it.

Apparently though, a lot of tradesmen do this now as far as I can tell from googling it.

His estimate also states that until the job is finished all materials belong to his company, which is a bit thick considering he wants me to pay for them upfront.

Sorry to hear this has happened to you OP. It does sound like he's a scammer.

I'm assuming you didn't go through a website like 'mybuilder.com', if you did that should be your first port of call.

I hope you manage to get your money back.

I'm going to say what I always do in these situations. I know it's probably too late for you OP, and I'm not rubbing your nose in it it. But.
If you buy materials, they are yours and you get them delivered to you.
Get a proper quote, detailing exactly what will be done
Get a proper invoice at the finish of the work.
You do not pay up front. You pay when the job is finished, to your satisfaction.
I've always done this.
(Just for the benefit of others. So you don't get scammed)