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Original poster

Telling the truth about a trader when people recommend them on Facebook

31 replies

Greatrainplane · 16/01/2025 10:29

Hi All,

I wondered if anyone knew where we stood with this and if we’re opening ourselves up to legal action?

we employed a plasterer 2 years ago to do a small job that we were told would take 3 weeks. He took a deposit (apparently to buy materials), removed all the plaster and then disappeared for over a month. He occasionally let himself in to our house at night and removed the materials the deposit had paid for until there were no materials left and he wanted more money. We tried to be reasonable, we tried to manage him, gave him extended deadlines but we were left living in rubble with small children, Christmas was ruined and the impact was awful. He also damaged 2 sofas, a carpet had to be thrown away and he damaged a solid wood floor and several pieces of furniture. He visited the house every few days to demand more money.

4 months in he then sued us in small claims for more than the value of the original quotation. We counter- claimed and 9 months of stress followed involving solicitors, collecting evidence and then courts.

We won very easily and the judge was very unhappy with him and gave him a real dressing down. He admitted in court he had no idea how to do the job, no plan to finish our job and just planned to take more money off us. He was told to pay £5k to us but he declared himself bankrupt so we haven’t had a penny.

He’s still working in the area and we know he’s moved in with an elderly lady where he lives for free on the basis he’ll do small plastering jobs for her.

I’ve seen people on the local FB page ask for plasterer recommendations and his name comes up repeatedly. We know we’re not the first customers to have issues with either the quality of his work and/or him trying to extract money from them he wasn’t entitled to.

Where these people have mutual friends with me I’ve direct messaged them to tell them what happened and recommend someone else we know is good.

I suppose I’m just very angry that he’s still out there putting himself in a position where he could potentially do to someone else what he did to us. My partner also overheard him in a pub a few weeks ago telling someone what an amazing plasterer he is.

Would a response on one of this FB recommendation requests outlying what happened be OK legally or is this libel etc?

OP posts:
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wireddifferently · 21/01/2025 00:13

Can you write something short that uses facts established in the ruling and words used by the judge? If you mirror that language, I think you're less likely to be accused of libel, as it should be less subjective.

Applecharm25 · 21/01/2025 00:04

Greatrainplane · 16/01/2025 10:29

Hi All,

I wondered if anyone knew where we stood with this and if we’re opening ourselves up to legal action?

we employed a plasterer 2 years ago to do a small job that we were told would take 3 weeks. He took a deposit (apparently to buy materials), removed all the plaster and then disappeared for over a month. He occasionally let himself in to our house at night and removed the materials the deposit had paid for until there were no materials left and he wanted more money. We tried to be reasonable, we tried to manage him, gave him extended deadlines but we were left living in rubble with small children, Christmas was ruined and the impact was awful. He also damaged 2 sofas, a carpet had to be thrown away and he damaged a solid wood floor and several pieces of furniture. He visited the house every few days to demand more money.

4 months in he then sued us in small claims for more than the value of the original quotation. We counter- claimed and 9 months of stress followed involving solicitors, collecting evidence and then courts.

We won very easily and the judge was very unhappy with him and gave him a real dressing down. He admitted in court he had no idea how to do the job, no plan to finish our job and just planned to take more money off us. He was told to pay £5k to us but he declared himself bankrupt so we haven’t had a penny.

He’s still working in the area and we know he’s moved in with an elderly lady where he lives for free on the basis he’ll do small plastering jobs for her.

I’ve seen people on the local FB page ask for plasterer recommendations and his name comes up repeatedly. We know we’re not the first customers to have issues with either the quality of his work and/or him trying to extract money from them he wasn’t entitled to.

Where these people have mutual friends with me I’ve direct messaged them to tell them what happened and recommend someone else we know is good.

I suppose I’m just very angry that he’s still out there putting himself in a position where he could potentially do to someone else what he did to us. My partner also overheard him in a pub a few weeks ago telling someone what an amazing plasterer he is.

Would a response on one of this FB recommendation requests outlying what happened be OK legally or is this libel etc?

I wouldn't post anything publicly

bumblebee1000 · 21/01/2025 00:03

I would message the admin and they can block him from the group, we have a gardener on our local group who gets amazing reviews but all from his mates down the pub....he is well known to take forever on jobs and just goes awol for weeks when he is on ketamine....

Crinkle77 · 20/01/2025 23:58

I didn't name and shame anyone publicly but I DM'd the person asking for the recommendation. I just said I can't go in to detail but I wouldn't recommend him. And left it at that.

ultraviolet4753 · 20/01/2025 23:34

In fb groups, you can now post anonymously (by sliding a Button across on the post you are writing), so no one sees your name.

You should be OK anyway if you won the claim, but posting anonymously seems good?

Original poster
Greatrainplane · 20/01/2025 21:56

Thanks everyone for your advice. On this occasion I DMd the poster and explained what an arsehole he was (sticking to provable facts). It turned out we had a mutual friend and our friend told her as well.

For those asking how he let himself in at night, at the start of the job we had a short holiday away booked months before the work was planned. We felt backed in to a corner because we couldn’t cancel the holiday and he said he couldn’t reschedule. He needed a key to let himself in but we hid the valuables and our neighbour went in several times a day to check on him. When we returned he kept coming up with excuses as to why he needed it.

There were times we would hear a noise downstairs and find him in our dining room (where he made the biggest mess and stored everything) removing materials. Other times he would walk past our kitchen windows whilst we were having dinner and let himself in without knocking or calling out to us. I was once home alone, and walked in on him taking the last of the materials and causing huge damage to our wooden floor. He got very aggressive with me but stopped when my partner came home. My partner demanded the key back and we changed the locks.

It was a difficult line between being reasonable with him to keep him happy and being taken advantage of- he was quite emotional from the start (even using my partner as an agony aunt, telling him about all of his relationship issues- my partner said it was like consoling a 12 year old).

@AliciaSoo not Mark on this occasion. This excuse for a human is called Ollie.

We reported him to Trading Standards 3 times and we had an excellent barrister who humiliated him in court. He got him to admit that he was intentionally trying to extort money from us. Seeing a grown man being told off by the judge for 15 minutes was excruciating to watch but, in hindsight, not enough considering his current actions.

He didn’t pay us anything but due to repeated errors he made in the court process he was forced to pay over £1k in court fees.

OP posts:
BellissimoGecko · 20/01/2025 21:35

If you stick to facts ('this was my experience...') then you will be fine.

I'd name and shame him everywhere. He's scum. Horrible, manipulative, criminal scum.

BellissimoGecko · 20/01/2025 21:33

He occasionally let himself in to our house at night and removed the materials the deposit had paid for until there were no materials left and he wanted more money.

WTF?! How could he do this?

AliciaSoo · 20/01/2025 20:48

Calles Mark by any chance? Very similar story over here

Lickityspit · 20/01/2025 13:46

Oh please name and shame. I had a decorator fleece my DM and made a mess of her house and we had to pay to have it redone. Every time he or his family recommended him I either private messaged or put photos of the mess he made of my mums house. I also reported him to trading standards, the council and tax people.

Mittens67 · 20/01/2025 08:56

Are Trading Standards aware of this man? Sounds like he needs investigation

Oreyt · 20/01/2025 08:44

He came into your house at night?

Did you tell the police?
Does he still have your keys?

Quiinkong · 20/01/2025 08:44

festivemouse · 16/01/2025 10:39

I'm not sure it could be libel if you factually state what happened and the court case result - that's not a false statement you're making, it's your experience and the outcome of a court case.

This

Doitrightnow · 20/01/2025 08:36

I was scammed by a guttering guy. Luckily got my money back from the bank (I'd paid for materials via bank transfer... I didn't think the bank would do anything, but they were amazing. Just mentioning it in case it's useful for anyone in the future to try).

If I saw him being recommended I'd PM the person I think. Regardless, I don't think it's libel to tell true verifiable facts.

Northernladdette · 20/01/2025 08:25

I’ve had a similar experience, took two days for my husband to fill in walls after a plastering job, it’s disappointing to say the least. I wouldn’t put anything on FB as he knows where you live.

mummyh2016 · 20/01/2025 08:05

I'd message the people who run the fb page and warn them. They may block him off the page and delete post recommending him.

1989whome · 20/01/2025 08:02

Why would it matter? Slander is only a thing if the claims you are making are untrue. You won in court, but didn't get a penny from him. Sing like canary! Tell everyone you can about him, nothing worse than getting ripped off by a cowboy. You have all the facts and evidence to back it up. No one can touch you.

HazelBite · 20/01/2025 07:52

Dh is a plasterer and had to go on a specialised course (which he paid for) to be able to do lime plastering properly. Sounds like this bloke was just winging it, and may be an okayish plasterer for nothing specialised. However he doesn't sound trustworthy and that is so important if you are having tradespeople in your home. I think you are able to say that you didn't find his work satisfactory but I agree with PP 's about his current living arrangements very suspect!

Mindymomo · 20/01/2025 07:48

It also annoys me when I see people recommending a guy we had to replace our gutters, DH virtually had to tell him what to buy and what to do, he never finished the job, DH did, left his ladders here for over a month, excuse after excuse, over 50 texts for a 2 day job and I see people on local Facebook groups saying what great work he does, personally I think they are relatives, I know one is his partner. I would direct message if they were friends, I wouldn’t say don’t use this person, but I say be prepared for a long drawn out job with someone who isn’t very knowledgeable or reliable.

Whyherewego · 20/01/2025 07:48

I think if you phrase it along the lines of "I used this plasterer and the work did not get completed and we ended up in the small claims court where we won. Please DM for more details" then that would be sufficient to warn folks and is not libellous

Desmodici · 20/01/2025 07:41

festivemouse · 16/01/2025 10:39

I'm not sure it could be libel if you factually state what happened and the court case result - that's not a false statement you're making, it's your experience and the outcome of a court case.

This. It's not libel if it's true.

Swiftie1878 · 20/01/2025 07:39

I’m sure that legally you’d be fine, but I wouldn’t put my name back out there in connection with him - things could quickly turn very nasty.

If you’re concerned about the elderly lady he’s moved in with, contact the police and/or adult social services.

Good luck! x

Ariela · 16/01/2025 11:05

You can always direct message the FB person asking, just put a message on the post to say 'I will DM'
If you reference in your message the date and court case number, the person you are messaging can always look it up themselves to verify.

MartinCrieffsLemon · 16/01/2025 10:48

It's not libel because it's true and you have the court records to prove it

But he sounds like an unsavoury character and he knows where you live so I'd advice caution about openly calling him out

And, as others have said, contact the council adult safeguarding team as there is significant concern over his living arrangements

Original poster
Greatrainplane · 16/01/2025 10:43

@GasPanic 20m2 of lime plastering. In case you haven’t used lime, you put a coat on and leave it for a period until it’s just right and then add another until you have 3-4 layers. There’s a lot of down time but 3 weeks should have been enough for that area of plastering.

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