to think maybe I should report this to the police?

[chakra2]

Last week I moved home and I booked a moving company via a website called Shiply. Basically you post details of the job and a bunch of supposedly "vetted" moving professionals make bids. You choose which bid to accept.
I accepted a bid from a guy who had reasonable reviews. The price was confirmed and I paid the deposit.
On the day I noticed the guy seemed bizarre. He was flirting with me horribly and demanding I go on a date with him. His helper was a lovely guy and seemed embarrassed by this behaviour.
During the move the older guy just slammed my sofa and bed frame down on the dirty street. He seemed in an enormous hurry.
Right at the end of the move I paid the agreed amount and decided to add a £20 tip (mainly because the younger guy had been so hard working and helpful). The older guy then went mental.
He said that the fee I'd agreed to was not the fee he felt inclined to charge and he wanted at least twice that amount. It got really ugly. At one point he said he was disappointed in me (???) because he'd found me so attractive (WTF?). Then he said I'm a scammer and that he's going to drive away without accepting the cash I was offering him. I asked why on earth he'd do that and he said "don't you worry -- I'll be back to get my payment using other means."
It was HORRIBLE. He kept gaslighting and lying and asking for more and more money and telling me I should be ashamed of myself. I showed him the email confirming the agreed price, and he just tried to gaslight and say I was seeing things!
Eventually I got him to accept the cash payment but he demanded I make contact to send him more money at a later date.
I reported him to Shiply who did nothing at all besides email me his home address.
The guy is now bombarding me with calls and texts demanding more and more money.
He's a REALLY thuggish type of person. Not sure what to do.
I've now read every single one of his hundreds of reviews on Shiply and several previous clients of his reported feeling afraid for their personal safety and having been extorted out of 100s of £ by him

You poor thing that is pretty terrifying.

I have used Shipley before. It did seem a bit, kind of cowboy if I can use that term. It was a long time ago, and my furniture arrived in one piece, And the people were nice, but I don’t think it was a company it seemed more like some guys with a truck.

I’d phone the police and contact Shipley. You don’t have to press charges yet you can get advice from them - say everything, say you are scared contacting the police will make it worse for you - they can reassure you and say what your options are.

The police may be able to further advise about appropriate protection, I remember when they installed (free of charge) a kick plate thing to the bottom of my gran's door. If she pushed it down with her foot the door would only close.

Are you upstairs in the flats? I'd still get a ring video doorbell for the door to your home and if you're low enough that bricks could come through the window then I would invest in CCTV (it's fairly cheap these days).

I'd make sure you have blinds/voiles/nets/window film up at the windows whether you're on the ground or not. Although unlikely if you're higher up, there's nothing to stop the creep using a drone to look in and/or intimidate you.

Please call the police, there's every chance they've had other reports but need extra evidence.

Obv report to the police!. This is literally what the police are for.

He is not going to retaliate. He is counting on his bully boy tactics to work with you, and the minute it looks like he is going to be charged with harassment and extortion he will back down.

Take it the hell up some more with Shiply though - Twitter, emails to HQ, the lot. He should NOT be permitted to bid there. He sounds utterly appalling.

Terrifying ! I would send the warning and then follow through if he keeps threatening you. I would also up the ante with Shiply, they need to take this seriously, the man sounds a maniac. Tell Shiply that you will be tweeting about this and informing the press if they don’t sort it out.
Surely Shiply should also be reporting him ?
I have used Shiply and been very happy, but this is so worrying that I would think twice next time, they need to be more concerned about it.

What @crosspelican said. Definitely report, but if Shiply aren’t giving you the right support call them out on social media! Sometimes it’s the only way to get these big companies to respond to you and take you seriously. Make sure you tag their company on twitter or bombard their Facebook page! People will be very interested to know of your experience.

Erm, harassment, demanding money with menaces and making threats to your safety are all crimes I think. If no one reports him then he'll keep doing it to more people, and I'm guessing his target victims are single women or people who are vulnerable in some way. It's good that you've reported it to Shiply, but they have nothing to gain from doing anything so I personally would report it to the police. At the very least send him a firm message that any further harassment from him will result in you reporting him to the police. He's expecting you to just cave in to his demands. Stand up to him OP and show him you're not prepared to be intimidated.

For all you know the police are already aware of him and would be very grateful for the information.

I think it's worth calling the police because he has a track record of doing this. He might go on to do the same thing to other people.

If it's got good security already that's great.
If he turned up, video your intercom conversation so you have a record.

Report to police. Shirley should remove his name. Block his calls. Keep any email messages for evidence. Social media might help highlight his behaviour. Trading standards might help if hes a scammer.

He has broken the law and needs to be stopped before doing it to anyone else. I'd alert trading standards too.

Call the police but also get on to trading standards and fraud. He may do this or have done this to older people who are to frightened to say anything!!

Look, he is demanding money with menaces. That is against the law.

Call the police. Speak to trading standards. Report Shiply to the ICO (they shouldn't have given you his home address). Screen dump the bad reviews and keep / log every call, email etc.

Have at him!

Echo previous PP and report to police. Plus take it further with Shiply. Also, block his number on your phone, that way he cannot contact you

I doubt Shiply will do anything, and as for their vetting I don't think it exists as I think anyone can sign up, but it is full of scammers and con artists, all Shiply do is act as a go between and take a cut of the money paid for the service.

I would send the text and if he contacts you again go straight to the police.

Call the police but also get on to trading standards and fraud.

Bullies like this rarely follow through once they've been properly warned off. If he does kick off further, the police will already know and can take quicker action. It may also stop him from doing it to someone else.

Please ring the police

Yes definitely report it, sorry you're dealing with this it sounds horrendous! If the company have had reports before (which it seems they have by the reviews) it's outrageous they're not doing anything about it.

@Jaxhog you'd be surprised how many keep trying even after warnings.

Also report him to local trading standards.

And report Shiply to the ICO as they shouldn't have given you his details.

I'm going to call the non-emergency police number and ask for advice.
I strongly suspect he's done this LOADS of times to other people and that he generally gets away with it.

Shiply really must take him off their site. What if he physically attacks someone?

One of the latest reviews on him on their site is from a mum of a young child who's saying the guy was so aggressive and abusive that her little one was visibly terrified. FFS.

Report to Trading Standards at the local authority

This sounds really horrible. Definitely call the police OP. Keep us posted xx

Absolutely report to the police. He sounds terrible. But why didn't you read the reviews beforehand? (Just curious, not judging)

@MildDrPepperAddiction . I only read some of his reviews, unfortunately. He has around 500 reviews. Of the 50 reviews I read before booking him, only about 2 were negative and those were quite mild -- one saying that he was late and another saying he got argumentative over prices.