Tradesman fucked off with my money

[Blublubblubbing]

I need advice, I found a tradesman through mybuilder to do some garden work for me. He had 100% positive feedback and so I hired him. He turned up when he was expected and did a good job. I left positive feedback saying this.
Whilst on the job we agreed that he would replace our patio as well as he had been good with the first job. He asked for money for materials upfront which I was fine with as he had been very reliable so far. You can see where this is going.. 3 times he has cancelled now and last week I sent a message saying I would like a refund as it had been a month since I transferred money so I got an immediate response saying he would come today. Well guess what... he is not here and he is not answering the phone so have I lost my money? I don't have his address only a phone number.
I know people will say don't transfer money upfront but a lot of trades people ask for that as they could lose out from customers cancelling etc. What do I do now?

Unfortunately once you've submitted a review on mybuilder you cannot edit it. He obviously knows this and asked me to do a review immediately after completing the first job. He knows there's nothing I can do

Is his name Anthony

When I first read your post I was going to say to cut him some slack, because my husband owns a building company, so I know from what he tells me that all supplies are delayed at the moment. However, with all the excuses he has given you this is clearly not the case, otherwise he could just tell you that.

Why don't you text him & say something along the lines of

'It seems you're really busy at the moment, but I really need my patio done asap (insert date if you wish), so could you just deliver the patio slabs to me & I'll arrange for somebody else to install.'

This gives him an out if it is just that he has taken on too much work.

Aside from that, do you know if he is fairly local? If he is, it might be worth just posting in a few facebook groups asking if anybody knows him, post what is going on. He might not be on social media, but somebody he knows is bound to be on there & will alert him to any negative posts, which might make him actually sort things out.

Do you or your neighbours have a ring doorbell which might have caught him or his vehicle plate?
You could also ask on NextDoor app if anyone knows him, and check if he advertises on there.

The problem with sites like mybuilder, checkatrade etc is that the tradespeople can veto negative reviews - only the good reviews are allowed to stay. I have also had negative experiences with traders found on sites like this, and found that when I tried to post an accurate description of what happened, it didn't get added to the tradespeople's profiles on those sites.

Nowadays I try to only go with word-of-mouth recommendations from people who have used a service and who I have some connection with rather than random strangers. You have to be cautious even just asking on a local facebook group, as there's nothing to stop someone from "recommending" the plumber who happens to be their son/partner/mate and that doesn't tell you anything about their skill, reliability or value for money!

Can you get a friend to call and pretend she wants some work done and get his address or further contact details?

Tell him unless he delivers the materials he charged you for by 5 pm tomorrow, you will report him to Mybuilder.

We had similar recently with a builder my DM used without checking him out first. Subsequently googled him and he had form for ripping off vulnerable women. We reported him to the police - they didn't think he'd acted fraudulently but they gave him a call anyway and that prompted him to come and finish the job so it may be worth trying that option. We found an address for him on 192 but as he was also from the travelling community I wasn't sure he would be there to accept service of proceedings.

I'd call the bank.

I empathise with you op. I’ve just had some work done and he started off really keen, then just stopped coming. He’d say he’d come, but then wouldn’t turn up. He basically had had a mental breakdown and tried to kill himself after a relationship breakdown (friend of a friend confirmed this). He also had cash flow problems so they tend to prioritise the fast/high return cash jobs. He eventually finished my job after just over 4 months - it would have taken him 2 weeks max! It was very stressful wondering if he’s come back or if we’d have to pay someone even more money to finish.
The communication, or lack thereof, was awful. Now I know why they have modules on communication in NVQs etc. I thought it was just common sense, but clearly not!

Can you try to draw him back with a promise of further work? Phone and say that your friend/neighbour has seen the initial job he did for you, is really impressed and wants to hire him for similar work or a large job. That will act as bait for him to return to you at an appointed time. Then get some address/contact details.

I would never be impressed by a so called professional person who did not allow payment by card or Paypal. Im in international business myself and although some (European) customers like to pay by bank transfer there is the downside that I could simply bugger off with their money and not send the goods. Of course I DO send the goods as I dont want poor (non removable) feedback on my profile. However I much prefer to be paid by card or PP and would be very leery of anyone who wanted bank transfer if I were a customer.

Contact Trading Standards.

Tradesmen can cancel/prioritize jobs etc. It doesn't mean he's stolen your money. You can either officially cancel now as he didn't turn up, or wait for him to be able to do the job.

I have never been asked to pay upfront. The guy we get to do our garden dies not take a penny (even for materials) until we see the work and are satisfied. He is great as he was delayed starting the job but kept me completely up to date (it was awful torrential rain). I’d say he doesn’t have your money anymore so he’s stalling.

How did you pay him the money upfront? Was it a bank transfer? Could you trace him that way?

This is a bit of a sweeping statement and I apologize in advance to the many tradespeople who act with integrity and demonstrate a good work ethic, but....

History has shown me that there is just a different sense of commitment and priority in building/diy/decorating than I am used to in my 'work world'. If I say I am going to be at a meeting/on a call/at a place at 10am - I just am. I have encountered enough builders/kitchen fitters/plumbers in my life to know that "I'll be there tomorrow at 10" doesn't mean that they will. It means that at the time they said it, they thought they could probably squeeze it, but should another job run over/a more lucrative job pop up/anything else crop up - I will just be bumped until my job becomes their priority.

It is often not even a reflection of skill or someone being 'nice' - it's just a shit work ethic, an inability to time manage or organise and poor communication skills.

No excuses, but just to say, that he might not have started out planning to do a runner in a spiteful/crook way, but may have now lost control and overspent your money elsewhere - just through general shitness.

I would be inclined (only to save my investment) to send a message saying "Look, you're clearly snowed under or up against it, but I do need a definite date so that I can plan my day and stop thinking you are trying to rip me off. I was really happy with your work and don't want this to end up getting ugly. If you can't now do the job, I understand and we can arrange for you to drop the materials here. Please can you just update me?"

It's more than he deserves, but it's probably your best chance to getting the work done and realising your money.

@BashfulClam

I have never been asked to pay upfront. The guy we get to do our garden dies not take a penny (even for materials) until we see the work and are satisfied. He is great as he was delayed starting the job but kept me completely up to date (it was awful torrential rain). I’d say he doesn’t have your money anymore so he’s stalling.

He’s probably a rare breed that has good organisational skills and enough cash flow to enable this. I’ve personally never encountered an independent tradesman that hasn’t at least wanted money for materials.

Tell him unless he delivers the materials he charged you for by 5 pm tomorrow, you will report him to Mybuilder

Waste of time I'm afraid; providing they get the subs the advertising sites don't give a stuff - and he'd know it

He’s probably a rare breed that has good organisational skills and enough cash flow to enable this. I’ve personally never encountered an independent tradesman that hasn’t at least wanted money for materials

Not so rare really - after all reputable tradespeople have accounts with suppliers so aren't "paying upfront" either

As said, I've only ever had one who asked for money in advance, and learned from bitter experience that this is a red flag in itself

Do you have an address for him op? As you'll need that to do a small claims court which is probably the best way.

But yes get a friend to call him and ask for a quote - he'll be just ignoring your number.

Plus call the bank - of you paid by visa you might be able to do a chargeback.

In 40 years of using tradesmen I've had more good people than bad.
However, I wouldn't use anyone based only on a phone number however well recommended.
Surely you had a proper invoice for the first job.

Sorry OP....I might get criticised here but he's probably a traveller who did several jobs locally, asked them all for money up front and has now fucked off. No shame, it's happened to us, never ever pay "for materials" up front.

Mybuilder/checkatrade etc. are useless, don't use them again. The ones who scammed us were advertised as a registered company but looking on companies house they were dissolved several years prior. Checkatrade did not care.

You can try small claims but you are unlikely to be able to find him and tbh we decided not to pursue once we figured it all out as there have been instances with travellers torching cars around here, and they already had our address obviously! It's awful and you feel utterly enraged and powerless and let down. We've learned a lot since then and will only use tradesmen on word of mouth recommendations.

Complain to my builder. They will act on behalf of you and penalise the builder if this isn't resolved. I had a complaint last year from a builder on there and they were really good. They got me my money back and then banned him from the site.

What a nightmare, no practical advice I’m afraid baby I hope you track him down.