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?

@me4real

As far as I know a lot/most of any kind of workers will ask for money for the stuff they'll need before they start a job. For instance a friend and I did some painting and decorating and got given money to cover the paint and equipment.

Most trades wholesalers/suppliers offer trade accounts and credit facilities. There's no need at all for a reputable tradesman to have to pay for materials upfront.

Screwfix, Dulux, Bromborough, CEF, Travis Perkins, Wolseley, Graham, Edmundson, Tradepoint, Toolstation, etc all do credit accounts for tradesmen.

Update... he contacted me to say he's been struggling with family problems and he's sorry its unprofessional blah blah. I stupidly believed him and booked in yesterday as the day to finally have my patio done. Well yesterday at 7am he texts to cancel saying his labourer has let him down and he's got a new guy starting tomorrow so will come then. It is now tomorrow at 8.45 and no sign of him. He said he would start at 8.

I cant believe I was stupid enough to believe him. I feel so annoyed. I guess now I have to do the formal letter for small claims?

Any sign of him yet op?

I would just drop him a final message saying if the money is not back in your account by 5pm you will initiate proceedings at the small claims court and will update your review on mybuilder. Both would be bad for his business. It might just do it and save you the hassle. If he says I’ll come and do it tell him it’s too late.

@Blublubblubbing

Update... he contacted me to say he's been struggling with family problems and he's sorry its unprofessional blah blah. I stupidly believed him and booked in yesterday as the day to finally have my patio done. Well yesterday at 7am he texts to cancel saying his labourer has let him down and he's got a new guy starting tomorrow so will come then. It is now tomorrow at 8.45 and no sign of him. He said he would start at 8.

I cant believe I was stupid enough to believe him. I feel so annoyed. I guess now I have to do the formal letter for small claims?

A triumph of hope over experience, I am afraid to say.

Not turned up and not heard from him. I sent the message asking for a refund by the end of the day and said I will start legal proceedings if I don't get it. There's another review on my builder this morning from someone else saying the same story as me. He walked off the job after securing more work from them and they'd paid deposit and have had false promises of him turning up ever since. I've now left a review saying what's happened to me so hopefully mybuilder will close his account now. He's obviously doing it to lots of people.

He's obviously doing it to lots of people.

This is where I rather lose patience with the pathetic assertion that law in the UK is about justice. Because it never has been.

The stark reality is that the law is deliberately not intended to deal with people who set out from day one to be crooked. And the total lack of interest of the law in such matters simply leads to a back street version of justice, where eventually someone scams the wrong person and has an unfortunate encounter with a baseball bat. Or worse.

Given that he seems to be doing this to more people I'd phone the police and make a complaint of theft/fraud. He seems to be acting intentionally.

Is his name Danny? 🤣🤣

If you've got his name and address absolutely shop him to HMRC.

Not read the whole thread so thus may have been mentioned. Can you contact your bank to see if they'll do a charge back or similar? You've paid money for goods which haven't arrived and they may be able to refund you the money from his account. Job done.

@Pansypotter123

Given that he seems to be doing this to more people I'd phone the police and make a complaint of theft/fraud. He seems to be acting intentionally.

They won't be interested. And it's very difficult to prove to a standard a court can accept that it's deliberate. Mysteriously we aren't allowed to hear a parade of identical cases and draw a conclusion that someone is crooked. Probably because that would stifle the entrepreneur spirit we are supposed to rely on.

This is more Trading Standards area. Only they are stretched thin. Also the more crafty crooked traders know to spread their behaviour over several different authorities, just to make it harder.