Not able to contact plumber - he has £3000

[Hello113]

Plumber was meant to start my bathroom this week but I can't reach him. I've been trying for 2.5 weeks. I've WhatsApp, text, email and call - nothing. Phone goes straight to voicemail. As of yesterday my WhatsApp messages are on one tick. He has £3000 of mine which I paid for materials. What to do now???

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.

@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.

Sounds reasonable

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.

@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!

Snap!
Once bitten, twice shy!

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.

He was recommended by a friend who also now can't contact him.

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.

Same as me. I do have his address because it's on the invoice.

Sorry same as me as in phone number email and home address

Are you sure it's a legit invoice and address?

Sounds like 3k down the drain.....
Checkatrader isn't legit imo. My ex is a joiner.. On there as a mechanic... He really isn't...

How did you pay him? This is relevant.

Where were the materials delivered?

Bank transfer

I don't know, how would I be able to find this out?

Have you googled him and done any research? Looked up his trading name or address online? Looked at his reviews etc?

Sorry for you op. I had quotes for a new heating system. I had someone booked, had his terms and conditions when he last minute asked me for 50% up front. I felt very pressured and checked the paperwork. It was not in there.
He then chased me up and I said I would not have booked him had I known. He then denied he even asked for it. I responded it was on my phone.
I couldnt trust him after that op. But it can be so easy to comply whilst feeling uneasy. Hope you get it resolved.

There is…. A company I used to have an en-suite refitted in a property I bought in an area I had no connections used this:

https://protectmyinstall.co.uk

Its easy if you’ve been in an area a while, and have network of tradespeople, but otherwise there’s risk both ways and some from of ‘escrow’ service is a good solution I think.

In France it’s normal (at least in my experience) to pay 25%/30% of a deposit on booking the work, balance on completion. But the rules on ‘bouncing’ a cheque in France are tough - it’s a criminal offence. And, I suspect, not paying on time is (a) far less acceptable and (b) fare more easily remedied

OP you need to use a website to look for the company name and registered address. Was the bank transfer to a personal or business account? Even a quick google with the name and address on the invoice should pull this up, for registered businesses.

Im hoping it was a business account you transferred too and not a personal (when you do a bank transfer you have to select which option). As this should be able to recover easier if this is a scam.

www.gov.uk/get-information-about-a-company

Send a message to say you're initiating small claims court proceedings via Money Claim if your funds are not returned within 48 hours.

Not much help I know but what was the point in using a recommendation from a friend if they hadn't even got to the point of the chap completing work for them either?

She didn't tell me she still needed something fixing by him.

Contact him from a different number and arrange a visit for a quote at a friends address…

I know someone going through the small claims court after their builder disappeared. I think give him up and look into how you can report him / claim the money back, then find a new plumber if you can afford it to get the work done.