Not paying for work done

[Shell204]

Back story...

We got a local company to come in and redo our driveway, back garden and front garden (big work).

Was told for everything it would be X amount and 4 weeks starting November .

Started in November.. a few days missed here and there but even on good days never a full days work. I was either here or we have camera at front door so can see people coming and going.

Original plans were changed a few times as company came and said we need to save time, labor and money ... we agreed to these things.

4 weeks later...no finished garden.

Said they will be back after new year. Had to message then they returned for a day then dissappear for weeks. DH messaged to as when they will be returning to get a horrid message back saying they are doing us a favor finishing the garden for free ( had been paid the X amount as quoted).

Back and forward for months. Said we needed the garden done for a get together at our house for end of april..told it would be finished. Not finished. Then told it won't be finished unless we give more money.

Told.. give me another X amount and on week 9th June it will be finished and don't need to pay anything until finished at the end of that week.

Didn't start 9th of June. The week after not even 2 days work then asking for X amount. Told them no as it was their agreement no payment to be made. Materials that we had paid for were on the back of the truck and the next day the truck appeared with no materials on it so we're clearly taken somewhere else.

Today... message today to say we've to buy more of Said material that was on the back of the truck and not there when they returned the next day. And will come for an hour tomorrow.

I have told DH I do not want them continuing and I am not paying the final X amount that they want. The first bit they done is amazing work the last 2 days work when they were here is half arsed and you can totally tell no effort or care has gone into it.
Now they're trying to say we are scamming them?

AIBU?

The garden was to be finished late January at the most and for a certain amount which went over and now wanting even more than the original quote.

No don't pay. But I have to ask why you paid more than was agreed in the first place if the job wasn't done?

Yeah this sounds terrible.

I’d be not giving them any more money either.

Maybe try citizens advice regarding getting some of the money back? You may just need to write it off however.

Are you sure they are legitimate? Did they knock on your door?

Sometimes that is the right thing to do. If the cost of a job has risen because things have changed, you can’t just refuse to pay that.

You can’t just not pay them. What you can do is work out the value of the work done, and pay them for that. If there is work done that you need to pay again to do because it was crap, you don’t pay them for that either.

Agreed but the way you put it is that the contractor wanted to save time and money, therefore I would have expected not to pay more....or was it you whom changed the scope of the work?

No they changed the scope to save them time and labor to make it easier for them.
So simpler than the work that the original quote was for.

Did you have a contract? With staged payments? You should never pay the final amount until job is done to your satisfaction. Without a contract it’s you said he said.

It sounds very bad, as if you are being led up the garden path, but we don't have enough to go on. Did you have a written or oral agreement; what was agreed about payment and timing of payments - why were they paid the full amount before the work was completed - I find that very surprising - and what was changed about the work plans that you say you agreed to? Why did you agree to those changes? Did you feel you should, or that you had no choice or were led or pressured into it or weren't sure what was right or have some other reason? Was this a reputable company? Are they registered with trustatrader or any other scheme? Are there any customer reviews?

It's all very unclear so it's hard to know whether you were being scammed in some way. It doesn't feel right. I would suggest that you pull together the precise facts and details of what was initially agreed, written or not, what changed and when and why; how payments came about and why the work wasn't completed, and contact the CAB with this information for advice. There's also the local trading standards office that you could speak to. They might have have some knowledge of the company or have had other complaints.