I was scammed out of £3400 today and I feel suicidal

[MoSalahsBeard]

Scammy plumber firm ripped me off today to the tune of £3400. They ripped everything out of the bathroom to ‘investigate’ the problem for which they charged me £300 an hour emergency rate when I never said it was an emergency at any point. Was my word against theirs. Turns out they operate under many different company names and after doing digging into the other company names there are tonnes of awful reviews saying they rip you off by saying either they or you classed it as an emergency and charge a fortune. The man wouldn’t leave my house til I paid him, I’m on my own in the house as husband is away on business.

i spent all afternoon bawling my eyes out on the phone to Trading Standards, lawyers, and the company itself. I absolutely lost it. SENSITIVE CONTENT REDACTED BY MNHQ

Called the Samaritans crying saying I feel like killing myself. I’m trying to hold it together for my kid but I feel utterly broken. Ashamed, embarrassed, furious and feeling like I don’t deserve to eat for months until this is paid off. I don’t know how to cope with this. I’m utterly devastated.

Mods please don’t stick this in mental health. I need to talk to people about what happened to me today

Take a deep breath and a step back. No one has died .

I lost 6x that earlier in the year due to my accountant fucking up so can empathise!

How did you pay? It wasn’t cash was it?

Oh OP I’m so sorry! It wasn’t your fault. Don’t blame yourself!

Name and shame them everywhere. All their reviews everything. Report them to trading standards. I don’t know - someone else might come along with better advice.

Don’t blame yourself though. You don’t deserve that on top of this.

I’m so so sorry this has happened to you. I’m no expert and definitely not a lawyer but if you were coerced into paying, have you thought about calling the police? Please be kind to yourself.

Yes I agree with this.

OP I am so so sorry. You absolutely do deserve to eat and you make damn sure you do eat, every single day. The bad person on this situation is the scammers and NOT you. Have you contacted the police and reported them? Did you pay cash or through the bank? The bank may be able to pull the funds back. I’m so sorry. Please do not harm yourself or cause yourself any further trauma or upset by attacking your body. You are innocent. How were you to know it was a scam? It’s not your fault.

Small claims court?

How did you pay? If credit card, can you get it back?

What a bastard for doing this to you, but please don't hurt yourself. It sounds like he was a bully, and has form for doing this sort of thing.

What did Trading Standards and the company say?

I'm really sorry this happened to you. Try and get an appointment with citizens advice tomorrow. You are not stupid, loads of people are scammed. What did trading standards say?

Okay, first of all, please just breathe and sit down and try to calm yourself a little.

What happened to you is awful, but it's just bricks and mortar and money - all of those things can be fixed and replaced, YOU can't and you are FAR more important.

Have you got anywhere you can go and stay tonight and get some support? Then tomorrow you can look at speaking to your husband / Trafing Standards / lawyers etc.

I hate using clichés, but this too will pass, honestly. Everything will be fine.

By card

What is the name of the company? This happened to my MIL or something similar.
They charged something ridiculous for every 30 mins plus a call out fee of a couple hundred. Sound familiar?

How was it £34k? Is that a typo as it also says you paid £300? Sorry if I'm being thick but just a bit confused.

When you were a kid, did you get punished for breaking things or making mistakes? It wasn't your fault then and it isn't your fault now.

OP please don't do anything drastic. As a pp said, if you were forced/coerced contact the police.

If it was a bank transfer contact the bank helpline and see what they can do.

Op! Fear not, this is great news. Call the bank and tell them that it was under duress, you were alone and the terms were not explained

Not got anywhere to go tonight. I’m solo parenting until my husband comes home. He is devastated too and I feel so horribly guilty I can’t stand it.

Call your credit card company immediately and dispute the charge. Tell them you were coerced and threatened for payment. Right after you call, them report this to the police.

Contact your bank ASAP - they may be able to get your money back.

I would definitely contact the police and my bank, too.

It's £3400

Get on to your bank OP, they should be able to freeze or stop the payment.

I know 3.4k is quite a bit, but it's not unrecoverable from. People get scammed everyday. It's not your fault. The scammers are really good at it. It's how they get their livelihoods.

Don't be so cross with yourself. We all make mistakes and have regrets. At least yours is only money. You haven't hurt or killed someone! What would you say to a friend if this had happened to them?

The bank said I can’t raise a dispute until it’s actually properly left my account. I will raise a dispute but I doubt it will work.

If this happened to a friend I’d not think it was their fault at all. It’s a lot of money to lose. So much stress I feel like my head is going to explode.

At least you have flagged it to your bank, that's the main thing. I think you will be able to claw the money back, although it might take a little while. Have you also reported to the police?