Ladies - i have had my baby - most of you probably know that by now though! But baby Reuben is here, asleep on my lap. YEY!
I just thought I would post, mainly as I feel quite pleased, with some information i had today.
The old apprentice came around today to 'drop some keys off' which he found in his car, from our job. And it turns out, he is no longer on speaking terms with the old builder either. He left to take up an apprenticeship elsewhere, and the old builder refused to pay his final wages and said he already paid him. The apprentice said, he left as he could no longer work with the builder, he could not be associated with someone who worked the way he did, and he did not want to have any future reputation tarnished through working for him, so he left. He told the builder he was leaving, but not why, and the builder became very aggressive towards him!
He stopped for a cuppa and looked at some of the shoddy work still left, and he said he was appalled by how he left things with us. He had only done a couple of jobs with him and said he could not understand how he could work this way. He said, he was known for blaming others, and he also owes money to several other building people (plumber, rubish removal guy, plus the electrician we worked with, the stair company) and he appears to have disappeared, no one can contact him. The apprentice went from being paid £250 a week to £100, and did not get the last months pay at all.
Also, interestingly, he said, he lives a lavish lifestyle, on the one hand getting the apprentice to work weekends for free by claiming financial ruin if they did not finish the job, asking for compassion, loyalty and how it would be repayed when work picked up, and then being seen driving a brand new Lexus and a Harley Davidson, goes on foreign holidays, and regular trips away. He said, the builder would take him to 'jobs' to give us the impression he had other work, and use the time to try to emotionally blackmail him to not leave, and that his last job he ripped the guy off as he wanted more work done so he charged him a fortune and got heavy handed when he did not pay up.
Oh, and he does not have a brother. So the story of his brother being sick in hospital was made up. Which we already knew, but interesting to hear it confirmed.
So, this guy is not just a cowboy, but a rip off crook. And, seeing as I am going to be a full time mummy for a few months and will need to keep my brain occupied, I shall be making it my mission to get this money back from him, and maybe even seeing if he has broken some laws in the process. Lets hope so.