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Cowboy builders stole £1500 (labour only)! Terrible workmanship & ran away!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ต.ค. 2021
- Worst installation ever! Unfortunately I've been duped by a cowboy builder at my home renovation / house renovation! In this video I will share my experience, provide insight as to how you can avoid the same mistakes as I made and explain what you can do if you find yourself with a cowboy!
Not my usual video; but please subscribe to my channel for my usual (more positive) home renovation footage!
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As a builder of over 35 years experience, there is a phrase I use often when potential clients question the price, " Have it done cheap, have it done twice "
Paying top dollar doesn't guarantee you get good quality work either though!
@@sven7215 Agreed, recommendation and if possible actually viewing a builders previous work is the best method.
True, didn't realise I was paying cheap for labour only £2k for 3 or 4 days work though as inexperienced with fencing! Know now though!! Thanks
@@NicksHomeRenovations I think you paid the correct price as you had already bought all the materials so it was just the labour you were paying. 2 guys for 4 days work at £2000 is a day rate of £250 per guy. I think that is more than fair for fencing work.
£2000 for this amount of work. Mate you got what you paid for. Cheap as cheaps 🤣
I bought an old house about four years ago. The house required a great deal of work done so I started employing builders, roofers, plasterers, etc. It has been a nightmare. I have yet to find a so-called tradesman that can actually do the work. They spend more time bodging the work than it would have if done if they had done it correctly. I am 76 years old and an ex builder so I know if the work has been bodged. There are very few competent tradesmen today due to the lack of skill training. They all want to be paid in the hand and will not accept cheques or cards, only cash. I have ended up putting right their shabby work, which shouldn't happen. What's happened to tradesmen having pride in their work.
You forgot to mention the length of a working day for them, from my experience, its 10 am (ish) to about 3 (ish), with an hour dinner and various trips to 'get a part', and not working 2 consecutive days in a row. This isn't every builder, as there are many good ones, but when you find one, keep him/her sweet.......
I've experienced many shoddy jobs over the years, even with builders who have had good reviews online from other customers and have had good references. So it really is pot luck depending on who you get.
We've recently made the biggest mistake you can make in one of those door to door building firms. We asked for a quote for the rendering, and even though we didn't agree to any work, he decided to show up first thing on a Monday with this scruffy looking, half-assed quote. But like fools, we didn't think anything of it at the time, and we were naive to go ahead with it. So this guy was all nice as pie, couldn't have been more pleasant and friendly, and told us not to worry about paying the money up front until the job was done and that we were happy with it. Sounds great, right? Well no, he asked for £1,000 for scaffolding up front the next day and promised that was it. But then when the pebble dashing was taking off, he found extra work in pointing up, sealing and then rendering. So it went from £3,500 to £8,000 in total. He then wanted £2,000 upfront to get the materials, so that's currently £3,000 we've had to pay, so £5,000 left. Luckily i have money available if i need it, but I'm still annoyed with myself.
And when you think things couldn't get any worse than they could, he had one builder working on chopping off the pebble dashing, but this guy had apparently botched it according to a plastering friend. He said it was the worst job he's ever seen.
We're nearing the end of this complete nightmare, and i just want to get it over with by any means. But i thought i would share my foolishness with people to warn them about never accepting work from any builders who come knocking door to door. I've been a complete idiot, and it's going to cost me dearly. The stress, the worry, i haven't been able to eat or sleep properly. It's just not worth it. So this is a warning anyone who may see this.
Sorry to hear your story, thanks for sharing it. I also got stitched up by a cowboy roofing company, on checkatrade. Their brochures website and reviews all looked amazing, they claimed to be members of the various trade federations etc. which it turned out they weren't. The first chap who did the quote was super professional and friendly, and I accepted the quote. Then it started getting really bad, the cowboys in a rusty van turned up and made an absolute garbage job of my chimney flashings etc. The stress caused was horrendous. I will cut this short or could go on for ages but I managed to get half my money back.
Finished fences look great. Thanks for going into detail about your experience with a cowboy builder, too... would have been easy to gloss over it/not make the video. Good on you for sharing the experience... fingers crossed you get your money back and that this video helps others avoid the same problem!
Thanks Martin, hopefully can help someone!
I recently took a local builder to our small claims court very easy process got back every penny £7300 unfortunately builder claimed hardship and paid back over 9 months but got every penny back plus costs..
Ah well done Suzy. Sorry you had a hard time but well done for pursuing it, not everyone does sadly!
I put my own fence in recently, getting it straight was pretty impossible as there was so much crap in the ground from previous fences etc. It was a nightmare. I did manage to get it to be the right height all the way down though. I agree with you that the work they did is not up to the professional standard you would be expecting.
Good stuff 👊👊 - yes their work was shocking 😂😂
I guess you are not a professional but a diyer? That was so poor if they don’t even bother to take waste away
Hey nick thanks for this, i had cowboys in the past so it is very frustrating. Unfortunately, my neighbours won’t even pay for half for fence so at least you have good neighbours
Yes very good neighbours! Seems like a lot of people have had bad experiences in this rather unregulated industry 🙄
I’m no fencer but I thought that looked pretty good for 2k lot of posts and panels the price should have gave you an alarm call cos where I live that’s a 6k job all day long especially removing all old posts and taken away
2k labour! Materials 2.5k on top which I paid for
That makes sense pal sorry you got shafted 👍
@@NicksHomeRenovations To remove the old posts and clear all waste and build what looks like a 20 post fence, 2k labour is way too less.
Rule of thumb if a fence is 6ft high, post should be in the ground 2ft. Those posts are ridiculously high in the air. I know in the fence trade they are referred to as “sky scrapers”. I believe some old posts can be difficult to get out if a massive amount of concrete been used previously so could stagger where the post goes to miss it like length ways & trim fence panel & gravel board but obviously not go the other way off the boundary line. That job looks shocking overall! Good you have got it rectified & hopefully you & your neighbours get their money back.
Thanks Stuart - I agree with all of the above and have learnt a big lesson with this experience 😂
A great video very informative. I sincerely hope the work can be rectified and this experience hasnt scared you and your neighbour too badly. Congratulations to you and your wife on baby Lydia!
Thank you Phoebe, ever so kind.
Great work Nick. The fence looks fantastic now.
Thank you Gareth!
Would love to see D&J Projects give some feedback on that fencing job! Hope someone sends them a link to this video
Who is this?! Please send!! Love professional opinions
@@NicksHomeRenovations Check out their channel, they are fencing specialists think they're in Nottingham though but I'd say they would REALLY love to give an opinion! I did leave a comment on their last vid so maybe they'll see it. th-cam.com/channels/M5tjDgsDqjkIIuf33w87zw.html
D & J Projects ,top fence installers, watch their videos,quality work.👍
D&J Projects are the best but yes they are in Nottingham they would be shocked seeing that work. It is very shabby it what they would say
@@kaydavies762 get stevie & taff on it they would of done a proper job 🤦🏻♂️🤣
I’m currently doing my bungalow, great videos. Looks good now, name and shame to stop other being stung by these guys
I am vexed on your behalf Nick. I sincerely hope you are recompensed. 🤞🏼🙏🏼👍🏼
I hope so too. Thank you Moira!
Oh Nick I’m so sorry for your cowboy experience. Thank you for this video very informative. I hope your money is refunded soon. Congratulations on the arrival of baby Lydia. Hope you and your wife don’t have too many sleepless nights. Take care.
Ah thank you so much Helen, lovely comments 😊
Great video. Sorry to hear about the builders. Glad you got it all fixed
You and me both! Thank you.
@@NicksHomeRenovations I develope houses as well and that is rule number one. Nobody is getting paid until I sign off on the work
I foolishly employed a roofer from Check-a-trade. They dumped asbestos in my neighbour's garden. Complete animals.
Nightmare for you Nick, sadly there are many cowboys out there but some great solid advice offered by you for others. Sad those guys have no integrity, great job by the new provider perhaps you could recommend them to people in your area.
Thanks Gary. What you said above is true unfortunately and there’s not much people can do about them all!
Sorry for your troubles with the fencing guys. Fence is now looking good. Congrats to you & your wife on becomming Parents to Lydia 👏.
Thank you Alison, ever so kind!
Hi Nick the redone fencing look’s great.
Sorry you went through this, I hope you get your money back 😊
Thank you Jo!
Great video! Thanks a lot of for sharing the story and the helpful advice Nick! Really appreciate it 👊🏽
Thank you Dhesh
Thank you for the informational video Nick, I hope you redeem your money and name and shame them. I wanted to ask you; which building company do you usually use or perhaps you could recommend us a few builders that you feel are trustworthy who do a quality and honest job please! Thanks!
Thank you. Unfortunately my good builders are booked up until 2023 and have asked not for their info to be passed on as I get so many enquiries! Sorry but thanks again for your kindness
Hi Nick so sorry this happened to you. I have gone through a similar issue where I trusted a builder from the trader sites who actually gave me a contract with their address. And unfortunately I gave them £2500 for their building materials, which I had transferred from my bank to their bank account. After explaining the situation with My bank they refused to revert the transaction. As they consider it as a dispute. I went to the police and the ombudsman unfortunately I couldn’t do anything to get it back seems like the person who stole my money was trading with numerous company names. I was extremely disappointed. I had contacted the sites and also called the individual who refuse to talk to me. Really upsetting
Hi Nisrine, sorry to hear that, truly awful. Such a shame these guys can get away with and trading standards or another body cannot control these matters.
It is much easier now to steal a business identity to commit fraud. As a business owner I now have to send accounts, banks statements, company and personal information for anti-money laundering checks to so many places for minor value transactions. I have personal experience of seeing business identification being stolen.
These things happen in life, he was putting his family first and took his eye off the ball. Money comes and goes and you can't take it with you. Hope you are enjoying the new addition to the family bro 👍🙏
Hi Nick - what a sorry story - I hope you can name and shame tthe company ! Just goes to show that even builders get ripped off. Looks good now though, but what a bad experience for you and your neighbours. Good luck with getting your money back. A great video none the less - lessons for us all to learn from. Take care :-)
Thanks Michael. Won’t name and shame as won’t sink to their level! Left a negative review though
thank you for this, i had windows fitted by Safestyle TERRIBLE job in June . and have been treated totally awful by this company
Sorry to hear that E.A. Shocking how they get away with it.
I moved into a bungalow that just had Safestyle front & back doors put in - flimsy badly fitted rubbish!
Looks like my fence! Granted my fence has been there quite a few years and was installed before I moved in but it’s a shocker of a fence. If you look out my back bedroom window you can see just how much out of line it is, in some places it’s out by almost two feet so I’ve lost that amount of garden and my neighbour has gained that two feet. It’s that bad that if I move it now two or three of my neighbours bushes/shrubs will end up in my garden!
Thanks for video we're dealing with a similar situation now with our bathroom. They gave us half the money back and have offered to fix the issues but we have to resupply the materials! Don't trust them to redo the work and ruin our materials a second time tbh. If you know a guy who can fix our bathroom in East london please let me know!
Ah I'm so sorry to hear that! Hope it works out for you, think you are right use someone else though!
Also a good tip is to pay at least a £100 portion of the bill using a credit card (not a debit card or similar). Under UK law (section 75 of the consumer credit act) if even part of a purchase is made via a credit card the card company is equally liable to guarantee your purchase as long as the purchase is between £100 and £30,000. This means that they will refund you the money if you can prove the service you paid for wasn't completed properly and the other party won't deal with you. They will then legally chase them to reclaim their expenses etc and actually can end up helping you put the problem right! Hope that's helpful to someone!
Great tip RazielVictus, thank you
@@NicksHomeRenovations You're welcome! I hope it helps you in future if you have to use unproven tradesmen again. If I lived near you I'd happy work with you in a second (I'm a chippy) as your projects always look like they're done the right way.
Ah thanks 😊
Thanks for this very useful video. Lots of lessons for us all. Congrats on the baby!
Glad it was helpful! Ah thanks so much.
My husband is a gas engineer so comes across a lot of bodge jobs, his take is that a lot of self employed tradesmen are just not that organised and also take on jobs they shouldn’t, but it’s always important to remember that customers can be a nightmare as well. I really think you do have to be there when any work is being done as the only time we have had any issues is when we’ve left people to it! Maybe it is a British thing that we are too trusting!
I agree entirely!
A very useful video just sorry you have had to deal with the fence cowboys and hopefully a successful outcome
Thank you Carol
Biggest fear with getting work done. Just goes to show, given the right circumstances it can happen to anyone Please let us know final outcome.
That is such sad news and such poor workmanship. I'm glad it looks like you are getting the money back and congratulations on your new baby daoughter.
Thank you Roland! All well in the end.
Nick, thanks for sharing your experience.
I have just finished a small project with a constructor, and was about to stop it several times.
It is very useful to know what are the different options for being backed up in this type of cases.
Thank you Agustin. Sorry to hear you’re having your own problems but I hope it all works out ok for you!
Annoying that you have to go through this process! I to have had to remedy bad workmanship in peoples gardens. Glad you got it sorted in the end.
I've done fencing for 16 months and not once have I seen fencing as bad as that. Sorry you had to endure all that
The problem I have is with recommendations, especially if it's a big firm, is you're more than likely not going to get the same guys 'doing the job' as another person who's had a good job and recommended them. We had a nightmare bathroom experience, thought we'd done all our homework, bought good fittings from a bathroom place and used the fitters that, as they put it, " Do most of our work". Way ,way too much wrong to go into detail of the big stuff but even the basic things were wrong..E.g. we had a new bathroom cabinet with a light down both sides fitted by these cowboys and the fitter rang me at work and said " I've fitted the cabinet but there's a problem, it comes on when you put the main lights on in the bathroom" ........mmm that's strange I thought, anyway when I got home I looked at the cabinet and there was an on/off switch for the light.....problem sorted but didn't fill me with confidence. Btw this is no bullshit, one day he rang me and said there's been a family incident and he wouldn't be able to come in that day. Fair enough I though. it happens to us all. Turned out his horse had died (which is sad I know) but it did make me wonder if he had lost his spurs. Also other minor things were grub screws on fittings on the top instead of underneath and he couldn't understand the toilet roll holder could only be fit one way and was a left handed one. He took the bathroom radiator off and left the boiler pressure down so no central heating and then couldn't get rid of the air lock after fitting it ( I managed to watch a TH-cam video and sort it). The siliconing looked like it had been done by a 5 year old. He didn't remove the floor tile adhesive from the previous tiles and then fit waterproof flooring over these lumps ( which have now broken the connecting bits). He cracked the lower portion of our full length walled mirror ( that he wasn't even fitting) which has now to be fully replaced. These are the minor things btw.....I keep looking up at my ceiling because I know there will eventually be a leak......Hi Ho Silver away.......what a wanker.........
Glad you got it sorted 👍 hope you get your money back.
I hope so too. Thank you.
Moral of the story - always always be on site. Or get someone else to be there if not possible to rearrange. Good job. 😎
Yep! Thanks
Sorry to hear what has happened, I have a landscaping company.
Every time we always take out the old fence posts, we've had to dig out whole chunks of postmix.
I will disagree with the 50 or less reviews, my company has been running for year and a half got a total of 20 reviews.
We've got plenty of happy customers, but it's hard to get reviews you ask for feedback. But people don't always do as you kindly ask.
It would appear there are a lot of cowboy builders out there. 2 neighbours of mine recently replaced there fences by two different fencers. Both were shoddy jobs in my opinion. One fencing company has left the old fencing panels lying on the ground, and their still there to this day. And the other fence has concrete posts that are wobbly as the fencers did not use any postcrete. When it came to replace the fence on my boundary I decide to do the job myself. The fence was on a slope. I had to contend with huge stones and tree roots when digging the holes for the posts, but at the end I did a pretty good job.
Top work! Should have hired you!
Really sorry about the shoddy experience - well done on keeping the objective and constructive attitude. P.s. I'm a 10th September baby too haha!
Ha thank you Mohammad!
Note for builders, never work for a bloke that takes paternity leave, that's a red flag all day long.
Excellent....so funny mate 🤣 😂 👍 😆
that's shocking sorry to hear you went through that pain but there's a lesson to learn do your homework properly see the work off the people you are hiring never pay upfront glad there's a good people out there they can help.
Thank you. Definite lesson
Shocking job and glad you got that sorted. Do you mind posting link for the fence please? We just brought a house next to the busy road so looking for something that can reduce the noise. TIA
Great video lesson learnt at least you will know to be careful for next time. Any tips on finding actual reliable builders without recommendations ? I'm in the Midlands
Thank you. Hmm tricky just what I say in the video really. Always difficult, best to keep asking around or neighbours etc.
Drive around. When you see one that looks quality, see if the builder has put a name plate on it, like at a corner. They do that here. If not, walk up to the house and see if they'll share the name. Can't hurt to ask!
Best of luck! 👍
@@kathyusa-iowa5137 thanks mate :)
Good tip 👏
I’ve paused the video at the 1 second mark because all I can see is SKYSCRAPERS with the posts being a mile higher than the panels, still no idea why tradesman are doing that lol. I’ll continue to watch the video a little later!
Haha tell me about it! Thanks for watching, have subscribed to you guys too!
Lol use whomever you want, even a stranger, however always check on work in person. This is the most important part. Show up on site and check the work and always talk with your tradesman.
I had a similar issue 20 odd years ago with some shoddy work, totaling around 20 grand. As I was overseas at the time, I let my brother deal with the issue. Although I didn't get all my money back, karma is often a bitch when months later, I found out that the cowboy's home in the country burnt down on bonfire night. Some people should be more careful.
Wow that's a lot of money, sorry to hear that!
So wrong....what they did is so wrong. I hope and pray your neighbor is okay...bless him/her.
Go get those cowboys! Sock it to 'em, Nick!
Thank you Marybeth. Will do 👊
Congratulations on reaching 30,300 subscribers
Funny how the one time you get someone in, they mess you about and do a crap job. It's the main reason why I try to do everything myself even with experience!
Thank you for sharing very helpful 👍🏾👍🏾
😃
Hey, Hey Hang on a Minute with using Cowboys as Deragatory Term!!!
Please use Outlaws or Rustlers!
In the Wild West the Cowboys get the Job Done! The Outlaws were Scofflaws that shirked work and did shoddy jobs like your fence.
Cowboys will still go the extra mile and Get The Job Done!
Tipping our Cowboy Hats to all the good Cowboys! Good luck with wrestling the Outlaws and Rustlers!
Nice re-do on the fence by the way!
😂😂 thanks Ross
I think materials and labour must have gone up a lot, I am just having a new fence, much smaller than yours and it's nearly as much here in Somerset.
fencing looks great now :) really glad you're on the way to getting your money back !!
Fingers crossed! Thank you.
Agree with most of what you said but just because a company doesn't want to go into a contact for a small value job isn't particularly a red flag.
Drawing up a contract for sub £5k job is probably needless hassle for a good and in demand builder, especially so with the shortages in the labour market atm. I'm afraid that is just the reality of it.
You should have a contract for anything over a grand. If a company is any good they will have a standard contract with standard terms and then simple section for the specific scopes of work. Takes 5mins to fill out and sign. Red flag all day long.
Sorry but I disagree. No contract means potentially no address or details. People need to be held liable for their work if the workmanship is poor.
If the company is VAT registered and is a limited company. There details will be on Companies House and on their estimate which should be sent out before any work is started.
Hi nick congratulations on the birth of your daughter and hope are both are doing well
Thanks so much!
Hi Nick, first of all a big congratulations to you and your wife on the birth on Lydia, just wonderful news 😃. What a horrible experience you had with the fence but I'm so glad you got it sorted in the end and hopefully you'll get a full refund soon. Thanks for sharing this as a lot of people, including myself, would trust the check a trader.
Thank you Jan, very kind words and most appreciated
Name and shame, it’s not like they can dispute this crappy job.
Ha true, but don't want to sink to their level.
Nightmare, I had a summer house built in 2017.. Total cost for me was 7k.. but between 2 trades for concrete pad and build went very wrong. Leaks water and they also put it in an area which is to close to boundary for size. Never got a penny back.
Wow absolutely shocking. Can't believe these people can get away with it.
@@NicksHomeRenovations Yep, I just got to move on from that now, happened during a time when my mum was ill and passed away 1 year after. I was to stressed to battle for refund or repairs etc.
@@snappyfish Ah so sorry to hear that, makes them even worse.
@@NicksHomeRenovations yeah, life does this sometimes.. just got to move on.. I think I'll have to take it down at some point.. love the channel by the way.. hopefully it's my next move myself buying and refurbing now my mind is back on track... But I'm reluctant to trust traders at all, and have a mindset to tackle things myself from now on.. but gotta break that somehow.. 👍
@@snappyfish Thank you Gary! Take care.
Hi. Where is this in the UK please? Sorry about your ordeal with your fence, and wish you the best in getting your money back.
I’m a new subscriber and really enjoying watching your videos, plus I do learn a lot about renovation et al - thank you.
No worries. This is in Kent just outside of London. Thank you.
Should have got DJ projects to do your fencing
Yep I would have if they were based down south!
Thank you for the advice, notes taken
Congratulations on the baby.
Thank you Younus
Glad you got your fence sorted out pal...looks great now
Thanks KB
Great result, eventually, with the fence. Too many examples of cowboys out there, I’m having issues with an electrician who has done work during my house refurb. He installed a wireless doorbell which when I looked online costs £10 and he wants £150 plus vat for supply and fit, I’m refusing to pay that. He was brought on the job by the main contractor who was doing the refurb so I’m actually paying them for sub contractors, a bit of a nightmare all round. Really hate the cowboys that give decent trades a bad name.
Ah nightmare! Sadly this subcontracting business seems to be common too, should of noted on my video to always ask the people quoting whether they also do the work!
Fit it yourself then you fkn nugget! It really pissed me off when people don't appreciate the cost involved with being a small business. That 150 buck reflects his time buying it, fitting it, vehicles, insurance, fuel, his tools, his 4 years of apprenticeship etc. Get a fkn grip and pay the bill you absolute tosser!!
Looked fine from a mile away. To be fair you can get burned via any sort of recommendation. Even the friends and family ones. Some people just aren't capable.
Sorry to hear this mate just goes to even you pros get caught out , hope you get your money back and name and shame these clowns , sometimes it’s best to just to do these things yourself or keep an eye on them that way you can kick them off
Thank you G! Won’t sink to their level and name and shame unless someone in the area I work asks! Left a negative review on the website anyway.
Finished fence looks really good now
Thanks Ben!
Hi Nick, Thanks for the vid!
You mention to always get a contract in place but I’m not sure if you actually covered whether you did so in this case? I assume if you did it would help in claiming the monies back?
No problem! Unfortunately due to being on paternity leave and being too busy I made the mistake of not doing that! However am on the way to getting my money back from C A Trade
You payed £2,000 for all that work? I was quoted around £1,000 for three 4ft panels.
I find it very difficult to trust any tradesmen. Personally I do as much work as I can myself or I only use tradesmen recommend by people I trust. The problem is when you need a job doing and you’ve no recommendations.
Sadly this is another problem. With no main body covering building work, people can make up prices. Know so many builders who don’t want work so price 3 or 4 x higher. Just isn’t right!
Hi,
Sorry for anyone who’s watching and had a cowboy do work for them.
I had a guy called Richard do some building works for me. He was a complete waste of space and I wish I hadn’t paid him close to 20k to do my work.
Please always vet a builder!
At that price red light would be flashing for me.
Had 3 quotes all in this region as 3 to 4 days work and I’ve supplied all materials, just skilled labour needed (which was more difficult than anticipated!).
Hi nick, reguardless of going 500mm into the ground with the post, the posts will still move slightly regardless as its such a high fence. im no cowboy but i have being building 20 years and every fence i have seen has movement in them if there are over 2metres
True! This wobbled in a slight breeze though 😂
@@NicksHomeRenovations ah ok different story then. none the less the did a terrible job, unlucky mate
Thanks Barak
When did building become a 6 figure salary? So many scam artist and unqualified people working in the UK trades. I wish it was like germany where building is regulated. Most don't even both provided a detailed quote yet alone a SoW or actual BoM.
Have you ever worked in construction? On sites for example it starts from top to bottom also most new builds in Uk are rubbish companies cost cutting, site managers chasing their bonuses, and cowboys all throwing stuff up on price all examples there. The industry is a complete sham and as for six figures no but you do realise if you want great work you have to pay the fair price for it
The cowboys just change the comp name and use a different address and join a different scheme.
Sadly this is another problem and yes I agree.
I hate people who start a business just to rip off clients. Sadly these guys will probably just start a new business in a new name and continue doing the same thing. Grrrr.
I know! These websites need to bring in another later security to help the consumers and stop people doing this over and over again under different names.
@@NicksHomeRenovations So true. It seems that these cowboys are always one step ahead. It needs to be addressed in a more effective way.
Congratulations on reaching 31,095 views on this video
You could name and shame them, I would take them to the small claims court as well
@@Petertronic makes no difference how much you are owed because you claim your costs back, you can even add interest as well
Good video and you seem like a very honest person I would use you but you are too far from me
Thanks Atif!
Sometimes it's better getting building regulations involved
Finished fence looks great, glad you managed to find someone to fix it. Where did you get your panels from? Thanks
Thank you - a company called orchard fencing
@@NicksHomeRenovations thanks Nick
Hi, could you say roughly what the poor performing contractor's Checkatrade score and number of reviews was and whether they had the 'Guaranteed' tick? I am guessing you did your research like you normally do and checked these out (and maybe even the reviews themselves) but they did not reflect the final quality.
Btw were you worried at all about leaving negative Checkatrade feedback for the contractor in case of 'repercussions'?
Btw2 thanks for posting these videos!
At the time it was 9.8 before I left my review with only very good scoring. No not worried, people shouldn’t be able to get away with sub quality work and stealing my money!
@@NicksHomeRenovations Admire your principles! With 9.8 and a fair few reviews one would think like you did they were a good bet. I guess some people who know no better may have been happy with that standard and/or just thankful they got something that looked like a fence and didn't get completely fleeced. I got lucky with a Checkatrade fencer (London) who did exactly the same style of fencing at a good price a couple of years back. Another general tip is never hand over any money (even for materials) until the job is done since any decent contractor should have the funds to proceed. Mine gave me a simple single page contract too like you say. Anyway well done, very impressive work. Btw another TH-camr I admire is Gosforth handyman..very thorough, perhaps more thorough than required sometimes! Btw2 if you ever manage renovation work for others or do electrics in the south London area please just let me know where to find your details.
Thanks for the tip! I work in south London and my email address is nickshouserenovation@gmail.com
@@NicksHomeRenovations Cheers Nick..and enjoy the new addition to your family. Ttfn
Thank you 😊
How much did all the materials cost?
Around the £2500 mark for all materials
Fence panels look great but shame about the poor installation of them. We’re they 9ft slotted concrete posts? Should be at least 2 ft in the ground with decent amount of post Crete mix in the holes, if they got the string line bang on them it wouldn’t look so bad. The top of the panel should have a minimal gap showing when finally slotted into posts, the gaps they left are shocking! Bad workmanship leaving the old posts in they should of used a breaker to remove them. Feel sorry for you & your neighbour having to put up with this hope you get it resolved
Thanks Tony, agree with everything you've said above you obviously know your stuff!
@@NicksHomeRenovations I’m no fencer by trade but I’ve managed to install 9ft concrete posts with lap panels & concrete gravel boards with my father in law in my own back garden, learned all about it by watching TH-cam tutorials videos ie dj projects etc 👍🏻
Good stuff. Hadn’t heard of them until I did this video but have now subscribed 👍
My heart goes out to you. I ordered Double glazing windows with integrated blinds but the joiner wasn't able to provide the goods on the date. He decided to offer me plain clear windows (without integrated blinds between the glazed panes) instead. I declined as it isn't what I ordered. The joiner is taking me to the small claims court because he purchased plain windows but couldn't get the blinds it would seem. The judge has accepted his claim to the small claims court, despite me telling the judge that plain clear windows weren't what I ordered, and that the case should be dismissed. So, as an a analogy, if the judge ordered a Bentley from myself, but I offered him an inferior Fiesta instead (nothing against Fiestas by the way - just an example), I am pretty certain he would refuse, stating it's not what he ordered, yet here we are. I am being held to account for refusing a product that I never even ordered ... Is that Nuts or am I missing something here? Love from Scotland, X.
Wow that's ridiculous, so sorry to hear that. Have had about 50 stories like that after posting this video, so they're everywhere.
We once had a double glazing firm change our back door but they fit the porch door instead of the outer one. We were out at work and a neighbour opened up etc. Anyway I got home and contacted the firm and they said well you'll have to pay us for the inner porch door we fitted too.......ermm no I won't I said, put the original one back on and fit the one we wanted changing. I never saw them again............but at least I got a new door for free...........
I am planning ro do a kitchen refurb but the thought of my hard earned cash being lost to cowboys gives me sleepless nights.
Ah don’t let it do that! Just ask friends, family and colleagues for good recommendations
Good luck with that. What really gets my goat is when you watch 'proper' fitters on TH-cam and you end up with John Wayne 🙂
Looks great however not 100% or it’s me just being fussy 😂 I would of worked out 50% of the way used a mix of sizes of gravel boards to compensate for the difference in height or worked out 50% then had just one level change… having fences that step up continuously looks a bit low standard. Just my opinion.
When they sent that figure of 2k you should of clocked that there not a genuine fencing company .
To dispose of that waste it is costly especially concrete posts .
Thanks Bobby, I know that now. But hard to know with zero experience what something should cost but know now to do more research.
I’ve never heard the term “cowboy builders”. Not sure if it has been used in the US, but it might be in a different region.
Ah interesting! There’s a tv show on it here in the UK - basically incompetent tradesmen!
The one thumbs down is the cowboy builder!
Haha
Thanks for the video. What was labour charge for fitting fence that worked ?
£2200
Yeah lol last year I lost £6K to a rogue builder thankfully I reported it to Trading Standards he's currently under investigation anyways.
Check a trade is an absolute con, none of the companies advertising local to me are from way out of the area, many with PO Boxes, no what I mean !
Shocking job but £2000 to do both sides that is well cheap should be probably more like 3 1/2 thousand I would’ve thought there’s a lot of work there I’ll bet the materials were over £1500 so they charging you £2000 more but going to use the original kickboards and panels and Just buying new posts
Very nice
Thank you.
Looks great now but still left the long fence post next to the house?
Yes good spot that was for stability. As the foundations for the extension are there so we couldn’t dig deep obviously as zero soil, so it had to be fixed a lot to the house and we had to leave that lip otherwise it just wasn’t strong enough.
I will admit the fence isn't great, but that scratch coat render is shocking 😀 you really need some good tradesmen
Hasn't been rendered yet! Temporary fix until renderer can begin work in November to get through awful British weather in the meantime.