Cheated by a scammer

[Poles Apart]

Went and quoted a job 1 House knocked in to 4 with members  of the same family living in them, one House wanted some plaster and paint removing from the patio doors inside and out, 3 houses had 3 skylights in the roofs it took me and the lady 3 hours of hard work to complete we charged £170. Later in the day got a phone call from the guy who wanted debris removing he was fuming saying we'd done a terrible job so we revisited, he he pointed at the door glass and said look, I said look at what they look fine to me, there were a few small paint specs here and there that I probably didn't see as the windows were wet, he asked for a refund for all the houses I said why he said no one was satisfied with the work I got suspicious then I offered to rectify any problems with any of the work but he refused and still demanded a refund and refused to show me the other houses, he then pointed at a doorstep which had some marks on I reminded him that we were window cleaners and we don't carry out restoration work but he wouldn't accept it I now new he was trying to scam me for a refund, I told him that who ever did the building work should have cleaned up after or brought someone in to do it we wouldn't expect them to clean our windows so why should we clean up their mess, he also complained about the quote and said we were earning doctors wages he asked me for £100 back so I gave it him, he wasn't in when we did them but his mother was at one of the other houses she even made us a cup of tea and asked for a regular clean, the clown even pointed at some scratches on some glass which wasn't anything to do with us? These people were rich the kitchens were bigger than my house when I told my mother she said they were Gypsy's after I told her they had electric gates and dogs out the front she said they don't want to pay for anything she's done work for them, it's upset us and and it's made us feel bad.

 

[Part Timer]

he asked me for £100 back so I gave it him

You gave him a £100 back? You offered to rectify any work you did that he wasn't happy about and he refused. There's not a Court in the land that would award anything to him. I'd have told him to do one and walked out.

 

[Davy G]

You gave him a £100 back? You offered to rectify any work you did that he wasn't happy about and he refused. There's not a Court in the land that would award anything to him. I'd have told him to do one and walked out.

I totally agree. No money back, you offered to put it right, as best you could. I doubt there was anything wrong with your work. Put it down to an experience you've learned from. An answer for your file for a similar situation if it happens again. We can't make it new again. You gave a price, it was accepted. How you came to your price is your business, and so is your hourly rate. You did the job. I have no doubt you did a good job. It took two of you three hours. That's six work hours. 

Absolutely no way I'd have given him back a penny. 

If he got threatening I'd be dialing the police. We pay for them.

My blood is boiling mate. I hate injustice. 

 

[Bwfc]

Can be very upsetting when people get heated and try it on, if they didn't like what you were earning they shouldn't of agreed to price. I had builder one time threatening me saying window were dirty but this was 4 weeks after they were done & had storms in between. I remember him being annoyed I made £40 an hour and said to him yes that is what I aim for.

No one has the right to say what u should be earning? Unless its a footballer wage which can be criminal but still it's an agreement between 2 parties. Never underestimate your time as long as you are professional 

 

[Pjj]

I certainly wouldn’t give him anything back , I would rectify any work that was faulty , if it was faulty . 

I got had one day by a customer wanting the front gutter vaccing on his house I said it would be £65 for the whole house he said he only wanted the front doing so reluctantly I did just the front for £30 , a few days later he was on the phone saying I hadn’t done the back !,,, after a lot of Agra I did the back foc just to shut him up , now  when quoting I say we only do the whole property there cannot be any confusion then 

 

[dazmond]

why on earth did you give him £100 back after 6 hours work on the property??

absolutely no chance would i have given him anything apart from 2 fingers as i walked away.....

 

[Suhrly]

Aww mate why o why did you give him back £100 ? I can understand in the moment it's different but you even said in that moment you knew you were being scammed but still give him the money back? You should of held strong and just walked away. Lessons to be learnt here. Some horrible people out there.

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I suppose the ton could save you some future expense. He may have attacked your van and put you out of business for a few days. You don't want to get involved with gypos because they have nothing to lose and can make your life hell on earth. Put it down to experience!

 

[Poles Apart]

The only reason I gave him the money back was fear for our safety we were secluded with no other properties in the area, if we threatened to phone the police I think our phones would have been taken I think it would have been worse if there wasn't a lady with me, I did some research and found out they installed artificial turf they claimed we were earning more than them yet the whole property was worth about 2 million, they don't know what we earn I have a pole that cost 700 pound which enabled us to the skylights on all the houses, I pay for advertising, a website, tax, insurance, we have to have sick pay, holiday pay, fuel, van costs the list goes on, we have a impeccable reputation with 5 star reviews our customers love us and Debbie is a brilliant worker with a eye for detail we always wash all doors and do extra work. 

 

[Master Jedi Alejandro]

The only reason I gave him the money back was fear for our safety we were secluded with no other properties in the area, if we threatened to phone the police I think our phones would have been taken I think it would have been worse if there wasn't a lady with me, I did some research and found out they installed artificial turf they claimed we were earning more than them yet the whole property was worth about 2 million, they don't know what we earn I have a pole that cost 700 pound which enabled us to the skylights on all the houses, I pay for advertising, a website, tax, insurance, we have to have sick pay, holiday pay, fuel, van costs the list goes on, we have a impeccable reputation with 5 star reviews our customers love us and Debbie is a brilliant worker with a eye for detail we always wash all doors and do extra work. 

If your safety was in question then you did the right thing. It’s only money at the end of the day, a live dog is better off then a dead lion!

 

[Pjj]

The only reason I gave him the money back was fear for our safety we were secluded with no other properties in the area, if we threatened to phone the police I think our phones would have been taken I think it would have been worse if there wasn't a lady with me, I did some research and found out they installed artificial turf they claimed we were earning more than them yet the whole property was worth about 2 million, they don't know what we earn I have a pole that cost 700 pound which enabled us to the skylights on all the houses, I pay for advertising, a website, tax, insurance, we have to have sick pay, holiday pay, fuel, van costs the list goes on, we have a impeccable reputation with 5 star reviews our customers love us and Debbie is a brilliant worker with a eye for detail we always wash all doors and do extra work. 

They don’t deserve to have people like you do work for them , dump and move on 

 

[Tango]

Refund? Heck i would have said "It's been paid into the bank and i've not taken any cash today, i can go get it for you though? - give me 15 mins and i'll be back"

Would they have seen me again? Not for dust. Even if one jumped in the passenger seat i'd have gone into the bank and asked them to call the police as i've got someone with me demanding cash "by menaces". No way at all would they have got a single penny back out of me.

Then i'd be on facebook getting in first with an article promoting personal security alarms "after we had an incident with a violent alcoholic client". It mentions no names however nobody is going to suddenly review your site slagging you off or people will naturally assume it's that person who's the subject of your latest post.

 

[phillip]

Sorry to hear this fella. Some people are bullies, one thing for sure though if your at that game sooner or later you will meet a bigger bully.  Builders cleans are a total head ache. With out experience stay away from them as you can get burnt big time. Whether it be being bumped or scarching glass or breaking some thing and not getting paid. Always want low prices, not worth the hassle. They always ask the inexperienced hoping they will be fobbed of easily. It has happened to me before when I was less experienced and established. Put it down to experience and move on. Don't waste no time thinking about it.

 

[Iron Giant]

@Poles Apart if you felt your safety was at risk and possible retribution if you had refused the refund and got yourselves away, the last thing you need is to be looking over your shoulders for however long, far better to put it behind you, no doubt better jobs are in the pipeline as every cloud has a silver lining.

 

[Korev]

we charged £170.

said we were earning doctors wages he asked me for £100 back

Have often thought of setting up a website with a register of scammers and short changers with their names and addresses.. Which tradesmen could consult before taking on work.

You could relate your story to people in your area, pub etc. To make tradesmen aware of a dodgy customer.

Ive been caught many times due to my trusting nature. The worst £700 if it makes you feel any better. Despite a court order through small claims court I never did get paid.

A hundred quid was generous £20 would have done and would have saved face for the bully.

Your charge was very reasonable at under £30 hour. My accountant and solicitor charge £180 ph our doctor gets £2k week for 30 hours.

The biggest problem is proving you did the work, there is no finished work to see for example a bathroom or kitchen.

On big jobs I have a form for the customer to sign declaring that the work has been completed to their satisfaction. I include a copy with the invoice. If you need to go to court you have have proof of your claim.

 

[Iron Giant]

Have often thought of setting up a website with a register of scammers and short changers with their names and addresses.. Which tradesmen could consult before taking on work.

You could relate your story to people in your area, pub etc. To make tradesmen aware of a dodgy customer.

Ive been caught many times due to my trusting nature. The worst £700 if it makes you feel any better. Despite a court order through small claims court I never did get paid.

A hundred quid was generous £20 would have done and would have saved face for the bully.

Your charge was very reasonable at under £30 hour. My accountant and solicitor charge £180 ph our doctor gets £2k week for 30 hours.

The biggest problem is proving you did the work, there is no finished work to see for example a bathroom or kitchen.

On big jobs I have a form for the customer to sign declaring that the work has been completed to their satisfaction. I include a copy with the invoice. If you need to go to court you have have proof of your claim.

The website idea or something similar couldn't work as under GDPR you can't disclose or share information with other people. 

 

[Korev]

The website idea or something similar couldn't work as under GDPR you can't disclose or share information with other people. 

I am sure you are right. Even before the introduction of the General Data Protection Act there were reasons it could not be legally done. Over to the anonymity of the dark web and Tor Browser.

the guy and his missus lost £100, In the grand scheme of things no big deal and moved on, much worse things happen over the course of a year and such losses need to be covered in a company's pricing structure.

 

[Tango]

Didn't stop the building industry operating a blacklist of builders

 

[Davy G]

Didn't stop the building industry operating a blacklist of builders

We've got to be careful not to be sued for defamation of character, if we don't have proof to back up what we say. 

 

[Pjj]

We've got to be careful not to be sued for defamation of character, if we don't have proof to back up what we say. 

Even with proof you still have to be careful under gdpr 

 

[P4dstar]

Even with proof you still have to be careful under gdpr 

That is correct, in fact no amount of being careful would protect you. The fact is you cannot provide information without prior consent.

There is a workaround. You would need to have terms and conditions that are provided to every customer. In the terms and conditions you would need to stipulate that you will pass on details in the event of non payment. Realistically not worth the hassle though.