Thanks a lot HB. I will send out the letter to them next week.

This is most likely the case. In those circumstances do the solicitors receive letters for them too?

Thanks a lot for all the advices and especially the letter template FTMDave! It really means a lot. They indeed came back Thursday evening and I did open door that time. As expected they demanded payment of full amount and I flatly refused. Then they back tracked and asked me how much their work is worth. I said that I cannot possibly answer that question until they provide me with a detailed list of work and materials used, and any other evidences of work that has been carried out. I also told them that I consulted trading standards and it is their advice to me that I should not make payments right now until the pending questions have been answered. They don't have any photo evidences of the work they carried out and refused to produce any guarantee documents unless I make full payment. They also back tracked on their claim that they have replaced 41 top slates (claimed to be 40 pounds each), and stated that they just repaired it and 1600 pounds in cost is the in the materials. I asked is it cement or mortar, they said more than that but did not say what, so I again insisted they give me the full list of what they have used. As expected they then demanded 120 pounds for the gutter cleaning to be payed right on the spot, and I said I am happy to do so, but if I am going to pay now they must provide me a separate invoice for it and it should be treated as a separate job to everything else they demanded. For some strange reason they refused to do so. They then agreed to send me all the detailed itinerary of work carried out as well as any photos they had Thursday night. I haven't received anything. I will wait for a couple of days for them to respond and then send out the paper letter as suggested. I will also send a copy of that letter to their email, just in case they claim they never received the letter. I will not send them the 120 pounds payment for the gutter cleaning until they send me a revised invoice separating it from the rest. And for the repair job I agreed to I must first see evidence of what work has been carried out. I search Google maps for their business address, but strangely at that address is a solicitors office. Is it possible they are registered at a solicitor representing them?

Ah too late to see your reply. I called CAB first thing this morning and the advise they have given me are as follows: - I should not pay anything now - Since they have not given me any cooling off period of 14 days for the contract, as a consumer I have now the right to cancel within 1 year and 14 days. - I write a paper letter (send recorded mail) informing them of this fact, asking for their complaints procedure and whether they are a member of or agree to resolve this dispute using the ADR (alternative disy resolution), and a deadline of 14 days to respond. They have also passed me to the council's trading standards enforcement office. An officer has just called me, with the advice that - I should avoid face to face or telephone contact at all possible. (Luckily they don't have my number) - Since I have already written to them asking for the detailed itinerary of materials and costs, wait for their response to defend their position - Send the paper letter as advised by CAB - Keep the officer informed of all updates and she will be tracking the case and offer advice - Don't pay anything until the matter is resolved in a satisfactory manner As a matter of fact they just came to my house . Getting angrier. I am pretending I am not at home. They knocked open my neighbours door and asked them to call me (I had to mute my phone in a rush). They also asked my neighbour for my phone number and it's is good that he didn't give it to them. I texted my neighbour in secret all this time. But I felt like being castled in my own house. It must not continue like this, if they come to my house like this everyday. I travel a lot to for work, and I don't want to leave my wife and kids in any risk. I hope they go away soon and if they come back later today or tomorrow I will tell them in face that I have sought advice from trading standards and they told me not to pay and all disputes should be handled in writing, with an independent arbitrator. I hope that will kill their hope and move on.

I just checked council's advice on fraud what happend today fits 9/10 of their description of bogus tradesmen tactics. The only difference is that they didn't really try to pressure me to pay on the spot for some strange reason nor to sign any contracts. I will call citizens advice first thing in the morning and the local police station as advised. Let's hope they don't come knocking at 7am. I will put up all the blinds and pretend no one is at home until I have made those phone calls.

I know, when I searched them online afterwards my heart sinks. Luckily I haven't paid a penny yet. They cleaned by gutter, I will accept that and pay them the agreed 120, scammers or not. I know they will NOT be happy hearing that. What I worry about is if I antagonise them they will seek revenge. They know my house, where I live etc.

Nope, they are supposedly based in Luton and I am in London near Hampstead. They claimed that they were doing a job near by and is only here for a week or so, and this is willing to offer discounts for more jobs around the area.

They are called QWG Roofing Contractors, according to company house, they only existed since 2021, never filed a company account as of yet.

The company. They gave me a flyer with their contact details. I also took a photo of one of the person's bank card --- for bank transfer. I have also checked their company and its director has the same surname as the person on the bank card. They could be family business. I am not 100% certain they are scammers, they have been extremely polite and respectful, however they way they pushed their business I would say I am 80-90% certain I have been scammed. But I also don't want to disrepute or damage a legit family business needlessly, just because they went too greedy. The person casually gave his bank card to me without hesitation. One would have thought that if they are scammers then they probably don't want me to know about their bank details? They also had card readers etc, wanted me to pay on spot I flatly refused and insisted bank transfer later.

Hi dx100uk, Thanks a lot for the advice. To get the roof inspected, do you know whom should I use? Can a building surveyor do the job? Another roofer? But I suppose that will just be the words of one roofer against another?

Hi Slick, Thank you so much for replying so quickly. For the extra work, they said "it is not going to be more than couple of hundred pounds but I will tell you the exact figure when I am done.". But you are absolutely right in that something around 200 was what I understood it to be. It is difficult for me to find someone at such short notice though, especially that my son has just contracted Covid and no one is supposed to enter. Wife is a teacher and needs to be at school. I have sent them an email recording my objections and as record of my side of story. I have much doubt they will reply in written form. I think tomorrow I will first focus on getting the proof of what they have actually done, as I feel arguing about what I have authorised or not is a lot more challenging without any written evidence. I am therefore demanding before and after pictures and a detailed list of what materials they have used and what work they have carried out. I have a feeling that they haven't done any work, or did a really shoddy job. May be I can use this as the start of the process? If they refuse to provide photos, or produce inadequate photos, then this makes involvement of a trading standards person reasonable?

Hi all, I hope this is the right forum to ask the question. Today I have had a knock on the door, with a man claiming to be a roofer saying that he and his team is doing a big job near by and today there is some down time and they would like to go around the neighborhood to find extra jobs with a discount. He looked genuine enough and asked if I would like to have my gutters cleaned. When he gave the price of 120 pounds and that he would do it straight away. I agreed. I was very busy today with back to back work meetings and I just left them doing the job. Soon one of his team came to me again saying that while cleaning the gutter he saw some missing slated and rotten timber underneath, with some small birds nesting in the holes, asking if I would like to get it fixed. I asked for a quote and he said no more than a couple of hundred and he can do it quickly. If I don't fix it then potentially it would result in damages to the walls etc. He wanted to show me the damages but I was in the middle of a meeting and just agreed, but insisted that I must be informed of any more work and anything more expensive I need to see a quote first before deciding. So about two hours later they told me they have completed the job --- I did not observe them. And to my estonishment they gave an invoice initially of 1750 pounds! The reason, they explained was that they went on to the flat roof and find edge of the roof splines to be in a poor condition and decided to repair those for me. They used concrete to secure them and was quoting 40 pounds each, for total of 41. They also said they sealed the lead covers underneath. The original job to fix the rotten timber was quoted at around 500 (already much more than I was expecting). They gave me a discount which resulted in that 1750 figure. They claimed repairing those were necessary as part of repairing the rotten timbers? I am no expert but it didn't sound right. I am definitely not happy and asked for an itemized breakdown of materials and labour before I will consider paying any of it. They then sent me an invoice of 1500 with no details at all. It has now dawned on me that all of it feels so fishy. I am considering my next actions: - I am willing to pay for gutter cleaning - I am willing to pay for the repairs for rotten timber, IF they can provide proof of what they have done. I am asking for before and after photos. - I am not willing to pay for the work I have not asked for and did not know of beforehand. They tried to make it sound like I agreed to it, but I am quite certain I definitely did not. However there is no proof, everything is verbal. There are no contracts signed. As of now I have not paid them a penny. I wish to seek advice on if my next step actions are reasonable and what other courses I should take? To be honest I am now really gutted that I opened the door for them, and I am now even not sure if they had actually replaced anything on my roof as I did not see any rotten timber being taken down, no waste whatsoever. I am even more worried if the roof was damaged in the process. I am sure they will be coming back to my house tomorrow to demand payment, so any advice on how to deal with them would be really helpful. I also don't want to antagonise them, I have no idea who those people are, I checked their company and it looks like they only established it last year. Thank you so much in advance!

Okay, It seems the saga is not yet finished. Today, I received a letter from DVLA saying that I was photographed driving the car in September, one week before I discovered and then later paid the penalty and arrears. It is another out-of-the-court settlement of 38 pounds, which I paid over the phone after being told this is unrelated to the previous penalty I have paid. Does this mean that they would be able to charge 38 pounds every time the car was photographed on public roads in the period when it was untaxed? Potentially this would amount to massive amounts, as even on a single road on the same day, the car can be photographed several times. I asked specifically whether they will charge me again for the same thing if another photographic evidence shows up, and the lady over the phone refused to answer. So I take that to be a "yes"? To fellow cager's with better legal knowledge, any advice on this issue---i.e. whether it is possible for me to receive more penalties---is greatly welcomed. Is there a time limit on when they cannot prosecute me any more over the untaxed period?

I am actually surprised that they only asked for 40 pounds, given it was almost two and half months since the tax expired. I have never received any correspondence from DVLA, so don't know if and when they have sent me a penalty notice. My understanding is that the 80 pounds fine gets reduced to 40 if paid within 28 days. I have double checked with DVLA again, and they told me that case is closed and my car is now taxed till the end of August next year. I just hope that is the end of that. I consider myself really lucky, it could have been a lot worse.

Update: Called DVLA this morning, and paid 40 pounds fine plus 2 pounds 50 outstanding tax and all is now resolved. It turns out that when I moved last year, I have updated by licence but forgot to do the same to the V5C form. So all of the tax reminders got sent to my old address. Amidst the chaos of moving, I thought I had updated all of my addresses with DVLA. Next time I must keep note of all those dates and the list of essential address changes on a piece of paper.

Hi unclebulgaria67, Thank you very much for your reply. Yes it was totally my mistake to have forgotten about the date. If it is 80 pounds fine plus unpaid tax (which isn't going to be much, given the whole year costs 30), then I am more than happy to pay it and correct the whole thing. I just hope that they have not changed to harsher rules, and issued me a summons or 1000 fine etc...

Hi all, It seemed like a horror story. This year was the first time that the round paper disks were abolished, and I then replaced the still valid disk with our parking permit to save space on the windscreen, and thought that I will always receive a tax reminder anyway. However, I have not received one and I have been waiting for one to arrive. So did not really thought about it, until tonight out of interest I was searching my car's number plate to see where it was registered, and found that it was UNTAXED since July! I then immediately went to DVLA website, and tried to pay for the tax, without the reminder, but with the 11 digit serial number on my vehicle registration form. I was only able to pay for the tax from 1st Sep. And was told that DVLA may contact me about the missing periods. I truly cannot remember if I have renewed my tax, and from the DVLA information that I obviously have not paid!! I can swear that I have never received a reminder this time around. We moved house 1 year ago, but I have updated my address with DVLA right after I have moved. I will call DVLA the first thing tomorrow. I just hope they will allow me to pay back the two months of the tax, and I am happy to pay a fine too, as a lesson to my own negligence---should have checked the DVLA website to make sure a lot earlier. I heard some horror stories of over 1000 pounds fine, and points on licence. I can just pray that they will be lenient on me. The road tax for my car is 30 pounds a year. Do you know what will happen? Thank you very much. I am worried sick.

We already got two quotes, and the third one will be from a company recommended by a friend, and my dad is going there tonight to have look at the work they have done. The other two are 1200 each, and a little expensive to be honest. Actually, in regards to quotes. There are some more stories to tell. Dad used an online broker, and two companies called, the first one gave a quote of 1200, and then later a second one came, and first quoted 1900 + scaffolding (running into thousands), then seeing my dad not buying the BS, said he can discount it to 1200, but he has to get a 10% deposit and a signature now, and got quite aggressive after my dad declined. Needless to say, that is a big AVOID warning light flashing. He will mention the quotes in the letter along the lines you have suggested. The most likely thing that may be acceptable for the company may be to do the window replacement work themselves for the cost the original spring change. However, the thing is, we don't trust them to carry out more work. And I wonder what would their warranty on the windows worth? My dad is already hugely regretting that he had used them for the initial work, and he is determined not to get bitten again with the replacement window. The best resolution for us would be for them to pay for the cost of window replacement, may be even minus the intended charges for the spring change, and we get another company to do the work.

Update: My dad called his insurance company, but they again said it is not within their cover. However, the lady on the other end was quite helpful, and said that it is a classic case of allegation of negligences and the double glazing company does not have a leg to stand on. She checked out the company from their database, and found that it is a member of Federation of Master Builders. Being a member, they are required to have liability insurance. However, she could not find the company's insurance details on their system, so she then called the company herself to find out. The other side replied very vaguely and declined to give any of their insurance details. Further more, according to the lady from the insurance company, the company has 4 employees but no apparent managing director. It all feels a little dodgy, and she advised my dad should contact the Federation of Master Builders. So my dad decides to write to the company another letter giving them 10 days to come up with a resolution, or that he will write to the Federation of Master Builders about allegation of negligence and ask for their insurance details, and then contact their insurer directly. He will also go to the CAB tomorrow seeking more advice on how to pursue this in the legal channel if all else fails. I just hope they do not have a dodgy insurance, or have no insurance at all...

Thank you ericbrother for the suggestions. I have already forwarded them to my dad. BTW, this was the last email my dad had send to them: Dear JXXXX, Thank you for your quick follow up. It baggers belief that your joiner could say that he knew for sure what the problem was and what work was required even before coming to look at the problem, and that he told me before coming that he couldn't do the job by himself but came anyway because I insisted. None of this is true. Also, how could a professional workman take the risk because of a customer's insistence? The fact is that when he came and looked at the problem, he thought one of the springs had snapped, and advised me that, at that point, that it was a two-men job. However, he could help close my window and for that service he would charge me £90. I simply agreed. He did manage to close the window. The incident happened because he didn't lock it properly. I am presenting to you these facts with a clear conscience. I agree that your joiner did want to provide the service. He had no intention to ruin the work. But sometimes work can indeed go wrong despite all the good intentions. When an unfortunate incident like this happened, the best approach is for us both to be honest and accept our own responsibilities. I phoned you on Saturday to seek urgent professional help with my stuck window, and you agreed to provide that help with a charge. I did nothing less and nothing more. As a professional, you have the best judgement, and even if a customer asks you to do something unreasonable and risky, you wouldn't be forced to do that. This is common sense. I neither asked him to do a job reluctantly, nor could I force him to do so. It was just a simple incident of working going wrong. I don't mean your joiner is a dishonest man or a poor workman, but he was being careless on that day, and now is being dishonest by saying I forced him to come. I got to know your company on the internet and decided to approach you for help since you are so close to my home. Your joiner did respond and come very quickly, which I did appreciate and still do. But work going wrong is a different matter. I am not an unreasonable man. But anyone in my situation would find it hard to accept the fact that the workman or his company could totally shy away from any responsibility when work happened to go wrong. I would have to use all the fair options available to me. With kind regards, XXXXXXX

It looks like they are going to stick by their guns. What are suggested course of action? I also searched company house, and could not find any information about this company. It is unclear if they are a member of any associations. Is there an Ombudsman on this sort of things? In terms of their claim that my dad "insisted" them to carry out the work, which is completely ridiculous, how should we disprove them? It looks like their words against ours. As my dad had already pointed out: the workman initially stated that replacing the spring is a two man job, NOT on temporary lifting up the window panel. Also, the emergency repair person also carried out the SAME work successfully BY HIMSELF, and did not even mention it being a two person job. If we are going to go to court, what sort of evidences will the court be looking for? Any advices would be really welcome and appreciated

And this is their reply: Dear XXXXXXX, Our joiner has said that he made you aware at the time that the secure would take two men but you were insistent on him coming to help you anyway. We do this type of work all the time and he was aware of the type of windows you have and the problems they can cause therefore knew it would be a two man job to secure the window but you were pleading with him for help so he came to help you and did his best to secure. We have contacted our insurance company and they will not cover this as you were made aware that the secure would need two men but you insisted on our help anyway therefore the responsibility is with yourself. We have been in this business for nearly 30 years and are a very honest and well established company, it is not in our best interests to be dishonest or unprofessional in any way. Our workmen are very honest and would take responsibility if they thought it was right to do so but on this occasion they feel they did there best to help but unfortunately due to the age and condition of the window were the problem and not his work. I look forward to hearing from you on how you would like to proceed. Kind Regards JXXXX

And immediately afterwards my dad has sent another: Dear JXXXXXX, I just want to emphasise that a workman sent by my insurer was able to secure my window by applying the same lock which your joiner failed to do. This fact speaks for itself. Thanks, XXXXXXXX

My dad's reply: Dear JXXXX, Thank you for your quick reply. When I called for help, we didn't discuss the details of the work at all as I only request help with my window problem. When the joiner arrived, he advised that it must be due to a snapped spring. He did say that it was not possible to remove the windows and replace the spring on Saturday because it required two men. But he said he could only help secure my window to prevent rain coming in, for which work he would charge me £90. I agreed to the job. Therefore what he did was just to secure my window, but not to carry out the full repair which was a two men job. He never said that to secure my window such as pushing the window up or board it required two people! As a matter of fact, after he left, my insurer sent one person to do exactly the same and managed to lock the upper part of the window properly which your joiner didn't do and caused the damage. In short, he made it very clear to me that to make a full repair would need two people which he wasn't able to do and didn't do. How could it be possible for me to insist on full repair on Saturday when there spring parts would still take time to be ordered! However, he said he could secure the window by himself and I agreed to the job. The accidental damage was entirely due to his carelessness, to his failure to pull the lock into place proper and let it go. I am shocked by his dishonesty and the lack of professional conduct. I hope you could see into this and fulfil your company's responsibility. I am not going to let unfair dealing go away easily. With kind regards, XXXXXXX

Then, the reply from JXXXX of the company: Dear XXXXXX, Thank you for your email. I have spoken to the joiner who attended your emergency on Saturday 8th August. He has made me aware that when you phoned and explained your problem he told you at the time that the job required 2 men but you were insistent that he come and help you. He made you aware that any damage incurred would be at your own risk as he had told you the job required 2 men beforehand, therefore the responsibility for replacing your damaged window is with yourself. The joiner tried his best to help you but unfortunately due to the windows age and condition was unable to do so. Kind Regards JXXXXX