In Dispute letter template & guidance please?

[clairol007]

Hi, I have fallen out with my builder. He is demanding payment and is going to move my debt to a collection agency in 7 days. I want to discuss the issues. How do I stop him selling the debt on so that we can discuss the issues please? Is there a letter template I need to send him please? I don't want to rack up debt collection agency fees.

[rebel11]

Hi claire

 

Welcome to CAG

 

The guys will be happy to advise as soon as they are available.

 

Thread moved to the correct forum.

 

 

 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Consumerrights/Howtocomplainaboutgoodsandservices/DG_195155

[clairol007]

Please can I have your comments on my letter?

WithoutPrejudice

Dear Mr Ayres

 

Reference: Estimates 1959, 2079, 2009, Extras and completion of works.

 

1. We wish to dispute our payment for a number of activities (listed below)that have not been required or completed as per your original estimates.

 

Estimate 2009:

1. Renewal plasterboard to all areas damaged when tiles removed.

2. Plaster skim coat to all new plaster boarded areas.

3. Supply & fix new skirting & alchitrave as required.

4. Install shower pump

5. Supply fit and wire new spur point for shower pump

6. Supply wire chrome down lighters

7. Fit only new mirror

8. Fit only granite top to new boxing

9. Test clean & leave ready for use

Estimate 1959:

1. Protect floor using hardboard as floor is to be kept.

2. Make good and skim approx 3 mtr wall

3. Strength wall for basin unit using plywood.

We dispute that VAT has beenapplied at 20% for all work on this estimate despite the fact that the stripdown of the room was the first piece of work carried out on site in 2010. Theprevailing VAT rate at that time was 17.5%.

Extras

1. Please supply a break down for the “Misc Materials” priced at £154.47plus vat.

2. Please advise why the “remove wall & overboarding” at £105.00 andtiling at £30.00 + vat extras were required.

2. We respectfully request a fully itemised invoicefor all 3 estimates so we can clearly see what and how much we have beencharged based on your charging sheet. We do not believe this to be anunreasonable request based on the total cost of £8240.20.

3. Breach of Contract

We appreciate the gesture of not charging us forthe additional tiling in the cloakroom. However we would like to draw yourattention to The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 that states that thecontract we have with you contains implied terms that; the work has to becarried out using reasonable skill and care and within reasonable time. Belowis a list that evidences that the works have not been completed usingreasonable skill and care or within a reasonable time.

1. The heating did not work (for 6 weeks) post cylinder replacement – this requiredat least 7 visits before resolution.

2. The cloakroom tiling was left incomplete. We made 2 trips to get moretiles for your contractors although all were wasted (at an additional cost of £118.20+ VAT for tiles to us) before you deemed the job not possible. We engaged a newcontractor who finished the job at their first attempt.

3. The shower screen was incorrectly fitted requiring a further visit to fix.

4. The bath waste and sink trap leaked requiring further visits to fix.

5. The extractor fan was incorrectly fitted requiring a further visit tofix.

6. The bath panel was incorrectly fitted requiring a further visit to fix.

7. The immersion was not wired, (leaving us with no hot water when ourboiler failed), requiring a further visit to wire.

8. Walls are not tiled to floor level in the cloakroom and bathroom.

9. The grout in the bathroom was raked out and replaced as it was the wrongcolour. The grout vendor has subsequently proved that the grout is the rightcolour, with the only possible conclusion being the grout had been contaminatedduring the mixing process.

10. The floor lightsin the bathroom had to be re-wired (wires too short) and the holes (too small) re-cutby us despite us requesting this 2 weeks prior to the floor fitting.

This amount of re-work and issues has involvedmultiple trips to our property. We have arranged our family and working livesaround accommodating these trips. Often contractors have not come when agreed,without any communication of cancellation. Often they have come at very shortnotice. The stress over the last 9 months has been immense. We appreciate that delay(six weeks) was incurred by us sourcing materials and having a holiday. Howeverwe believe that 9 months elapsed for these works is not reasonable.

4. Unresolved issues:

We have the following unresolved issues:

1. The valve on the cold water main has been removed and requires replacing.

2. The objective of achieving a high pressure water flow have not beenachieved by installing the new cylinder. We are highly disappointed by thisexpensive mistake.

3. The damage to the bath by your contractor remains unresolved although wehave been quoted £150 to fix.

We are not attempting to avoid paying anyoutstanding balance. We are disputing the outstanding amount. We also requestconsideration for the additional expenditure we have to incurred and the stresswe have suffered.

I look forward to hearing from you in the nextseven days.

 

[clairol007]

:sad:Bit sad no one has been able to help me....

[waddington24]

hya i have had a quick look through your thread, i work in the building trade and we some times have issues

that we have to correct for what ever reason with the customer

however we deal with them as it is good customer relations to do so.did you have a written contract with your builder

did you have a some one from building control at your local council to come and check the work carried out

is this builder registered with any building authorities such as the federation of master builders etc

i would contact your builder and give him the chance to come and look at the issues you have raised with him

and give him 7 days in which to do so.i have also noted that there was electrical work that has been done or needs to be done

are these people doing the work qualified to electrical regulations standard.sorry for all the questions

we are self employed and at times we use contractors to do certain jobs did your builder use any contractors or

was the work carried out soley by himself

 

andrew

[Amy100]

I think the idea of getting a mutually agreeable independent assessment is good.

[Kraken1]

It seems from your thread that most of the work has now been completed to a satisfactory standard. The remaining dispute surrounds a few more issues that need sorting and a claim for compensation for the time the work took and the mistakes made along the way.

 

If this is accurate then you have a pretty good claim, but you can't withhold all the contract price from him. How much is outstanding?

[waddington24]

theres also the option if theres any money outstanding to get some one else in to finish

the work other than whats been said give him the option to put right any defects

or you simply take the matter up with trading standards.who iam sure will also tell

you to write to him and give him a time limit to complete the work

 

did you check out your builder before hand or get any other quotes from other builders

its always advisable to get more than one quote and ask your builder to either show you work he

has done or give you an area he has worked so you can have a drive round and look at what he has done

for other customers ..but i think wht you have done so far giving him a time limit to come and

look at and put these things your not happy with to rights is the first step

[clairol007]

Hello and thank you for your help. In response to your questions:

I had used PJA Group (CIPHE accredited!) before to do my ensuite. We did get other quotes and they were average price. They have multiple employees.

We have made several stage payments based on the estimates. We have continually asked for an itemised bill but they will not provide this. We guestimate we are withholding about 8% but without an accurate bill it's difficult to work out.

Do I have any right for an itemised bill?

They have credited us back for £540 of work they didn't do that we challenged them on (no apology for overcharging us). We still think they are overcharging us for other items that they quoted for, but they won't provide us with the details to check it out.

All the items that we raised are apparently our fault, with the exception of the non-wiring of the immersion. What fantastic customer service. We are flabergasted.

So having exchanged a few letters and their reluctance to go to any form of arbitration we have consulted Trading Standards and await their help.

seems to be all out of proportion.

We have another plumber coming next week to help us understand the outstanding issues with the heating. (more expense)

Any further advice would be appreciated. I'm going to try building control next & possibly a complaint to CIPHE.

[Kraken1]

it seems that your position is reasonable. getting a cost for the repairs/completion from someone else is a good start. then at least you know how much you owe or are owed (assuming you get a breakdown). You are not really entitled to this, but if this got to court (in any way) then one would need to be provided. You can't really stop him selling the debt on but there is little the dca can do and due to the dispute I doubt they'll really be interested. If there was a judgement, they might, but when it has not been to court then I reckon they'd ignore him. Possibly an empty threat.