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Have I shot myself in the foot? Dispute with 'Roofer'


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Hi there, long time since I've posted here.

 

TL:DR; full story below, but the jist is I got someone out to fix my roof, after initial quote they said I need a new roof so I agreed to an adjusted quote to just make roof watertight for now and a promise this would be discounted from new roof cost. Roof is still leaking from the same spot and they're refusing to fix it as the leak is in a part of the roof they didn't touch. New roof quote was clearly inflated to cover the cost of my 'discout' so have no plans to follow through with that. So I'm now left £2850 out of pocket and the roof still leaking from the same spot, I want to lodge a small claim but I'm worried they are now above recourse as I agreed to their adjusted quote so they're defense would be that they have done exactly what they said they would on the new quote.

 

Full story:

I recently got quotes to fix a leak in my roof, and following inspection and what looked like a quote for a competitive repair I went with a company that has a good price and very prompt updates from the owner of the company.

 

Couple weeks later two guys came round in the afternoon and after 2 hours said my was a mess and needed replaced, immediately got in touch with the company owner who said they'll do the minimum to get rid watertight, then discount the work off the cost of a full strip and re-slate. They made it seem like a win-win as the leak will still get fixed, and I'll have time to save for and arrange a new roof with them and not have to worry about losing the money I spend on the repair so I agreed to this.

 

They have now been and gone, the sent a new quote covering the actual work they did with a token £300 discount, but assured me off the bigger picture that this money would just come of the quote for the new roof. So I naively paid them the £2850 for the repair, and they came back with what looks like an inflated quote for a new roof (which I'm sure anyone reading this  probably saw coming a mile away). And to make matters worse it rained the following week and the roof is still leaking in the same spot so their repair have had no effect. 

 

I asked them to come back, they sent someone round and they said the work they did is solid, and the leak is elsewhere but that's not covered by their warranty, I was shocked as their now refusing to fix the leak the were hired to fix in the first place as they 'didn't touch' that area during their repairs so it's not their problem, and said they told me the roof needs replaced so I shouldn't be surprised.

 

I'm now looking to lodge a small claims/simple procedure to get my money back as they're refusing to fix the leak, and I'm now £2850 out of pocket. I'm worried I no longer have a leg to stand on though as I accepted an adjusted quote that was for only the work they did, although I did do it in good faith that the leak was fixed as they said they would make it watertight with a warranty good for 5 years. Should I still lodge a claim or do you think I've bottled my chance at winning?

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I'm now looking to lodge a small claims/simple procedure to get my money back

 

Simple procedure ?  are you in Scotland ?

We could do with some help from you.

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On the basis of what you say, it seems to me that there was an expectation that the leak would be dealt with.

Do I understand that you originally paid £300 to have the leak fixed – which wasn't fixed.

They quoted you a figure of over £3000 for the replacement of the roof and took off the 300 quid so that they asked you for £2850 – which you went ahead and paid ahead of any work being done?

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Hi, yes I'm in Scotland. I only found out about simple procedures yesterday when I started looking into it.

 

Sorry if there was any confusion in my post; the quote I agreed to was for £3150 for fixing the leak, I paid nothing prior to work commencing and it wasn't until 2 hours into the repair that the sub contractors stopped to tell me the roof really needed replaced. They did no further work that day while I got back in touch with the roofing company to discuss options. It was agreed that they would send the sub contractors back the next day to do what was necessary to get the roof water tight so that I would have time to save for and arrange a re-slate of the roof.

 

So they came back, completed the repairs, offered a £300 discount on the cost (bringing it to £2850) and issued a new quote covering the work they carried out. They said that the money I paid would be discounted from the cost of the re-slate (which they'd honor for up to five years), and as I believed the the roof was now water tight I paid the balance. But after I found out the same leak was still there they claimed it's not an area they touched, so it's not covered by their guarantee, and as such are refusing to come back to fix it.

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I'm still trying to understand.

You agree to pay 3150 for repairing the leak. They started the work – then they interrupted it because they discover that the roof needed replacing.

They then agreed to do a minimal job to repair the leak to carry you over until the roof was replaced.

So what was the minimal job that they did which apparently was to fix the leak – as opposed to the job which they were in the middle of doing before they interrupted it after deciding that the roof needed replacing?

On the basis of what you are telling us, I have the impression that they simply attempted a temporary repair and it wasn't the full job for which you you had agreed to pay £3150.

Could this be a correct assessment of the situation?

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Thanks, to be honest I'm not sure myself the difference they meant between the full repair that was agreed and 'doing what is necessary to get it water tight' as either way they were to fix the leak and make the roof water tight. And the fact they said their warranty and discount offer were good for 5 years made me believe that whatever they did to fix the leak would last at least that long so it wasn't going to be a temporary fix.

 

The major change I noticed from the original quote to the revised quote that they sent after they finished was changing 'full break out and replacement of cement skews' to only a partial replacement, which I've since found out was only about 30cm. I didn't know enough about roofs to realise that that was about half of the agreed work that they were able to omitted. I've since had another roofer round for a second opinion and they reckon that a full break out and replacement of the skews was easily a £1-1.5k job so that's the sort of discount I should have expected if they didn't carry out that job, not £300. And it's the cement skews that are the likely cause of the leaks, but because their new quote doesn't specify this, and because they didn't carry out that work they say it's not covered, despite them taking the money to cover the work that such a job would have entailed.

 

I hope this is starting to make some sense, the mid-job changes has certainly muddied the waters.

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Well it's a shame that you didn't understand more about what you are getting when you decided to spend £3150.

So let's reconstruct the story as best we can.

You agreed to a certain work being carried out for £3150.

They started the £3150 job but then didn't continue because they discovered that the roof is in a very bad state.

They then went back to their employer and took advice and then returned and told you they would effectively do a temporary job pending the replacement of the roof.

They then spent some time carrying out the temporary job ostensibly to repair the leak.

It it turned out that the leak wasn't repaired. However, you had paid them the £3150 without ever having the work being tested.

We have no idea what the spec for the original £3150 job was as opposed to the ostensible temporary leak repair.

For some reason rather they now consider that the work they have done is the £3150 job and they refuse to repair the leak because they say that that is a separate job and not covered by the "warranty".

You actually have no idea what work is actually being carried out or what job the "warranty" applies to.

They have told you that when you get the roof replaced, they will give you a £300 discount from that job. You have no idea what the roof replacement is actually going to cost you because they have quoted this yet.

I'm also going to say that you don't actually know if the roof is in that bad condition and that if it is true that it did so replacement – because you have taken their word for it.

I also believe that when you commissioned the original job – you didn't take any competitive quotes or assessment of the condition of the roof.

It sounds to me as if you have been right royally ripped off and and am sorry to say that to an extent you've been complicit in it and we have to try and help you sort it out.
 

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Did you get anything in writing from them before you agreed to pay the £3150?

Did you have any idea of what state your roof was in?

I think you're going to have to begin by getting an independent assessment of the state of the roof,
the nature of the work which has just been carried out and for which you have paid £3150 –
and an assessment of the leak

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I'm afraid I think that the waters of been muddied to a great extent because you haven't really understood what you are agreeing to and what you are paying for

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I'll edit your post to clear up the the misunderstandings.

2 hours ago, BankFodder said:

Well it's a shame that you didn't understand more about what you are getting when you decided to spend £3150.

So let's reconstruct the story as best we can.

You agreed to a certain work being carried out for £3150.

They started the £3150 job but then didn't continue because they discovered that the roof is in a very bad state.

[I went back to the company who had given me the quote to discuss cancelling the job so I can instead look at getting a replacement. I went back through my messages and found his response which I've pasted below in full:

Andrew there seems to be crossed wires here as I just had a talk with all the guys and the repair work that is being done just now will last 5 years +. A strip and reslate at present is not imminent although you should be looking at reslating the roof in about 5 years or so. Here's what I can offer you Andrew. If the team proceed with all repairs as per quote and existing plan, that will mean that you have a sealed roof to properly plan your strip and reslate. I will then quote you for a strip and reslate and give you discount on that which will cover the cost of the existing repairs. It's basically buying you time to properly plan the full strip and reslate whilst keeping you water tight for the time being. Let me know what you think of that Andrew. The money you're paying now will be discounted off the full strip and reslate price so you won't lose any money. Does that work Andrew? Thanks. Lee

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[I didn't mention previously that he had already sent the sub contractors back to work before I could reply, so I agreed as they were already there, I needed the leak fixed, and I thought I had peace of mind that at a later date I could get a discounted replacement roof]


They then spent some time carrying out the [not temporary as far as I understood] job ostensibly to repair the leak.

It it turned out that the leak wasn't repaired. However, you had paid them the £2850 [the £300 discount was off the repair job] without ever having the work being tested.

We have no idea what the spec for the original £3150 job was as opposed to the ostensible temporary leak repair. [I have a the original quote and the revised quote detailing the scope of work]

For some reason rather they now consider that the work they have done is the £3150 job and they refuse to repair the leak because they say that that is a separate job and not covered by the "warranty".

You actually have no idea what work is actually being carried out or what job the "warranty" applies to. [The quotes detailed the scope of the work, both what was proposed and what was done.]

They have told you that when you get the roof replaced, they will give you a [£2850] discount from that job. You have no idea what the roof replacement is actually going to cost you because they have quoted this yet. [They quoted £19810+vat for roof replacement before any discounts, I'm still waiting on replacement quote from the other roofer who came to inspect their work but he said their quote was far above the going rate]

I'm also going to say that you don't actually know if the roof is in that bad condition and that if it is true that it did so replacement – because you have taken their word for it. [I had 2 other quotes done for the repair job, all 3 thought that a repair was feasible. You're right I did take their word that the roof needs replaced but it's not a great looking roof, and since it was only after they started the work I thought they had just underestimated how bad it was.]

I also believe that when you commissioned the original job – you didn't take any competitive quotes or assessment of the condition of the roof. [See above, they were the cheapest, had the most comprehensive looking quote in terms of the work they were going to carry out, the owner was in near constant contact with me, and websites like bark, ratedpeople and mybuilder all had positive reviews. I'm sure all red flags in hindsight, but that was what made me choose them over the others]

It sounds to me as if you have been right royally ripped off and and am sorry to say that to an extent you've been complicit in it and we have to try and help you sort it out.
 

Sorry about the formatting, I'm on mobile so struggling a bit with the quotes.

Edited by raptor-21
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I'm sorry but I don't really understand what you are bang on about here.

Please can you repost. Don't bother about quoting me all the time – I know I said – what I'd like to know is what you are trying to say

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