Builder, GRIFFS REMOVALS & RENOVATIONS paid in full in 3 separate statements, hasn't returned to complete work

[DaveyD]

Hi, we've recently decided to get quite a bit of work done in the back garden ( £12,000) including slabbing and walls built including privacy screens. They (well, there were 2 directors but now only 1 still active according to research on the internet) have left us with an unsafe garden, a mud pit and open walls so had to fence off top half of garden to prevent our dog escaping (12ft drop at the back). 

Gone to citizens advice and followed the recorded letters advice, We are hearing we aren't the only people he's done this to and are in contact with them. He's removed his Facebook page  although the business page still open. We got an incident number after contacting the police and have contacted actionfraud. 

Looking back we feel like such fools getting suckered in and its caused us untold stress, they seemed ok but once final payment was made they were hard work replying to texts,ignoring calls . cutting calls etc now the company phone is permanently off.

We do have an address but not sure if he owns property, no replies to correspondence either.

Any advice much appreciated as we don't have the money to put the garden right.

[BankFodder]

You need to start off by telling us who you are talking about here.

Secondly, you will need to get an independent assessment of the work which identifies any particular problems and the quality of the work generally and also advises on what needs to be done to remedy the situation. This might even include undoing all the work which was carried out and redoing it.

You need to have a quotation for that work so that you know the value of your dispute.

[DaveyD]

Hi, cheers for the reply

 

The company are called Griffs removals & renovations,  as far as I can see the walls are incomplete but look fine .Almost certain the bricklayers were sub contractors and they were doing as instructed.

 

 We;ve had communication with people who've had similar experiences as ourselves and whether or not to trust strangers comments he's broke and hires flash cars and also claims housing benefit.

 

Digging deeper he's had a couple of companies that are dissolved according to gov.uk 

 

[BankFodder]

Did you contract with them as a limited liability company or simply as a sole trader or trading partnership?

There is certainly a limited liability company and that name – about 18 months old, so that doesn't bode too well because it's easy enough to Phoenix something like this.

You say that you may have an address – you can check the address on the land registry web search. It will cost you a fee of about £3 – well worthwhile.

See what you can find out.

 

You deftly needed inspection as I've already suggested. If you want to make a claim against them then if the inspection supports what you say and if the builders are uncooperative then you can bring a claim and you will most certainly win.

However enforcing a judgement against a reluctant trader is a difficult matter and certainly if you have been dealing with a limited liability company which decides to dissolve itself then you are on a hiding to nothing.
If you have been dealing with simply a non-limited liability trading organisation then if you can identify assets you have a reasonable chance of enforcing a judgement.

[BankFodder]

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GRIFFS REMOVALS & RENOVATIONS LTD people - Find and update company information - GOV.UK

FIND-AND-UPDATE.COMPANY-INFORMATION.SERVICE.GOV.UK

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GRIFFS REMOVALS & RENOVATIONS LTD - Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history...

 

 

[DaveyD]

Cheers

 

As far as I know its just a LTD company nothing to say Liability that's advertised on yell and gov.uk and shows still active. I just looked he has another correspondence address on opengov.uk  in Abergavenny. His brother ( director that's recently left the company) gave an address on gov.uk I that comes up as a taxrefundsus in uxbridge when googled.

 

With someone to come and evaluate the garden would you recommend a QS or another builder?

 

I will definitely sort out the land registry first thing tomorrow, I'm starting to think he hasn't got any assets and its all show but hoping something can be done about his future earnings and any repayments to us. I know it's a cruel world and we as many should've been more sensible but it pains us someone can get away with doing it.

 

Also, I cocked up the headline it should of said 4-5 payments  only 2 were bank registered.

 

Is it worth instigating court proceedings before the deadline stated in the second letter?

 

 

 

 

[DaveyD]

According to somewhere I cant quite remember it was Feb 2021 they started up, they were just removals before.

Edited September 6, 2021 by DaveyD

[BankFodder]

Thank you, but you haven't answered the question as to who you actually contracted with. It's very important to know whether you have contracted with a limited liability company or simply with some trading operation.

Do you have receipts? Who did you make out a cheque to? Was there any kind of written contract?

[honeybee13]

Thread moved to the building trade forum.

 

HB

[DaveyD]

Hi BF

 

We advertised on FB and the directors came to view the job and we agreed a price with them. We saw them titled just LTD on their FB page. No written contracts just text and emails between ourselves.

  We agreed the payments to be made in instalments ( cash and bank transfers as not always possible to get to the bank whilst in work) .No reciepts but bank statements. We have contacted the bank but they say they cant help because work was started  

 As I say they say LTD on their company name no mention of LLC.

Cheers

[BankFodder]

In terms of who should carry out the inspection, it should be somebody who is competent and experienced and completely independent of this company that you are in dispute with.
You should make them aware that there is a dispute and you would like the assessment in writing. You need to get it done quickly but you should probably look around and see who will do the best job for a reasonable fee.

I've looked at their Facebook page and I don't see any sign that they are saying that it is a limited liability company – and in fact it will be better for you if they are not and you are suing the person you are dealing with in person.

What is the name of the person you actually dealing with?

In terms of payments, when you given the name of the bank account? Did it appear to be a business account? Did it appear to be a personal account?

 

[DaveyD]

Hi

 

We've arranged for someone to come and look for us on Wednesday so we'll get a quote then and ask for it in writing, but will also look for other quotes aswell.

The actual person we've been dealing with is Alun Griffiths he owned 85%  shares and im guessing 100% now his brother has recently left.

With payments via bank (some were cash we've got emails/texts to prove it) my partner made them I'd guess it's gone into his personal account. He's also advertising finance of up to £100.000 made payable over 10 years on his page so we thought he was the real deal (even though we didn't need it). 

Theres also a video of them working in our garden he put on there. 

[DaveyD]

My partner just informed me she paid into their business account.

[BankFodder]

What was the name of the business account? Was it a limited liability account?

[DaveyD]

It was LTD account same name as advertised.

[DaveyD]

Also I checked land registry and he doesn't own the company address

[honeybee13]

That's disappointing. I noticed that the Companies House information had a change of address. Did you have a look at that one as well?

 

HB

[BankFodder]

I think you are going to be in a very difficult position if you can't identify company assets.

I think that you need to start taking action to understand the extent of your problem and the value of it. You don't know either of these things yet.

You will need to get some kind of assessment carried out but be careful about spending money on a fee because if it turns out to be expensive then you will probably have to bring a claim against the company and although you will win – you may well have a lot of difficulty enforcing the judgement and you will be out of pocket even to the extent of your claim fee.

I don't think you can do anything more before getting an assessment and a quote so that you understand exactly what your position is.

Once you do this, then we can help you approach the company and also I think it would be well worth dealing with them and saying that you want a proper receipt and VAT receipt et cetera – which you may will find are difficult to get hold of.

Get the assessment first. I'm afraid it's an absolutely necessary first step.

[DaveyD]

Hi Honeybee I just checked and couldn't find another address can you let me know what you saw please?

[DaveyD]

Hi BF

We have someone visiting tomorrow so should be able to give you an update on costs. I also had to change my password earlier saying someone in Cwbran was trying to log into my account 

[honeybee13]

10 hours ago, DaveyD said:

Hi Honeybee I just checked and couldn't find another address can you let me know what you saw please?

 

If you look at the Companies House link higher up your thread, under Filing History there's a change of address on 23rd April this year. 

 

HB

[DaveyD]

Hi HB

The address I checked was the one it had changed to.

[DaveyD]

Hi just an update we got the quote back today for 13k ..Apparently about 3k work carried out. We have an email of broken down quote. 

[BankFodder]

Please can you post a copy of the email up here in PDF format

[DaveyD]

It has my name & address all over it not feeling that good about putting that out here. I could word document for you tomorrow if fine please