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Nothing to do with gardening again!
Oh dear aym. These types of stories become more and more infuriating as the exploitation and abuse of the frailer members of our society are exposed. I often despair of humanity and the callous approach of these leeches who pay little care to the impact their treatment can have on those so shabbily dealt with. My heart goes out to your freind.
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It's such a shame to hear stories like this. For what it's worth Age UK maintain a list of their own approved tradesmen that I'd thoroughly recommend people use to avoid such problems. I don't know if you pay more for this service- certainly my gran paid what I thought was a fair rate for having some painting work done- but I suspect that regardless it would be well worth it to guarantee a good, stress-free job.
st.catherines house in london is the place to phone for info on companies who go 'bust' then set up another company in a different name, they will give you the history of all the other companies/names they have used, you will usually find there is one person who links all of the companies, they will tell you why they went bust etc and it's free, just phone them.
personally i would never use a company that sends a salesman ahead of works, they overprice everything. A good builder that you use should have contacts in trades that they use, my husband is a builder and he has a circle of friends/tradespeople that he uses in all types of jobs he does, from windows through to carpenters and plumbers and the price will be considerably cheaper but always get three quotes, don't neccessarily choose the cheapest or who is available, a good builder is always busy (same other trades) if someone is available straight away there is usually a good reason, same with the price, be careful of too cheap. If possible ask around friends or knock on doors of a person who has had a good job done and ask for the name of the builder/tradesperson.
Last edited: 03 November 2016 10:19:57
AYM280 i bought a very expensive microwave combi oven and when it broke after a year (i had a five yr guarantee) i phoned them and they said that company was no longer in business (same phone number, funny that) so i rang citizens advice who told me to ring i thought it was st.catherines house but i just googled it and can't find it now, anyway citizens advice gave me the number of the place to ring & they told me the company had had a change of name numerous times and the reason it had folded each time, i think limited companies can fold and they just come back with a new name debt free to start up again using someone elses name as director.
i never followed it up as it was a hassle & knew they wouldn't pay up so gave up & had to but a new oven. Just as an example my husband has never advertised at all and all his work is through word of mouth and there is usually a wait before he can start a new job, he gives quotes and this is the price you pay always. Always ask for a quote on paper rather than an estimate.
i know, it is disgusting. some older people are easy pickings for these scumbags
what a nightmare! i am indeed lucky