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Advice needed - Fencing job not completed as expected



Bad Ash

Unregistered User
Jul 18, 2003
1,900
Housewares
In a nushell: I got a quote to have one of my garden fences replaced with the same style of fencing that I have on the other side, the guy came round to view before quoting. I came back from work today to find the new fence style was quite different to the other fence and both myself and the neighbour thought it was half finished. I'd paid for the materials upfront (£340) and I've just now had an email to say the work is complete and they want they want payment of the labour costs (£180).

Where do I stand?

Longer version: The fences in my back garden take a huge battering from the wind. A couple of years ago the neighbour on my left arranged for our fence to be replaced with something much studier. I didn't replace the fence on the right at the time.

Fast forward a couple of years and the fence on the left is standing up to the elements excellently, it's extremely sturdy. The fence on the right has been looking a little worse for wear, so I got a couple of quotes. I said I wanted the fence on the right replaced with one just like the one on the left, and both people quoting came round and physically saw what I was asking for.

I ended up going for the more expensive quote because I wanted a proper job done, plus the chap had a webpage and facebook page which looked decent. He was supposed to come round on Wednesday this week. On Tuesday he sent me an email asking for a bank transfer for the cost of the materials. I replied by text asking if him to clarify what name the account was in, but didn't get a reply. I worked from home on Wednesday and there was no sign of him, when I chased him up he said he was waiting for the money to place an order for the materials. I sent the money and he later confirmed that the money had been received, he'd placed the order and he would be here on Thursday. So on Thursday I worked from home again, but at 10am he advised the delivery was running late so he'd come on Friday (today). I was starting to get a little concerned at this point, but later in the day the materials were delivered.

Having worked from home for 2 days I worked in the office today. I didn't see him before I left and he was gone by the time I got home. My initial reaction was disappointment, but I then assumed it hadn't been finished. The post in the middle of the fence is sticking up almost a foot and there is no top edging. Also, I got him to replace my gate because the gate post was broken and we'd bodged a repair. He'd replaced the gate but not the post. The joints are my my neighbours side, so I haven't had a good look, but I think he's used completely different spacing and technique.

I assumed he was going to be back to cut down the post, fit the top edging and replace the gate post. Also I had noticed that the top of the fence is not straight, there is a noticeable angle where it meets the central post (it's straight either side of the post). Our garden does slope, but the fence on the other side is straight all the way along despite this (and it's twice as long).

Having received the email to say he's finished was a bit gutting. My plan is to reply by email with some photos comparing the 2 fences and asking him to correct. However, even with some remedial work, they are never going to look very similar or be as strong.

In hindsight I should have used the company who did the original fence, but they were really slow in getting back to me with a quote and never actually came round, doing it purely from the measurements I sent them. Their quote was the same as this chap.

I'm wondering what my options are. Can I ask for a full refund?
 






Bad Ash

Unregistered User
Jul 18, 2003
1,900
Housewares
I would be inclined to withhold any further payment until the work is satisfactory and ask him to fix things first, as opposed to asking for a full refund.

I will ask him to rectify, but as I said, I just don't think it's possible for him to get close to what I asked for.
 


ofco8

Well-known member
May 18, 2007
2,386
Brighton
To late now. Being in construction I tell everyone, NEVER pay anything up front. Bona fide, proper firms will only ask for stage payments as work is completed, not money up front.
 




Beach Hut

Brighton Bhuna Boy
Jul 5, 2003
71,903
Living In a Box
Can't remember exactly who but someone here on NSC did our fence really well and good value for money.

May get a good test on Sunday night though, apparently
 


Justice

Dangerous Idiot
Jun 21, 2012
18,245
Born In Shoreham
To late now. Being in construction I tell everyone, NEVER pay anything up front. Bona fide, proper firms will only ask for stage payments as work is completed, not money up front.
Its a garden fence mate not a block of flats, also most smallish contractors these days ask for material costs upfront including myself, if the customer decide's to be smart at least your not out of pocket on the materials.
 


BN9 BHA

DOCKERS
NSC Patreon
Jul 14, 2013
21,449
Newhaven
To late now. Being in construction I tell everyone, NEVER pay anything up front. Bona fide, proper firms will only ask for stage payments as work is completed, not money up front.
Nothing wrong with asking for a deposit. I do this if materials are special order or I don't 100% trust the customer.
I never take money up front from my regular customers even though plenty offer.
 




Bevendean Hillbilly

New member
Sep 4, 2006
12,805
Nestling in green nowhere
I'd post it on a football forum and take random advice from there.

Oh.
 




Mutts Nuts

New member
Oct 30, 2011
4,918
In a nushell: I got a quote to have one of my garden fences replaced with the same style of fencing that I have on the other side, the guy came round to view before quoting. I came back from work today to find the new fence style was quite different to the other fence and both myself and the neighbour thought it was half finished. I'd paid for the materials upfront (£340) and I've just now had an email to say the work is complete and they want they want payment of the labour costs (£180).

Where do I

Longer version: The fences in my back garden take a huge battering from the wind. A couple of years ago the neighbour on my left arranged for our fence to be replaced with something much studier. I didn't replace the fence on the right at the time.

Fast forward a couple of years and the fence on the left is standing up to the elements excellently, it's extremely sturdy. The fence on the right has been looking a little worse for wear, so I got a couple of quotes. I said I wanted the fence on the right replaced with one just like the one on the left, and both people quoting came round and physically saw what I was asking for.

I ended up going for the more expensive quote because I wanted a proper job done, plus the chap had a webpage and facebook page which looked decent. He was supposed to come round on Wednesday this week. On Tuesday he sent me an email asking for a bank transfer for the cost of the materials. I replied by text asking if him to clarify what name the account was in, but didn't get a reply. I worked from home on Wednesday and there was no sign of him, when I chased him up he said he was waiting for the money to place an order for the materials. I sent the money and he later confirmed that the money had been received, he'd placed the order and he would be here on Thursday. So on Thursday I worked from home again, but at 10am he advised the delivery was running late so he'd come on Friday (today). I was starting to get a little concerned at this point, but later in the day the materials were delivered.

Having worked from home for 2 days I worked in the office today. I didn't see him before I left and he was gone by the time I got home. My initial reaction was disappointment, but I then assumed it hadn't been finished. The post in the middle of the fence is sticking up almost a foot and there is no top edging. Also, I got him to replace my gate because the gate post was broken and we'd bodged a repair. He'd replaced the gate but not the post. The joints are my my neighbours side, so I haven't had a good look, but I think he's used completely different spacing and technique.

I assumed he was going to be back to cut down the post, fit the top edging and replace the gate post. Also I had noticed that the top of the fence is not straight, there is a noticeable angle where it meets the central post (it's straight either side of the post). Our garden does slope, but the fence on the other side is straight all the way along despite this (and it's twice as long).

Having received the email to say he's finished was a bit gutting. My plan is to reply by email with some photos comparing the 2 fences and asking him to correct. However, even with some remedial work, they are never going to look very similar or be as strong.

In hindsight I should have used the company who did the original fence, but they were really slow in getting back to me with a quote and never actually came round, doing it purely from the measurements I sent them. Their quote was the same as this chap.

I'm wondering what my options are. Can I ask for a full refund?

Which form of contract did you use,did you check that the contractor was competant prior to engaging his services or just use the cheapest quote
 




BadFish

Huge Member
Oct 19, 2003
17,013
If anyone asked me for money up front I would find someone else.

Probably best to email him with your concerns and see what can be done. I wouldn't be paying him anymore money until the job was done to my satisfaction. Having said that I don't think I would bother to try for a full refund more just write it off to experience and see if you can get someone decent to fix it up and make the best possible job.
 


Brighton TID

New member
Jul 24, 2005
1,741
Horsham
Was it a written quote? On the quote, does it say what fence will be used?
Basically if you've only verbally agreed the fence style then it will be difficult to get a resolution. If its written down then you have a legal contract.
 


drew

Drew
Oct 3, 2006
23,007
Burgess Hill
In a nushell: I got a quote to have one of my garden fences replaced with the same style of fencing that I have on the other side, the guy came round to view before quoting. I came back from work today to find the new fence style was quite different to the other fence and both myself and the neighbour thought it was half finished. I'd paid for the materials upfront (£340) and I've just now had an email to say the work is complete and they want they want payment of the labour costs (£180).

Where do I stand?

Longer version: The fences in my back garden take a huge battering from the wind. A couple of years ago the neighbour on my left arranged for our fence to be replaced with something much studier. I didn't replace the fence on the right at the time.

Fast forward a couple of years and the fence on the left is standing up to the elements excellently, it's extremely sturdy. The fence on the right has been looking a little worse for wear, so I got a couple of quotes. I said I wanted the fence on the right replaced with one just like the one on the left, and both people quoting came round and physically saw what I was asking for.

I ended up going for the more expensive quote because I wanted a proper job done, plus the chap had a webpage and facebook page which looked decent. He was supposed to come round on Wednesday this week. On Tuesday he sent me an email asking for a bank transfer for the cost of the materials. I replied by text asking if him to clarify what name the account was in, but didn't get a reply. I worked from home on Wednesday and there was no sign of him, when I chased him up he said he was waiting for the money to place an order for the materials. I sent the money and he later confirmed that the money had been received, he'd placed the order and he would be here on Thursday. So on Thursday I worked from home again, but at 10am he advised the delivery was running late so he'd come on Friday (today). I was starting to get a little concerned at this point, but later in the day the materials were delivered.

Having worked from home for 2 days I worked in the office today. I didn't see him before I left and he was gone by the time I got home. My initial reaction was disappointment, but I then assumed it hadn't been finished. The post in the middle of the fence is sticking up almost a foot and there is no top edging. Also, I got him to replace my gate because the gate post was broken and we'd bodged a repair. He'd replaced the gate but not the post. The joints are my my neighbours side, so I haven't had a good look, but I think he's used completely different spacing and technique.

I assumed he was going to be back to cut down the post, fit the top edging and replace the gate post. Also I had noticed that the top of the fence is not straight, there is a noticeable angle where it meets the central post (it's straight either side of the post). Our garden does slope, but the fence on the other side is straight all the way along despite this (and it's twice as long).

Having received the email to say he's finished was a bit gutting. My plan is to reply by email with some photos comparing the 2 fences and asking him to correct. However, even with some remedial work, they are never going to look very similar or be as strong.

In hindsight I should have used the company who did the original fence, but they were really slow in getting back to me with a quote and never actually came round, doing it purely from the measurements I sent them. Their quote was the same as this chap.

I'm wondering what my options are. Can I ask for a full refund?

Which form of contract did you use,did you check that the contractor was competant prior to engaging his services or just use the cheapest quote

I've highlighted the relevant bit for you!!!




As for the OP, the contractor hasn't done the work to the required spec so don't pay. Tell him that you specifically told him the fence had to match the one on the left and await his comments. You could also advise that the workmanship, ie the top edge isn't straight like the other one, is not satisfactory. Did you put it in writing and/or an email or text about the fence being the same. Alternatively, did he put in the quote that the new fence was to match the one on the left or did he just put to match existing (could mean the one it was replacing rather than the one on the left) If not, it could just be one word against another.

You can of course ask for a refund (which I doubt you will get as what you have paid is for materials) but you should certainly withhold payment of the balance. At the end of the day, if you have nothing in writing I would have thought the only reason you have to withhold the final payment is on workmanship.
 






Vegas Seagull

New member
Jul 10, 2009
7,782
In a nushell: I got a quote to have one of my garden fences replaced with the same style of fencing that I have on the other side, the guy came round to view before quoting. I came back from work today to find the new fence style was quite different to the other fence and both myself and the neighbour thought it was half finished. I'd paid for the materials upfront (£340) and I've just now had an email to say the work is complete and they want they want payment of the labour costs (£180).

Where do I stand?

Not next to the fence tomorrow night
 








Chris45

Member
Jul 29, 2010
130
Keep your fingers crossed it blows down on Monday, then claim on insurance, personally I think if he knew there was a potentially severe storm on the way he should have postponed the work anyway.
 


Tricky Dicky

New member
Jul 27, 2004
13,558
Sunny Shoreham
Any decent contractor wouldn't demand money up front, in my experience. They normally have accounts with suppliers so don't need to settle when they purchase. I guess he could be asking for money if he'd been stiffed by customers before, but syrely he only need take a deposit.

Recnetly when I was ordering a conservatory, I was expecting to pay a deposit, and asked how much, he said "don't pay a penny until the job is done and you're happy" - then I was pretty confident I was in good hands (Goatleys in Portslade, BTW, not the cheapest, but very good)
 



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