Ripped off by a Roofer.

I feel so stupid but I have been ripped off by a roofer. We needed urgent work done, we were approached through a Tradesperson site by a local roofer, he came out there and then, sized up the job and gave us a price. He had good reviews on the site and seemed very personable. We paid a deposit.
He said he could start in a fortnight then phoned up to say he could start the following Monday. He turned up with two men when he said he would and started the job.
That is when he found out the roof was in a far worse state than he thought. He suggested we go for a full reroof but we explained we could not afford it. He worked out a plan to do sufficient repairs at a price we could afford (we couldn't but we could cobble the money together). They turned up with more materials and carried on. By Friday afternoon it was all but finished with only a bit of cement work to finish once the first lot has set. He said he would come back on the Monday to complete the work.
He asked if we could pay the balance so it would clear the bank for the men's wages. Against all my instincts I foolishly agreed.
On Monday he phoned to say his boiler had burst and flooded his bathroom and he wouldn't make it until the afternoon maybe Tuesday morning. On Tuesday I took some photos of the roof and saw several things that concerned me. I phoned him again and he said he would come out and didn't. The same today. He always answers his phone. We will leave it until Monday before we contact him again. Then it gets dirty.

 

As annoying and frustrating as it is, I wouldn't be panicking too much yet. In my experience, tradespeople are an absolute nightmare when it comes to getting jobs done on any kind of agreed schedule. It doesn't matter how good their reviews are. It doesn't even matter if they're actually a personal friend (a few of my jobs have been done by a friend, but I insisted on keeping it professional and separate from our friendship).

It must be hard for tradespeople. They seem to have such awful luck. They seem to have more of the van's broken down, their boiler has bust, their workmate has accidentally took their toolbox to another job a hundred miles away, or their suppliers have let them down so they'll have to wait for something else to arrive than anyone else. And tragically, they seem to have to attend their best friend's funeral way more often than anyone should go through that.

But after all the excuses, in my experience, they usually do eventually complete the job. So personally I wouldn't worry until it's at least a couple of weeks past the agreed completion date.

 

Is it just the tiles / slates / batterns or does it involve heavier woodwork like the rafters or bargeboards ?

At least you can still speak to him so sounds like there is hope.

 

The concept of getting someone to come and do anything at all is a fascinating one! I've been trying to get a charpentier to come and do a quote for the last 6 weeks with just one from the village who actually turned up, measured up, promised a quote and disappeared never to be seen again. Out of 8 contacted

 

The guys turned up this morning, assured me that what I was worried about was not an issue, finished off the couple of little buts they had to do and cleared away all their mess. I felt they were a bit put out by my questions as they left without letting us know they were done.
And yes, if there is an issue I paid the whole lot by credit card (I said I had to cobble the money together). It was just tiles that were replaced (about 100 all told) and the membrane underneath them.

 

Well, I'll find out how good a job they made tonight. Storm Otto is due to hit us overnight with, for Edinburgh, 55 mph winds.

 

Thanks. That is Sheal's forecast I believe.

 

At the moment the top speed is around 60mph here @Jocko from the later part of tonight and through tomorrow. With the expected wind direction I'm hoping it will leave my roof tiles in place. I hope yours stay anchored too.

 

We got up to 62 mph at around 07:00 but apart from the noise our roof remained intact.