We haven't handed over any money as yet, we are arguing over the amount, if its correct in saying we only pay for the re useable materials then we owe him nothing as the concrete mix has now set and is solid so we cant dig them all up and re lay, can he take US to small claims court for his money? this is getting so stressful, we are waiting for a couple of quotes to put right this terrible mess.

Thanks everyone for your help and comments, don't suppose anyone could draft me a letter to send him, basically telling him we will pay for only re useable materials (in a professional manner) I am useless at putting things in writing, should I be asking him to send copy of original receipt for paving slabs? Thanks again peeps

we moved to Northants in November, total newbies to the area, no friends or relatives, I asked about and put up a post on facebook and the person contacted me, he trades under the name oddjobs handyman services and comes across quite professional, we did stress that we were on a tight budget, explained that we wanted the grass gone and to be replaced with paving slabs, the saying you get what you pay for comes to mind, he layed the slabs on top of the grass after putting some sand down first, I instantly thought surely the grass needs to be dug out and taken away but thought hes the professional he must know what hes doing. When he came back to finish the job and for payment we clearly told him that we would happily pay for materials but no way on gods earth was we paying for anything else, he agreed with everything we threw at him, admitted he had done a terrible job, he said if we paid him for materials he would come back free of charge and dig it all up and do it properly, a few hours after he left us we received an email wih a new estimate for the work including labour charges, we politely declined his offer.

We want to know if we are entitled to any kind of compensation for the unfinished work that was carried out and that is going to cost us a few more thousand pounds to put right, the garden was done for my son who is registered disabled and needs an outside space which is flat/level, at the moment he wouldn't be able to use the garden without being supervised as there are sloping areas and dips and unfinished bits where slabs are missing, there are broken slabs left in garden so its been left unsafe, the cowboy is argueing that for the price he quoted the work is adequate, if we paid him another couple of thousand he would come back and re do it, well if he couldn't do it right the first time round hes definitely not coming back to do more work.

Sorry I need to ask for advice but not sure where to ask or where to post, we hired a person who assured us he could do the job which was laying a large patio, he left it unfinished and in a very poor state, not flat or level, he admitted liability and admitted the job is awful and said we would only need to pay for materials and no labour which is fine, we don't want him back as its obvious he cant do the work at a satisfactory standard, we now have to find someone else to dig up the entire garden and start again, what can we do, we contacted citizien advice but wasn't very helpful as we are not trying to get any money refunded as we haven't paid for any labour only cost of materials, thankyou for any help x