Need advise on reclaiming deposit from rogue trader

[megatronman]

Hi

 

When my Dad's boiler broke, he called a company from the phone book and the engineer they sent told him he needed a complete replacement of the boiler and quoted him £2600. He charged him £1000 deposit and said he'd be back the next morning to replace the boiler.

 

The same evening, we found another gas fitter who came over that evening and found the problem was with one part and replaced it and serviced the boiler for £370 in total.

 

So the original engineer mislead my father into believing the boiler needed replacing and he didn't do any work.

 

I'm not sure what the best approach is to get the deposit back from the original engineer. The Consumer Contract Regulations stated there should be a 14 day cooling off period where services can be cancelled. There's a template letter for this over on the which website.

 

There is also the The Consumer Protection Regulations which gives consumers 90 days to "unwind" a contract and claim the money back.

 

This seems to be the better option as it is specific to traders misleading their customers.

 

Does anyone have experience of claiming back from traders using this method? Is there a template to use for this?

 

Many thanks

[BankFodder]

I agree with you. The Consumer Protection Regulations seems to be a very good way to go. I think that you would enforce these by means of a County Court claim.

 

I don't think that you need much of a template.

 

I think a complicating factor is to decide who you sue. I can imagine that if you try to sue the company, they will say that the engineer a self-employed and that you need to sue the engineer.

 

If you to the engineer, you know who years, where he lives, and does he have any assets?

 

Have you consulted the company's website to see what they say about the engineers they recommend?

[megatronman]

Hi Bankfodder, thanks for the quick reply.

Should I refrain from posting the company name on here?

Their website has been down for a while but I found a press release from the company on the Reuters website from 2013 about the code of conduct for their contractors.

[BankFodder]

Please post the name. Why protect them? Post the name of the contractor as well

But if the site has been down for a while, it doesn't bode very well.

[megatronman]

It's Plumbers 24x7. http://www.plumbers24x7.co.uk/

 

The contracter signed the invoice only with the name 'Toby', no surname.

 

The company check shows they have liabilities higher than their assets so I guess that's not a good sign either.

https://companycheck.co.uk/company/08259036/PLUMBERS-247-LTD/summary

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/plumbers-24x-idUSnBw165119a+100+BSW20130916

[BankFodder]

Well I'm very sorry to say that I think you've been turned over and I don't think that there is very much you can do

 

I suppose that I don't need to say that I think the you were a bit quick to part with £1000 without getting corroborating diagnoses and quotes.

 

I'm saying this at the very least for the benefit of other people.

[megatronman]

Yes, they seem to be preying on the elderly. My dad paid the £1000 on his debit card. Do you think there is a chance of getting a charge-back from the bank?

Thanks.

Edited January 25, 2016 by megatronman
grammar

[BankFodder]

Yes, they seem to be preying on the elderly. My dad paid the £1000 on his debit card. Do you think there is a chance of getting a charge-back from the bank?

Thanks.

I can't remember what the chargeback rules are – you should look them up that certainly if you have paid on a card then this is definitely the way to go.

 

I should set about it immediately and not waste any time.

[Andyorch]

Recent successful debit card charge back thread.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...ght=chargeback

 

 

Mastercard's chargeback scheme

 

• The cover applies to Mastercard debit cards, prepaid cards and Maestro cards, and to purchases made on a Mastercard credit card which don't qualify for section 75 cover

 

• There is a minimum spend of £10 but no upper limit on spending

 

• There is a 120-day limit on claims which is "typically the expected delivery date of the goods or services not provided"

 

• Claims must be made to your bank, not to Mastercard

 

• The cover applies to transactions in the UK and overseas