A couple have said they lost their £50,000 life savings to a cowboy builder that quit because ‘he didn’t want the stress’.
James Bradshaw and his family agreed to pay almost £70,000 for a two-storey extension to accommodate their growing family, which was due to be completed by August 2021.
However, after months of issues and delays the builder vanished in September, leaving James and his family with a half-finished, ‘unsafe’ extension that had to be completely demolished.
In a bid to claw back some of their hard-earned savings, James contacted a solicitor who then advised him not to bother taking the builder to court as he ‘won’t see a penny’ - even if he wins the case.
The dad has now shared photos of the shoddy work he’s been left with to warn others not to fall victim to ‘cowboy builders’.
James, from Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, said: “It was shocking from day one. He never did a full week; he'd only turn up two to three times a week if at all and he'd turn up at 10.30am and leave at 3pm.
“Every time the building inspector came to review the work he'd done, it kept getting failed so he had to redo lots of it.
“Eventually I said to him 'you need to come in for a meeting because this just isn't good enough'.
“As he walked through the door he said 'I'm going to give you your money back and you can get someone else to complete it because I can't get it done and I don't want the stress anymore'.
“He only offered us £3,000 back and I just said 'you're a joke and you'll be hearing from our solicitors'.
“He left our house in the state it's in and we haven't spoken to him since.”
In a further blow, James was told by a solicitor that, although he would ‘definitely win’ in court, the money would never be returned, as the builder could simply close the business down due to not having the funds to repay it.
“Two days after we received the court letter it came up on Facebook that the company was closed so I think he's already shut it down,” James continued.
The heartbroken dad finished: “There's nothing we can do now. We just have to bite the bullet that we're not going to get anything from it.
“We've got new builders in now but because we've wasted so much money, we can only afford to get the shell done and we'll have to do the inside stage by stage.”
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media
Abbi Murray