removing materials from a property

[NiteW4tcher]

>:( bloody people

i intennd to go to a property to remove my materials due to non payment of work completed

can someone tell me if i have to have the police with me to do so?

thanks

Dan

[Squashed_Fly]

You're better off asking the police that one...

[DaytonaDog]

The Police may attend solely to prevent a breach of the peace, they will not get involve in whether you have the legal authority to take back your property, as this appears to be a civil matter as opposed to a criminal matter. I suggest contacting the duty sergeant from your local police station who can discuss in greater detail.

[470four]

If they havnt paid you then the materials are yours! Does this involve picking something up (ie tools) or unbuilding something that has already been built?

[470four]

Always helps to have a few mates with you in these circumstances... ;)

[NiteW4tcher]

it involves removing a length of pipe and a tap....but its a nursing home and if i remove the tap they will have no water supply to the home........

being a nursing home i do have morals and i dont want to do this but im stuck between a rock and a hard place.

i need my money yet i dont want to cause stress to elderly people :-/

[Squashed_Fly]

Then you need to pursue your debt through the civil courts. You must send them at least 2 letters first, then a 3rd with your legal intention of suing them.

Bear in mind, you can recover your court costs, but not solicitors fees (otherwise everyone would hire the best and most expensive solicitors!) so you need to decide if the debt is worth it.

Or you can let a debt recovery company buy the debt from you at a reduced rate, and they chase it it for you?

[470four]

Why are they not paying?

Needless to say if you did remove / block the tap then they would HAVE to pay up... ;)

[Snowy]

Professional guidance would always be better than internet forum responses so I would advise getting some. You can always start off with the Citizens Advice Bureau.

You have not posted up why they are not paying - have you fulfilled the terms of the contract or your quotation for the work? Have you supplied a correct invoice to them? If you remove your work and the home has no mains water will you be altering any pipework services that are the water boards responsibility?

[Squashed_Fly]

Sadly, 3 years working in the debt recovery industry has taught me that, more often than not, you are on the back foot being the person that has the money owed to them, and you have to jump through many hoops to get your money back legally.

You can not just walk in and remove the items. Care home or not. You would need a court order to allow it, just as a bailiff would to remove unpaid for items. Your only hope is to pursue it through the courts and if/when a CCJ is given to them, and they STILL don't pay, then bailiff services can be invoked.

Rather than patronise you, I'm going to assume you have done what you are supposed to do, however Snowy is right - check the fine detail with a solicitor/CAB. But be prepared for a fight. If it's less than £300-400, you might decide it's not worth the time and money and notch it up to experience. If it's 'proper money' then it's worth fighting it properly because if you do anything deemed illegal in your collection activity, then the courts can straight away side with the debtor.

If you have any questions, happy to answer a PM. After 3 years doing it I wanted to slit my wrists!

Best of luck - it's hard work getting your money back legally but ultimately satisfying when you do.

[Jon_W]

Professional guidance would always be better than internet forum responses so I would advise getting some. You can always start off with the Citizens Advice Bureau.



+1.

Sound advice.

[Demonbaker]

Hate to say it but unless there's a significant amount of money involved then i would let it drop rather than chase it through the courts. Ive been there and got the t shirt. You will pay the small claims court who will make a judgment, hopefully in your favour then if they still don't pay you end up going back to the court and applying for the Bailiffs to attend, this will cost you more money and no guarantee that they will pay up. Ive been done over recently for about £100 which i have written off. Unless we could get a ride out to a cafe near Lyneham for a WB breakfast ;D

[NiteW4tcher]

its £200 so i belive i best off just walking away and taking it as a lesson

[Snowy]

its £200 so i belive i best off just walking away and taking it as a lesson

Just out of interest and being nosey....what excuse did they give you for not paying?

[NiteW4tcher]

they say the work was not completed as per quote. except i have hard copies of the quote for the work. as i carried out the work to the letter.

weird isnt it that when i ask them to produce there copy of the quote, its convniently been "lost"

[Ducatista]

Sorry if it's a dumb question, but I presume you've asked them what they require you to do to sort it to their saitsfaction?

[Snowy]

If you decide to go to the small claims court (which is the County Court), you stand a better chance if you can prove you have tried to sort the matter out before it getting to the court. If you can provide copies of quotes, letters, offers to resolve differences etc., you are in a much stronger position to get the judge on your side especially if the other side cannot. You do need to be sure (and take a difficult unbiased view on this) that you are right and they are wrong, otherwise it will just be a waste of time and money for you.

[AndytheCat]

Another good point to note is do you have a small statement of your invoice like "All goods/materials remain the property of XX untill paid in full"

If not, pop one on. Always useful with self employed sparkys, plumbers or chippies etc.

[wiltshire builders]

I'm guessing this is the stop tap for their mains supply. How can that be fitted in an un-satisfactory way?
If you do go down the 'take back what's mine' route don't get any form of law involved as it is completely illegal.
That's the trouble when dealing with office wallers. They've never done a proper days work, come home covered in crap then been told they're not getting paid.

Personally i'd try one more time to come to an amicable solution then walk away.

Someone should make a tv show about cowboy customers, there are plenty out there. >:(

[Snowy]

I'm guessing this is the stop tap for their mains supply. How can that be fitted in an un-satisfactory way?
If you do go down the 'take back what's mine' route don't get any form of law involved as it is completely illegal.
That's the trouble when dealing with office wallers. They've never done a proper days work, come home covered in crap then been told they're not getting paid.

Personally i'd try one more time to come to an amicable solution then walk away.

Someone should make a tv show about cowboy customers, there are plenty out there. >:(


He said, they said, it had not been completed as per the quote. That's not the same as saying it's un-satisfactory. We don't know what the quote was for or what the client claims has not been done. There's always two sides to a story.

[wiltshire builders]

I'm guessing this is the stop tap for their mains supply. How can that be fitted in an un-satisfactory way?
If you do go down the 'take back what's mine' route don't get any form of law involved as it is completely illegal.
That's the trouble when dealing with office wallers. They've never done a proper days work, come home covered in crap then been told they're not getting paid.

Personally i'd try one more time to come to an amicable solution then walk away.

Someone should make a tv show about cowboy customers, there are plenty out there. >:(


He said, they said, it had not been completed as per the quote. That's not the same as saying it's un-satisfactory. We don't know what the quote was for or what the client claims has not been done. There's always two sides to a story.


But if they don't have their copy of the quote, how can they make that statement?
Surely if something isn't done as expected that would come under the description of being un-satisfactory, as in 'I'm not satisfied that the work carried out, is what I asked you to do'
Sounds like they're chancing their arm a bit.

[Snowy]

I'm guessing this is the stop tap for their mains supply. How can that be fitted in an un-satisfactory way?
If you do go down the 'take back what's mine' route don't get any form of law involved as it is completely illegal.
That's the trouble when dealing with office wallers. They've never done a proper days work, come home covered in crap then been told they're not getting paid.

Personally i'd try one more time to come to an amicable solution then walk away.

Someone should make a tv show about cowboy customers, there are plenty out there. >:(


He said, they said, it had not been completed as per the quote. That's not the same as saying it's un-satisfactory. We don't know what the quote was for or what the client claims has not been done. There's always two sides to a story.


But if they don't have their copy of the quote, how can they make that statement?
Surely if something isn't done as expected that would come under the description of being un-satisfactory, as in 'I'm not satisfied that the work carried out, is what I asked you to do'
Sounds like they're chancing their arm a bit.

You might be right and if they really can't produce the quote they have little to back up any argument. Without having the details its impossible to say - we're just guessing. Maybe the quote was for internal plumbing including the fitting of a stop tap which has not been fitted at all or has been but in the wrong place. Who knows. Maybe Nite4watcher could enlighten us with the detail.

[Col]

I would write to the manager again with your bill enclosing your copy of the quote NiteW4tcher informing them the work has been carried out, as per quote, and that payment is now due.

[cornishbob]

poking my nose in
not sure but....
whilst its still there there is a contract
if you remove it you will have breeched that contract
irrespective of right and wrongs there is still a contract until one party breeches it
you have to decide is it worth it?
there is trespass laws criminal damage laws so on and so forth that you will then leave yourself open to
will they get legal aid?

a minefield

[NiteW4tcher]

well i have sent a letter to the manager.

he replied we will not be paying anything for the work carried out as it was not completed as per quote given.

and the argument over not as per quote is. the original quote says

"to replace 1 meter of 3/4 " galvernised iron pipe and fit new stop tap"

now in all fairness i did not measure the excact amout i cut out , as i cut out what needed to be cut out to be able to install the new tap etc.

they have measureed it as 1.3 m of pipe i replaced. so i have not done the job as per quoted.

:o SERIOUSLY!!! WTF >:(

they have found there "lost" quote and now they refuse to pay because i done more work than quoted im gob smacked i really am.

im rattling the cage and foaming at the mouth ready to kill them.

but im having to walk away as the amount owed really isn't worth it >:(

[wiltshire builders]

Name and shame them!
It really bugs me that these desk jockies think they can get away with this kind of thing. They like to hide behind emails and phone calls. Get them to meet face to face. You usually find they're not quite so brave.
I do believe, what goes around comes around. They'll get theirs, don't worry. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

[Ducatista]

What's the issue with using the small claims court?

[cornishbob]

thats the difference between a quote and an estimate

[NiteW4tcher]

thats the difference between a quote and an estimate

a quote is basically a fixed price a estimate is exactly that a estimate...the price on paper could go up or down.

from now on im estimating it all....if there going to be so petty over .3 of a meter. not that im tarring every customer with the same brush but i think i ahve to

[jonnydangerous]

as per my suggestion in the last post you made..... "remind" them with phone calls at "early" and "late" o'clock, and dont forget to say "dont worry if you keep forgetting im nice and i'll keep ringing you to remind you until you dont need me to remind you anymore".....
im sure they might "remember" to pay you if you "remind" them all day long and evening, especially if they only have one phone line....

[Roxy]

am I right in thinking they are refusing to pay you for replacing an extra .3m of piping? :o did you charge them for the extra pipe or just charge them what was on the estimate?

if thats the case...how bloody petty >:(