Mum £1.8k out of pocket and losing sleep after dispute with builder
BUT TRADESMAN SAYS HE HAS ALWAYS ACTED FAIRLY
SINGLE Derby mum has been left £1,800 out of pocket after a row with a builder she asked to install a fence.
Annie Birnbaum, from Spondon, says she has been having sleepless nights due to the issue, but the builder involved says he has acted fairly at all times.
Ms Birnbaum, a 41-year-old mum-of-three, asked Salvatore Rao of Gates & More to build a small fence in mid-June to stop her two Chihuahuas getting out, which she said was completed satisfactorily and for a reasonable price. The fence and labour cost £817.75.
After then asking Mr Rao to complete some work on a 10ft x 12ft area of decking, she paid a £1,400 deposit for materials, in two instalments due to online banking limits. The overall quote was £1,779.75, before the costs of a skip to remove the old decking.
But delays to the work starting led to Ms Birnbaum asking to cancel the job and for her money back. Mr Rao offered to pay the deposit back in three instalments – which Ms Birnbaum refused – and has now blocked her on social media and withdrawn his offer of paying back the deposit, which he says was always meant to be non-refundable.
Ms Birnbaum said: “I’m not sleeping properly as I’m constantly thinking about it. I’m so angry with myself and I’m so upset that someone could do something like this and be so brazen about it.
“He has blocked me on social media, and I haven’t heard anything since he told me that they will pay me back in instalments. I don’t think I’m going to get my money back but I wouldn’t want it to happen to someone else.
“It’s crazy to me that someone can so blatantly take money and not bat an eyelid. I’ve been extremely fair with him and have given him plenty of time.”
Ms Birnbaum, who works as a personal trainer and a baker, even messaged her father to check that the quote for the decking was reasonable prior to transferring the money. It was originally due to be installed on Thursday, June 30, but Mr Rao delayed the work to Monday, July 4, due to wet weather being forecast on consecutive days.
Mr Rao then asked for it to be delayed again, stating that his child had had to go to hospital due to complications from Covid.
On Friday, July 8, with his child’s health concerns continuing, Mr Rao said he hoped to be with Ms Birnbaum “within the next day or two” and had used her deposit to pay for materials. But with no firm date as to when the work would be done, Ms Birnbaum asked for her deposit back.
Mr Rao initially refused, citing that deposits are non-refundable and that the materials had been ordered, and offered to have the materials delivered to her house for another builder or Ms Birnbaum herself to complete the work. He later offered to pay the £1,400 back in three instalments, an offer which Ms Birnbaum refused.
She said: “I asked for my deposit back and I was told ‘no, sorry, I’ve paid for the materials.’ I asked whether the materials could just be returned or refunded, especially as the timber hasn’t left their yard, and they gave me a whole bunch of different excuses.
“I’ve been let down three times as I just want someone else to do it. How long am I meant to be patient for?
“I told him that if I didn’t get my money back, I would have to get vocal about this, and they were still being very difficult.
The last communication between Ms Birnbaum and the builder was Sunday, July 10. She has since gone to social media to air her concerns, and she has contacted the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.
Mr Rao, who was employed by others for several years before startA ing working for himself earlier this year, says the job would have been completed once he had the time. He has withdrawn the offer to pay back the deposit, and said that he offered to pay it in instalments rather than as a lump sum “because it’s a lot of money”.
He said that he was “sick” of messages from Ms Birnbaum, which is why he blocked her. He also alleged that some people who commented on Ms Birnbaum’s Facebook post about her experience threatened to call him out for a quote, only to then block his van inside the property.
He said: “A non-refundable deposit means a non-refundable deposit, that’s what it is there for. I don’t go out and spend hardly any money, to then be told someone doesn’t want the job doing without a valid reason, and for me to lose out.
“I had customers all over and I always take a deposit from them. It’s destroyed my business which has been set up over the past eight months. She was aware of the deposit policy as she sent it over on the first job I did for her.
“I offered to do the job for her and was given no valid reason as to why she didn’t want the job doing. I then offered to get the materials delivered to her, and I was told she wouldn’t accept it, so I offered a refund on a non-refundable deposit which I offered in three instalments, which wasn’t good enough.
“I am not getting work through, as much as I am advertising. I was getting 10-15 phone calls a day and now I am getting none. I’ve tried to be reasonable, offer her the materials, and I had no valid reason as to why she didn’t want the job doing.
“I did the job for her last time, and I would have done the job for her this time. I never once said I wasn’t coming, I always left her a message saying which day I was coming.”