Hey guys,
It appears as though I have been sucked in. What appeared to be a legitimate referral is now a nightmare.
The tradie (concretor) could talk the talk and say all the right things prior to starting the owner builder.
However from the point in time that I provided the deposit, things started to go downhill.
So long story short, here is a list of timelines:
Monday 17th: Was supposed to work, instead he came on site at 4pm to pick up a $3000 deposit. That seemed odd, I looked him up when I got home to find he has had a number consumer affairs complains against him and knew that this would be an interesting ride from day one.
Tuesday 18th: Came on site, dug only a third of footings. They were done very poorly.
Thursday 20th: Dug a few more footings, organised pre slab inspection to find he didn't read the plan correctly, dug where he shouldn't have, and I was told by the building inspector id need to amend the engineering plans ($330), revise the building permit ($1000), It also would mean that Id have to pay for an additional 5 cubic meters of concrete ($850) and remove the excess soil ($500)
Friday 21st: Completed remainder of the footings Broke another 2 pipes
Have not been able to get him on the site since, he makes excuses day after day.
The following above totals to $2680 of costs that would not have been incurred, not to mention the poor work performed which again is going to result in paying for more concrete.
To add to this I gave him a cash deposit, but told him in our original conversation that I would want a formal tax invoice (he actually offered to the do the job cash in hand). He hasn't yet given me a tax receipt for that deposit, although I do have an email from him stating that he has received the $3k deposit.
Id appreciate if any of you could spare some tips how to approach this and whether I would have a consumer affairs case. Are consumer affairs tougher on repeat offenders? Is it worth threatening to report him again? Should I get him to do a touch more risking even more stuff ups... or just cut my loses... and move on...
Furthermore if anyone knows a decent concretor to continue the work please let me know!
Cheers,
S