Help please, can i get some advise feedback from you please

A lot will depend on how confrontational you both are and how far either of you wants to push it, maybe have a few burley mates stood around.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
A lot will depend on how confrontational you both are and how far either of you wants to push it, maybe have a few burley mates stood around.
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Mate did that with rouge plumber who was trying it on with a disabled chap, 3 big lads wishing to play baseball arrived fully kitted out, and it was amazing how quick the sys was put right.
 
Suggest a chat with Citizens Advice Bureau. Used to volunteer there, they may not solve your problem for you, but give you some certainty about your options. My thinking is that you might want to withhold cash he says is due but you are not satisfied with either the cost or quality. At least advice about whether have the work independently checked before settlng the bill.

Good luck
 
I would also phone trading standards, I know you say he doing this under the radar but it will still be helpful to get some advice from them in your next steps, they are very helpful !
They will give you a case number .. even if it doesn’t go any further you have logged it “just in case”

I hate rip off merchants and injustice ! Sounds like both to me ..

hope you get it resolved
 
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If he's not paying tax on his earnings then you should benefit pro rata in what you pay I think, any silly bugger can work for nowt, but if he's just ripping you off then he needs to be told you're not going to stand for it.

As said you need to see what he's actually paying for the parts, not stuff you buy locally so he should have all the emails or invoices on his phone.
 
Invoices for parts purchased by him ( and paid for by you!) should definitely be supplied since there are guarantees involved? No need to say it is for tax or vat, just proof of purchase. If they are for a lot less and he cannot justify excessive difference between cost and supply, you are then into the "discussion". It does really depend on what was agreed and how it was formalised...invoice/ quote or just verbal. You do have the Labour costs to negotiate with, so if you withhold some he could go to small claims for reimbursement. Hope Citizens Advice / Trading Standards can help.
 
Ref these comments.....

Pudsey Bear said:
As said you need to see what he's actually paying for the parts, not stuff you buy locally so he should have all the emails or invoices on his phone.
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REC said:
Invoices for parts purchased by him ( and paid for by you!) should definitely be supplied since there are guarantees involved? No need to say it is for tax or vat, just proof of purchase. If they are for a lot less and he cannot justify excessive difference between cost and supply, you are then into the "discussion". It does really depend on what was agreed and how it was formalised...invoice/ quote or just verbal. You do have the Labour costs to negotiate with, so if you withhold some he could go to small claims for reimbursement. Hope Citizens Advice / Trading Standards can help.
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The guarantee would be between buyer and seller - the seller being this chap talked about, not the provider he is buying from.

I don't think it is likely that he - or any seller of goods - would pass on the original invoice unless there was a specific agreement about parts provided at his own cost price.
When was the last time you got a receipt for something and it stated how much that item was bought in for and from whom? Or even the original invoice? I think a level of realistic expectations needs to be stated here.

FWIW, when I used to do these kind of jobs, I would provide a detailed breakdown of prices for all the various parts and what they were, and it was down to the customer to decide if they liked the prices I gave them or not. Sometimes they would say they could buy a part cheaper. No problem, but any later issues with that part are nothing to do with me.
You will find garages tend to be exactly the same, expecially on 'significant' parts - if you want a replacement cambelt fitted, don't expect to buy one off eBay to save money and have the garage fit it as they have their own reputation to deal with if problems occur. As the saying goes ... "one throat to choke" if there is a problem.
 
wildebus said:
Ref these comments.....




The guarantee would be between buyer and seller - the seller being this chap talked about, not the provider he is buying from.

I don't think it is likely that he - or any seller of goods - would pass on the original invoice unless there was a specific agreement about parts provided at his own cost price.
When was the last time you got a receipt for something and it stated how much that item was bought in for and from whom? Or even the original invoice? I think a level of realistic expectations needs to be stated here.

FWIW, when I used to do these kind of jobs, I would provide a detailed breakdown of prices for all the various parts and what they were, and it was down to the customer to decide if they liked the prices I gave them or not. Sometimes they would say they could buy a part cheaper. No problem, but any later issues with that part are nothing to do with me.
You will find garages tend to be exactly the same, expecially on 'significant' parts - if you want a replacement cambelt fitted, don't expect to buy one off eBay to save money and have the garage fit it as they have their own reputation to deal with if problems occur. As the saying goes ... "one throat to choke" if there is a problem.
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Spot on. Exactly how I see it.

I could sell you a computer for ten grand quite legally even if I bought it in for £500.
 
How would he make a warranty claim without sales invoices if this bloke turns out to be as suspected.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
How would he make a warranty claim without sales invoices if this bloke turns out to be as suspected.
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I wouldnt pay without an invoice detailing the items. If I sell someone a PC and it breaks in the warranty period they will have an invoice from me with a date on. Generally the claim would be with the manufacturer under their warranty but proof of purchase would be enough but its pretty easy with computers anyway as they can all be tracked with a serial number.
 
barryd said:
I wouldnt pay without an invoice detailing the items. If I sell someone a PC and it breaks in the warranty period they will have an invoice from me with a date on. Generally the claim would be with the manufacturer under their warranty but proof of purchase would be enough but its pretty easy with computers anyway as they can all be tracked with a serial number.
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And when talking about Motorhome related parts, this is one of quite a few reasons why Victron is a popular and wise choice.
Every Victron that has potential of failure has a serial number that is recorded against the official Distributor. So if a Victron part fails, the initial discussion would be with the Dealer/Seller who sold you the part, but if past a certain time (say 12 Months?), or the dealer is no longer trading, you can always find out who the Distributor was (if not the same company) and deal with them instead. And if THEY were no longer trading or responsive, you can deal with Victron directly to discuss resolution within the (usually 5 year) warranty period.
Sometimes paying a premium for a better product can be cheaper than a bargain one ;)
 
wildebus said:
And when talking about Motorhome related parts, this is one of quite a few reasons why Victron is a popular and wise choice.
Every Victron that has potential of failure has a serial number that is recorded against the official Distributor. So if a Victron part fails, the initial discussion would be with the Dealer/Seller who sold you the part, but if past a certain time (say 12 Months?), or the dealer is no longer trading, you can always find out who the Distributor was (if not the same company) and deal with them instead. And if THEY were no longer trading or responsive, you can deal with Victron directly to discuss resolution within the (usually 5 year) warranty period.
Sometimes paying a premium for a better product can be cheaper than a bargain one ;)
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Absolutely. Same in IT. Cheap no good, good no cheap!
 
Cheap can be beneficial too of course, Most of the tools I bought for the self build were from Lidl, Aldi or eBay as cheap as possible, they all performed very well really, and I still have them all in the garage, a lot depends on what it is and how reliant you are on it being reliable, I bought three brand new laptops and they all turned out to be faulty even the replacements had to be returned, so I though stuff it and went used not had a problem with those.
 
I am probably missing something but am happy to be shot down if so. If you ask someone to do something for you and agree to pay for parts upfront shouldn’t you check/specify those parts are what you want before paying anything out? Once you have paid the money I don’t think you have much chance of anything unless the guy agrees to give some or all of it back.
If you specify a certain brand/model then that’s what you would expect but otherwise…
 
I had a Pilote MH and it came without a camera. I asked the Dealer if I could fit my own but was told if I messed with the wiring I would void the guarantee. They said I needed a company that would give me a Vat Receipt. I found one that would do the job. Asked the price and was told that that they had no idea how long it would take and they may have to run a new wire. When I went to collect it I was presented with a bill for £240 for the camera and £260 for fitting it + Vat. I dont get shafted very often but that was taking the pass. One problem they did have was the camera image was the wrong way round and the Alpine head unit could not be programmed to reverse it. It had to go back and be sorted. It worked for a few hours and then packed up altogether getting off the boat in France. When I returned to the uk I asked for a replaceennt camera but they insisted on trying to repair it without success. I then asked for my money back for the crap expensive camera or a new camera. They refused. So I fitted one myself. Took all of 30 minutes as the wiring was already sorted. What to do about the camera. Only one course of action was Small Claims Court. Rang and told them what I was going to do and would they reconsider. No. So they got the paperwork. Took photos of camera and the mess inside it and headed for the court. Nice judge suggested that I should claim for the whole invoice. Their CEO blistered his way through some questions from the judge and the fitter dropped him in it from a great hight. Judge said in summing up she couldn't see why they just didn't give me a new camera. So awarded £500 + Vat and Court Costs.

I do hope you get yours sorted. Someone like @wildebus if he has the time should be able to sort it. Personally I think the best thing to do is just drawer a line under it and move on. Citizens Advice will not offer much as all you can say is he is expensive and very slow. There is not much you can do. A local electrician would probably be able to sort it. Its only 12v instead of 240v but the principals are the same.
 
As you found out fitting a reversing camera is very easy to do only a few connections unless you want it automatic when you select reverse, the hardest part is routing the cabling out of sight.
 
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