Scammed by a Concrete Contractor

SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 10:56

Hi all

I spotted a business post in FB groups about concrete work on 13th March and contacted the person to arrange for a quote who sent out her husband same day evening and has given a competitive quote. He had his business name sticked on his car and has an Instagram account with about 70+ photos of his work.

He sent out a quote the next day via Xero ([email protected]) and I've accepted it almost immediately with the job scheduled for 23rd March.

The job has been postponed due to weather and on 1st April he messaged to come and do some preparations before he pours the concrete and he asked me for a $2000 deposit, i told him i'm happy to pay $1000 and he sent me an "Invoice"(via Xero again. Invoice had ABN & address) before he came in and collected the money.
He came back on 3rd April afternoon along with another guy and spent 2 hours to do some prep and grabbed $500 cash(no invoice for this) promising that he would be pouring in next week.

He has been not answering my calls but responding to my messages since then by postponing with silly reasons like he is unwell, dramas with concrete company etc. and no reply to messages as well from Saturday 18th April. He has also deleted his work Instagram today morning(20th April).

On the other hand, Last week, I sent an inquiry to a marketplace(from a different FB profile) item posted by his wife and she has given me a different address to the address on the quote/invoice to collect the item.

I know that i have made a big mistake by trusting and paying the money upfront. I now have 2 addresses of him - one on the invoice and one his wife gave to me in response to an item for sale in marketplace.

Any suggestions on what rights i have or how can i proceed from here to get my money back/to get the job done?

Many thanks in advance.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Lunarboogie on 20/04/2020 - 10:59
    +9

    Another day, another FB scam…

    • wiipantz on 20/04/2020 - 11:26

      /thread

  • jimbobaus on 20/04/2020 - 10:59
    +6

    spotted a business post in FB groups

    and there is your problem
    FB groups is the new knocking on your door to offer to cut down trees etc

    • wittyusername on 20/04/2020 - 17:27

      Wait should I not use the tree loppers who knock on doors? I've had a really good experience with them last time.

  • Hithere on 20/04/2020 - 11:07
    +3

    Report them to NSW Fair Trading.

    https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/help-centre/online-tools/…

    • SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 11:36

      Thank you.

  • slow on 20/04/2020 - 11:24
    +5

    I have used a couple of concreters in the last few years and even the good ones seem to be notoriously unreliable and poor communicators. Trouble is they work for builders and when a builder says come now they have to. As a private consumer you are always bottom of the list.
    So all may not be lost

    • SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 11:36

      Hope that’s true

  • trustnoone on 20/04/2020 - 11:25
    +1

    Have you checked the ABN/ Lic Num or similar with the public register for more info? https://www.onegov.nsw.gov.au/publicregister/#/publicregiste… (assuming NSW)

    • SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 11:35

      Not on this list though the ABN status is active from ABN register.

      Shame I didn’t know about this before

  • wiipantz on 20/04/2020 - 11:25
    -4

    lol

  • Gronk on 20/04/2020 - 11:40
    +1

    I spotted a business post in FB groups

    And that's where I stopped reading…

  • WoodYouLikeSomeCash on 20/04/2020 - 11:47
    +3

    Take it to A Current Affair.

  • oscargamer on 20/04/2020 - 12:12

    Is the money you have given appropriate for the work already undertaken?

    If it's close, then let it go and learn for next time.

    If you are significantly out of pocket, then chase it.

    • SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 12:24

      Unfortunately I’m out of pocket significantly

      • oscargamer on 20/04/2020 - 12:45
        +1

        Personally, I'd go to his house and explain politely that he needs to refund you $xxx for the amount you are out of pocket. I would do this with my phone in my top pocket recording the conversation. (I can do this in VIC, not sure about NSW.)

        What happens after that, depends on the answer.

        • SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 13:14

          Thanks, that was one option i was thinking.

  • whooah1979 on 20/04/2020 - 12:29

    It is not uncommon for contractors to work on several jobs at the same time. We had a 160 m² driveway done by a contractor that shared their workload on different sites. They excavated 3 sites on the same day and then returned a few weeks later with the whole team to pour the cement.

    • SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 12:32

      Yeah I can understand that.
      But why would someone delete their work Instagram overnight and not respond to messages which is making me stressful.

      • whooah1979 on 20/04/2020 - 12:34

        Our driveway started before Christmas and finished about two or three weeks after New Year. We only called them twice. How many times have you called them in the past 20 days?

        • SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 13:14

          almost 20 times since Friday

  • Hardlyworkin on 20/04/2020 - 13:02
    -1

    Was his name Con?

    • SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 13:13

      No

      • Hardlyworkin on 20/04/2020 - 13:37

        Was he a sole trader/partnership or a PTY LTD?

        Will be a little easier to chase up if the latter. Have you done a search on the ABN? Pm me if you need help with that.

        • SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 13:40

          PTY LTD

  • onetwothreefour on 20/04/2020 - 13:50

    Name and shame?

  • Bargainbattles on 20/04/2020 - 13:50

    Do you know any big Samoans ?

    • SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 14:02

      Unfortunately No

  • jimdotpud on 20/04/2020 - 13:55

    How big is the job in square metres? standard, coloured or exposed aggregate? doesn't seem like a lot of money to pay up front depending on the job size….

    • SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 14:00

      The job is for 35m2 coloured concrete
      Quotation is $3500
      Paid $1500

      • jimdotpud on 20/04/2020 - 14:14

        and how much work has he done so far:
        excavated
        form work/boxing
        steel reinforcing

        • SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 14:46

          Just removed some grass and weed using shovels, placed timber studs on the edges. That's it

  • WreckTangle on 20/04/2020 - 16:44

    Send him a registered letter outlining the facts and give him a date to respond by. Do you have a receipt for the money?

    • SydOzber on 20/04/2020 - 16:47

      He emailed me an Invoice via Xero for $1000 but not for the $500

      • WreckTangle on 20/04/2020 - 16:50

        Does the invoice mention payments you made, in case you have to go to NCAT?

  • SydOzber on 05/05/2020 - 11:17

    Hi all,

    Thanks everyone for responding with suggestions.

    Update:
    I sent him a message again last week saying I know his real address and I am happy to come and discuss to which he responded saying he he will attend the job on Tuesday May 5th.
    I sent a followup text on Monday May 4th to confirm. The idiot replied and confirmed that he will attend the job next day at 7:30 AM, Fingers crossed. I receive another text after one hour with BS story and he offered to give $1000 back out of $1500. He came in last evening and gave the cash.

    Big lesson learnt. Although there are some good tradesman out there, never ever trust and pay in advance.

    • 5iveburn on 07/05/2020 - 01:28

      Good thing he still returned some cash.
      We all have to be very careful with these people especially if it involves lots money.

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