Rs Property Services

I am a disabled man right arm in addition to suffering a serious brain injury following a motorbike accident.

Richard Smith from R.S. Property Services Wolverhampton provided a price to complete this job after I provided the full details of what I wanted including outside doors, frame and internal fixtures and fittings such as rails and shelves etc. Richard said the complete job would take no longer than 2 days to complete and it would be best if I paid his day rate which would be £140 per day. I agreed to this assuming the job would be completed in 2 days believing a day rate included 8am to 5pm working time.

On the first day Richard Smith worked from 9.30am to 3pm. This including running around in his van to collect materials from 9.30am to 11am which I am happy to include in his rate, so the work commenced on the wardrobe from 11am to 3pm, as he had another job to finish for someone else and left early. The following day he arrived at 11am and worked until 3pm. During this time he arranged for someone to come see him at my home to fit a Bluetooth phone system in his van, which he took 45 minutes out of my paid time to complete. So the actual work for this day was no more than 3 hours 15 minutes.

Richard then asked to return to my home on Sunday to finish off what you see in the picture, which is doors and outside frame fitted etc which took him 2 hours. I explained I had an event to attend at 2pm but would trust him with the keys to lock up and leave himself. So in total, he worked 5.5 hours one day, 3.25 hours the next and finally 2 hours on the Sunday which was a total of 10.75 hours or 10 hours 45 minutes. A standard builders working hours if quoting day rates is 8am to 5pm, a total of 9 hours, perhaps minus 30 minutes lunch but at the very least 8 hours 30 minutes which is just 2 hours 15 minutes short of what Richard has billed for 2 days work which he states was the price agreed at £280 for this work despite only working just 2 hours 15 minutes more than a standard builders days rate. Please keep in mind I didn’t ask him to come and work Sunday but was happy to facilitate his request once my family and I left the property after 2pm.

When he asked for the money prior to leaving him on Sunday I explained I did not feel he was entitled to the full amount at this stage as he had not worked the 2 full days he billed for, explaining the hours he had done in addition to the fact his price included fitting the internal wardrobe fixtures and fittings including rails and shelves etc. I had already handed over £200 at this stage on the Friday and to date have yet to receive a receipt for materials or work completed.

Richard took offence that I had quoted the hours he had worked and this was clear from the change in attitude. However Richard looked me in the eye, which I took him at his word, and he agreed to come back and finish the job for the price we agreed albeit the final part of internal fitting would probably only take 2 hours as there is no building work to complete and simply fit the already built internal fittings to the walls with screws etc. This 2 hours work would still have only took the final hours worked to 12 hours 45 minutes and not 17 hours which you would expect from any standard builder or tradesman quoting day rates, however that being said I didn’t care about the hours worked and more so about the job being completed as agreed, as our house is in total turmoil without the ability to use the wardrobe whilst also having 2 young children who’s rooms are full of our clothes on the floor, beds and benches.

Richard took the hump, because before I handed over the full money before the job was completed as agreed, I questioned the hours he had worked. It was foolish of me I know, but I took the man at his word that he would come back and complete the job and this is where my head injury lets me down and people take advantage. Richard left the room in a total mess, which you don’t see in the pictures although if you look close enough in the mirror you will see 6 inches deep of saw dust as he didn’t have the decency to clean up or professionalism to cut the wood outside the house and completely saturated everything in the room including £350 mattress in saw dust. He left vents off the wall which you will see in the picture leaving a large hole and gap despite having 2 young children in the house age 2 and 5 yrs old. When I asked when he would be coming back to complete the job the response I got was that I ‘pissed him off and complete the job yourself’ despite my arm disability following a serious motorbike accident. Richard is adamant he priced for 2 full days work and therefore because he attended ON 2 DAYS, despite not actually working 2 days, then he had been paid for the work completed and therefore I should find someone else to complete the job.

Anyone considering hiring this man should think twice, because if you question what your paying for you can be assured you won’t get what you paid for and Richard will just walk away leaving you without the job agreed and the price agreed and paid fully completed!