Rubble left behind by builder - advice please!

I suggest you give him up as a bad job, and either remove the rubbish yourself, or hire someone you can trust to do so.

Taking him to the small claims court will cost more than it is worth, even if you do have a written agreement with him.

You can give him a bad review on Next Door, meanwhile I m afraid you will have to hire someone to collect the rubble, this will probably cost you as municipal tips won’t take builders rubble free, if they already have some rubble themselves they might make you a small charge, so why not contact some other local builders and ask?
Alternatively does anyone want some rubble for a building project?

He deserves the bad comment and that will lose him business. People these days really rely on reviews.

You could advertise it as free hardcore, to be collected. Or as others have said get someone else to collect it, which will cost I’m afraid. Hindsight is brilliant!

Never pay up front for work in or outside the house.

Always go on personal recommendation though this sin't always possible.

Always get at least three quotes- and remember the cheapest is not always the worst, neither is the most expensive always the best. Go with your instincts.

I would expect clearing of waste to be included in quote, even if it is just by text as it often is these days.

Some tradesmen include the price of a skip and I would go for this option to save both money and time finding my own.

In this case you will have to get the rubbish cleared up as the neighbours have been inconvenienced by it.

You allowed your heart to rule your head here, but no one is now feeling sorry for you. A hard but serious lesson learned I think.

I was looking for rubble recently. Advertising it is a good idea.

Yes advertise the the rubble. Ok so you made a mistake, easily done . He has not honoured his promise and deserves as bad review - I don't know about you learning a lesson, after your bad review it's him that should learn a lesson! His behaviour is unforgivable,if he genuinely can't move it he should find a man who can ! Hope your neighbours simmer down when / if they hear what has happened. For the record
keepingquiet I for one do feel sorry for choughdancer and I suspect I am not alone - a rather harsh ,unkind and unnecessary remark .

Well I do feel sorry for you Cloughdancer. You were compassionate and the builder has abused that kindness. In your position I would put a post on Nextdoor and explain what happened and ask if anyone wants the waste or will take it away for a reasonable fee. In my experience people can be very helpful on that site..

Thank you all for your replies; I feel much better having read them!
What I've done is put a post on NextDoor advising anyone who has him to do a job, not to pay until the job is finished. I also added (to be a bit kinder!) that the work was fine, it was just that the rubble wasn't taken away. It was in his quote, and I've made a copy of all the messages in case he can somehow delete them. He's thrown a wobbly and posted angry replies, reported me to a moderator, accused me of delaying my payment etc., but I'm not going to argue or respond.

It's a good idea to see if anyone wants rubble; I'll try that!

Thank you for all the replies, they were really helpful. Lesson learned!

It might be an idea to follow this up with a request for a quote to remove the rubble.

People may well respond favourably just because they want to prove they're "better" or kinder, or just to be nosy!
You may get a bargain price.

He is not a nice character. Please do not get upset about his responses, I think you are correct in your decision not to respond to his posts. Good luck with getting the rubble moved , once that is done I feel sure you will feel much better. Try and rise above it ( easier said than done - I know that) Just smile, do your best to get the rubble moved asap and I hope you you are ok . 💐

I've advertised it on Trash Nothing and Freecycle, so fingers crossed! I've also popped an apologetic note through my neighbours' letter boxes explaining the situation. I also received a private message from someone else on NextDoor about the problems they experienced with this man, and that they had also lost money due to their bad service. I feel so much better knowing it's not just me.

I can't help feeling sorry for the man though and hope that in future he will be more aware of how to treat people who get him to do a job. A big thing for me was his repeated promises to do things on a certain day, not turning up, and then blaming it on other things that had gone wrong for him.

I really hope the experience will help him build his business more successfully and take into account how his 'customer service' needs to adapt.

You're very kind, considering how you were left, but hopefully someone will take the rubble and you can put this all behind you.

Just to clear up the meaning of my last sentence. I didn't mean that I didn't feel sorry for OP, but that neither the tradesman nor her neighbours felt sorry for her, rather she had to clean up the mess with no one to help and that her sympathy for the tradesman had come back to bite her on the bum.

I can now see how it may have been misunderstood and hope that people don't think me harsh and unkind.

I'm sure they didn't.
They'd say if they did, don't worry!

Our nextdoor site is full of people saying "don't get this man for your work", then people joining in and arguing, and all sorts.

I found a handyman on there, who was the least handy person I've met in a long time!

You have to be careful, because it's not all about people helping their neighbours.

It's easy to get sucked in, though.

If you don’t get any takers for the brick rubble then you need to get someone to remove it.

It is vital that the person you use has a waste carriers licence because if they dump it illegally then you will be liable.

keepingquiet

Just to clear up the meaning of my last sentence. I didn't mean that I didn't feel sorry for OP, but that neither the tradesman nor her neighbours felt sorry for her, rather she had to clean up the mess with no one to help and that her sympathy for the tradesman had come back to bite her on the bum.

I can now see how it may have been misunderstood and hope that people don't think me harsh and unkind.

I didn't think it was unkind at all!

Good advice Primrose. It will perhaps cost more, but it’s important to protect yourself in this way.

What I've tried to do so far (after the unpleasantness yesterday) is to move as much as I can into my front garden so that it is no longer a problem for pedestrians. Some of it is heavy but I've got one of those pot mover things. I will then use some of the bricks under boards to raise plants higher up and then I will have time to get rid of the rest bit by bit. In the past I've used empty food cans and old cupboard doors to do this! At least with it being removed from the pavement I won't get into trouble legally.

This really makes me angry that you've had to do this heavy work yourself.

I hope someone will snap it up, soon!

Why on earth do people pay before the job is done? My late husband was a builder and on larger builds he would agree stage payments with the client but never asked for or expected the final amount until the job was done and the client satisfied with the work. Sorry to sound unsympathetic but learn a lesson in not paying for something you haven't received. A decent builder won't ask. It is the cowboys who pressure people and make up excuses as to why the whole amount is needed.

choughdancer

I've advertised it on Trash Nothing and Freecycle, so fingers crossed! I've also popped an apologetic note through my neighbours' letter boxes explaining the situation. I also received a private message from someone else on NextDoor about the problems they experienced with this man, and that they had also lost money due to their bad service. I feel so much better knowing it's not just me.

I can't help feeling sorry for the man though and hope that in future he will be more aware of how to treat people who get him to do a job. A big thing for me was his repeated promises to do things on a certain day, not turning up, and then blaming it on other things that had gone wrong for him.

I really hope the experience will help him build his business more successfully and take into account how his 'customer service' needs to adapt.

I would have zero sympathy for this cowboy. Loads of excuses, all lies, very likely, to buy him some time and waltzes off without the finishing the job he quoted you for but has been paid nevertheless. Word of mouth recommendations and a look at the work done for someone else is the way to go.

It can easily happen. I am sure someone will want the free rubble. If no one wants them, the next option is to hire a skip?

Most of trades people I use tend to be recommendations by our window cleaner. Sometimes I have to pay a small deposit before the works are carried out.

It's really quite difficult unless you know someone who can recommend someone.