Tradesman not giving reciept/invoice

El_Bee

Hi, my parents have a terrible time with tradesmen who don't give receipts, first they got their kitchen ceiling plastered and the guy said he was "looking after them" so he wasn't charging full price (this was after the job was done, not when they agreed on the price) and so couldn't give them an invoice.
Now they got their guttering fixed, a price was agreed upon over the phone, but when he got there he said there was problems with the roof and they'd need a bigger job that would cost 3 times as much, my dad rang me and I told him to stick to just getting the guttering, as we have a relative who is a roofer and we could get him to check it out first, but after handing over the money the guy jumped in his car and left the young guys to finish the job, no invoice again.
I'm getting sick of this, my parents are elderly and don't have a lot of money to be throwing around, and if there's a problem with these gutters they put in they have no comeback with this crowd, who do I go to about this to make a complaint?

L1011

The first one indicates that they're avoiding paying tax. Realistically they aren't going to give an invoice, but Revenue would probably be quite interested in hearing about them.

The second one could be anything but the first scenario is likely again. There's no specific body to make a complaint to.

Xterminator

Hi OP

are your parents complaining or are you? I mean if they are not happy with this contractors work/ethics they wouldn't go back to him. Are you just sticking your oar in here?

because the issue here is your parents and lets face it they didnt come down with the last shower.


1st up, choose someone you know or trust; or someone who has been recommended. where their are professional standard bodies use registered tradesmen.
2nd get a couple of quotes for everything.
3rd never pay 100% of costs up front hold some back until satisfied the job is complete..

but they decided not to follow this. furthermore if you do have a family member that does roofing, why on earth would then not ask his advice and get him to recommend someone?

no point in blaming the tradesman involved. especially when they went back a second time.

El_Bee

Xterminator wrote: »

Hi OP

are your parents complaining or are you? I mean if they are not happy with this contractors work/ethics they wouldn't go back to him. Are you just sticking your oar in here?

because the issue here is your parents and lets face it they didnt come down with the last shower.


1st up, choose someone you know or trust; or someone who has been recommended. where their are professional standard bodies use registered tradesmen.
2nd get a couple of quotes for everything.
3rd never pay 100% of costs up front hold some back until satisfied the job is complete..

but they decided not to follow this. furthermore if you do have a family member that does roofing, why on earth would then not ask his advice and get him to recommend someone?

no point in blaming the tradesman involved. especially when they went back a second time.

They didn't go to the same guy twice, I don't know where you got that from. They are guilty of being trusting to people who took advantage of them, and if I want to complain on their behalf I will, so if you have nothing constructive to add besides blaming my parents on others crappy behavior then it's your oar I would ask to remove.

SEPT 23 1989

Why don't you take charge of future dealings with tradesmen in your elderly parents house?

Xterminator

Hi Op

They didn't go to the same guy twice, I don't know where you got that from.

i reread your original post, and yes, that was an assumption my part. However it is fair to say they made the same mistakes twice, yes?

i wasnt having a go, i genuinely didn't know if you were complaining because you think they are being taken advantage of, or because they are unhappy, if you get my meaning.

Really a little common sense would sort the issue. If you don't mind, and they don't mind, you should take over responsibilities here.

Because not getting a couple of quotes for work is a recipe for being overcharged, paying 100% upfront to a cash in hand operator is a recipe for not getting work completed to your satisfaction. and that's simple advice.

and with a roofer in the family ... i have to tell you if i had roofing work done and did not speak to my brother in law 1st, he would be disgusted. so i really don't know why they went ahead with the person they did.

If you consider that blaming them, so be it. an analogy would be Its not your fault if someone breaks into your house, but its not bad advice saying lock your windows and get an alarm put in. It just sensible precautions.

El_Bee

The issue is not being given a receipt/invoice after paying for work to be done, if you think that's acceptable that's fine, I don't.

NewClareman

El_Bee wrote: »

They didn't go to the same guy twice, I don't know where you got that from. They are guilty of being trusting to people who took advantage of them, and if I want to complain on their behalf I will, so if you have nothing constructive to add besides blaming my parents on others crappy behavior then it's your oar I would ask to remove.

Ah, go easy on him, he’s only sticking up for tradesmen. 🙃

On the other hand, if you want to report it...

You can make a report to Revenue either:

by completing and submitting the online Tax Evasion Report Form or
by way of letter, email or telephone to your Revenue office, see the Contact us section. See here.

Xterminator

El_Bee wrote: »

The issue is not being given a receipt/invoice after paying for work to be done, if you think that's acceptable that's fine, I don't.

My point was not to use tradesmen that don't provide the service you want.

IE can you give me a written quote? No, then thanks but no thanks.

Can i have a receipt for that 50% up front payment. I wish to pay by credit card or cheque, so there is a trail. Don't accept that, then goodbye.

you don't have to accept cash in hand payments. It's a choice, and a bad one! By all means report a tradesmen after the fact, but i suggest its simpler to use reputable ones in the 1st place.

Graniteville

The gutter crowd seem to be the types that Peter Casey had an issue with.

The easy giveaway is they have "Northside and Southside" phone numbers on their adverts.

Good local store such as plumbers / hardware stores etc can be great for recommendations rather than online or the golden pages