I'm a builder and I've lost thousands from clients who refuse to pay – people call us cowboys but customers are worse | The Sun

A BUILDER wants to hammer home that not that everyone in his trade is a cowboy.

In fact, Danny Madden reckons customers can be far worse.

The roofer claims he has lost out on thousands of pounds from clients who fail to cough up at the end of a job.

One of most frustrating losses came after he fixed a leak in the roof of a pensioner's £10million North London mansion.

After working all day – and even replacing the old broken tiles and clearing the gutters – the woman refused to pay.

Despite accepting Danny's quote for £1,800 before work began, she later threatened to call the police on his team for doing "nothing".

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Danny, who runs Madden Builders, said: "I did everything to make her feel comfortable before starting.

"I made her completely aware of what we were doing and asked if she wanted to get any younger family involved. She refused and we started the work.

"I got a ladder and climbed onto the roof where I fixed the leak and completed all of the work – and I even thought I’d do a bit extra and sort the tiles out so she was okay for the bad weather.

"Once I got down, I said to her, 'don’t worry about paying it today, we will send the bill through for the work' and she replied, 'what work?'

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"I said, 'well, we’ve just been up there and fixed your roof'.

"She told us we were rogue traders and that she would call the police and she wasn’t going to pay.

"I was shocked at how she turned. It was such a switch as throughout the day when we were working she was good as gold, making us tea and everything."

After a heated back-and-forth, Danny admitted defeat for fear of a bad review which left him majorly out of pocket.

Not only did he miss out on the £1,800 he was owed, he also had to pay his team their daily rates.

"I just had to write it off and take the hit," the 41-year-old said.

"I was so gutted. It's my dad's business and we carried out work yet the woman refused to pay just because she didn't want to.

"I thought about taking it to a small claims court, but you have to weigh up whether it's time well spent as you'll lose more money and time there.

"You always hear about cowboy builders, but there are so many cowboy customers.

"From a tradesperson standpoint, a bad review can bring down your rating and really affect your business.

"If that elderly woman had said we were threatening, it could have been really bad for my reputation."

Danny learnt from the experience and now asks for a deposit before starting any work.

But it wasn't in time to save him from a mega £5,000 loss when a customer withheld the final instalment for an extension.

London-based Danny told The Times: "She said, 'well, I think you’ve made enough money on my job'.

"I said to her, 'but are you unhappy with the work?' and she said, 'it’s fantastic, I just don’t think that I should have to pay you any more'."

A third of tradespeople say they have lost more than £1,000 due to clients not paying for the work they have done, research by Fix Radio shows.

How to avoid becoming a ‘cowboy customer’ – and how to spot a cowboy builder

To avoid becoming a 'cowboy customer', homeowners should avoid:

1. Asking for a quote when you have no intention of hiring the tradesperson.
2. Forgetting a scheduled appointment.
3. Unfairly criticising to get a discount.
4. Making payments late.
5. Trying to negotiate a lower price when you already have a good deal.

And if you're looking for a builder, this is how to spot a dodgy one:

• A lack of customers and references
• A very low-cost quote
• No licence or address
• Only accepting cash payments
• No clear timeline or deadline
• Not explaining the work
• Refusing to sign a contract

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