A couple claim a fast food-scoffing builder fled with more than £14,000 of their money after hiding McDonald's wrappers in 'unsafe' walls that must be torn down.
Lisa Gillibrand, 32, and her hubby Kit Wong, 39, claim they first paid the self-employed trader to complete their garden extension last March, initially handing over £9,070 for supplies.
Kit claims he then began a three-month game of cat and mouse where he was forced to repeatedly chase the builder and only a small amount of work was completed.
The couple had been told the work would take around a month to complete but they were forced to face a stressful time while Lisa underwent IVF.
When the builder allegedly disappeared in May, the 'betrayed' couple claim they discovered half-built, unsafe walls with the cavities stuffed with fast food packaging.
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Now almost a year since they handed over the first chunk of cash, the clothing business owners are still out of pocket by more £14,480 and have been forced to abandon their hopes of a purpose-built extension altogether.
When asked about the event, the builder was defiant and said the couple would have to take him to court to get the cash back as he feels he's done enough work to warrant it.
Kit, from Widnes in Cheshire, said: "It was totally stressful. It was during lockdown so we couldn't get away from it all.
"Because [the building] was for our growing business we were worried it was going to be heavily affected, which it was in the end as we had to fork out another £6,000 to rent a storeroom around October on a build which was supposed to be finished in April.
"I felt betrayed and upset as we were giving him the benefit of the doubt and being very accommodating to him, [offering] cold drinks and food.
"When he was just giving us excuses after excuses and looking back now, knowing he was never going to give us the materials we had paid upfront for and never going to finish the build.
"I'm angry to have let that man onto our property."
Almost a year ago, Kit and Lisa were enduring a stressful IVF journey and desperate to create more space in their home so reached out to a local builder, claiming 'nothing seemed strange' at first.
Kit said: "At first, he was really professional and said he could do everything we wanted. He gave us a quote on a letterhead - nothing seemed strange.
"He said he'd require a deposit for the materials up front. It was £9,070. As soon as we paid, he was a totally different person.
"It was very ropey. He said 'I'm going to start on this date' [in March] then it came to that date and I was like 'where are you?'.
"He was giving me loads of excuses. There was a couple of weeks' delay initially and one of the reasons was a family emergency, then one of the team had Covid.
"We started to get quite nervous because we'd handed over a lot of money and they weren't turning up.
"Finally, there was one day where they actually did turn up. They turned up with a few lads and he literally came with a pile of bricks.
"We'd just paid £9,070 so we wondered where the materials were. He said we couldn't fit them in the garden, or put them anywhere. If he knew that from the start, why make us pay up front?
"This was a three to four-week build and we were already two weeks in. They'd just taken down the old outbuilding and there was no chance of them finishing it in the original time frame and we still had no materials.
"We were getting worried and saying all he was doing was bringing bricks.
"On 27 March, he asked for another payment for labour of £1,600.
"When he was requesting money, he was on it. I remember we were shopping and I said 'when I'm back home, I'll send you the payment' and he was calling me.
"In the background of this, I was like 'where's the nice doors we ordered?'"
Eventually, the couple managed to get the builder on site and claim the walls were going up, but the work soon tapered off and the weather-conscious worker began claiming it was raining too much to work.
Soon, Kit claims he went off the radar and they struggled to reach him.
Kit said: "We were chasing him. He was then making excuses about the weather.
"We sent calls, emails and texts. It got to the point where he actually said 'Kit, I can see Widnes from the house. I can see it's raining so I'm not coming'.
"It was actually sunny. It shocked us because we thought it was quite rude. I then started taking a weather log to prove it wasn't raining.
"Admittedly, there were a couple of days it rained but out of the three to four weeks he said he couldn't come, it didn't rain all that time. There was no reason for him not to be there."
The pair then called building regulations to investigate the work so far but claim they were told it was 'unsafe' as the walls 'weren't even tied in'.
Kit said: "He's put up the walls. One side was the height it's meant to be on, the other sides aren't.
"We hired building regs to come and check it out. They said the walls weren't even tied in or anything so it was unsafe. You could push it down.
"He did a terrible job which meant if we were to fix it, those walls have to come down.
"On April 1, we sent a text to express our concerns as over £10,000 was paid and we'd only had four days of work.
"There was no skip or cement on site. We were to-ing and fro-ing until the end of the May [26th]. He was pushed back the date repeatedly.
"This goes on from the first time we paid. After the very first payment of that £9,070, me and Lisa are chasing him.
"You chase him, he comes and does a bit, then you have to chase him again. He then asks for further payment.
"He's turning up, it's just one day out of a week. He's not getting a good run on it. Basically, from the end of May, that was it."
Kit then wrote a letter to the builder in May and told him he had two weeks to complete the work until further action was taken.
The worker than allegedly claimed his brother would return to complete the work, but the parents-to-be have still not seen the extension completed.
Kit said: "Him and his brother agreed that for us not to pursue anything in court and sue him, he'd finish the build.
"We said we wanted building regs to come out and check what you've done so far. We wanted it to be passed by them.
"That's when we discovered the walls weren't tied in and since negotiating with his brother to finish it, we've not heard from him since. It was a terrible web of lies."
Lisa said: "We were going through IVF at the time and it was one of those situations where everything had to go right to attend the hospital.
"I was having lots of hormonal treatments. When it comes to IVF and pregnancy, having that much high-level stress as well and losing out on a lot of money when you're hoping to start a family is very hard to deal with.
"The first treatment was not successful which we can't blame on him, but I would just say that I definitely have doubts that I was in the best position, and the calmest, at that time.
"Me and Kit we run our business together. This is our sole income, our sole project, and this outhouse was supposed to be for our business so for months we had to have all our stock in our house."
The builder, who is still believed to be working in the trade, claimed he did not believe the couple received a full refund as they had had some work done - but did not explain why he had still held on to the full amount for almost a year.
The tradesman said: "It wasn't completed but there are two sides to any story.
"It may not have been completed but it doesn't go to say I've just p***ed £14,500 up the walls.
"Obviously the building was knocked down, all the footings were dug out, all the insulation had been put in, the concrete slabs had been put in and the brickwork had all been near enough completed.
"I know obviously there is a couple of issues with the brickwork but it can be resolved.
"Building inspectors said we haven't got enough wall size in it. We spoke to the structural engineer.
"At this point, Kit had given me a deadline. I couldn't complete it to the deadline so he agreed for my brother to finish off the work.
"I waited nearly four and a half months for the building architectural design to be drawn up by them, at that point my brother took an extension job on and it's taken him up to Christmas.
"I got a letter just before Christmas asking for a full refund. I don't owe [them] a full refund because I've done near enough, I'd say at least, 50 per cent of the work.
"If I can get proof of [the building regs saying it isn't safe and needs to come down], I'll give them their money back.
"That's not what the builder inspector told my brother. I don't need to speak to them. If they want their £14,000 they can take me to court and get it.
"I don't feel that I need to pay them the full £14,500 back when they've had 50 per cent of their work done. I knew there wasn't enough wall size but it's news to me that it needs to be fully knocked down."
A spokesperson for Halton Borough Council says: "I can confirm the couple contacted Halton Trading Standards and were given some impartial advice. We are unable to comment further on individual cases."
