Episode 10 Cowboy Trap

Today, I'm in Telford on the trail of yet more cowboy builders

who have no regard for your property, your safety, or your circumstances.

And they'll stop at nothing to con you out of your cash.

We had the 5,000 and...

I had nothing to show for it, that was the trouble.

I'm going to give you loads of hints and tips

on how to stop these cowboy builders getting into your home.

Me and my wife investigated to see where this builder lived.

I found out where he was. We done some more digging.

Went to the Trading Standards, they said, "Not him again."

With the help of the good guys,

we'll put right the mess those cowboy builders leave behind.

We'll have to rip it up, start from scratch.

I don't want to put my work on top of that.

I think it's time we showed these bodging builders the door

and you how to avoid falling into the cowboy trap.

You know, I get loads of correspondence

telling me how cowboy builders ruined people's lives.

And this next story is a total rip-off.

74-year-old Donald Pearce and his younger brother William

live in the small village of Trench in Telford.

They've happily shared this small bungalow since 1966.

But now there's a problem.

Don has long had a passion for collecting scale-model vehicles.

He has 1,000 in his collection so far.

And, not surprisingly, he's running out of space to keep them.

That is my pride and joy that is.

Took a few years to collect them.

Took quite a bit of money to get them.

Donald's collection grew so large,

he could no longer squeeze it into his bungalow.

He decided to have an extension added to his ground-floor bedroom.

So he'd have more space to display his precious collectables.

He looked through the local paper and found a builder.

The builder came round and quoted £7,000 for the job.

Donald gave him the green light. Within a fortnight, the walls of the extension were up.

But the quality of the work was, well... How can I put this?

-Terrible.

-You could see the walls wasn't level.

We went and leaned against it.

You could just feel it give. There were no wall ties or nothing at all in it.

When Donald complained to the builder that there were no wall ties,

the builder just upped and left, never to return.

The wobbly extension was dangerous.

So Don took the heart-breaking decision to knock it down.

I did it myself.

It took me, oh, about three parts of a day to knock it down.

I'm not surprised it didn't take long for Donald to demolish his fundamentally flawed extension.

Now, being a retiring type, Donald wasn't keen on reporting the builder to Trading Standards.

Luckily for him, he had helpful neighbours, Dave and Wendy Carpenter.

We went on holiday, come back.

And on said he's had the builders in and he hasn't seen them since.

So we come round. And I thought, "What a load of...

..dodgy building going on."

We made enquiries as to who the builder was and where he lived.

I wrote a letter, and it was delivered by hand,

asking him would he come and finish the job.

If not, could we have some money back that had been paid.

Um, I don't think he answered that letter.

I think he might've rang Don and said he would come back but he didn't.

Trading Standards reveal there are ten county court judgements against the builder.

This guy's such a cowboy, he should wear stirrups and a Stetson.

Fair Trading officer Kathryn Wood has come to assess the damage.

Looking around here today, I would say this is quite a bad case.

For the amount of money they have paid

and for the amount of work they've done, it's not very nice.

Kathryn's got some tips for anyone caught in the cowboy trap.

If you've got a problem with a cowboy builder,

then you need to first of all try and contact the builder themselves

to see if you can resolve it.

If that doesn't work, then contact the national helpline, which is Consumer Direct.

Consumer Direct send all their details of complaints out to the local Trading Standards.

And a local Trading Standards officer will monitor those calls.

They will make sure to see whether or not there have been a number of calls against a particular builder.

That will be investigated and appropriate action will be taken.

With ten county court judgements already against this cowboy,

it's unlikely Donald will ever get his five grand back.

Dave and Wendy have seen the impact all this had on their unlucky neighbour.

Donald is obviously very trusting.

Although he had an inkling things weren't quite right,

he probably thought, "Well, I'll give him a chance."

The builder's just took advantage of him.

This is a heart-breaking story

of two retired gents who were taken in by a cowboy builder.

Let's see if we can find out more and put things right for Don and William.

-Hello.

-Good morning.

-You must be Don.

-Yes.

-How are you, Don?

-All right, thanks.

-Can you show me where the problems are?

-Round the back.

Round the back. While I look, you stick the kettle on and we'll have a cup of tea.

-All right.

-All right? Cheers, Don.

This is an intriguing puzzle for Detective Clive to solve.

Here's the crime scene. A pile of rubble.

Hmm. Curiouser and curiouser.

Right. Got to get my head around this somehow. Um...

Can't quite get round why it's in this condition.

This almost certainly looks like these bricks have been laid

but have been knocked down. Whether that's the builder or homeowner,

I'll have to find out. This looks like it's the boundary.

It looks like they've exceeded the boundary, which they can't do.

If this was the damp course level,

it's not high enough.

You need at least six inches from your base to your damp course.

And that is too low.

Take my advice.

If you're having an extension built...

I can see the inner and outer leaf, the inner wall,

as you know by now, and the outer wall.

They need tying together to give them strength.

But I can't see any ties anywhere.

I'm going to guess there's no ties in this.

That means, the two walls would be independent that they'd built.

And obviously could fall down at any time.

And, except for a few mortar marks,

there is no evidence that it's been securely fixed to the exterior wall of the house.

And that's not all. Look at this.

This again, really, is bonkers.

The mortar is directly... That is fixed, that mortar.

They have laid bricks here. They've laid it over this waste pipe.

What were they going to do when it came to the rainwater pipe? I haven't got a clue.

So, what did the brothers get for their five grand?

Well, they got the beginning of an extension that wasn't even tied into the existing building.

They got two piers of brick, the internal leaf and external leaf,

that weren't actually tied together with ties.

They got a building that was going over a waste pipe.

Totally unbelievable. There's still mortar marking the spot right now.

The damp course, in the wrong place.

The actual concrete slab, no insulation or very little.

Or, at least, not the proper stuff that should be in there.

In total, what they got was... a wreck.

This is a mystery that would stump Agatha Christie's number-one sleuth, Hercule Poy-rot,

as we call him in Derby.

I've summoned chief witness Donald.

Oh, Clive, how does it look?

Well, it's looking... # Don don-don don don don-don don don! #

-Dangerous.

-Dangerous.

-Look out for that.

Inspection hole's been dug to check for footings there, of course.

But it is pretty dangerous around here, joking aside.

What I want to know is, what has actually gone on, Don?

Why is it all rubble?

He just dug the footings out and built it.

-I knocked it down.

-You knocked it down?

I knocked it down. When I knocked it, you could feel it give.

-There was no strength with the ties?

-There were no ties at all.

-No ties in the cavity?

-No.

How was he bonding it to the property? To the existing property?

Just mortar, I suppose.

So, those mortar lines are just purely...

-Cement.

-That's just purely mortar

he's hoping will bond to the existing building.

Wooh!

I can't believe what I'm hearing.

This 74-year-old pensioner

had to demolish his own extension because it moved when he touched it.

Without ties between the inner and outer walls,

or anything securing it to the house, it's a miracle this extension stayed up at all.

And what's going on with that rainwater pipe?

Right, this is where I'm sort of getting confused.

You've got a rainwater pipe here. He couldn't have built around the pipe.

-But he's built around the waste.

-That's right.

I put all that round. I knocked the wall down to go into the drains.

He put the rainwater to go across the top of the wall, flat.

It was going on ours and out next door.

The other problem I've got, this is an original damp course?

-Yeah.

-It's not high enough.

No. It's got to go level with that.

That's wrong. In real terms,

this is now just a bomb site.

In the meantime, how did you get on with that kettle?

-Oh, right.

-Come on. Let's go an have a cuppa, son.

It's boiled dry.

After you.

Yep! The sooner I get away from this danger zone the better.

Time to question the chief witness about the prime suspect.

What was your first impression of him when he came through the door?

Well, the first time he come, he seemed all right.

And then he gave me the price.

I said, no, that was too dear.

I said I'd leave it and get another quote.

Then I saw it in the paper again.

-The same guy?

-The same guy.

But he'd got a different advert.

Not a different company name, though?

No, he had a different company to what it was the first time.

Now, I have to say that if you found that this is the same number,

-the same telephone number, was it?

-Yeah.

-But a different name all of a sudden.

-That's right.

I've got to just say to everybody at home now that,

if that's occurring, and it's a different name,

be wary.

Take my advice.

If your builder is trading under different company names,

it's a sure-fire sign he's a cowboy. Yee-hah!

So, was it a shock to you when he came a second time?

It was a bit. I said to my brother,

"It's the same bloke who come the first time."

He'd have known. It was the same job.

-You were asking for the same job.

-Yeah.

-He knew that, before he quoted, what was it? Ten grand?

-Yeah.

-He knew that was too expensive.

-Yeah.

-So now he's come in sharpening his pencil.

-That's right.

Comes through the door, you say, "You're the guy from before. Why have you changed your company name?"

Well, he come down all smiles, put his hand out.

I asked him in. He sat there and he said,

"I'll give you a quote in two or three days."

The next morning, my brother said, "There's a letter in the box."

He'd gone home and quoted it and brought it back the same night.

The builder's new quote was £7,000.

Three grand less than before.

Sounding desperate to you? Sounds desperate to me.

Here's another tip.

Ask yourself why.

And alarm bells should have been ringing for Donald for another reason too.

How did he want paying?

I told him I'd pay him cash when he asked.

He said pay for when I did each job.

So at stages. Pay at stages.

-Yep.

-So, did he ask for money up front?

-Yes, he did.

One, he had different trading names.

Two, he was desperate for work.

And three, he wanted cash up front.

# Yep, he's once, twice, three times a cowboy

# And Don paid for materials too #

He's now using your blocks.

-He's using your damp course.

-Yeah.

-Is he using your membrane as well?

-Yeah.

-The damp-proof membrane? that's all yours?

-Yeah, that was all mine.

Was that set out in the deal, that he would use your materials?

No. Like I told him he could use the blocks to get them out of my road.

You're saving him money. He should've said to you...

Or, you're shrewd enough, you should have said, "That'll bring my bill down."

Yeah, I ought to have done, yeah.

-You missed a trick, I'm surprised.

-I weren't sharp enough.

-You weren't!

-The critical thing we have to point out is that he has taken advantage.

-That's right.

There's no doubt in my mind.

When was the first big alarm bell for you when he started to build?

When he started to go up and had no ties. He said, "I'm going home,

I'll bring some back with me." But he didn't do that.

Can't believe it. There's no way in this world, and you know this,

-that this guy should have been building without ties.

-No.

But the good news for Donald, and his kid bro,

is we're in town. And I'm determined to get their dreams back on track.

What would really make you happy? What can we do for you?

Well, I would like it done.

That's what I'd like to happen.

And I'd like that to happen too.

Normally, I'd get an independent surveyor in to give the bodge builder a mark out of ten.

But it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes

to deduce that this pile of rubble would get a big fat zero.

But I'm still going to declare this a no-go zone and say it's time to bring on the good guys.

And here they jolly well are.

Steve Bebb and his sidekick Luke Burgess.

-Hey, Steve. Is one sheet of paper big enough?

-Just about, just about.

There's a lot to be done here. Um, it is a total mess.

Just give us a general overall view of your opinion.

It's a bit shoddy. Not very good.

He obviously hasn't got a clue what he's doing.

But we're going to strip it all off, strip the base out,

brick it up and put a new solid roof on it, nice and flat.

One thing that has raised its head of late is the actual pad itself, the concrete.

We're not sure that the correct insulation has been put in place.

What's the remedial action if they put just ordinary insulation in?

We'll have to rip it up, start from scratch.

I don't want to put my work on top of that.

Rip it all off, proper insulation in the slab. Away we go.

Away we go, indeed.

Bebb and Burgess. Or B and B as I like to call them,

swing into action.

First, they need to # Rip it up and start again #

Then build the walls brick by brick.

These guys are certainly busy bees.

And Donald's no slouch either. He's grafting away in his own workshop,

creating a special cabinet for his lorries

to fit into his new extension as soon as it's ready.

But can the good guys build an extension

worthy of his crafted cabinet and its treasured contents?

Only time will tell.

Three weeks on, and I'm back in Trench near Telford to see how our good guys have done.

And I've got to say, I likes what I sees.

Donald now has an extension that's guaranteed to stay up.

The walls have been properly tied together.

There's a new timber-framed window and new fascias and guttering.

I'm chuffed with what these guys have done.

If you remember before, this was a pile of rubble.

Now it's just amazing. I'm sure Don's going to love it.

The other thing about good guys is these little extras that they do.

This wasn't on the remit, wasn't on the list.

They've built up this diving wall and put on coping stones at the top,

just to finish it off, just as a little extra touch.

You won't find cowboy builders doing that.

Donald had originally wanted a glass roof, which wouldn't have passed building regulations.

The good guys have installed an insulated flat roof instead.

Excellent.

Steve and Luke could return to the scene of their triumph for chinwag with yours truly.

-Steve, Luke, how are you?

-Not bad. How are you.

-I'm very well.

-Much better now. This seems totally different.

-It looks the part.

What am I talking about? Seems totally different? It is totally different.

It's looking absolutely brilliant.

Loving it. Talk us through any problems you found

and how things have been going since I last saw you.

The only problem we had was in the ground, the footings.

We tested the front to see if the footings were good. They were. But on the inside they weren't.

It was a lot more work, set us back a few days.

This is the case, I say this time and again, with cowboy builders.

It's not what you can see, it's what you can't see.

From the front section they thought, "We'll fool them with having the right size footings."

-But, towards the back, nothing.

-Nothing carrying a block at all.

We had to dig down again another two foot.

Concrete foundation. It was a headache.

Any other problems you found? Were you able to crack on?

Nothing. As soon as we solved the problem with the floor, everything flowed nicely.

And so we got the walls up.

The ceiling's different. The roof is obviously different to what the original plan was.

But the original plan wouldn't have passed building regs anyway.

-It's not allowed, no.

-So now we've got a solid roof.

-It'll be toasty in here.

-Nice floor, carpet down, radiator in.

And, to top it all, my building friends,

a bit of the old decorating thrown in as well.

We dropped it in to try and finish it off nicely.

Well, it matches. I don't know where you got the paper from.

Donald's had it a while. I think he's had it five years.

-Oh, OK, he saved a few rolls.

-He was planning ahead.

-He was.

I can safely say, I'm sure the boys are going to be well chuffed with what you've done.

I'm chuffed with it, that's for sure.

But the important people are Don and William.

-So, for now, boys.

-Thank you.

-Great to meet you. Fantastic job.

Hope to see you again some time soon.

Fantastic job, indeed.

Now, before I show it off to Donald and William,

there's a little bit of business to take care of.

I like to give our cowboys a chance to put across their point of view.

It's just the kind of guy I am.

I've tracked down a phone number for this so-called builder.

So we're going to give him a call.

If you had an opportunity to speak to him,

what would you like to say to him?

Why he didn't finish it.

-Why he took your money? Why he didn't finish it?

-Yeah.

-What about his broken promises?

-Yeah.

-I could say that as well.

-Because he promised to keep coming back.

Yeah, but I never want to speak to him again, anyhow.

You never want to speak to him again, which actually answers my next question.

Which is, I was going to give you the opportunity to speak to him on the phone.

But if you don't want to take that opportunity, I certainly will.

-No, I don't want to speak to him.

-OK.

-I don't want to see him here.

-All right. Let's see how we go.

RINGING TONE

The answerphone should kick in.

TELEPHONE STATIC

"When you've left your message just hang up. Or for more options press one at any time."

ANSWERPHONE BEEPS

This is Clive here, the presenter of Cowboy Trap on BBC1.

I'm at the home of Donald and William Pearce

in Trench in Telford. Um...

There was a few questions that we've got for you that we'd like you to answer.

First of all, how could you leave two of the most fantastic people on the planet

in such a mess, take their money, and leave them with such a sub-standard building?

Um, it is a real disgrace.

Um, I've got to be honest, I don't know how you guys sleep at night, I really don't.

Um, but it's your right of reply to come back to us

and talk to about things like the footings not being big enough,

not being deep enough, not being wide enough.

Why you didn't, when you built the extension, or attempted to build the extension,

didn't tie it in to the existing building. It was a real danger.

I'm sorry, but if you're classing yourself as a builder, that's what concerns me.

I'd like you to get back in touch with our office as soon as possible

so you can answer the allegations that we've got.

They'll listen to that answerphone message but the chances of them doing anything

-are a lot slimmer than me. I have to tell you that.

-Yeah.

What pleases me now is that we have had the good guys in

to do the work on your property.

Put a smile back on your face. That's the important thing.

Yep! My prediction was spot on.

Despite repeated calls to the builder, he hasn't responded to any of our questions.

I guess it ain't surprising.

If I'd built an extension which was barely attached to the house,

and so unstable it needed demolishing, I think I'd play hard to get.

This cowboy may have hoodwinked Donald and ridden off into the sunset,

but our good guys have stepped in and saved the day.

Donald and William have lived with the work as it's been going on.

But now they're going to see the finished results in all their glory.

Come on in, boys.

Come on.

Come and have a look.

That's smashing, isn't it? It looks great now.

Come in, Don. Come in, William.

It's nice now, isn't it?

-It's lovely.

-It is and all.

-What do you think? You've now got...

-What I wanted.

-What you wanted.

-That's for keeps.

-Yeah.

-Looking round, you've got new carpet down.

-Yeah.

The boys have done a fantastic job.

Of course, as far as the ceiling's concerned,

that's now a flat roof that's gone on there.

-It is fantastic.

-Are you loving it? Are you loving that?

-Aye.

Now, what about your workmanship?

That's great now, isn't it?

LAUGHS

Remember, Donald's been handcrafting a cabinet for his lorry collection.

Without him knowing, the good guys have installed it in the new extension.

What a wonderful surprise.

-One set of craftspeople...

-To another.

-..to another.

-And that's what it's all about.

-It is, yeah.

-How are you feeling?

-All right now.

-Smashing.

-Are you chuffed?

-I am, yeah.

I could've done with that.

-No.

-It tuned out all right.

-It turned out all right, William, you're not joking.

-Yeah.

-It's turned out fantastic.

-Yeah.

-What's your plans for in here?

This is the space you wanted. The cabinet's up.

Do you reckon your first plan will be to stock it?

I shall just now, yeah. With a bit of luck, I will.

Stock it with all your wagons and everything else.

I'll get all that row as well.

Eventually, put stuff on this wall too.

-Do that from floor to ceiling.

-I can get another bed in here now.

-Get another bed? What's he trying to say?

-I don't know.

What's he trying to say?

-Happy?

-Ooh, I am.

Boys, do you know what? It's been lovely to meet you.

I'm so pleased that you've got what you wanted. Well chuffed with that.

And, seriously, seriously, mate...

The whole point was, we're looking after you, yeah?

There's people out there to look after you.

And it proves that there are good guys out there.

We normally like to see a smile on your chops.

That's what we usually have, Don.

And I've got one more pleasant surprise for Donald and William.

Now this is your building control officer's sign off.

This is the certificate of completion

to say that now this building has passed building control inspection.

-That is important. That needs to be kept with the deeds of the property.

-Oh, aye.

It really is such an important piece of paper.

-Yeah.

-All right? OK, boys.

-Look after yourselves.

-OK. Thanks, Clive.

-No problem.

Oh, that's what it is. I'm writing to the council about this.

Certificate of completion.

If he's satisfied with it, so am I.

Donald wastes no time.

His beloved trucks and lorries finally emerge from their cold dark storage cupboards.

At long last, they can be put on display, pride of place in their new home.

Keep on truckin', Donald.

Couldn't wish for nothing better.

It's certainly a cause for celebration.

And loyal neighbours Dave and Wendy are here to join in the party.

You got that smile, see?

LAUGHTER

Fantastic. You've done a good job.

This is one happy and deserving customer.

I put together all the evidence that we gathered on Don's builder.

All cowboy builders out there beware.

Cowboy Trap are on your trail.

You can run, you certainly can't hide.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd