Furious homeowner left '£20,000 out of pocket after a botched garden makeover'
A homeowner is fuming after a disastrous garden makeover left him nearly £20,000 out of pocket.
Andrew Donnelly hired a company to spruce up his garden but ended up with wonky fencing, cracked paving, and lights that caused power surges in his house. To make matters worse, the lack of proper drainage has led to his garden flooding heavily during rain, even reaching his back door.
The homeowner took legal action against Cambus Fencing & Landscaping and was awarded £5,349 by a judge. The court found that the firm had failed to fix their shoddy work at his home. But Andrew, 51, says he hasn't received a penny from the Coatbridge-based company yet.
He said: "This has been an absolute nightmare. I've been put through two years of hell. I'm now left with a garden that floods right up to my back door in heavy rain because the drainage wasn't put in the right place. The ground is also bellowed and none of the work has been finished to the standard I was expecting. It's a big area and the plan was to landscape over three different levels. When I initially contacted the company and discussed everything in detail, I was quoted £12,000.
"I felt confident they would do a good job and agreed to pay a deposit and then I paid another two sums as they went along. In hindsight, I should have held some cash back, but I trusted what I was being told. The plan was to have 50 square metres of patio and 60 square metres of rendered wall with lights installed. Initially, it looked alright but within two weeks I noticed cracks appearing in the brickwork. There was also no structural coloration, causing the fencing at the back of garden to tilt.
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He took legal action against the firm (SWNS)"I also noticed the drain was placed to the right-hand side near the gate, but the garden was slopping off to the left, causing it to flood and lift up the stones. The steps up to the second level also had no support, causing them to lift off the ground.
"The garden was just falling apart. There was just problem after problem, and despite complaining on several occasions. I was assured any issues would be dealt with before it was declared complete." Andrew also claims that he was left with faulty garden lights that caused his electricity breakers to trip in his home whenever they were switched on.
He added: "The garden lights cost £600 and had been installed by a sub-contractor used by the company. Whenever I put them on, they would cause a surge indoors, which obviously wasn't safe. After complaining several times, an electrician was eventually sent out and we discovered the lights were full of water and hadn't been sealed properly before being installed in the wall.
"I've had to disconnect them until the garden is finally sorted out.'' After repeated failed attempts to get the firm to fix the problems, Andrew was left with no choice but to take legal action to get some of his money back.
This was held at Airdrie Sheriff Court on May 12 last year, with the court deciding the firm did not defend itself before finding in Andrew's favour. Court documents shown to the Glasgow Times state: "The sheriff in respect of there being no appearance on behalf of the respondent at the case management discussion, awards the claimant Mr Donnelly, £5000 together with expenses of £322.85."
The judgement also took into consideration that the firm was advised by the sheriff to carry out remedial work but failed to do so. Andrew, from Cambuslang, Scotland, says he is now being forced to find another £6000 to repair the defects that were left behind.
He complained about being left with wonky fencing and cracked paving (SWNS)"I'm thousands of pounds out of pocket," he said. "I also had to pay for reports from three other landscaping firms to locate all of the faults and how much they would cost to repair. I've almost reached £20,000 now for a project that should have cost around half of that and the garden still isn't finished.
''I can now only afford to have the work done bit by bit. All I ever wanted was a nice garden, finished to an acceptable standard. Even during the civil action process, I was willing to reach an agreement to just fix the faults, but the company just weren't interested."
Andrew reveals he can't continue the legal action against the company due to a name change at Companies House. He expressed his shock, saying: "It's just been a slap in the face to discover the firm has changed its name and registered as a new entity, so that means I can no longer legally pursue them for the costs awarded to me.
"Legally, despite it being the same individuals who are behind it because it's now under another name, I've been advised that I can't take it any further. It's a situation I never thought I'd be in and the whole thing is just really sad. You put your trust and faith in a firm to carry out work and then you are left to pick up the pieces when things go wrong."
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Andrew shared how the lengthy two-year battle has impacted him both physically and financially. "The entire situation has been incredibly stressful," said Andrew. "My main focus is now on making the garden safe and useable.
"Currently, when I look out the kitchen window and see the mess, my heart just sinks. I was excited to get the garden transformed, now it's just a reminder of a horrible few years that has ended up costing me a lot of money." A spokesperson from the firm stated: "We have absolutely no comment to make regarding this matter."
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