Complete let down
I arranged for Mick to manufacture bespoke furniture on a residential construction project. Initially he was responsive and good to work with and we went through a few revisions of scope to fit the clients budget – no problems there.
When he came to measure we informed him we had all areas ready to survey except one, he said this was fine and came to survey.
Two weeks after survey he sent through an invoice for 50% deposit which was promptly paid.
A week or so after paying the invoice I chased for an update on installation and was told he would let me know in a day or two but we heard nothing.
My colleague then followed up asking for the drawings so they could be shared with the architect for confirmation (very standard practice) prior to manufacture beginning.
A few days later (around 4 weeks after survey and 2 weeks after receipt of funds) I received an email stating that he was not proceeding with the project with the reason being that they don’t share drawings as there is a risk they will be passed onto a 3rd party (this is absurd because he already had 50% of funds) and that he wasn’t able to survey everything on his first visit (he was pre warned there was 1 out of 6 units not ready for survey and he said this was fine). Neither of the reasons given are valid and there was no correspondence between survey and cancelling the work to notify me of issues.
Since the abrupt cancelling of the project I have politely reached out to Mick by email, answer phone and phone call to try to understand the real reasons for the U turn, every attempt I have made to contact him has been ignored.
Because of Mick’s last minute cancellation my business is now liable for thousands of pounds in liquidated damages (penalties for completing projects late) and he does not even have the courtesy of replying to an email of phone call. Avoid this company at all costs.