Dodgy artisans

[hughnique]

I always thought of myself as pretty savvy when it came to sniffing out a dodgy deal, but of late I have been somewhat hoodwinked by a plumber, and definitely conned by a roofer. All the requests to the latter regarding his decenale proved fruitless, and even after signing and accepting his devis, it still did not appear. The inception of his work with very expensive pieces of wood for the main roof trusses, proved to be a disaster, so he got the heave ho after the first 6 hours. Luckily he had paid for all the timber and slates with my deposit of 3K€ plus and a balance of around 1600€ was still outstanding. My friend at the builders yard, who somewhat recommended him, and from where he gets his supplies, put an embargo on him and refused to supply him with materials until he sorted out my refund, he stated that he did not have all the money to hand and offered half and half in a 15 day interval, which I accepted, so I have received the sum of 550€ and expect another shortly, but then that still leaves 500€, which the artisan claims is his daily rate and which he will be deducting from the refund. I don't really want to allow that but I suppose if the other payment is made, then I have to put that down to experience. However the crux is that the siret number he gave me is from his adopted fathers business, who died last year, he advertises that he has insurance, but no sight of that, he also levies TVA@ 20% but again no vat / tva number on the devis. Basically that leads me to assume he is not TVA registered he has no assurance, I believe the address on the devis is somewhat ficticious and subsequently he is trading illegally, plus I have subsequently discovered he advertises as being a painter and a swimming pool installer. So here is the question, being as I feel he has taken me for a right mug, who do I report him to for the allegations I have made and assumed

[Hotrodder]

Go for the jugular, mate!

[suein56]

Hughnique wrote :
So here is the question, being as I feel he has taken me for a right mug, who do I report him to for the allegations I have made.

Firstly you can 'porter plainte' at a Gendarmerie for 'Escroquerie'.

Secondly check your own house assurance for 'protection juridique' .. they should advise/help you.

Edit : Blaze's advice is very sound ref Chambre des Métiers.

[Blaze]

[mention]hughnique[/mention] The first thing to do is check and see if he's actually registered as a business.
The Chambre des Métiers in Angers should be able to tell you if he's registered with them. We contacted them years ago and found them very helpful.
They would probably suggest where you could go for further information.
Is this "artisan" Brit or French ? Have you thought of enquiring at the Mairie ?
You should obtain as much info as you can about his activities, legality etc before making a complaint at the Gendarmerie.

[hughnique]

We enquired at the Chambre de Metiers in Angers, this clown actually lives at Cholet, but they do have a record of him there, that's how we found out that on my Devis he has used his dead fathers siret, evidently he has one of his own as well, which in itself is suspect. He is French BTW. the devis gives details about the construction of the roof trusses, believe me it looks as though a 3 year old has gone mad with a chainsaw, I was not sure at the outset if he had a carpenter he worked with, I asked if he had assistance, he said yes, but then turned up alone. Is this really a gendarme matter then?

[suein56]

We enquired at the Chambre de Metiers in Angers, this clown actually lives at Cholet, but they do have a record of him there, that's how we found out that on my Devis he has used his dead fathers siret, evidently he has one of his own as well, which in itself is suspect. He is French BTW. the devis gives details about the construction of the roof trusses, believe me it looks as though a 3 year old has gone mad with a chainsaw, I was not sure at the outset if he had a carpenter he worked with, I asked if he had assistance, he said yes, but then turned up alone. Is this really a gendarme matter then?

Did you tell the C de M that he was building using a false siret number ? If you did and they didn't react then you need to follow this up as it is totally illegal.

[hughnique]

They were the ones that told us it was his fathers siret number

[suein56]

Did they realise that his Dad is dead ??
You cannot hand these down .. and a decennelle is very necessary as well as well as a legal requirement.

[Blaze]

I don't know if it is obligatory, but has he registered himself under a particular metier ? A roofer does not generally do charpenterie himself, but would have someone else come along and do that sort of work.

You could make a casual enquiry at the local gendarmerie if using a dead man's siret number is illegal. No doubt the man if questioned would reply he'd used the wrong bit of paper.

You could also ask the tax office about the TVA he's charging, and whether he's registered or not. Show them the bill and see what they say.

Otherwise, in your place I would contact the CLCV who are a bit like the Citizens Advice Bureau. They are in Angers but may have an office in Saumur one day a week (Thursdays ?). They're very helpful and will be able to advise you on legal matters.

[hughnique]

The gendarmeries were, as I expected, a waste of time, it is a civil matter, they told me, so know I have to contact the judiciary in Saumur, whom I have recently had dealings with over my conifers, and they seem very pleasant, so at least I have a name to contact there. I was a little surprised as I told the gendarmerie he was using all these false details, so was committing fraud, as far as I was concerned. Having done a little search on various addresses, siret numbers and names, there appear to be 3 addresses in Cholet he is using, and one place he has a plot of land and a large caravan he evidently lives in, so that tells me he is a gypsy. The man that recommended him is going mad, he tells me that if it comes to it he will pay me back the money I am owed, which currently stands at about 1100€, if I engage a hussier, the last time I did that it cost 300€, and if he is living in a caravan, he can just troll of somewhere else. Never again will I part with any money before they have done the job, if that is not acceptable then they can bugger off.