I’ll keep it brief:

We (the missus and I) are being texted/called every five minutes throughout the night since Weds 6th June, by the girlfriend of a handyman with whom we are having a dispute regarding the quality of some work he has done for us recently.

We paid him in full the amount he quoted us for, on the day of completion. Since then we have noticed some quality issues in his work which he has yet to resolve. Furthermore, his girlfriend is now charging us another £300 for ‘extras’ he carried out, but never quoted us for.

We have had no communication from this chap since the day he left, but his girlfriend has sent countless text messages, calling into question our integrity as people and professionals – accusing us of being ‘dishonest’ and ‘scammers’ – and telling us she won’t stop bothering us until we pay up. She claims she is a property lawyer by profession and in the time it’s taken to type this, she has text me three times asking for details of our solicitor so they can exchange registered court numbers (???).

We have this evening ceased communication with her, having outlined several times by text and email the nature of our original complaint (which continues to be ignored), and requested yet again that the handyman himself please get in touch with us as it is him with whom we have done business and wish to resolve this, not her. He continues to remain silent.

I’m anticipating worst case scenario: it goes to small claims court and it proceeds from there. Our word and evidence against hers/his. I am quite satisfied that their lack of organisation and evidence will not do them any favours, less so their intmidatory conduct of which we have kept a record.

My question is: if this woman is indeed legally trained/registered to practice, can she bypass the small claims court route and get us bullied into paying our way out of a situation we can’t refuse?

Please advise if you can. I’ve got a dissertation to hand in 2 weeks today and this aint helping my writing!

[That didn’t end up very brief, did it? Sorry!]

Sounds like bunkum. Ignore the dappy mare until you get something in writing.

Phone the police re the harassment, then call her bluff re the legal action.

If she’s really a lawyer, she can’t possibly expose herself to charges of harassment as it could be deemed as bringing the profession into disrepute.

Keep records of everything, diary of all calls and texts etc.

It’s called harassment. What she is doing isn’t legal.

**edit: beaten to it.

Yeah, it sounds like a load of hot air, but I don’t know enough about this stuff to know how far this woman can push things… I don’t need this stuff going on just before I’m about to register professionally myself!

Would have to guess the Property Lawyer bit may be a little lie. As above report to police as harassment also try trading standards or one of those scammer exposing tv shows

No sensible lawyer would do that. Head any communications “without prejudice ” and ask her for her employers name saying you wish to contact the law society. Pay nothing more.

Since this woman got nothing to do with the original contract then it is none of her business.

Report to police regarding harassment, stalker, nutter etc.

She studied law? Which part of the law indicates that she could harass someone on quality control issue? Report her to the police and see how the law works on her.

D’0h! need to type quicker …

Oh ya … I am a police officer and I can shoot people dead (cowboy accent).

She claims she is a property lawyer by profession and in the time it’s taken to type this, she has text me three times asking for details of our solicitor so they can exchange registered court numbers

Awesome. Get a solicitor on the case. Get them to send their details. That’ll shut her up.

Search for a Solicitor Here

Should find out if she is delusional or just a nutter

I wouldn’t get a solicitor involved at this stage as you will be charged for every communication she makes with them and then asked how you wish to proceed.
As she quite clearly sounds nuts, you will very quickly build up a legal bill that far exceeds whatever she’s asking for.
I’m not legally trained but learnt the above from previous experiences.

I’d wait for something in writing but keep a log of all communications.
Perhaps a restraining order would force her hand one way or another.

Ta guys. The STW Collective makes sense once more. Yeah, not rushing into paying a solicitor at this stage – just spent a load of cash paying this wally! We shall continue to ignore all verbal comms, record all of hers, and keep an eye on the doormat…

Citizens Advice have some useful information on such situations – link here

Fairly standard bully tactics for one man bands…

You’d be amazed just how many people pay up money (they don’t owe) to these Cowboys when people shout loudly enough at them and threaten them enough! Have you ever seen the TV programme “Rogue Traders”… All that stuff happens all too often sadly, it’s much easier to bully a weak minded person out of some extra dosh than it is to go and find more jobs sometimes.

Anyway… The facts:

-You paid him in full for the quoted work
-You aren’t altogether happy with the quality of the work
-You are being harrassed by his girlfriend every 5 minutes
-He is keeping quiet

The heresay:

-You owe him another £300… WTF For? If it wasn’t quoted for, why would you owe it to him?
-She is a lawyer… REALLY? If she’s actually a lawyer, she’ll know the last thing in the world she needs is to be going to the small claims court for something that could possibly damage her reputation. I’m going to suggest either that she’s not indeed a lawyer, or that if she is, she soon won’t be practising that much!

IMHO, if she calls/texts once more, just call the police… Complain you’re being harrassed. You might feel like you’re wasting their time, but bearing in mind you do actually feel harrassed, and she’s the one harrassing you for ZERO reason (in fact, it’s attempted fraud), then the police will be a lot more interested in stopping her doing what she’s doing than the fact you’ve called them. The Police regularly get called out by people for much more stupid and trivial things, they will take you seriously on this if they are at all good at their job.

Link above was not to find a solicitor but to check her out – it’s a searchable record

My question is: if this woman is indeed legally trained/registered to practice, can she bypass the small claims court route and get us bullied into paying our way out of a situation we can’t refuse?

99% certain this can’t happen..
Indeed if she was a lawyer she’d know what she was doing was illegal, its harassment.

Just go straight to the police, she is breaking the law. she is harassing and intimidating you.

Go on, go now..stop reading this. go….

Firstly, the dispute over who owes who for any outstanding work is an entirely civil matter so don’t worry about the Police ordering you to pay the builder any more money. They can’t.

What this woman is doing is harassment. The police will view the content and volume of the messages and make a decision as to whether they are a deliberate attempt to alarm or distress you and your partner. Even if they cannot substantiate this, the Police can serve her with a harassment warning ordering her to cease contact with you. If she then persists she can be arrested and Magstrates will take a dim view on the fact that she persisted in her behaviour after a warning has been served.

Don’t delete the messages and ring them now.

couple of issues ( sic) firstly you paid in full for work presumably after inspecting it therefore youd be hard pushed to legally force the guy to do more even remedial work unless it did not meet a building reg or legal requirement if its a pure quality issue tough..
secondly the handymans gurl friend has no relationship with you cease communication immediately with her. contact the lapd re harrassement if she texts one more time.

The girlfriend is probably some type of bunny boiler. She probably wears the trousers and the boyfriend is s*** scared of her! He probably left yours and either ended up in the pub or bookies. After blowing all the cash he ended up at home and because he couldn’t come clean, he told her that you wouldn’t pay! So now she starts harassing you.

Legally trained? Yeah right – that will be the reason she is asking for a court number! Call her bluff, which is exactly what she is trying with you. She is hoping her “legally trained” text message will force you into submisssion. Tell her you owe nothing and if she disputes that, she will have to see you in court. At the same time tell her you will be contacting the police about her continual harassment. That in itself may be enough to stop her texting you but if not then go to the police. Although I suspect if she is a bunny boiler the texts won’t stop!

Keep all the texts as evidence and that will give the police something to work with.

Legally trained = temped once in a solicitors.

I feel sorry for you. having recently been harassed by one of those private parking enforcement muppets (I ignored all their letters and now they’ve given up). You really don’t need this stress and there’s nothing I can add to the very good advice above. She sounds like a nutter to be honest, can you change your phone number? Sending a few threatening texts is easy, has she actually written to you yet? A letter takes a bit more time and effort.

She has clearly decided that attack is the best form of defence and is hoping you will drop your claim. You need to decide if you’ve got the mental energy to carry on the dispute. What was the quality issue and does it really matter? How much will it cost to rectify his bad work?

And yes, my advice would be that you make an appointment and trot along to your local Police station to discuss it because she might already have “form” and this might be evidence they need to get her beheaded or hanged. It would be fantastic if he had given you a written quote and you had a copy of the invoice and a bank statement as evidence that you’ve paid in full.

You must think I’m too stupid to find you on this website!

Give me my money!

I am a lawyer!

😆

Call the fuzz, don’t let her grind you down.

Legally trained = temped once in a solicitors watched an episode of LA Law.

No such thing as registered court no in Scotland at least.

Is it criminal to pretend to be a solicitor?

Legally trained = temped once in a solicitors watched an episode of LA Law.has a friend who once slept with someone claiming to be a lawyer

Actually I wonder if she could be charged with extortion?

The work:

If the builder has not completed or has completed substandard you are entitled to pursue him for compensation, in court if necessary. If you have to pay to put things right you can make a court claim for remedial costs as well. Is it worth it? Other than to get them to go away.

The GF:

Blatant attempt to skim more money out of you and you should report that. How many pensioners have they already done that to and got away with it?

I work in property and with property lawyers, everyone of them I know has their details on their firms website so a quick google would find them.

That said absolutely no chance she is a lawyer based on her conduct.

she probably read a website on how to be a lawyer in 10 minutes.

Definitely, please, please, please get the police involved regarding harrassment and possibly extortion? Log every call and text she makes. Take photos of your phone for records.

Hopefully she will get a criminal record and a restraining order.

Maybe cowboy builders have some advice or a file on them? http://www.channel5.com/shows/cowboy-builders (I am being serious)

taking of cowboy builders – trading standards should also be notified and is he a member of any professional organisations? Should be on his invoice/quote.

Legally this is a civil matter.
You contract is with the builder, not his mental girlfriend.
You will struggle to get remedial work .
As for any unrequested extras. Contract law is VERY clear here. Its called past consideration, ie asking for money for stuff you have already done if unsolicited is not ok:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_means_by_past_consideration

You’ve had lots of good advice 🙂 how about sending her a sexy text back? Invite her over for a romantic meal then show her the dodgy bits up close an personal? I think she just needs some frustrated angry sex so I reckon it’d work. You could get your girlfriend to film it then send it to cowboy Bill and say you paid the outstanding in kind?

I’m a practising solicitor (one day I might get it right) I have never heard of a registered court number . I have however heard of The Protection From Harassment Act.

I suggest you text her asking for her addresses so you enter into legal correspondence . If she provides it write a letter and text her (if she won’t give an address just text)stating that you want no further contact from her that her texting you is harassment of you and your family which is a crime and any further contact from her other than via her solicitors will be reported to the police. In my experience the police do take harassment seriously but you will need to keep all texts and a diary of events to help them .

Also write to the handyman setting out the snags asking him to remedy them within 30 days failing which you will employ someone else to do so and take civil proceedings to recover the cost from him.

Take a note of every note and correspondence, with dates and times and what it said. Will aid weight to any harassment claim

Property Lawyer = prob works in a conveyancer.

You could see if you’ve got a legal helpline on your household insurance?

Request a written receipt for the work done. Threaten to report them to HMRC.

I’ve had these sort of things in the past due to renting out property.
E-mails with the words solicitor,court,you’ll be sued and my friends a barrister.Solicitors will write a letter to you whether they believe their client or not.Same with debt collection agencies.
Never needed a solicitor yet.
If you think the work is not up to standard,and can prove it, send a letter to the builder saying its small claims court time if he doesn’t come back and resolve it.I always had the small claims court paperwork ready to put in with an inflated amount for the claim.
It failed only once because i was dealing with an alcoholic who’s brain was pickled and lived in a different state of reality.

And don’t put a “wanted” in the classifieds for Bombers

Had problems similar to this with a plumber. All the advice above is good. Write a formal letter to tradesman, outlining issues with the work and giving a fixed timescale for him to repair/re-do. If not will engage another to do the work and sue him in the small claims court for the cost + your time and trouble. Write letter and text to girlfriend stating clearly that your contract was with the tradesman and that any issues he has with outstanding monies need to be communicated to you by a solicitor. Furthermore, you have taken legal advice and consider her approach of constant texting / messages to be harrassment and that if she doesn’t cease immediately you will report her to the police. Make sure that you start any letter with the words “Without Prejudice”. Sounds to me like they’re trying it on with you and at the first hint of anything official back from you they’ll back off and try to find some other poor sod. If you do receive one more communication direct from her then do report it to the police and make sure you have recorded/logged every communication. Good luck, let us know how you get on.