Cowboy landscaper fined after overcharging for shoddy work costing more than £4k to fix
A cowboy landscaper ‘added insult to injury’ by seriously overcharging his client for work he performed so poorly it was estimated to cost well over £4,000 to put all problems right.
According to experts, the £8,000 William Dundon billed for work to a garden and patio was more than £5,000 higher than could have been reasonably expected for the job.
And despite repeated promises to fix any defects, after he’d been paid the full amount he never came back.
Dunmurry 49-year-old Dundon was today fined after pleading guilty to three charges brought against him under consumer protection laws.
According to a statement on the case from the Trading Standards Service, a householder in Dundonald who wanted work carried out on his property found ‘Dale Drives and Landscaping’ through an online search.
The work was to include the laying of patterned and textured paving slabs around the perimeter of the house and over a small patio area and the rear garden to be turfed, along with the necessary drainage.
Dundon gave a quote of £7,500 for supplies and labour, though later upped it to £8,000.
Other traders the householder made enquiries with had told him they would not be able to start the work until near the end of 2024. Two days after a site visit, Dundon told him he’d had a cancellation and would be able to start the job immediately.
Work began in April 2024, after a deposit of £1,500 deposit was paid. As it progressed the householder voiced concerns about its quality, though Dundon assured him any defects would be made good.
When the work was completed, the landscaper was paid the full £8,000 as agreed but did not return to set the problems right.
Among the list of defects, paving slabs were not as ordered and were laid unevenly, while paving close to the property’s rear steps had not been secured.
In addition, the garden’s grass lawn had not been levelled and soil that was used contained rocks and debris.
An independent surveyor engaged by Trading Standards inspected the site later that year, and reported that the charged amount of £8,000 was excessive while suggesting a figure of £2,650 would be a reasonable price for the job.
He went on to say that Dundon’s job had not been completed in a satisfactory or workmanlike manner, and had failed to comply with a number of significant building control regulations as well as good practice standards in use within the landscaping industry.
The cost of carrying out remedial work to put the problems right was estimated as £4,275.
Dundon, who paid £8,000 in restitution before today’s court case, was slapped with fines totalling £750.
Following the conclusion of the case, John Childs from Trading Standards said: “This is an example of a trader vastly over-inflating the reasonable cost of a job and then adding insult to injury by carrying out poor quality work into the bargain.
“It is noticeable that the contractor stated he was able to start almost straight away, while other traders contacted were booked up for months in advance; this is a common feature of such complaints received [by the service].”