The ripped off customers who fought back against an online carpentry business

People across Bristol are owed hundreds of pounds by a mysterious carpentry business operating on Facebook, and feel let down by the authorities’ response.

Photo: Izzy de Wattripont

Edition 31 5th December, 2022

Matty Edwards

Denise Roberts was pregnant, and keen to get some work done in her loft before her first child arrived. She saw a Facebook advert for a business, Home and Garden Services, which quoted her £880. 

She had to fork out £250 upfront. “We wanted it quickly because I was pregnant,” Denise tells the Cable. “He then asked for another £330 for materials, because the usual supplier wasn’t available.”

The job was booked in for just three weeks later in February 2022. But then things started going wrong. The tradesman cancelled and rescheduled, not once or twice, but three times, until Denise gave up and demanded a refund. 

“I told them I’m pregnant, I’m on statutory [maternity] sick pay in the next few months,” she says. “They don’t seem to care. It’s a lot of money, I could really use it for the baby. It’s additional stress, you really need your energy on other things.”

The refund was promised again and again, but it didn’t arrive. “I’m sleep deprived,” she adds. “I don’t want to focus on it anymore but I don’t want to give up. Especially with all the rising costs, it’s a lot of money to lose to scammers.”

But Denise wasn’t alone. “When the refund didn’t arrive, I thought, ‘I need to look into this’. And I found all these other people online with similar experiences.”

By this point, a few months later, other people who had been ripped off by the business had started organising. When Denise was in hospital having her baby, four weeks premature, she spoke to another victim who was determined to collect all the evidence of people being ripped off and report it to the police. 

He’s trying to scam people… I don’t think he’s taking on too many jobs. He’s making excuses.

Their research uncovered a mysterious business operating multiple Facebook pages that had changed its name 13 times in three years. Even though there was no website and the phone number was never answered, there were positive reviews and real jobs being done. But they also discovered a clear pattern of taking deposits and material payments, booking and cancelling jobs, and then not sticking to their word when refunds were promised.

The Cable is aware of 14 people in the Bristol area who have had requested refunds – ranging from £70 to £750 – withheld by this business, which at the time of writing was operating under the name Every Day Carpentry Services. Sometimes refunds have arrived after weeks or months. But other people are still hundreds of pounds out of pocket. 

You might think a detailed report would make a strong case for the police to investigate. But when one victim tried to submit evidence, including screenshots and bank details, to Avon and Somerset Police, they were told to contact Action Fraud, a national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime.

Months later, despite multiple victims following this advice, there is no sign their cases have been passed onto the police for criminal investigation. 

Fraud going uninvestigated

Fraud is the most common crime in England and Wales, costing the UK £137 billion a year. And there was a surge in scams during the pandemic, when more people were using online services. 

But locally, concerns have been raised by Mark Shelford, police and crime commissioner for Avon and Somerset, about cases not being investigated.

Data acquired by the Cable under freedom of information laws shows that £117 million worth of fraud has been reported between 2019 and 2021 in the Avon and Somerset area. Nearly 10,000 reports have been submitted to Action Fraud every year, but only one in ten were then referred to the police for investigation. 

Even when these cases are referred to the police, positive outcomes for victims are rare. According to separate data from Avon and Somerset Police, in the last three years, there have been more than 2,000 investigations into fraud. The most common outcomes were ‘no suspect identified/ no line of enquiry’ (37%), and lack of evidence (13%). Only 8.6% of investigations ended up with a suspect being charged. 

Taking matters into your own hands

Avon and Somerset Police was unable to say whether an investigation into Every Day Carpentry Services or related businesses was in progress. The Cable understands that a trading standards investigation is underway at Bristol City Council, but the local authority said it could not confirm or deny this. 

Despite the dozen examples of withheld refunds the Cable has uncovered, the business does have positive reviews from other jobs. George Lai had his loft done by LT Services, as it was then known, in late 2020 with no issue. So he was shocked when he had his refund withheld from him earlier this year by the same company. 

His experience follows the same pattern as Denise’s: a £450 deposit collected, more cash requested for materials, then the job scheduled six times and cancelled at the last minute. 

George asked for a refund in May 2022. “First, he paid £45 and said he forgot the zero,” he tells the Cable. “The second time, he paid was another silly amount, £105, and kept making excuses for not paying the whole amount. I chased him again and he said he’d pay it soon. Eventually, at the end of August, he refunded all the money.”

“It was very stressful, something you can do without,” George says. “It’s not just the money, it’s taken too much of my time trying to get money back from him, the number of messages. He tells you he’s going to sort it next week, next week.

“He’s trying to scam people,” he adds. “I don’t think he’s taking on too many jobs. He’s making excuses.”

George has contacted Facebook to ask why it is allowing this business to advertise when there are so many public posts about people being ripped off, but unsurprisingly he hasn’t received a response. 

In spring of this year, Chris Pope found the company, then called LT Carpentry Services, on Facebook and paid £700 deposit and materials fee, only for the job on his loft to be cancelled last minute or have nobody show up three times. 

“We’ve only just got our house, I need to make room for our child who is coming in February [2023],” he tells the Cable. “It’s my mistake, I should have fact checked.”

After multiple chasing messages, there was no progress. “I basically messaged them again, pleading with them, saying that I have a child on the way, but they ignored me,” he says.

“They get shamed so they keep changing the name,” Chris adds. “When we took it to the police, they couldn’t be any less interested.” 

Still waiting

Chris decided to take matters into his own hands and threatened legal action through his solicitor. But at the time of writing, he’s still £700 out of pocket. 

Denise was first offered her refund in March. After months of chasing she was told in September the business is no longer operating and her refund would be paid imminently. She did receive a payment, but is still owed £300. 

The Cable put the allegations from customers awaiting refunds to the business, currently operating under the name Every Day Carpentry Services, and they said in response: “The business has tried to evolve through the pandemic with adapting to take on other works but unfortunately hasn’t made it and will be fully closed from this week due to this and any issues around the business sorted and closed!”

Shortly after the Cable contacted the business, customers started receiving messages: “We can confirm the business will be all closed from Wednesday next week and any outstanding refund jobs etc will be all completed and sorted out by this date.” 

But now, months later*, neither Denise nor Chris had been fully refunded. 

Even if refunds eventually arrive, this has been a stressful experience for those out of pocket. “I don’t want other people to fall for the same thing,” Denise says. “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

*This article was originally written for out 31st print edition in October 2022. But as of December, refunds had still not been provided.