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16
Nov 2020
Women ripped off by 'shoddy' Harrogate builder
Two women who say they have been ripped off by a builder from Harrogate have formed a Whatsapp group called "The Avenging Warriors" to try and get their money back.
They claim the group has six other members who have had similar experiences with James Moss, who they say owes thousands of pounds and has left a trail of 'shoddy' workmanship across Harrogate.
"Mr Charming himself"-- Gill's story
Gill Lawrence works for a homeless charity and takes in vulnerable young people into at her home near to Wetherby Road whilst they get back on their feet. Last year, she decided she wanted a kitchen extension at her house to create more space for her guests.
After advertising for a builder to do the work on the website MyBuilder.co.uk, she was contacted by James Moss, a tradesman based in Harrogate who said he would do the job for £13,000 plus VAT. She told the Stray Ferret she thought this was a really good deal.
Ms Lawrence described Moss was “Mr Charming himself". After agreeing to the quote, work began in June last summer.
Fast-forward six months to December 2019 and Ms Lawrence claims Moss left the kitchen half-finished whilst pocketing almost the total agreed quote.
She says the problems with the kitchen were endless with the walls needing replastering, faulty electrics and plumbing, and a “wonky” window.
So far this year she has spent around £5,000 repairing the work — and it’s still unfinished.
She said she feels very naïve for trusting Moss and that it’s had a big impact on her mental wellbeing.
Ms Lawrence subsequently wrote to Moss several times urging him to finish the job he had started, without reply. In March 2020 she took Moss to a small claims court, who ordered the builder to pay her £8,297 plus court costs.
MyBuilder.co.uk told the Stray Ferret that Mr Moss's account was banned in July 2019 after a complaint.
A chequered business history
According to Companies House, a government website that publishes information about businesses in the UK, he has been a director of 11 different building companies in the Harrogate district since 2012 with 8 of them now dissolved.
A search on the website Trust Online also reveals that Moss currently has three county court judgements against his name, worth almost £8,000.
However, a Companies House spokesperson told the Stray Ferret they have no powers to reject someone forming a new company unless they have been declared bankrupt.
The name of the company which undertook Ms Lawrence’s kitchen extension was Yorkshire Outdoor Design. The company was dissolved in October 2019 whilst Moss was still working on Ms Lawrence’s kitchen extension.
Normally, Ms Lawrence would not be able to bring a civil case against a dissolved company but she managed to prove to the courts that there was no mention of Yorkshire Outdoor Design being a limited company in any of her correspondence with Moss, so she was able to sue him personally, even after the company folded.
She has even hired a private investigator to find out where Mr Moss currently lives so she can send him letters about the money he owes her.
However, Ms Lawrence said she does not expect to ever see the money repaid to her. She has reported him to trading standards but said they have so far been “absolute rubbish”.
North Yorkshire County Council trading standards told the Stray Ferret they would not comment on individual cases.
A 25-year guarantee -- Vicky's story
Vicky Cooke is a French teacher from Ilkley who needed a new roof on an extension at her home. After struggling to find a local builder who was available, she found a website for another one of Moss’s companies, DBL Yorkshire, in November 2019.
Ms Cooke paid Moss £3,400 for the job, and he even offered a 25-year guarantee that the work would be built to last.
But after apparently completing the job in December, it took just two months for the roof to start leaking.
She said:
From being a “really nice bloke” when work began, Ms Cooke said Moss became “evasive and quite unpleasant”.
After asking Moss to repair the leaking roof without reply, Ms Cooke took him to the small claims court who ruled in her favour, ordering Moss to pay £2,745, which he is now refusing to pay.
She’s since spent around £1,000 repairing his poor work and says she now feels like an idiot for trusting Moss to do a good job.
She said:
Mr Moss's response
Mr Moss told the Stray Ferret he disputes the allegations made by both women and confirmed that he does not intend to pay the money the courts have ordered him to pay.
He claimed he did not receive any correspondence from the small claims court regarding the civil cases. As a result, he was unable to defend himself at the court which is why they both ruled against him. He said he is now trying to fight both rulings.
He added he has now ceased trading as a builder.
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