SEVEN
“CONGRATULATIONS!”
So more than a YEAR since the build started the final piece of glass has FINALLY been fitted to the structure known as the conservatory or to us, known as something completely different. I felt it such a monumental occasion, that I should write to SIMON GOBLE and let him know and as they considered the build to complete, (although by no means finished), this was the time they could offer some compensation and confirm the VAT reduction. After all, SIMON GOBLE is the Operations Manager, surely he is capable of that? Well, no actually. Internal communications at Circus Central show that on the 16th Of July the following is logged; “NICK FLANAGAN has confirmed he will deal with Mr Pas letter dated 10th July 2018″ Meanwhile I have informed DEAN WANT that despite the “A Team” member fitting the glass (finally), he had not addressed the leak that we had in the roof. Instead, he said he would report it back to DEAN WANT. WHY IN THE HELL WOULD YOU NOT JUST FIX IT?
SIMON GOBLE did take the time to write a few lines to me just to tell me that my letter had been passed to the Legal Services Manager NICK FLANAGAN.
I decided to drop NICK FLANAGAN a line just to let him know that I now wanted him to visit with SIMON GOBLE and DEAN WANT, as he said he would when it was finished (although I will show why it was not later!) and that an offer of financial compensation was now past due. I also told him that I was sure he would not visit so to crack on with the offer. I also gave him deadline. Whilst writing I also told him that although the member of the “A Team” had taken the two incorrect panes of glass (that I could have sold or maybe used), he had conveniently forgotten to remove the large wooden fire door and that I would appreciate it if he could return to collect it. Just so you know, I DISPOSED of the the wooden door in AUGUST of 2019 over A YEAR later.
Much to my surprise I received an email from NICK FLANAGAN… “Dear Mr Pas, Everest has no offer to make at this time.I shall be pleased to meet with you personally, neither Mr Goble or Mr Want need attend. I would be pleased to hear from you with details of your availability, upon receipt of which I shall make the necessary travel and accommodation arrangements. My comments regarding legal costs remain. Kind regards”
A received email should be replied to…
“Wow. What a fast reply, well done.
Legal cost will be down to Everest, that stands.
Not having an offer to make is unacceptable and I suggest you think again and I expect the offer to be made by the date and time given.
Wednesday or Thursday of this week will be fine. I agree that Mr Goble need not attend as let’s be honest he hasn’t been exactly helpful or proactive throughout this and has simply passed the buck. Contrary to what you think though, Mr Want needs to attend as he has been the person who has seen the shabby workmanship and who I have been talking to so he will also attend.
Travel arrangements aren’t difficult, I assume you drive so just put the postcode in the SATNAV and it’ll bring you right here. Alternatively let Mr Want drive.
You can do it in a day so I don’t think you need to stay out, it’ll be a road trip.
Regards.”
As this is FLANAGAN who has to be right and have the final word…
“Dear Mr Pas, Thank you for your email. My comments in respect of legal costs and a current offer remain. If you are unhappy with that, you must take the action that you see fit. I am afraid that your assumption that I can attend this week is incorrect, as is your assumption that I can attend and return in a day. Please provide details of your availability for week commencing 30th of July, excluding the following dates Jul 30, 31 Aug 3, 6, 7, 10, 14, 17 Thanking you in advance. Yours sincerely,”
I have had to deal with this crap for so long and have tried to be accommodating and patient but even the sound of this guys name boils my piss so I reply because I will not be bullied by someone who hides behind a big company.
“Mr Flanagan.
I WILL be recovering my legal cost from Everest. Your comment; ” My comments in respect of legal costs and a current offer remain. If you are unhappy with that, you must take the action that you see fit.” did make me chuckle and unfortunately confirmed what I had told my Wife what you would say. You have become so predictable Mr Flanagan I could practically have our conversation on my own.
Any assumption on my part that you can attend at all is frankly incorrect as you constantly dodge it. I will provide some more dates for you just for the hell of it as you may actually surprise me. Don’t forget to check availability with Mr Want so he can also attend.
8th or 9th of August will be fine. Let me know which.
I wonder if you might invite the CEO too, I will be writing to them soon so it will save me a stamp.
I await your excuse for not being able to attend on the dates I have given.
Regards.
Mr Pas”
After much BS back and forth with the bloke it was decided that he would attend my property on the 9th of August. I replied to FLANAGAN agreeing that there was no point in SIMON GOBLE being there, Lets be honest, it was unlikely he would have anything remotely sensible to say unless it was about fishing judging by his performance as a manager so far.
However despite what he said I immediately emailed DEAN WANT and informed him so he could make the day available for him to come. It was important for him to be there as he was the guy with the building knowledge. It would be pointless having a hairdresser going to a meeting to offer their advice on baking would it? Common sense says that the guy who has been trying to sort the problems out who knows about building should be there to agree or or disagree with the points I make, the legal bloke isn’t likely to know about damp proof membrane or plastering. In any case there were more back and forth emails between me (the victim) and FLANAGAN who now presumably is an expert in building as well. Then, after being told that he had NEVER dodged any visits or meetings with me and after my Wife, and I have sorted out everything so that NICK FLANAGAN can finally grace us with his presence, I get an email from him asking if he can in fact change the date of visit to the 8th. I really should not have been surprised as I truly believe his job is simply to piss people about which I have to say he does excel at so as he pisses me about I told him that I would check with DEAN WANT that he would be able to make the changed appointment and was immediately told that DEAN WANT will not be attending the meeting. What he didn’t realise and as he lacks the moral courage to admit he is wrong still doesn’t realise or accept, is that had DEAN WANT been allowed to come along when I first asked before the “A Team” tipped up, the works would have stood more chance of being done correctly and if he was allowed to show up to this meeting, I could have asked him to look around and tell us what he considered to be wrong with the build. BUT, FLANAGAN knows best. A true Jack of all trades it would appear.
Many more emails went back and forth like playground tennis however I will not share as they are boring. I just hope you can see the kind of “banging my head against a brick wall” I have had to endure for this entire fiasco because of one man who thinks that EVEREST HOME IMPROVEMENTS are above the law and owe victims nothing. Suddenly though, this from NICK FLANAGAN.
Without Prejudice “Dear Mr Pas, Further to our recent communication, I remain willing to meet you on the 8th of August at 9.30am and await your confirmation in that regard. Ahead of which, I have considered the contract, installation process and installation issues and as requested have considered your request for an offer of compensation. Initially, I would offer our sincere apology for the protracted nature of the installation. I entirely understand your frustration at events and accept your criticism of Everest generally. In terms of compensation, it is generally accepted that damages for contracts of this nature only flow from a breach, and whilst it is plain that your installation was not completed in line with your hopes and expectations, as demonstrated to your lawyers, the issue of delay is expressly dealt with by the terms of the contract and the delay in this case is not an actionable breach and if it is, the damages payable are detailed within the terms of the contract – being 1% of the value of the outstanding work per week after breach occurred. In terms of the installation generally, my understanding is that the process was not smooth, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires that the works be carried out with reasonable care and skill, and that the goods conform to the contract. In the light of the fact that the initial works needed to be undertaken on repeated occasions and that elements of the goods needed to be replaced, it is fair to say that these requirements were not met. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 goes on to say that if the works are not carried out with reasonable care and skill that a repeat performance should be provided at the traders’ cost and the consumers convenience. Further it states that the goods should be made to conform, with the contract by the trader, again at the traders’ cost and the Consumers convenience, within a reasonable period. Whilst I do not accept that a breach of the contract occurred in respect of delay, I am of the view that the remedial and completion works were not carried out in a reasonable period and as such as a gesture of goodwill I shall be willing to offer the sum of £1,000 in respect of this delay. Damages for stress and inconvenience are not generally recoverable on a contract of this nature, and if they were they would always be nominal, however I am of the view that you have been put to some unnecessary inconvenience and as such I am prepared to offer a further £750 as a gesture of goodwill in this regard. Any special damages for expenses would be recoverable subject to the normal test of causation, remoteness and mitigation, and to date I have been presented with no details or evidence of special damages. I confirm that I am happy to consider any additional expenses that you have incurred in addition to the offers mentioned above. It would be helpful if you could provide this information prior to our meeting, so that we may proceed to resolve matters once and for all on the morning of August 8th. In the alternative, I shall be willing to offer the sum of £1000 in respect of special damages without the requirement of providing any detail or evidence. I therefore look forward to hearing from you at your convenience either with acceptance of our total offer of £2,750 or with details of your additional expenses for my consideration. For the avoidance of doubt, the content of this email is without prejudice and made without any admission of liability.Kind regards”
£2,750 compensation. ARE YOU ON DRUGS??? Reply required…
“I write simply to thank you for providing me with a chuckle this morning. Your letter of offer of compensation amused me greatly, so thank you. You are quite incredible in how fast you do things as on the 23rd of July you had no offer to make. Suddenly once you have commanded which day and time you are willing to attend my house, you immediately have an “offer” to make. I bring you to line four of your letter regarding breach of contract. Mr Flanagan, you were in breach of contract on the 22nd of March 2018 as per my letter giving time of essence. This was given due to the continuing problems of inactivity by Everest. The being in line with hopes and expectations is irrelevant. Your own contract states an estimated time of 12 to 14 weeks and even allowing almost 50% extra taking it to 20 weeks, you still did not manage to fit the final piece of glass for a further 37 weeks or so. This has nothing to do with hopes and expectations. Your 1% statement is irrelevant as you were in breach of contract on the 22nd March 2018 so no longer stands. I accept that you do not believe that any breach of the contract has occurred, as you have stated all the way through that all advice given both by the CAB and my own solicitor and actions taken by myself on this advice has been incorrect. So talking to you with regard to anything contractual by Everest is always going to be a waste of time. Your offer of £1000 in respect of delay to remedial works is a laughable figure and is not acceptable by any stretch of my imagination. Your offer of £750 for stress and inconvenience is also less than amusing. With regard to your denial of any presentation of damages or claim. I sent a letter via email to Mr Goble on the 7th June 2018 which as it was a letter demanding an offer of compensation, I am sure he would have passed to you as he appears to have done with anything that looks remotely like something he can’t deal with so I am sorry of I do not believe that it is the first you have heard of it. This email was also referred to on the 18th of June. I am just going to round off now by saying that your offer falls well short of an offer that is supposed to compensate my Wife and I for the incompetence of Everest. You have failed to address the VAT of £7,244.50 which we were told we would not be paying hence our purchase. You have not addressed the legal costs which we had to endure due to your refusal to accept that what I had been told by the CAB was correct leaving us no choice but to see a solicitor and then further having to have a solicitor act on our behalf. You have failed to address our extra heating costs as Everest had failed to even order a door or indeed the fact that we had to purchase a temporary door to block the hole where your door should have been. The fact that the interior wall had to be re plastered which we had already decorated. The list goes on Mr Flanagan so come back with a more realistic figure and we can see how you have done. Regards. Mr Pas”
I sent copies of the emails and letters to FLANAGAN that had been sent to SIMON GOBLE showing the parts he had said that I had never mentioned in respect of my losses and he sent me an email back. He has never seen these remember however the email says the following…
“Dear Mr Pas, Thank you for your copy letters, I have commented upon these before, the first letter making time the essence does so without reference to the contract, without providing six weeks (you offered 20 days) and did not seek to impose the appropriate contractual penalty of 1% of the value of the incomplete work for every week that the work remained outstanding. We certainly acknowledged your notice, but the letter from Mr Goble makes it quite clear that the terms of your letter are not accepted. That said he confirms that works would be completed by 22nd March 2018. You will of course recall that this prompted the intervention of your lawyers and your refusal to permit access hence delaying completion of the works further. I do not accept therefore that time has effectively been made the essence, I do not accept that the penalty for delay should be calculated from March and I do not accept that the sum in compensation for same should exceed any offer that has already been made and rejected (and withdrawn) There is no compelling evidence in support of your position. If you intend to reinstruct your lawyers you are of course free to do so, I would remind you that you do so at your own cost, and that Everest will not pick up the tab for your legal advice. Yours sincerely”
Seriously, how can anyone possibly try to deal with someone who says they will meet at any time but will not meet and then denies the fact that he will not meet even though he sends emails saying he won’t meet? Similarly, how do you deal with someone who says they have never seen any correspondence regarding costs etc when they then tell you they have commented on them previously when they were sent? You could not make this up, and unfortunately , I’m not.
So you can see. Dealing with EVEREST HOME IMPROVEMENTS is pointless. So why am I getting in such a state over this? Why am I taking to the internet to tell of my troubles? Well, let me show you….
Next time, “Would you be happy?”