{"id":141458,"date":"2023-09-08T13:57:56","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T13:57:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/?p=141458"},"modified":"2023-09-08T13:57:56","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T13:57:56","slug":"couple-are-left-52000-down-claiming-rogue-traders-took-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/world-news\/couple-are-left-52000-down-claiming-rogue-traders-took-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Couple are left \u00a352,000 down claiming &apos;rogue traders&apos; took money"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Couple are left \u00a352,000 out of pocket claiming &#8216;rogue traders&#8217; took the money as payment for their &#8216;dream kitchen&#8217; but left the project &#8216;less than 20 per cent complete&#8217;<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Jismon Varghese said he and his wife have been\u00a0&#8216;left with nothing&#8217; after &#8216;scam&#8217;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A couple claim they have been left \u00a352,000 out of pocket and without their &#8216;dream&#8217; kitchen extension after rogue traders took their money and ran.<\/p>\n<p>Jismon Varghese, 38, and his wife, who both work for the NHS, saved up for years to pay for major work on their \u00a3350,000 home in Poole, Dorset.<\/p>\n<p>The pair, who have two young children, were told the job to extend the rear of their detached property would take four to six weeks.<\/p>\n<p>But they have said it was left &#8216;less than 20 per cent complete&#8217; after months of delays and excuses by builders Transform Dorset Ltd.<\/p>\n<p>When the family pressed the company for answers they were shocked to discover it had gone into liquidation.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/13\/75213251-12496099-image-a-13_1694175160159.jpg\" height=\"476\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>A couple claim they have been left \u00a352,000 out of pocket when builders failed to complete a kitchen extension and &#8216;took their money&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/13\/75213253-12496099-image-a-14_1694175241103.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Jismon Varghese, pictured in the incomplete kitchen, said he was left shocked after rogue traders took his money<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/13\/75213267-12496099-image-a-15_1694175247588.jpg\" height=\"845\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The extension was left &#8216;less than 20 per cent complete&#8217; after months of delays and excuses by builders Transform Dorset Ltd<\/p>\n<p>An independent surveyor has since inspected the firm&#8217;s partial work and told the couple it will cost another \u00a340,000 to complete the project.<\/p>\n<p>Police fraud squad investigators and Dorset Council&#8217;s Trading Standards are now investigating the matter, which Mr Varghese said has &#8216;left his family with nothing&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>He said he had a number of builders quote for the work, with Transform Dorset&#8217;s quote being &#8216;a little bit higher&#8217; than the others.<\/p>\n<p>But he was convinced to go with them when he was offered a 10 per cent discount as a Christmas offer.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Varghese said he made sure to get references and a contract, including a full price with VAT and a completion date, signed before work commenced, to ensure that everything would go smoothly.<\/p>\n<p>After being rushed into signing it, with the threat of having to wait for months due to &#8216;other projects&#8217;, he signed the contract and work began in January, he claims.<\/p>\n<p>He said that at first the job went according to plan but after a few weeks the builders failed to turn up.<\/p>\n<p>As the weeks and months went on Mr Varghese said he was given excuses about injuries and illness suffered by workers and a lack of staff.<\/p>\n<p>Builders would come to the house every so often to do some work, charging Mr Varghese more money as it seemed progress was being made, he said.<\/p>\n<p>But by May &#8211; three months after the project should have been completed &#8211; he contacted Citizens Advice.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/13\/75213245-12496099-image-a-17_1694175261893.jpg\" height=\"845\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>After the extension was left 20 per cent complete, the couple were shocked to find out the company had gone into liquidation<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/08\/13\/75213249-12496099-image-a-18_1694175397110.jpg\" height=\"845\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Pictured is what was meant to be the couples &#8216;dream kitchen extension&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>He was advised to send Transform Dorset Ltd a letter on advice that it had breached the contract, to which there was no response.<\/p>\n<p>He reported the company to CheckaTrade, the police, Trading Standards and Action Fraud.<\/p>\n<p>CheckaTrade sent a surveyor to assess the work. He told Mr Varghese that just 20 per cent was completed and it would cost \u00a340,000 to finish. The website revoked the business&#8217;s membership.<\/p>\n<p>He then received an email from the director saying the company had gone into liquidation.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Varghese has been told that its warehouse had been cleared, including his brand new kitchen he had paid for, which was still being stored there.<\/p>\n<p>He added that the day after he received an email that the business had gone into liquidation, he noticed on Companies House that the same directors had started a new business at the exact same address, called Blandford Plastics.<\/p>\n<p>He said a police officer had told him there were &#8216;a number&#8217; of similar cases relating to the same business.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Varghese said: &#8216;I didn&#8217;t know that was a trap. We believed him, we trusted him.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;After a month, they went quiet.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;No phone calls, nobody turned up, nothing. So, I started chasing up, what&#8217;s happening. You&#8217;ve got the money, you said four to six weeks completion time and it&#8217;s a month gone.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;After all this, I was fed up, I was frustrated. Mentally we were down. It&#8217;s been months, we&#8217;ve spent all the money. Me and my wife lost our peace.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We worked hard and we lost all this money, for nothing.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Dorset Council&#8217;s Trading Standards team said it has received three complaints relating to Transform Dorset Ltd.<\/p>\n<p>It said: &#8216;These complaints allege that the company has taken large pre-payments for high-value building work and not completed the work as promised, and that any work that has been done has been sub-standard.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Dorset Council Trading Standards is continuing to monitor the complaints against the companies and individuals named.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;If it is believed any criminal offences have been committed, the team will liaise with Dorset Police to ensure any relevant action is taken.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Head of Action Fraud, Pauline Smith, said the case is being assessed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau at the City of London Police.<\/p>\n<p>Transform Dorset Ltd has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-12496099\/Couple-left-52-000-pocket-claiming-rogue-traders-took-money-payment-dream-kitchen-left-project-20-cent-complete.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Couple are left \u00a352,000 out of pocket claiming &#8216;rogue traders&#8217; took the money as payment for their &#8216;dream kitchen&#8217; but&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141457,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Couple are left \u00a352,000 down claiming &amp;apos;rogue traders&amp;apos; took money - The Projects World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theprojectsworld.com\/world-news\/couple-are-left-52000-down-claiming-rogue-traders-took-money\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Couple are left \u00a352,000 down claiming &amp;apos;rogue traders&amp;apos; 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