Happy Ending
I don’t know if you caught the Channel 5 programme about “Cowboy Builders” the other night? I normally raise my hackles as I feel it will be another one of those slam the builders entertainment shows. I was happily surprised at what I saw.
To give you a brief run through of the programme as follows. A man with three daughters found himself trying to bring them up on his own as his wife had very sadly passed away in recent times. He wanted to look after his girls in the best way he could. I can fully understand that whilst he could not bring his wife back, he could attempt to make a practical side of life a little easier. He wanted to extend the house where he lived to give the girls a bedroom each. With so much going on it is easy to find a builder who promises the world and creates a dream for you. The reality hits home all too quickly.
Not only did the builder take a considerable amount of money but started out on the project which was obviously beyond his skill level and moral beliefs. When the cameras rolled on a tour of the house it became clear that not only had the client been duped for money but his family had been put in danger for the quality of work left plumbing and wiring in a lethal condition and the floors were a death trap. This is all doom and gloom and a story all too often repeated in the papers and on TV.
What I liked about this programme was not just the way it was filmed but they carried on filming whilst trying to find a solution. With Dom Littlewood doing what we all wanted to see by catching up with the builder from Hell who had scarpered with the money and also boasted of his exploits of bending the system abroad as well we felt that he was getting some embarrassment and exposure for his misdemeanours.
On the brighter side we had Melinda Messenger who was trying to find practical solutions for the problem in hand. She persuaded local suppliers to provide materials free of charge and some at no profit and arranged for a builder to carry out the majority of works at a ridiculously low charge. When the builder could do no more she managed to persuade another Kitchen fitter to come in and do the Kitchen for nothing. Maybe Melinda has a charm to leverage builders kind nature that I would not have but none the less these guys did work for free or cost only.
The finished works were to a very high standard and all who worked on it should be very proud of themselves.
As for Melinda and Dom I take my hat off to them both as they displayed a genuine concern for the man who owned the house, Melinda was moved to tears when he ended up in hospital because of the stress and for their pursuance of the guilty party. It showed that people should be wary about builders out there because they are hellbent on robbery. Thank goodness the man did not have a fatal heart attack brought on by the stress and leave the girls orphans. It is not just the money it is about peoples lives and well being.  The other side is of the good guys who can stand tall and prove to the public that not all tradesman are out to catch them.
The moral of the story is to check out the builder in as many ways as possible before parting with any money.
Comments
One Comment on Happy Ending
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rob ffoxon on
Sun, 11th Jan 2009 4:06 pm
mellinda messenger is a ******** what does she know
one of them was a double story extension built in face bricks
which looked good to me as a builder
so did the plastering, for all the big mouths who know nothing about
prices or building work i think i know what went wrong
£25k was way to cheap a price that bloke accepted the cheapest quote
serves em right i reckon
i would have priced that at 37k
the builder bum priced it then he started losing heart as he realised
he was running out of price and got shoddy in a panic to finish it
also the whole 25k wasnt his i reckon at least 10k was materials
so 15k was left for his time what a disaster
i bet messenger the mouth got more than 15k for that show
cant stick the blonde haired bimbo
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