Teacher, 61, ‘£3,000 out of pocket’ after builders ‘leave decking half finished’ | UK News

A teacher claims the people she hired to build decking in her garden left the job half finished – and then blocked her on Facebook.

Deborah Wilson, 61, says she spent £2,800 on the work which she’s since had to finish herself.

She now worries she’ll never get the money back as she’s no longer able to contact the builders, a father and son duo, on social media.

Deborah, a special needs teacher from Washington, Tyne and Wear, contacted three companies for a quote to install decking, and chose the father and son – who aren’t being named – and paid up front.

She said: ‘I’ve thrown so much money down the drain.

‘These people took the opportunity to scam me because they could – because they know I’m a single woman who works away.

‘They said it’d all cost £2,200. Then they tried to charge me an extra £600 for materials – wood, screws and plaster.

‘I handed it over all at once, just to get it out of the way. I’m so trusting – I should never have done it.’

Deborah confirmed the job dates and times over Facebook, and the pair were set to start the work on July 7.

However when they arrived, the materials they turned up with looked used.

She said: ‘They brought a bucket of old screws – they looked like they’d been taken from other jobs. They were covered in plaster!

‘And the plaster they used was really heavy-duty. But I didn’t say anything, and let them get on with it for about five hours.’

The pair were supposed to return on July 8, but only one of them showed up, and he worked for ‘another couple of hours’ before leaving.

Deborah says that was the last time they turned up.

She sent multiple messages between July 10 and 17, and on July 18 they finally replied and said they’d ‘sort something out’ – but never did.

Screenshots says that the ‘person is unavailable on Messenger’ – meaning the account has been deleted or Deborah is blocked.

She said: ‘I sent message after message, asked for half the money back, but they’ve just been ignored.

‘They didn’t even have the decency to let me know where they bought the wood from so I could get on with it myself.’

Deborah posted photos of the half-finished decking onto neighbourhood app Nextdoor.

People then sent her recommendations for timber merchants so she could finish the job herself.

Despite undergoing a breast reconstruction surgery in June and being advised by her doctors not to move or lift anything heavy for ‘a minimum of four weeks’, Deborah spent the rest of her holiday finishing off the decking.

She said: ‘I’m doing all of this on my own. It’s a challenge, but you have to triumph through adversity, really.

‘I should be taking this time to relax – but instead I’ve spent three weeks doing this.’

Deborah has contacted the police to try and get the money back – but they told her it was a civil matter.

The father-son duo were individually contacted for comment but did not respond.

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