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Last week I contacted Thrift Urban for some work needed at my flat. But I then came across a bad review on their workmanship and mentioned it to Thrift Urban. When their answer arrived, I could not believe what I was reading. The person by the name of Tina Cooper said she could not say too much on the issue except that the client had been sued by them and therefore was writing nasty things about the company.
How can a person be so dumb and at the same time so arrogant. What did they expect – for the client to recommend them? Or do they believe clients call in builders to mess them around so that they can be sued! And who was I? An extraterrestrial? What on earth did she aim to achieve with her comments? As a potential client, am I likely to engage a firm who sues their customers? No, thank you!
And so I wrote back:
“Builders already have a bad reputation. If added to that there is a complaint from a consumer, which you have been unable to resolve - that spells bad news... But when you then state that you are suing a consumer - that's it! I am a consumer too - and do not want to face the same predicament, irrespective of who is right or wrong! A charity suing a member of the public? Shame on you! You have shattered my faith in charities! If any doubts remained, I am now convinced I want nothing to do with your company!”
I am deeply indebted to the author of this review and to show my gratitude will back the review everywhere it is posted. It is high time companies remember that it is the consumer who keeps them in business and that it is their responsibility to ensure the consumer is satisfied with their services.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
we have had a number of smallish jobs done by thrift about 2/3000 pounds. we have always found the service to be great. got a large job to be done kitchen bathroom etc and they have just started job. the surveyor they have is nothing short of brill taking gme and my partner by the hand each step of the work. not too sure but always weary of negative comments tells me more about the mentality of the people making them but ill betcha the work was first class but they just didn't want to pay
I heard about the Thrift Urban Housing on the papers a few months ago, and I thought what a great idea.
I did contact them by telephone and spoke with some grumpy man which didn't even gave me the chance to explain what I wanted but asked me strait away to send them a email with the details and photos of what I wanted to do.
That started the sound of alarm bells. Anyway I did sent them the details. Two months later I'm still waiting for them to get back to me.
Every time that I call them goes strait to an answer machine which makes me think if something goes wrong, how do I contact these people?
Today I did some searches about this charity and found some shocking things, like the charity suing a customer for giving them bad reviews, which make me think, what about if I'm not happy with their job ? are they going to sued me too?
Anyway, I will look for a reputable trader with references for the few jobs that I have to do in my house and forget about these people.
There are plenty of websites like WHICH or TRUSTATRADER where you can find reputable traders for all kind of jobs.
Thanks for drawing this to everyone's attention. I and two elderly ladies have had similar bad experiences at the hands of Peter Alman/Preston Lennox (he goes under a few names) - be warned - do not let them into your house!
I had a dreadful experience with Thrift Urban who I selected to do a £150, 000 renovation on my property in 2011. The supposed Surveyor Mr Peter Alman wasn't actually a registered surveyor at all - he'd given false credentials. (Following the work he was investigated by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors who requested that he desist from falsely representing himself as a member.) The builders were disorganised, extremely messy, purchased incorrect items and materials despite their being a comprehensive list of items and architectural plans. They ran over time by many months and kept running out of funds even though I paid every installment on time as agreed. At the end they asked for the final funds before the job was finished because they had no funds left to complete. So I paid them but many things weren't finished and in the end I just told them to go. I made a complaint to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors which the contract allowed for and Mr Alman didn't bother to respond or turn up to the investigation. They found in my favour for £10, 000 but Thrift Urban not only refused to pay it, they then counter sued me for a rambling list of things that frankly made no sense at all. As they were clearly running the charity as a technically insolvent enterprise I gave up. Since they left many things have gone wrong such as a double glass shower screen shattering during the night of its own accord because it was incorrectly installed with tension on the glass. etc etc etc. If you look at their website you will see testimonials that they have written themselves. They also pretend to be various people emailing you when it is just Mr Alman writing the emails under other names. Don't go near these people.
I have recently used Thrift Urban for some major works in my house. I am quite surprised to read negative reviews as the work I hired them to do has been completed on time, to a decent standard and workers were professional at all times. I found them to be very friendly and helpful. I am aware that there are a lot of "cowboy" building companies out there but Thrift Handy is not one of them. In the past I dealt with quite a few building and handyman companies that did work of a very poor standard, did not show up and tried to charge me extortionate rates! Thrifthandy's charges were reasonable and what's important - the work was done properly (something I cannot say about a lot of other builders out there!).
I engaged Thrift Urban Housing Limited in September 2009 to do some work on an external wall on my property. They took 50% deposit and said they would complete within 5 days of deposit. 35 days later they contacted me to say they had recosted the job and needed more money (work had still not started at this stage). A week later they told me they had changed their mind and decided they could not complete the job as they had costed it incorrectly. I suggested that they tell me how much extra they required to complete the job as I needed it doing. They declined and asked for my bank details to refund the deposit. I provided these but never received a refund. I spent a year chasing it, now I have submitted a claim against them in the small claims court in order to recover my money. For the record Thrift are not disputing that the money is owed to me, having previously been quite active in their communication they are now just ignoring my requests for a refund.
The previous reviews / comments posted suggest a mixed bag of experience, however I thought I would add this post in case the extent of Thrift's dishonesty and lack of professionalism in their dealings in my particular case might make other users think twice before using their services.
THRIFT URBAN HOUSING ARE A DELIGHT
We have just had our kitchen and bathroom refurbished. It was a real problem finding professional and well mannered people.
From the first day we met the surveyor who went through everything with us to the end of the job was wonderful. We had previous experiences from builders and my god we had been so worried.
When we went with Thrift Urban Housing the surveyor held our hands so to speak. Great work and very ncie people who did the job in our home.
They have just finished and we have told our friends and colleagues about them and we will be using the again for the loft work early next year.
Jim and Alice 9 September 2010
Thrift Urban Housing Limited - DISSOLVED!
visit:
CHECK SURE - Free Company Search - www.checksure.biz
[protected] - THRIFT URBAN HOUSING LIMITED (Dissolved or strike off pending)
registered: 55 LEIGHAM COURT ROAD, LONDON, SW16 2NJ
trading: 55 LEIGHAM COURT ROAD, LONDON, SW16 2NJ
I see the author is called malisimos on this board and on fould business uk called frederick. I alos see both are anoymous. i think they are one and the same person. The comments are clearly prompted by malice designed to be defamatory and are untrue.
I also see the pserson who says the work was not done well si the same person writing on otehr sites but changes the details form a hosue to a flat and from a women to a man.
People like this who put malicious and defmatiry commenst on websites should be sued themselves they should be amde to feel the long arm of the law and made to apologise.
phil marshall