Portsmouth building firm Rite Roof Solutions Specialists under fire for botched storm repair job

The retired Fareham couple down-paid £7,750 of the money in March, after they were cold called by Fred Moss of Southsea-based Rite Roof Solutions Specialists working nearby following a winter storm.

Former News journalist Tim, 86, was very under the weather himself at the time, undergoing a course of treatment at Queen Alexandra Hospital for cancer.

‘When I came out of hospital I learned the storm had blown some ridge tiles off the roof and flattened a section of wall and fencing along the drive,’ said Tim.

‘Normally I would have sent door-steppers packing but having gone through chemo injections and doses of drugs I was in no fit state.

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‘In this particular instance it wasn’t just Moss was convincing, he assured me he was a member of Checkatrade and he and his men wore T-shirts with the logo.

‘I thought if he belongs to Checkatrade, which guarantees competent tradesmen, they wouldn’t have approved him if he was dubious, so I asked him to carry out the work.’

It got off to shaky start when what should have taken no more than four or five days, ended up taking over a month. The couple were gutted when an outraged Tim subsequently learned they’d been left with an unfinished cowboy shambles and far from being protected, they’d been taken for a ride.

They were devastated to discover the Checkatrade membership claim was a duplicitous fairy-tale, despite it being repeated on the firm’s sales literature and website. Rite Roof Solutions had been removed from membership in May for unsatisfactory workmanship reviews.

The couple dubbed him the ‘smiling swindler’ after a stressed-out Carolyne had been duped into writing a further £2,000 cheque following a demand for an unsubstantiated additional down payment during her husband’s hospital absence.

‘My wife didn’t want to worry me while I was so unwell and paid up, but due to the ridiculously high estimate of £7,750 my home insurer dispatched an independent surveyor who said that not only was it some of the worst workmanship he’d ever seen but we’d been grossly overcharged. Completed to a satisfactory standard it should have cost no more than £2,255.

‘When Moss and his crew eventually left at the end of March they left behind an appalling mess. They hadn’t covered the brick drive with tarpaulin while rebuilding the fence walls and pillars and ruined it by dried cement blotches.

‘They failed to finish the pointing on three pillars, failed to replace two tiles on the roof, and two that had slipped down onto the conservatory roof.’

A frustrated Tim has been unable to get any joy for seven months between hospital visits to get Fred Moss to clean up his drive and finish the work to the acceptable standard for which he was paid.

He’d phoned on numerous occasions, sent letters and emails, and threatened to take him to court. However, every time he was promised the remedial work would be done and a mutually agreed overpayment refund of £4,000 paid into their bank, Moss came out with one implausible excuse after another for not turning up.

Promise after promise to settle an outstanding refund balance of £1,000 plus a further £120 for ruined garden equipment failed to materialise.

At the end of his tether, Tim contacted Streetwise when his application to Checkatrade for recompense under its good jobs guarantee was turned down because it wasn’t booked through the online platform. He wanted to warn readers about the lack of protection from being conned by rogue traders.

We believed no-one ever should have to go through what the couple experienced. The mental and emotional impact on vulnerable victims being conned out of thousands of pounds in advance payment swindles is catastrophic.

We approached Rite Roof to comment about failing miserably to comply with their legal obligation to provide a service with reasonable care and skill, in a reasonable time, and at a reasonable price. We also pointed out that claiming to be a trusted trader endorsed by Checkatrade, displaying its logo online and in advertising material was a banned criminal trading practice.

True to form, our repeated requests for a comment were ignored so we turned our spotlight on Checkatrade and asked it to comment on its claim to protect consumers from cowboy rogue traders.

Checkatrade insisted it was prevented from publishing a list of dismissed members because their privacy was protected by the General Data Protection Regulations.

However, we remained concerned about a lack of random checks on the quality of members’ workmanship standards and the appropriateness of their 12-point administrative ID background membership checks.

Checkatrade profusely apologised for the couple’s experience which didn’t live up to the high standards expected of members. They offered continuing support via their alternative dispute resolution service.

A spokesperson said: ‘Checkatrade was founded to stamp out this type of behaviour. We carry out 12 checks on every tradesperson who joins us, who must also achieve continually positive reviews to remain a member.

‘Throughout membership these include ID, proof of address, experience, qualifications, and outstanding CCJs. We have zero tolerance for any tradespeople who fail to meet our high standards and remove around 1,500 tradespeople annually who fail our vetting.’

Streetwise remains dubious that in the absence of monitoring quality of workmanship standards by Checkatrade there is no reason to believe the Kings’ experience wouldn’t be repeated.

Given the gravity of the potentially unlawful trading activities of the Rite Roof Solutions company, we had no hesitation in giving the couple an undertaking to assist them in bringing their experience to attention of Portsmouth trading standards and Action Fraud regulators.