Raw Deal: Customer still waiting after paying £6,000 to get roof cleaned

David Dingwall will be glad to see the back of a dispute that has been hanging over his head since the day he decided to get his roof refurbished.

In July, the retired mechanic agreed to pay around £6,000 to Alloa-based Kingdom Coatings to have broken tiles replaced and the others cleaned and sealed, at his house in Forres, Moray.

“The roof was in poor condition,” David, 58, said. “I previously had it pressure washed and scraped to remove moss but it still looked awful. I really wanted this sorted properly before the winter set in.”

As a result, he decided to meet with a representative from Kingdom Coatings.

“It was agreed that the roof would be pressure washed, followed by an anti-fungal wash and all the broken tiles were to be replaced.

“The verges and ridges were to be repointed as necessary. This would be followed by a sealer, then a minimum of two coatings of a product to protect the life of the roof. I was also told that I would get a 10-year guarantee.”

David said he was happy when two workers arrived one Saturday in August to start the job.

“They lightly pressure-washed the roof, soaped it then put what I think was a sealant coating on it. They could not get replacement tiles here on a weekend and said they would be back mid-week.”

However, when the roofers didn’t return David said he called the company a number of times for an update with no joy.

“A woman at their office told me that the two workers had signed off the job as complete and had since left the company,” he said “Other calls went unanswered and I felt left in the lurch. I felt like an idiot for paying the whole amount in advance.

“I am disabled and my wife is very unwell and the stress of it all was taking its toll on us.”

After six weeks of getting nowhere, David asked Raw Deal to step in. We contacted Kingdom Coatings on his behalf and asked the company to investigate.

Managing director Greg McKenzie responded to say that they had run into issues with staff who had since departed the firm and he vowed to complete the job.

He said: “We have gone through a major change in our installations department, that is, a change of manager and change of installers for this very reason – signing off jobs that were not complete – and it does seem Mr Dingwall has some valid points.

“I can categorically tell you that Mr Dingwall will get what he paid for and now that we know about this, we will fix any issues with his job. In fact, we have called Mr Dingwall and booked him in. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.”

David said that work was due to restart on the roof at the end of last month but this was postponed when the weather turned bad. However, Kingdom Coatings said that another date to finish the job had now been arranged.

The firm said: “We have spoken to the customer and booked them into the diary for their job to be completed, weather permitting. We appreciate his understanding in this matter.”

David said he was grateful to Raw Deal for advice and support. He added: “I just want the roof finished or have my money back.”