Duncan wrote:
I recently employed a building firm to do some work on my property.
Unfortunately, despite them being recommended and being FMB
registered, they turned out to be cowboys. They didn't turn up for
very long, and hardly worked when they were there. I was busy at
work, and so couldn't keep an eye on them, but my neighbours on
either side did. They managed to turn what should have taken a few
days into nearly two weeks. Eventually, one of them did a ridiculous
bodge and tried to pass it off as okay when asked to put it right. At
that point, I asked them to stop work and not come back. In order to
avoid any legal business, I agreed to pay for what work they'd done.
That left a very large job on the original estimate not done. I was
happy to get rid of them - then I got the invoice

Surely the most sensible option would be to pay nothing for now and await
the findings from your FMB's Dispute Resolution service

Jon