A housebound granny left in tears by cowboy builders had her faith in humanity restored by hero workmen who repaired the damage for free. Isabel Webster paid £7,000 for a new drive but was appalled by the shoddy results.
The 73-year-old was only persuaded to do the work by a pushy door-to-door salesman who arrived at her home without an invite. The stranger walked up Isabel's drive and made her an offer to repair the surface.
It had seen better days but was not in a bad condition. Isabel wasn't interested but despite politely declining his offer, the tradesmen was insistent and asked if his boss could call her for a quote.
"It was the last thing on my agenda," she said. "He asked if his boss could come and give me a quote and I said no again. He asked me to turn my phone on so the boss could phone me.
“I said I wasn’t well, my phone was off and I wasn’t feeling up to it today. He asked me to put my phone on for five minutes. Just to get him to go, I did.”
Isabel, who is housebound with chronic ME, says the workman’s boss called and she agreed he could visit the property to give her a quote. Arriving at the home the next day, the “very pleasant” and “very helpful” man convinced the gran they would do a “cracking job” of the new driveway and they drew up a plan.
Isabel eventually agreed to a quote and the man returned to start the project two weeks later. But alarm bells started to ring when the retired teacher noticed work was being done very slowly – despite initially being told the drive would take four days to complete.
“For the first few days, he hardly did anything,” Isabel told the Manchester Evening News. “He kept having to go and get materials. It was the fact they were doing so little every day. The mess accumulated over a few weeks. I had to apologise to the neighbours it was so bad.
Heavy concrete slabs and other debris left on the drive meant Isabel couldn’t get out on her mobility scooter for two whole weeks. She also noticed a lot of the workmen's tools were broken – even having to borrow a grinder from a neighbour – leaving her worrying she had been conned.
“I told them I was concerned about the way things were going and they got cross at me,” she added. When the work was finally complete, Isabel says she looked out the window and the drive appeared to look okay.
The workers insisted on being paid £7,000 in cash despite initially telling the gran she could pay via bank transfer. But when Isabel went outside and had a closer look, she was appalled by what she saw.
“[When they finished], I went out and looked and I was horrified by what they had done,” she said. “The drive itself was shocking, but they had also gone over a manhole cover. I told them not to do that as it’s the only one on the road.”
Isabel, who underwent a double mastectomy for breast cancer last year, called the workman and asked if he could return to fix the mess they had made. “They had left all the rubbish in the garden and out the front,” she added. “He said he would come back in two days and have a look at what needed doing.
“[When he arrived], he stormed through the door and out the back. He was already in an aggressive mood. He said he had done a good job and I was nit-picking.
“I didn’t think I was at all. All my neighbours had commented on it saying how bad the job had been done. He said he was sick of me going on.
“He said it was all in my head and I just wanted perfection. As he was going down the drive, I said, ‘What about the manhole cover?’ and he just lost it. He got really angry with me.”
Isabel, from Wigan, says she was so upset by the situation she stood on her doorstep crying. “I couldn’t believe how vulnerable I felt in that moment,” she added. “I knew there was nothing I could do about it.”
Isabel approached Citizen’s Advice and was told she had a case but a resolution could be long and drawn-out. They advised her to approach three reputable tradespeople for quotes on repairing her drive.
Two workmen visited her home and were “disgusted” by the state of the drive, adding it was the worst job they had ever seen. Isabel was told the damage was too extensive for repairs and she would need a whole new driveway.
Unable to fork out another £7,000, Isabel thought all hope was lost until she was visited by the third and final trader, Calum Griffin, owner of CG Paving.
“He was genuinely upset,” Isabel said. “He kept walking around with his head in his hands.”
Calum offered Isabel a “reasonable” quote before leaving the property. But later that night, the gran was surprised when he called her out of the blue. In an incredible turn of events, the kind-hearted trader offered to rip up the bad job and re-do the drive for free.
“Calum said he had been thinking about it and it had really upset him,” Isabel said. “He said the tradesman had done such a bad job and it was giving all traders a bad rep. He wanted to do it, but he would like to do it for free.
“I told him he couldn’t because it was too much,” she said. “Eventually I said yes, but I couldn’t speak. I really couldn’t speak. It just wasn’t going in.”
Calum enlisted the help of local businesses and four suppliers came together to offer materials for free. The worker and his “lovely” team went on to complete the work – restoring Isabel’s faith in humanity.
“He came when he said he would and his team were lovely,” Isabel said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. The situation defeated me for the first part of the year.”
Isabel claims the company that carried out the shoddy work was dissolved after the work took place, meaning she was unable to get any of her money back.
Hero trader Calum, 42, from Wigan, said it was “heartbreaking” to see the way Isabel had been treated.
“When I went to visit Isabel to give her a quote to rectify the work, which was in such a bad state, I could clearly see no attempt had been made to follow the right procedures to be installed,” Calum said.
“It looked horrendous. Even the Tesco delivery man had tripped over making his delivery. It’s heartbreaking to see that another company has seen this as an opportunity to take advantage of a vulnerable old lady. These so-called tradesmen give the industry a bad name.
“We asked our usual suppliers if they would donate their time and materials towards a good cause, and with no hesitation, they all agreed. Hopefully it brings some awareness to what these cowboys are prepared to do.”