I was interested and saddened to read the letter sent by a lady, regarding problems with a builder and her warning to people.

Unfortunately, our family also experienced serious problems with a joinery firm, we thought we could trust.

We would also like to warn you of a deceitful practice we experienced. Our eighty-two year old mother obtained a quotation for a solid wood kitchen.

She accepted the price and the kitchen was installed. After the work was completed, we saw that it was not in wood but chipboard and yet the price charged/quoted, was for a solid wood kitchen! When we reread the quotation, the joiner had not specified the material to be used, just stated “remove and replace old kitchen, AS DISCUSSED”.

As my husband was ill with a terminal cancer at the time, he blamed himself for not paying attention, as we should not have accepted the quotation as it was.

Of course, when challenged, the joiner denied that the agreement had been to install the kitchen in solid wood, despite witnesses to the conversation.

We obtained a chartered surveyor’s report, which stated that our mother had been overcharged by a minimum of £2,000.

Our mother was, understandably, very upset by the whole affair, the deceit, the lies he told and his refusal to return and rectify faults as he claimed he had “issues” with us (as we’d complained, no doubt!) in fact, this episode made our mother very ill.

So, please be careful.

Do not be too trusting, no matter how nice they seem.

Make sure your quotation is very detailed and specifies materials to be used, etc.

It should also state that there is a cooling off period, when you can cancel any agreement, our quotation did not specify this and we understand that omission of this is a criminal offence.

Do not pay the full amount unless you are completely satisfied with the work carried out. Don’t be as naive as we were.

Name and address withheld