AN ELDERLY couple from Pembrokeshire have been left with an unfinished roof and a staggering £15,500 out of pocket by an alleged ‘rogue’ trader.
Mr and Mrs Black from Maenclochog, had hired, who they believed to be a specialist and reputable roofing company, to repair a leak in the flat roof on their two-bedroom bungalow.
Seventy-nine-year-old Mr Black told us how he had leaks in his lounge, which he suspected was caused by the flat roof on his property.
He told us how he scouted around and decided to contact TAV Roofing, who appeared to have bases in both Narberth and Swansea.
A quick investigation by this newspaper has revealed that although TAV Roofing do advertise they work out of the Narberth area; they operate out of a base solely from an address in Swansea.
Owner of TAV Roofing, Mr Jim Janes came out to provide an estimate and quoted the couple £4,300 to replace the flat roof.
Mr Black agreed to the quote and gave an upfront payment of £1,000 to Mr Janes for materials.
Mr Black told this newspaper that they started work on the flat roof on July 9 and everything was going well, and the company was turning up and appearing to work hard to complete the job.
However shortly after work commenced, it seemed that Mr Janes believed that the problem was not the flat roof and that the main roof would need to be replaced also – to the total cost of £17,900.
Mr Black said: “We had a leak, he started working on the flat roof, then he was ripping other bits out of the main roof.
“We felt trapped as he had already started the work. We went away for the weekend on July 16 and were told while we were away the job would be completed.
“When we arrived home on the Tuesday, the roof was still unfinished and there was no sign of any roofers and all materials and tools had been removed from the property.”
Mr Black was paying in instalments, however when work suddenly came to a halt he had already handed over a staggering £15,500 – but the couple have been left in limbo.
The original leaks are still apparent on the property and they have been left with around 300 tiles still missing on the main property roof.
After many failed attempts to establish contact with the owner of TAV Roofing, by both Mr and Mrs Black and family members, the Blacks contacted trading standards.
We contacted Pembrokeshire County Council for a statement, a spokesperson said: “Pembrokeshire County Council has been contacted in relation to the company in question.
“Members of our Trading Standards Team are making further enquiries.”
Mr Jim Janes, owner of TAV Roofing, was contacted by this newspaper for a statement.
Mr Janes appeared to have no knowledge of the property in question at first, however shortly after acknowledged he had been working on the roof.
When asked why he had not corresponded with Mr Black as to why he had not completed the roof, Mr Janes said: “I have not been dodging his calls, I have answered this one haven’t I?
“I have emails from Mr Black and ones of me saying I will be returning to the property on August 26 to finish the job.
“I have screenshots I can send you.”
He later told us that he had received no calls or emails from the couple.
When asked why the property had been left unfinished, he said: “I had to pull out because it was taking too long and I have other jobs to do.”
When asked if he thought it was acceptable to have left the property with an unfinished roof for almost a month, Mr Janes said: “It’s just a couple of tiles left to do and it is done.”
Mr Black also told us that the company contracted by TAV Roofing to erect the scaffolding on the property has since turned up to remove it.
They had been told by TAV Roofing that Mr Black had not paid his bill and that it needed to be removed.
Fortunately, Mr Black was able to provide evidence to show he had in fact paid and the scaffolding remains intact for the time being.
After more investigations by this newspaper, it appears that TAV roofing and AAA roofing operate out of the same address and using the same contact number.
A quick scan of their websites show they are registered traders on Checkatrade and Trustatrader, however neither of the two companies exist on a search on the trade checking websites.
Our reporter contacted Checkatrade who confirmed that TAV Roofing are not registered members of theirs and they are aware that they are illegally using their company logo on the website and this is something they are actively investigating.
However, when asked about AAA Roofing, a spokesperson for Checkatrade told us they currently have a membership, with the contact being Mr Jim Janes, but they are only authorised to use the logo for AAA Roofing and not TAV Roofing.
When asked by our reporter whether the company was TAV Roofing or AAA Roofing, Mr Janes replied: “I don’t know anything about them, i am not talking about that.”
Our reporter explained to Mr Janes how the company is the same address, same contact number and he is the contact registered for Checkatrade he replied: “Are you a lawyer, are you a copper, I don’t have to answer your questions.”
A search on Companies House, which is a government run website providing details for every registered company in the UK, does not respond with any results for TAV Roofing, AAA Roofing or a Mr Jim/James Janes.
Mr Black said: “The reason that we are pursuing this is because we do not want this to happen to anyone else.”
