ok, to cut a long story short.
My neighbour is a locksmith. He says he wants a bulkhead between the seats in his Kangoo van, and the back, so that his work gear is safe from theft. Being a sheet metal worker, he asks me to sort it, so I take measurements of the inside of his van.
He says he wants 5mm thick stainless steel! I advise him that this is waaay too thick, and total overkill, so he says 3mm thick, and I advise him that mild steel would be cheaper, and easier to work with than Stainless steel. He agrees and tells me to get on it.
I shop around for the metal, trying tog et it as cheaply as possible, 'cause it's a fair size of sheet. all the time, he bugs me with the odd text message along the lines of "you sorted my metal yet? keep up sparky!haha" so, after a week or two, I manage to source some 3mm mild steel, and order it. It gets delivered to my house, and I begin to cut it to shape. It costs me £157, delivered.
He then comes along and says, wooaahh, that's too thick, and tells me to hang fire, because he's thinking about getting a larger van, and I can fit the metal to the inside of his next van, so, I hold off.
He tells me he's been going to van auctions to get a bigger van, and fobs me off with this a couple of times. So, I asked him the other day to make space in his garage for the metal as I need the room in my garage, and he continues to say that the metal is too thick for him, and now it turns out, he's not getting a bigger van....
So, I'm £157 out of pocket, and have two large sheets of 3mm mild steel in my garage, and an idiot for a neighbour who is trying to worm his way out of paying for it, even though he ordered it.
What are my options? Is it worth going through the small claims courrt, or at least threatening him with it? Worth seeking advice from the CAB (although I hear they are a waste of space) I've talked to the company who I got it off, and they don't do returns (Can't blame them, i've chopped it in two) and was going to try get a prce from a scrap yard, then ask him to cough up the rest if they take it for a decent price. (he might not)
I'm not really bothered about upsetting my neighbour, as he's a bit of a twat, but I'm out of pocket, and quite annoyed by this, so suggestions of trashing his van are welcome.
Cheers for any advice.
