Hi all,
Many thanks for taking the time to respond. After a bit of amateur sleuthing yesterday, (Facebook, voter register and RIP.ie are wonderful resources!) I can confirm the death of the family member, so that much was real (I had my doubts myself). I have an address for the small claims court if he does not return my deposit.
In relation to the initial contact, I don't actually recall how I came across him, but he was one of four quotes I got and he was about average on price. I liked his design style before I gave him the job, we had maybe 8 conversations about the job and he visited the house 3 times to discuss finishes and take measurements etc. There was constant communication, he send me images etc on WhatsApp to illustrate what he was recommending, he made suggested changes to what I wanted and all in all I was happy to proceed.
He is not a registered gas installer, (wasn't doing anything with the gas just moving a radiator) so no luck with the sites mentioned above.
I called him 6 times yesterday and he didn't get back to me (no option to leave a voicemail), however last night about 8pm I got a text, sorry but he had to spend time at home and he would be over today to "finish the job". I asked what time and got no response. No mention of the inconvenience or the heating disaster, didn't ask if I could be at home to accommodate. Needless to say I am sitting at home in the cold and no sign of him. I have called him 4 times this morning and sent 2 text messages and no response.
As to whether or not I want him back! In truth no I don't, I don't have endless amounts of days to take off work and sit around hoping someone is going to turn up. He hasn't done very much work at this point but I have no complaints about the quality of what he has done. My concern however is twofold 1)will another person take over the work given that it is already started and 2) having to go through the quotes and scheduling of the work all over again and living with it in this condition until I find someone else, how long will that take? Is it a case of better the devil you know??
I am calling around plumbers in the area and will get whoever I can to call and sort the problem with the heating, will try and get him to cover the cost but I'd say there is no hope, if I do fire him and get someone else to do the work, getting him to return my deposit will be hard enough without asking him to cough up extra. I will add it to the small claims bill if I go down that route.
I must say the comment about denying him access made me smile, I have been extending an invitation to attend for several days now and all but begging him to access my home but he so far has not taken me up on the offer
He doesn't have keys etc so no concerns there.
Thanks all, will post again when I have a resolution/update.