Simon Build

Jan 11th, 2023

I dont even know where to begin in describing the trauma Simon Davison of Simon Build has put us through since we hired him back in 2017. We came to him with a budget of 30k. The project was to involve a variety of jobs involving - amongst other tasks - a new bathroom, new kitchen, new conservatory roof, roof verges and joinery throughout the house. He told us that the work would take around 6 weeks to complete. He suggested that he source the items and materials, which made sense to us at the time bearing in mind he could purchase them at trade prices. From the outset, he bemoaned a past customer who he said had massively aggrieved him and that it would take him years to recover, financially. I remember being appalled at what I was hearing and feeling really sorry for him. We now understand from speaking to other victims of Davison that this is a ploy used to extort hefty deposits from people - and it worked. We were trusting to a fault from day one. He would arrive late, leave early and disappear for hours at a time with very little, or nothing, to show for his absence when he came back. He fell asleep twice on the job. Himself and his son (who worked with him) would have loud, aggressive fights. He had a drink driving ban and was heavily reliant on his son transporting him (yet we did witness him driving contrary to his ban, twice). He was very particular about us having certain tiles and flooring for the bathroom, and afterwards we learnt that they were the same ones he had in his own bathroom at home (presumably left over). The shower he installed had terrible water pressure to the point where it was (and continues to be) unusable. He would bring items home to fit that were never run by us. They were budget range and most were on sale - certainly not reflective of the budget we had saved so hard for. The downstairs flooring he chose was (is) so incredibly cheap and was chipping away within weeks. His woodwork was appalling. We wanted an industrial style kitchen, and he installed a breakfast bar made out of reclaimed wood that quickly split. We asked for more kitchen storage and we now have less than before. He made a wooden glasses holder that looks like it has been made by a school child in Core Tech and a cupboard in the downstairs toilet thats made entirely out of chipboard. When he installed the roof verges, he did so with glue instead of fixing them in properly, and they fell off (I would hear them at night blowing off in the winds, praying that they wouldnt damage any cars). After 5 months, we told him to leave. Even by then, jobs were incomplete and others were never even started, including the conservatory roof. It is completely abhorrent that these jobs that we have already paid for, we will have to pay for once again. To this date, we have spent over 5,500 in legal fees fighting for justice against Davison. Before then, we had spent 25,500 on him - on works that a reputable Chartered Surveyor confirmed the majority of which need to be ripped out and begun again. The defence Davison made was a nonsensical barrage of lies, including the fabrication that my husband ran over his tools! He claims to be unable to pay us back whilst at the same time posting pictures of himself on social media out at sea in the sun, bare-chested with medallion chains clutching a super-size bottle of champagne. The audacity of this thief beggars belief. I've now been in communication with a number of families who have fallen victim to Davison, many of whom wished to take him to court but couldnt. Broadly speaking, its unbelievable how many people have cowboy horror stories of their own. It is atrocious that myself and my husband are in this position today. We did not deserve this. We are testament to the fact that consumers are not sufficiently protected against predatory builders. For this reason, we will be taking our story higher and campaigning that consumer rights are better upheld for those putting their trust, and savings, into tradesmen. Lets put a stop to this conman, and his kind.
Mar 25th, 2020

Omg Jenny Slack. I too had a bad experience with this man. Work left unfinished etc. Despite many attempts for him to come and complete I was ignored and had to just write it off as a bad job. Hope you get it sorted with a reputable builder. Feel your pain x
Jun 22nd, 2019