Hi, you can submit a request to debt collectors and they will charge him for the fee and your money ( I guess you can get like 80 percent back). Things will be hard for the guy because once his name appears on pursuit he cannot do anything including finding jobs, asking for rental ,etc . 

Hey Tracy,

sorry for what happened, and thanks for sharing. Did you have a written agreement with this guy? like a written contract for the services he's supposed to provide and an eventual deadline?

In case you do, and in case you have the "Protection Juridique" insurance, call them and check how to proceed. It's interesting to file a complaint against this guy.

Hi Tracy 

I am really sad to hear your news. As a carpenter active in Geneva it depresses me this behaviour still goes on in what is ultimately a small city. There are good suggestions above, I would add a couple of things :

i. Poursuite. Definitely worth putting in a poursuite in place as this is quickly done and relatively inexpensive. If he contests you need to show an agreement or description of the works and the payment but an email exchange is sufficient. Keep all records of course.

ii. Advice from your insurer. Often your protection juridique or RC insurance offers a free advice service. Worth checking and giving them a call, they might help with wording of formal letters.

It may not help now but I enclose a couple of steps I recommended in future to help weed our rogue traders :

1. Registre de commerce. Does the person or company appear in the commercial register? A properly registered firm is less likely to vanish like this guy. You can search both Geneva and Vaud registers for free on line (company or individual) and it can be done very quickly. I searched his surname and does not appear for Vaud or Geneva.

2. Professional association. Is the firm or individual a member of a professional association? The associations ensure their members adhere to proper standards as well as being registered and insured. They also will mediate if difficulties arise. The association for carpenters in Geneva is ACM Bois (link : http://www.acm-bois.ch/entreprises/ )

Hope this helps and good luck

Sam

Woodhouse Carpentry
Custom furniture making - fitted cabinets & bookcases - interior & exterior woodwork

Telephone 079 763 58 97

Workshop address: Route du Nant D'Avril 51, 1214 Vernier
Postal & Office address: Rue de Saint Jean 23, 1203 Genève

Examples of our work on our website: www.wood-house.ch

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That's right Tracy..... name 'em and shame 'em

Hopefully this will do some good in the long run

Thanks everyone for your good ideas and support! Unfortunately, we only had a verbal contract (silly me) and although I know the town where he lives, don't have an exact address, which makes taking next steps a bit of a challenge. However, the public shaming seems to be having an effect, as I finally received an email from him acknowledging (in writing, yay!) that he owes me the CHF 1000. Supposedly the sick sister in the UK passed away and he is there until the end of the month for the funeral etc. I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt but still a bit skeptical. Perhaps I am stronger than most but I managed to deal with my mother's long term care issues for years  and eventual funeral arrangements in the US single handely while still keeping up to speed on commitments and life here. I find it interesting that he could find time to repost an old picture of a Geneva sunset on his FB feed during this time but couldn't take a minute to contact me, especially when threatening his professional credibility.