Porter Davis couple issue warning over unlicensed tradie they claim owes them $15k

Sandy and Peter Jahnke thought they had dodged a very expensive and painful bullet when their knockdown and rebuild job was completed just weeks before major Victorian builder Porter Davis went bust.

The Melbourne couple were glad that the majority of their new home was finished, leaving them largely unscathed from the company’s collapse, with just a deck and pergola still to be built.

It was here they shopped around and received a recommendation for a builder. Enter Tom Jankovic, the director of Big Tom Construction.

The couple was receiving separate quotes for the pergola and the deck but thought it would be simpler to have the same tradesman working on both, which Mr Jankovic promised he could do.

But after paying him $27,000 in progress payments, and with a half-completed deck, the tradie hit them with a litany of excuses about why the job was delayed, including that the supplier had stuffed up orders, that he was sick, that his whole family was sick, that his wife was sick, that his apprentice was sick and that it was raining – even when it wasn’t.

“It all started unravelling when he didn’t turn up,” Ms Jahnke told news.com.au.

“He hasn’t answered anything back, not since we asked him for a bank cheque.”

Growing “suspicious”, they later learned he was not a licenced builder and demanded a refund calculated on the work that had yet to be completed but which had been paid for, which they estimated to be around $15,000.

But since early June, Mr and Ms Jahnke have not had any responses from their messages, despite first contracting the builder in March this year.

Mr Jankovic declined to comment when contacted by news.com.au.

“The whole job including the pergola was going to be $37,000,” Ms Jahnke explained.

“He wanted a 50 per cent deposit upfront.”

They used money from their superannuation to make the payments.

At first, the couple thought things were going well; Mr Jankovic showed up with two other tradesmen and they got to work on the deck.

“He seemed like a good guy, like a decent guy,” Ms Jahnke said.

It was at this point he asked for an additional $9000 as a progress payment for materials.

But pretty soon, he didn’t show up on days when he said he would.

Have a similar story? Get in touch | alex.turner-cohen@news.com.au

In a series of text message exchanges shared with news.com.au, Mr Jankovic once claimed to his customers that his whole family had come down with gastro.

He also said one of his apprentices had tried to die by suicide.

“Hi, are we going to see you this week? I thought you might be finished by the end of the month,” Ms Jahnke texted him in April.

“Yes thanks,” he replied vaguely.

On at least two occasions he also shared screenshots of the Bureau of Meteorology’s forecast about rain, as a reason for why he was not coming to their house that day.

“Good morning I will be there as soon as the rain breaks,” he messaged her in May.

Growing frustrated, she messaged back “not raining here”.

He also claimed that there was a Merbau shortage and that his order was being held up at customs.

When he eventually deposited some materials at their site, the couple took note of the barcode on the piece of wood and checked, where the supplier informed them they were not aware of a shortage.

With red flags mounting, Mr and Ms Jahnke decided to check his building licence.

They discovered Mr Jankovic was not registered under the Victorian Building Authority.

They demanded a refund be issued for the work that was not yet complete.

No refund has been forthcoming.

“I spoke to police. They said it’s a civil case,” Ms Jahnke said.

More Coverage

Mr and Ms Jahnke have since engaged the Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria and they plan to go to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal next.

They have signed a contract with a new builder to complete the deck and pergola.

alex.turner-cohen@news.com.au

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ7xaKlmqaTmnyjwdKipZ6ro2S8tbTEq2SippSqwLW%2ByJ6qaKWVoa%2BwwdGnnGabn6q9rbGMoqqsrZVixKK%2BzaKloGWRm8GmvoyhoKuhnpx6tb7AnaCeZaSkeqPByKWbZqiVp7SwuMBmmKecXZmypLeOp5ywq12owbC%2B2Ghpa2%2BWbn2mgY9qa5pukmaBc32Qm3CcaWdrsaeDkHJvaQ%3D%3D