A pair of tradies were filmed destroying a client’s driveway after he allegedly refused to pay for their services.
Damian Hallett, 37, and business partner Jamie Sommerville, 39, of Clare Concreting were seen arguing with a customer in Clare, a small town about 140km north of Adelaide.
Three videos of the incident show Mr Hallett and Mr Sommerville using their bulldozer and power tools to destroy the driveway.
Police were called to the scene because the customer begged the pair to stop pulling up the concrete.
Damian Hallett (right) and business partner Jamie Sommerville vandalized a client’s driveway
The tradies claim the customer refused to pay the full amount due (photo: Mr Hallett bulldozing the driveway)
“I’ll rip the whole thing out,” Mr. Hallett told him.
“It won’t help anyone,” the homeowner replied.
Mr Hallet replied: ‘It won’t help me if I leave it here.’
The two tradies claim the customer owed them $13,500 but only paid $10,000 and refused to pay the difference.
“I don’t care, I’ll pull this out. At the end of the day, you owe me $3,500. I’m taking this out, you had your chance,” Mr. Hallett told the owner.
The customer continued to argue, so Mr Hallett told him: ‘You said you’re not going to pay me the money. If you’re going to pay me the money, I’ll stop, if not, I’ll start bulldozing now.”
Another video showed a police officer asking Mr Hallet to stop bulldozing and “be reasonable”.
“I have reports that a day ago you said you would pay,” Mr. Hallet told the client.
The officer interrupted, “Now we can go over here and talk about it.”
Mr Hallett told him: ‘You can go talk to him, I’m done talking to him. Why do I have to talk to him?’
Damian Hallett and Jamie Sommerville are pictured
A third video showed the police officer ultimately siding with the tradies and telling the customer they had to pay.
The clip started with the homeowner pleading with Mr Hallett to stop destroying the couple’s handiwork.
“Please, please, can I talk to you for a moment?” he asked.
“Get the fuck away from my Bobcat, I’m digging the driveway,” Mr. Hallett told him.
‘I tried to negotiate with you. If you’re going to pay the money, talk to me, if not, fuck off. I do not mind. I’ve never done this before in my life.’
The police officer then understood the source of the argument and wondered how much the homeowner owed the tradie.
When Mr. Hallett told him, the agent told the customer, “Then you have to pay him $3,500.”
Mr Hallett later said he and Mr Sommerville “do not condone” harsh interactions with customers, but that they were pushed to the limit.
Mr Hallett later said the customer paid the full cost of the ramp after an SA Police officer (pictured) arrived
“The main reason this happened was because he openly told us he had no intention of paying,” he said news.com.au.
‘There were no quality problems. He said there was a discrepancy in the invoices and he wasn’t sure which invoice was due and when.’
He added that the pair are “hardworking Aussies” and thanked the police officer, saying he was “excellent”.
“I couldn’t believe it myself,” Mr Hallett said.
In a follow-up post on Instagram, Mr Hallett wrote: ‘In relation to this we were paid in full on the day. Thanks to the involvement of the South Australian Police.”