A Warning About Lincoln McLean

Lincoln McLean of 20 Vauxhall Crescent, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 1EY and 40 Napier Road Gillingham, Kent ME7 4HD trades under the following business names:

Lincoln McLean (Interiors)
Lincoln McLean (Distributors)
Lincoln McLean Kitchens
Lincoln McLean Bathrooms

Lincoln McLean is bankrupt and judging by the below posts has deceived many of his customers out of tens of thousands of pounds.

Lincoln McLean currently has 14 County Court Judgments against him totalling £35,000.

Lincoln Mclean - Individual Insolvency Register

Best to start here I suppose as taking him to court is not an option. If he has any money he's got it all nicely hidden and the houses are not in his name.

Report Requested For : LINCOLN EVERTON MCLEAN

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/eiir/IIRCaseIndivDetail.asp?CaseId=23016175&IndivNo=1&Court=CANT&OfficeID=262&CaseType=B

Post date changed to keep it at top of blog

More News

http://www.yourcanterbury.co.uk/kent-news/Rogue-trader-jailed-after-%C2%A330,000-con--newsinkent15353.aspx?news=local

http://thatshousehold.blogspot.com/2008/08/consumers-advised-on-how-to-avoid-being.html

Time off for good behavior

Well, Well there we have it Mr Mclean gets 24 months of prison and all his victims get nothing ... and thats Justice?

"McLean was sentenced on 01 August, 2008 in Canterbury Crown Court and received a total of two years imprisonment on 5 counts contrary to s360((1)(a) and Sched 10 Insolvency Act 1986 (12 months on counts 1, 3 and 4 and 12 months consecutive on counts 6 and 7, as listed on the indictment.* This case refers to money taken from five customers, for a total of £29,630."

So if he keeps his nose clean inside he'll serve about 8 months as most only serve about a third of their sentence. So he should be out around March 2009.

James Scott said...

Posted to main page from comments....

Mclean has just been jailed for 2 years for bankruptcy offences. If any victims of this man would be happy to speak to me and tell me their story, I'd really appreciate it.

James.scott@krnmedia.co.uk

Bankrupt tradesman who ripped off customers jailed

Appears that Mr Lincoln McLean has finally been Jailed. It remains to be seen how long he actually serves in prison. Also interesting to note the impotency of the system to recover any monies owed to the people that he ripped off.

http://www.cnplus.co.uk/News/2008/08/bankrupt_tradesman_who_ripped_off_customers_jailed.html

http://www.netnewspublisher.com/kent-kitchen-fitter-lincoln-mclean-jailed-for-failure-to-finish/

http://www.creditman.biz/uk/members/news-view.asp?newsviewID=8841

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2008/08/sorted-kitchen-conman-lincoln.html

Email recieved from Anon, Kent

Email recieved from Anon - Kent, and posted here in the hope that it will benifit others.....

Dear Mr RippedOff

Oh my gosh - I am flabbergasted at the vast amount of response regarding Lincoln McLean! Thank goodness I decided to do another search on Lincoln McLean today (just out of sheer curiousity) to see if there was any latest news on him.

I, too, am one of his victims! I would be grateful if you could add my following comments to your blog - the more we have on the internet about this man the better. If only I had found comments like this online when I initially searched on his name, I would never have parted with any money.

I first came into contact with this lying cheat in April 2007, when he was put in touch with me via Kitchensforsale website. I told them I was moving to Kent and wanted a local kitchen fitter etc. Anyway, before I agreed to anything with Lincoln, I searched the internet to see if there was any bad feedback on the guy - but there was nothing at all, just a couple of ads in some directories. So I thought, ok, that's a good sign! NOT!!!

From the moment I moved into the property in July 07, those first few weeks were such a whirlwind of events that almost brought me close to a nervous breakdown. I was already recovering from battling cancer for 2 years so having to go through such an awful experience with that horrible man was almost too much to bear.

He conned me out of £10,500 over a 2 week period and I received very little to show for my money. There were so many arguments between him and my brother (my brother sussed early on that something wasn't right with this guy but I am too trusting, unfortunately, so it took at least a week before I realised my brother was right).

Lincoln can be quite aggressive and overpowering and I felt so intimidated by him and was reduced to tears on many occasions. He bullied me, literally, into keep handing over more and more money - obviously, my main concern was that having handed over £5,000 deposit, if I pulled out of the agreement I would probably lose it all. He wears you down with his fast-talking, piles of excuses and reasons why he needs "more money". And when you start to stand up to him that's when he turns nasty.

He lies profusely - everything he told me from start to finish was based on lies. The whole lot. I paid for a kitchen I didn't receive (I received parts of another kitchen from a different company), I paid for top quality flooring which I didn't receive (B&Q value laminate turned up which I sent back!!), I paid for labouring work that was never done and some of the work that did get done has since had to be re-done because it was shoddy and unsafe (electrics being one of the things), the couple of young lads he brought in to do some decorating work on my lounge (this was an "extra" job that he had agreed to do "for free") were complete cowboys and damaged the walls so badly that I had to have the walls re-plastered. I paid him for a range cooker twice and still didn't receive it so I've since had to buy it myself. The list goes on and on. I have since had to re-mortgage my property in order to have all the work completed - so in reality I have paid for the job and most materials twice over.

Basically, there are so many things I could tell you about my experience with Lincoln McLean - but it literally runs into pages. (My witness statement to the DTI for the court case ran into 25 pages!!)

As soon as I pulled him off the job, I went all out to try to get this man stopped. I contacted Kitchensforsale - explained everything to them but they were not willing to accept liability for anything but agreed to remove his details from their website and would not be recommending him to further clients.

I then contacted the DTI and gave them a statement of what happened. They already knew of him from his previous wrongdoings.

I found out from Companies House that he was a long-term bankrupt (evidence that he had been involved in bad business dealings in the past).

I reported him for using a fake VAT number and for using letterheaded paper with his old company name on and for failing to notify me of his bankruptcy before taking on any work.

I contacted the companies that he had used to supply certain goods to me and let them know that he was a rogue trader and that if they valued their reputation they would have nothing more to do with him. The kitchen company in Dover that he used were very shocked by Lincoln's bad practices and after investigating it for themselves said they didn't want to do business with him again. They said they would contact other kitchen companies in Kent to warn them about Lincoln and to avoid taking any orders from him.

I contacted Watchdog and Rogue Traders - Watchdog contacted me recently as they were going to cover this story in the new series - but the investigator on the court case told me I was not legally able to give out information as Lincoln had not been to court at that time.

I contacted some of the companies from the brochures that Lincoln used to lure me into hiring him.

I also contacted the local police one time when Lincoln was threatening to come to my house - he was annoyed because Kitchensforsale had removed him from their website and he said I had caused him to "lose business"! Well GOOD! He shouldn't be doing business in the first place.

Then the DTI contacted me to say they were taking him to court and wanted my statement. I have recently heard that he pleaded GUILTY to all charges and is awaiting sentence. Of course, pleading guilty means he will get a lesser sentence.

I just hope that the Judge gives us some justice for all the stress and financial loss that we have all suffered. This man needs to be punished not just given another telling off and allowed to continue trading falsely again (which is what he will, do doubt, do). There should be much stronger laws in force regarding these rogue traders.

To all those people who were conned by this man - you have my fullest sympathy as a fellow victim. I know the hell you have been through as I have been there too. I have been hoping and waiting for the day when I would find other victims of Lincoln Mclean to see if they went through similar things as myself. I knew you were out there somewhere! We are not stupid people for falling for his lies - he is just an accomplished liar able to fool just about anyone. I don't know if we shall ever get over the ordeal we've been through but we all must try to move on with our lives and put this all down to a bad experience - and learn from it.

As for Lincoln "the Liar" McLean - I don't think he will ever learn his lesson. Do you? My best wishes to you all.

Lincoln Excuses from Abdul

Abdul said...
he is very clever in the way he tries to get you to pay up front even though that wasnt the agreement.......even though im out of pocket I guess I should be greatful I didnt pay all of it.
Here are some great Lincon Excuses, I should have noted them all down:

1. Clayton's (his fitter) van has been stolen so he cant come to site and hence lincon has to cancel deliveries
2. Clayton's tools have been stolen which also means lincon has to cancel deliveries
3.fitters Car has conveniently gone in for MOT on the day he is supposed to come (even though the catr had been previously stolen)
4.This is a great one....Lincon is on his way to site with some of the deliveries....apparently he spent 4-5 hours driving (even though kent is just over an hour away) and when he is nearby he is stuck in major traffic.. phones me to say much there is too much traffic so he has to turn back.
5. He has been stopped by police for talking on the phone while driving so he cant make delivery
6. He has spent the whole day at the police station giving a statement so he cant arrange any deliveries
7. Delivery of doors and panels are delayed as they havnt been dispatched from Italy. It turned out the company he was using was near manchester (http://www.tkcomponents.co.uk/kitchencollection.php)
would be good to get other excuses people have heard
18 April 2008 15:45

Copied from comments clicking the title will take you to the origional comments.....

Well has anyone got any other excuses to add to the list?

Kitchensforsale.com link dead

It appears on my initial checks that Lincoln Mclean is no more at

http://www.kitchensforsale.com/London/Lincoln_McLean_Interiors_4576.asp

The link is dead and I cant find him in any searches on their website.

Another one bites the dust ... the screws are tightening.

Funny Comment

This comment was left by someone (I wonder who) and was signed with the intention of making it look like I posted it ... Well I diddnt. Anyway I repost it here because its quite funny.

..................................................................................
Anonymous said...
Hi you have been looking at my blogs before and I have to say that I am sorry for posting these.I am in a court battle with Lincoln McLean and don't wish to go on any more so I am stopping this campain with Lincoln.He has got a privert investigater on the case and I can't go on with this any more.I was not ripped off by this guy and I was am sorry for the trouble I have coured to Mr Lincoln McLean.Posted by Mr ripp edoff at 05:47
11 April 2008 13:59
.................................................................................

And here's my reply

Mr Ripp Edoff said...
Hmmm .. interesting comment left by Anonymous and signed by me. As you can tell It wasn't posted by me otherwise "mr rippedoff said" would be at the top. Now I wonder who would leave a comment like that
11 April 2008 17:46


Clicking the title above will take you to the origional comments

Comment from Abdul

Abdul said...
The guy is a complete waste of space....has left me with undelivered goods plus unfitted kitchens......I had to offer him more money in order to get deliveries...its the only language he understands.....i think he must have a book of excuses as I've heard the most rediculous excuses and they all seemed to happen when he sets a date to deliver or do work.....
10 April 2008 13:24


Clicking the Title above will take you to the origional comment.

Tax Evasion

If you have been ripped off by Lincoln McLean (or anyone else) you can guarantee that the correct Tax and Vat has not been paid.

Report them here https://www.taxevasionhotline.co.uk/

Anonymous comment

Copied from the comments on this blog
..................
Anonymous said...
Guys,I have been taken for a mug, Paid £6500 deposit for my kitchen. bank intervened when making the final payment. Let join forces and make the man pay for it. About time we take action
.................

Here is the link to the website Anonymouse has put up

http://www.freewebs.com/lincolnmclean

Comment from SC

Lincoln Mclean took £ 15,275 from mein August last year, he failed to deliver most of it supplying a microwave that had its doory the wrong way round and a steam oven. I have checked his vat number it is a fake this guy is a fraud and should not be allowed to do any business ever again. sc
18 March 2008 18:03

Clicking the heading will take you to this persons origional comment

BRU - Bankruptcy Retrictions Undertaking

BRU - Bankruptcy Retrictions Undertaking

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/pdfs/guidanceleafletspdf/bro.pdf

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/freedomofinformation/technical/BROBRU.HTM

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/freedomofinformation/technical/casehelpmanual/S/SecondAndSubsequentBankruptcies.htm

Comment on WeddingGuideUk

Comment on WeddingGuideuk

http://www.weddingguideuk.com/forums/house/display.asp?method=reply&id=29001

New comment on Ideal Home Magazine

Comment made on Ideal Home Magazine forum.

Cached Lincoln McLean comments now gone

The cached comments link on Google, to the origional website is now gone. I thought this would probably happen which is why I copied all the comments to here.

I am currently working to get this blog listed on Google searches for Lincoln McLean, but its a slow process it seems.

Actually Ive just noticed that the comment made on Money Saving Expert seems to have had better success.

Comment on Money Saving Expert Forums

Link to a comment on money Saving Expert Forums.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=9005463#post9005463

Fixerupper in East Dulwich: Final Update - the demise of Lincoln McLean...

Found this blog while searching, which has some interesting info in.

Fixerupper in East Dulwich: Final Update - the demise of Lincoln McLean...

A B (Medway) on December 3, 2007

Comment copied from upmystreet link on right

Do not even let Lincoln McClean through your door. He is a thief and a conman. We have paid him £8,250 over a month ago and are still waiting for door, drawers, a double oven, sink... the list goes on. When he does actually return phone calls, it is full of broken promises on deliveries. The fitter has now walked out, as so many things are missing, he is unable to continue.This man should not be trading and we are going to do everything possible to stop him.

2008-02-01 14:12:01.532 From Anon

After this man has caused my family a lot of heartache, stress and upheaval I am wanting to take this to Watchdog \ Rogue Traders. If we could all fill out the form at the 'Report to Watchdog' link above we may at least get it out to the nation not to deal with this horrid man.

2008-01-28 22:31:46.116 From NP

Lincoln Mclean is coming to my flat tomorrow afternoon to pick up money as a deposit for my proposed kitchen. I am alarmed at the comments made by potential and existing customers of this man. I'm not quite sure what to do and I would really appreciate people to email me urgently to help me decide what to do...UPDATE: 29th Jan 2008, 11:38 PM.I am SO relieved to have come across this website! I had arranged for LM to pick up a large sum of money as a deposit for my kitchen and had 2 emails sent to me advising me against this guy within 12 hours of posting my comments. I have spoken to the man and told him what I have learnt through investigation of his trading and told him in no uncertain terms what I thought of him and his methods of practice. He will not get a penny from me and I want the public to know his fraudulant history. Of course he tried to explain and deny some of your comments/cases but I won't be using him. I reminded him that he was doing wrong and I would have no hesitation of contacting the Police if he arrived to my home. I feel very sorry for those of you who have dealt with this man. How can he sleep? If anyone needs to contact him or know his whereabouts I have all his details..

2008-01-23 15:30:46.484 From A G

The day Lincoln Mclean wormed his way into our home promising us a wonderful new fitted kitchen is the day we have lived to regret, over and over again. We trusted him, paid our money and have never been let down and treated so badly in all our lives. Work started on 27th November and we are now paying our own fitter to complete and correct all the mistakes of the unskilled labour he hires. It was only due to my husband's DIY skills that we had a sink for Christmas.We waited almost three weeks for all the kitchen parts and appliances to be delivered in stages, which greatly held up the first fitter. There were always lies and false promises of when things would be delivered. But the scariest thing is that he is using unskilled labour who havn't a clue about electrics (certainly not Part P certified has promised). In addition, four worktops in all had to be ordered, two were completely ruined with atrocious workmanship and one was wrong. The first fitter walked out on the job, partly with all the hassle of outstanding items and partly because he wasn't up to the job. Eventually two more fitters were sent after numerous phone calls to LM and days waiting in when we thought a fitter was coming. Two Polish fitters were sent who were supposed to rectify the mistakes of the first fitter and finish the kitchen off. We thought they were OK at first even though they only worked maximum of 6 hours a day, but they didn't have the right tools for the job and could not even level the units correctly, therefore when the worktop was fitted it went 'downhill' 10cm! LM took them off the job but we felt sorry for the next customer as we knew that they were starting another job in Maidenhead the next day.LM has now said he cannot afford to put any more money into our job and has left us to replace the worktops (although the laminate company in Aylesford have refused to trade with him again after hearing our story and reading this website) so one small result. Due to the unprofessional way in which he runs his business, taking money from one customer to pay for outstanding items for another customer and using unreliable workers who have no respect for him or the customer doing business with LM is a nightmare from beginning to end. Like other customers on this site I sought legal advice and sent a letter to him informing that we would be taking him to court but then found his name on the insolvency register which will not be removed until April 2009 so no point spending time and money as justice will not be done. It is a disgrace that LM is still trading, ripping trusting customers off and putting them through weeks and months of anguish and turmoil only to find that extensive funds are needed to put all the bad workmanship right.

2008-01-21 14:14:17.837 From C

After starting my own personal vendetta agains this horrible man back in September, I am very happy to have stumbled across this site which appears to have been successful in detering potential clients of Lincoln's. I have just posted an update on my site which is linked in the "Mentioned in this Blog" section (it was too long to post here). The court case is soon apparently and I will post again when I know the outcome.

2008-01-17 22:23:40.19 From Anon

This man is a fraud and has already been to court, unfortunatly he is bankrupt and we are also unable to sue him for the large amount of money he owes us. It is extremely difficult to contact this man, who says one thing and then disappears for long periods of time and is often out of contact. It has taken a LONG time to finish the work this man has done for us - much of which has come out of our own pocket as extra. He has managed to dupe many people and should not be trusted under ANY circumstances - it is often much easier and less stressful to go directly to the supplier and order from them. Many mistakes were made on his part and he does not deserve to be allowed to continue trading, unfortunately, due to the already overcrowded prisons in England, thieves fraudsters and rougues such as Lincoln McLean are not locked up or punished as they ought to be.

2008-01-12 20:27:25.71 From D

Thanks for the info guys, I thought that he was suspicious right from the start because he didnt bother to ask us about what fittings and stuff we wanted. All he cared about was the money which was not subtle at all. We have convinced him that we will be paying him by cash but theres no way thats actually going to happen. I only wish there was someway i could have alerted the authorities to his whereabouts so he can be arrested for all his fraud.DO NOT BUY FROM THIS GUY!

2007-11-30 19:59:31.249 From NC - Managing Director of Redd Chilli Ltd

We would like to point out that Lincoln McLean is using Redd Chilli ltd's brochures and directing people to our website in order to promote us as his installer. In addition to this we have been informed by 3 of Lincoln McLean's customers that Redd Chilli Ltd are either the suppliers or installers of the kitchens, of whom who have called us to confirm the installation date or the supply of goods. I would like to point out that Redd Chilli Ltd has never dealt directly with Lincoln McLean and nor will it at any point in the future, and the literature that he is using were stolen from our company van.We have been working on a major refurbishment in Chelsea, whereas our client in good faith used Lincoln to supply the kitchen. The kitchen was paid for in full back in August and even now not all of the items have been received. Our client has lost over £20,000 and in addition to this has had to pay the suppliers directly. We can only apologise to any potential buyers for any confusion that may have been had and re-iterate that Redd Chilli Ltd has no business or personal connections with Lincoln McLean. Should you will to ask any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us. Needless to say we will be issueing legal proceedings.

2007-11-30 19:56:28.081 From H & TL

got so close to giving this man £5000 by chap transfer, only some weird gut instinct made me get my husband to check again on internet and saw what you had written, how lucky were we and thank you very much!! would love to talk and maybe stop this man even getting him put away in the hope no one else is stitch up by him. lets face it we all work hard for our money unlike him by the sound of it!

2007-11-26 12:49:55.035 From H

I have just paid this man half of the amount quoted for our kitchen and the work was supposed to start today and hasn't any advice as to how i can get my money back, reading this today is really scary but scarier still is that it may be too late!

2007-11-19 19:58:25.776 From IC

Lincol Mclean dissapeared with £4ooo of our money two years ago after selling us a high street named kitchen and had a third party manufacture it. We also had to pay the suppliers and fitters direct to complete our kitchen. I would be very grateful for any contact details for him.

2007-11-16 09:30:48.997 From J

Thanks alot i was going to meet lincoln tommorrow to pay 6000 deposit for my kitchen that isnt going to happen now

2007-11-05 16:41:36.95 From R

This is a cool idea, if every person that got ripped off did this there would be a lot less of it about. It appears to have saved me a BIG headache. thanks.Richard.

2007-11-01 19:06:24.888 From JL

Glad I stumbled across this. I had already phone this guy for a quote (left a voicemail), guess I won't be getting back to him now.

From Another C :) 2007-10-23 12:11:08.936

I used Lincoln Mclean to supply and fit my kitchen this summer. I had to sack him half way through because he was using unskilled labour who dangerously wired up the kitchen and damaged many cabinet panels. Lincoln Mclean took money for kitchen appliances that he then refused to supply. I have had to have all the fitting, plumbing and electric work redone by other contractors plus having to rebuy equipment and damaged panels. Lincoln Mclean has cost me an additional £5,000 on top of the money he had already taken. Do not use this man - he is a thief and a liar. The kitchen he supplied was not from the manufacturer he marketed - he does not represent any of the kitchens shown on his web site - he went to a cheaper manufacturer in the north of England as this was the only company who didn't know about his bad credit record.

2007-09-21 15:02:11.101 From CS.

Do not use this kitchen supplier. We paid Lincoln McLean in good faith and he failed to supply our kitchen. He left us without a kitchen for 6 months when eventually we had to buy it (again) direct from the factory. He owes us over 9k. Lincoln McLean currently has 14 CCJs totaling over 35k against his name. We are unable to sue as he has no assets to speak of although we know that he is still trading

Link to cached comments of removed Webpage about Lincoln Mclean

It appears that Lincoln Mclean has managed to "persuade" the persons involved in the website to remove it, as it is no longer available.

Here is the link to the cached comments page of the website.

http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:BPvRejWyXcIJ:www.lincolnmclean.weballistics.com/comments.html+lincoln+mclean&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=uk


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Updated 1st March 08 - The cached comments link above is now gone. I thought this would probably happen which is why I copied all the comments to here.