Update

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - The trail of tracing alleged errant Plettenberg Bay plumber Nick Cowie, from Prestige Plumbing, has gone international.

Cowie, according to a Facebook post, apparently now finds himself in Thailand.

Even though some of his clients referred to him as a "good plumber", Cowie allegedly left a trail of disgruntled clients along the Garden Route, after reportedly leaving work that he had been paid for in advance, uncompleted. Amounts ranging from R28 to R150 000 were allegedly paid.

Phuket, Thailand

A Facebook post by Kim Shanti, of Shanti Lodge in Phuket, asked that "this man", Nick Cowie, a South African, pay an outstanding bill of 10 000 Thai Baht (about R5 000).

Cowie apparently said he would pay as soon as his credit card was replaced, after it was swallowed by an ATM machine.

"He left his passport with the promise to pay his bill of 10 000bt that is still outstanding," claimed Shanti, who is originally from South Africa and has many friends in Plettenberg Bay.

She further claimed: "A few days later he asked to photograph the passport. He swopped it ... for an expired passport and has disappeared.

"Silly me … I did not check. Last seen in Chalong-Villa market (Phuket)."

A Google search for Prestige Plumbing revealed that the business is "temporarily closed".

According to a Google search, Prestige Plumbing is temporarily closed.

Shanti said she had approached the South African embassy in Thailand, which said they were unable to assist her.

"It even gets worse. Using my name as a reference, he hired a car from a business associate close to my lodge (for which he didn't pay) and left a passport as surety. It turned out to be the passport of his step-father who died last year," she claimed.

She said legal action against Cowie was being taken.

"I'm very upset," said Shanti during a WhatsApp call from Thailand. "I saw him in the supermarket and confronted him and told him it was a dumb thing to do. He became aggressive and said it was my fault and that I should have checked his passport," she claimed.

Kim Shanti's post from Phuket. 

Skywolff allegedly loses R150 000

Cowie seemed to have gone down the rabbit hole following an earlier allegation that he defrauded a George-based company of R150 000.

Cowie was contracted for plumbing work for a project in Tsitsikamma, run by Skywolff Energy from George. In November last year, Skywolff Energy accepted his quote and reportedly paid a deposit of R150 000 for him to start work as soon as possible.

And that is, according to the owner of Skywolff, Wilhelm Kuün, where the nightmare started.

"He had great reviews on Google and on his Facebook page and seemed to be the real deal. He seemed professional and trustworthy. Unfortunately this was not the case," claimed Kuün.

According to Kuün, it had never become apparent that Cowie didn't have any intention of doing the work, but he allegedly disappeared with the deposit. According to rumours and sources, Kuün was allegedly not the first person to have been "conned".

'Smooth talker'

"When we started enquiring as to when he will be starting work, he had excuses from the get-go," claimed Kuün. "From his foreman being in a car accident to a multitude of other excuses - I can tell you one thing, he is very creative. We contacted him numerous times until it became clear that he had absolutely no intention of doing the work, or giving us back our deposit."

Things between the two parties allegedly became ugly when Cowie reportedly refused to continue the work or pay Skywolff back.

When George Herald contacted Cowie on Friday 23 February, he said that the situation stemmed from a altercation between the two parties [him and Skywolff]. He did not elaborate much on the altercation. He did say that he couldn't start the project as soon as he initially wanted to, due to it being year-end, businesses closing down for December as well as the builders' holiday, and that he was planning on starting early in the new year.

Cowie said he did want to pay Skywolff back their deposit after things went sour, but firstly he had to get the money back from his suppliers.

Secondly he claimed that after what had transpired, Kuün became aggressive and allegedly threatened his life.

"If you speak to them, tell them I want to refund them, but I want assurance that my life won't be in danger," he said at the time.

Alleged threats

According to Cowie, Kuün allegedly told him that they were going to "put a hitman on him", stalked him and sent him photos of where he parked his bakkie.

George Herald requested screenshots of said threats, but while saying he would send them to us, the paper has had no further communication from Cowie, even though follow-up requests and media enquiries were sent to him via WhatsApp, failed phone calls and email.

'Disappearing act'

George Herald attempted to phone Cowie numerous times on 5 March, but the calls were seemingly rejected without even going to his voicemail.

"We don't normally run to the papers, but he left us no choice," claimed Kuün. "We have made a case with the police, but I doubt anything will come of that and to take legal action won't help as he basically owns nothing.

"His business isn't even registered as far as I know. I really just want to warn everyone out there doing business, not only with him, but to be vigilant when doing business dealings. People are desperate."

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