Cowboys!!!

[Linda]

Just had a bad experience with plumbers in Stevenage!!

The guy came round and quoted us £100 to come in , turn off a gas line, drill a hole and connect 4 pipes! (had to get it done as it needed certifying)

We both heard him say £100, we quoted £100 back to him, and I mentioned it again on the phone Monday when I rang to confirm the booking, so we are certain thats the amount he said.

Today he turns up and starts on the job (along with 2 other guys!!) and then rings me after 2 hours and says its £800!!!

Now, we also had Tony's mum there armed with an emailing detailing the work and money... so I told him where to go! He wasnt happy, and seemed amazed that I didnt think I should pay him and get the boiler reconnected.

Why do people think they can bully you into paying 8 times the quote???

Now we have to find another plumber!

:!!!!ed off from Basingstoke:

[TAZMAN]

Linda, you got a pm.

[Linda]

Linda, you got a pm.

Cheers M8 - will give it a go and let you know.

Its been a crap day so far - started badly when I left my gloves on the train, got worse when my boss decides to tell me off for South West Trains inability to run a service on time (and thus I was late). So dodgy plumbers havent improved my mood!!

[Sewerat]

Lindy Oh Lindy

Calm down dear, after all now that we have two Linda's on the forum, what else can possibly go wrong.

Anyway just wait until http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050119/140/fakmw.html

[Linda]

Anyway just wait until http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050119/140/fakmw.html

Hehe - thanks for the sympathy...

24th wont be depressing for me - it's Christmas bonus day (yeah I know its a month late), my first day of a week in NY, and the day I get some new bits for my truck!!

[AndyLala]

Linda,


sorry to hear that... although I am not surprised... But, as we do with dealers... name and shame... if the guy was taking the proverbial... let it be known and don't mince your words... His name will forever come up in Google searches from then on...

andyL

[Mike66]

Hi Linda

did the plumbers say they were corgi registered. If so get their name and number and report them to corgi.Nothing will be/or can be done unless a customer complains. We need to stamp out this ripping people off.
I am corgi registered plumber and its costs me a fortune to stay registered but you dont have to rip people off to earn a good living. its people like those that tried to rip you off that are giving the rest of us a bad name.

Mike

[AndyLala]

Good point Mike...

[firefly]

And people wonder how come some plumbers are on nearly 500k a year, stuff like this gives all builders a bad name.

[Gizmo]

Hi Linda

did the plumbers say they were corgi registered. If so get their name and number and report them to corgi.Nothing will be/or can be done unless a customer complains. We need to stamp out this ripping people off.
I am corgi registered plumber and its costs me a fortune to stay registered but you dont have to rip people off to earn a good living. its people like those that tried to rip you off that are giving the rest of us a bad name.

Mike

Sorry but the CORGI registration isnt worth the paper its written on! [albeith recognised by the trades]...

My father was a Heating and Ventilation Engineer with most of his work centred around doing 1st and 2nd fixes in houses [ie all the heating, baths and showers, toilets etc, linking up the Gas to Boilers] and to be registered it was the Engineers or their firms that paid for the course/exam [not official body] and some of the examination was done open book. If you failed some of the items there was nothing to stop the engineer from taking the exam time and time again!!!!

[Mike66]

Sorry gizmo!! Sounds like you had a bad encounter ,but things have changed quite considerably.I know the system isnt perfect by any means ( no system ever is),but it is the only one we have.The rules and regs are changing all the time making it harder and harder to know what is current and what is obsolete .
I agree there needs to be some tightening of standards ,but i was just letting Linda know what to do with those guys.If you do nothing how many other people are they gonna try and rip off who are not as strong minded/willed as Linda and tony.

Mike

[Gizmo]

Sorry gizmo!! Sounds like you had a bad encounter ,but things have changed quite considerably.I know the system isnt perfect by any means ( no system ever is),but it is the only one we have.The rules and regs are changing all the time making it harder and harder to know what is current and what is obsolete .
I agree there needs to be some tightening of standards ,but i was just letting Linda know what to do with those guys.If you do nothing how many other people are they gonna try and rip off who are not as strong minded/willed as Linda and tony.

Mike

No I agree fully with sorting out the issue...and yes its one standard but as stated the paper is not really worth anything [or it wasn't when first started]....I may not have explained the issue I see...the problem is that Cowboys like this aren't taken to fact and are not stripped of their registration on many occassions so how can Joe Public get a true reflection of the good engineers/plumbers???

[Mike66]

I totally agree!! The trouble is because corgi is a non-profit making independent organisation( supposedly what do they do with all that money ) which is totally useless if you have to prosecute someone .Because
A) they dont want to spend any money and
B) nobody at corgi has got any of these
thats balls to go through with it!!!!

Mike

[Linda]

Thanks guys - they were Corgi registered (or so they said). That was the point of using them as we needed the certification for the boiler - Tony could have done all the work otherwise.

I have no basic problem with name and shame - but I want to get the work done first by another plumber.

I agree with what Mike says about reporting them to protect other less strong willed people in future. I had the advantage of 1) being on the phone - not intimidated by 3 angry men in front of me, 2) not actually living in the house apart from weekends, I didnt care if the heating remained off, 3) I'm a bossy girl, used to being tough with naughty vendors at work so no plumber was going to bully me!!

So Mike - fancy a nice cash job?? You can pop along to the Pit afterwards, its just up the road??