Handyman bill more than expected!

airbag

I called in a handyman who put a leaflet through my door. he sounded ok and cleaned all gutters and fixed a couple of leaks for £45. Was happy with that, Was here about 2 hours.

Then I asked him if he could refit a radiator that had come loose. he said aye just about a tenner for that.

BUT... the radiator pipe started leaking and he put this rubbery tape stuff on and said it would be fine. Later that night it started leaking. :mad: I called his mobile and fair enough he came straight round and clamped it.

He came back to fix it properly 2 days later and had to drain my central heating so he could fix the pipe.

Trouble was he could not get it working again and was here for almost 4 hours trying (he even called a so-called plumber mate round) but in the end it was 10.30pm and I said well you better go then and I was left with no heating and hot water.

Next day I got a professional in who sorted the blockage and had it working in about 1 hour (£65). Was pleased with that. Feared worse.

Now the handyman wants to bill me for the 3 hours he was here trying but failing to get the heating back on. He's lumping it all in as "fixing the leaky radiator" even tho that bit took half hour only.

Should I pay him or not?

macman

What was the cause of the 'blockage'? If he caused it then I would say no.
But it's largely down to you for employing someone on a plumbing job that he presumably has no proper qualifications for.

Lord_Blue

I think it's fair that he gets something in payment, if he was not to blame for the blockage. It sounds like he did his best, but was not skilled for the job. I'd explain what you have said here about the money paid to put it right and see if you can compromise. Although it sounds like only billing you for 3 hours is a compromise from him.

EliteHeat

I wouldn't pay for someone to fail to fix something.

Personally, I would pay for the time he spent productively i.e. draining, repairing and refilling / bleeding etc.

27col

As someone who was a handyman in the past, I have had this exact problem. The reason the radiator would not work afterwards was due to an airlock somewhere else in the system. We called in BG, and as far as I was concerned there was no question of charging for my unsuccessful efforts to bleed the system.

dampdaveski

At the risk of writing a response like David Aldread (sorry David )
you entered into a verbal contract with this 'handyman' he fixes the rad, you pay him. Initially he does a bodge repair because he hasn't the skill or just can't be bothered to drain the system. That fails and fair play to him he attends to rectify a fault attributtable to his works. Unfotunately both he and his 'skilled' friend are unable to get the system working, and leave you with more of a problem than the one he was initially contracted to sort. (maybe the boiler had to be bled and as he no doubt isn't corgi registered he thankfully left it alone - just me summising there )
you call in 'proper plumbing services' the day after and he sorts it quickly and efficiently.
So in short do you pay him for the wotrks related to your heating? No!
If you took your car in for a service and you had to push it home because they couldn't get it going you wouldn't pay the garage for the service, at least I hope you wouldn't.
I think the guy has more front than Harrods for 'trying it on' and remember that's what this guy is doing - Trying it on!
Tell him to 'go forth and multiply'
DD

amarg

I can see this from both sides of the story, sometimes plumbing can be a real pain in the backside when things are not going correctly. But I'd not expect to pay if he did not fix the problem.

Perhaps he was trained by this guy-

http://www.urlink.eu/13g