Faulty Tap

Becles

We're busy redoing our bathroom and I bought two pairs of Balmoral taps from a local supplier. They are made by a company called TC Bathrooms and I bough a bath pair and basin pair.

When we went to install the bath, we discovered the hot tap is faulty. It doesn't shut all the way off, so water continues to run out of the tap. I first tried to get in touch with the company I bought the taps from but unfortunately they have gone into administration.

We took the taps to a local plumbers merchant for advice and he suggested it could either be a faulty gland or the seat of the tap is faulty. He didn't have the correct sized gland as he said it's a "funny size".

I rang TC Bathrooms and was told they couldn't speak to me by phone and gave me a generic email address to write to. After numerous attempts with no response, I rang them again and asked if I could speak to a person about it. I was told I wasn't allowed but was given someone's direct email address.

He did respond and sent out a replacement gland. However that did not fix the problem so presumably it's the tap itself that is faulty.

I emailed him back and asked how I would get the tap replaced. He has written back and said they only deal with trade and the only way they will help is if I pay them £59 for a new set of taps, plus delivery and collection. If they decide there is a fault with the current tap, I will be refunded the charges I have paid.

Is this a fair solution? I'm not keen on paying the £59 in case I never see it again

wealdroam

But if your supplier are in administration, that means they are still trading.
Get on to the administrator.

Anything that TC Bathrooms does for you is out of kindness and to try and protect their name. They have no obligation to you. Their contract was with your supplier.

Becles

How do I find out who the adminstrator is?

The bathroom company was called Plumb Point and the website address was www.plumb-point.co.uk but that now directs a site called HH bathrooms who claim they are nothing to do with Plumb Point and they told me Plumb Point was in administation.

However the site is identical apart from the logo and I can log in with my Plumb Point account details and see my order! I think it's the same postal address and phone number too - certainly the same area.

TC have a lifetime guarantee on all their bathroom products, but on speaking to them this afternoon, Plumb Point never registered my purchase with them. It's up to the supplier to do this, so I've lost my lifetime guarantee

evergreen39

hi becles

how long ago did you purchase the tap? have you got a copy of your proof of purchase? if you have a copy of the proof of purchase does it have a company registration number or vat number on there? if it does you could see if it is the same as the one that the plumb-point website redirects to and that may tell you if they are the same company but have changed name.

hope this helps

Becles

I stupidly don't have any original proof of purchase. I ordered online and my invoice was stored on the Plumb Point website. I never thought to print off a copy.

There was a bath, two sets of taps and two wastes (for bath and basin) on the delivery, and they came with no paperwork.

I have managed to print a copy of the invoice by using my Plumb Point details to log into HH Bathrooms, but it now has their name on the top of the page instead of Plumb Point.

I did some searching on the internet and discovered that Plumb Point went into liquidation and not administration as I was told by HH Bathrooms.

KeithP

Becles wrote: »

I have managed to print a copy of the invoice by using my Plumb Point details to log into HH Bathrooms, but it now has their name on the top of the page instead of Plumb Point.

Are you saying you now have an invoice with HH Bathrooms' name on it?
That could be very useful.

Becles wrote: »

I did some searching on the internet and discovered that Plumb Point went into liquidation and not administration as I was told by HH Bathrooms.

Did you buy the taps using a credit card?
If you spent over £100 then the credit card company are jointly responsible.
Get them involved.
Maybe ask them to refund the price of the faulty taps.

Becles

Yes I've now got an invoice with HH Bathrooms on!

Did ring my credit card and they said I would have to write a letter by post to the disputes department. They will investigate and either source a replacement tap or give me a full refund. The lady did say it could take weeks to sort out.

Think I'm probably going to have to reluctantly pay TC for new taps, as that seems the quickest solution so we can get on with the job.

wealdroam

Becles wrote: »

Did ring my credit card and they said I would have to write a letter by post to the disputes department. They will investigate and either source a replacement tap or give me a full refund. The lady did say it could take weeks to sort out.

Surely that's a good result.

But you appear not to want to do that?

Becles

wealdroam wrote: »

Surely that's a good result.

But you appear not to want to do that?

It's the waiting weeks to find out if they are going to help and if they will be offering a refund or a replacement. It means the whole job is on hold for an indefinite amount of time until the credit card decide what they are doing.

At the moment the bathroom is just an empty room with half a floor. We moved the toilet and all the pipework is going to be buried under the floorboards. Need the bath tap to install the bath and check the plumbing and wastes are fine before the floor goes back down, and it's a double ended bath with taps at the back so they can't be fitted at a later date. Can't tile the floor until the floorboards are down and can't put the toilet in until the floor is tiled and so on.

It's a nightmare having three children and no bathroom, so getting the job done quickly is our priority.