Funny behaviour by gas engineer??? Or is it normal?

Emma64

OK, not sure if this is the right place (or even the right board!), but I'd love some feedback.

My boiler broke down on Monday night, and I found somebody to come round and have a look; to cut a long story short, he wasn't very good - he installed a new component (twice - as I said, it a bit of a long story), but that didn't solve the problem, so now the boiler is back to it's original broken state, and I fished around to try and find out how much it would cost to get somebody else to have a look at it.

This morning I talked on the phone with one of the gas engineers I contacted (after sending him some basic details by email), he asked me the original guy's name, which I didn't want to give out. He asked me whether the original guy was Gas Safe registered, and I told him I his details on checkatrade, where you can check the Gas Safe registration, which I did, and it looked all in order. He then said that unless they could check the registration themselves (ie unless I gave them the number), there was nothing they could do for me.

Well, I didn't want to give out the guy's details... I don't see why it matters, personally, I mean he didn't fix the boiler, but as far as I can see he did do his best, and I don't see why a competitor would need to know anything about him. He put everything back to where it was when I called him, so I'm back to square one (only a couple of hundred quids poorer - which hurts! Sorry, I digress...)

But I'm just wondering...is that usual practice? Would anybody else who comes around want the same information, like somehow they can't work on a boiler if they can't satisfy themselves that whoever worked on that boiler before is gas safe registered? Or is there any reason why they asked that question? It seems fishy to me, so I thought I'd get some feedback about the situation if I can....

Thanks in advance to anybody who might be able to shed some light on this!

tanith

I don't really understand why the first guy hasn't finished the job you paid him to do? call him back and tell you want the job finished that you've paid him for.. another firm won't be jumping at the chance to take on a job that someone else has left half done.

Emma64

Tanith,

he tried to fix what he thought was the problem, and that didn't help. So he basically said that there was no way to know what the problem was and he had to idea what to do next; I could try and replace this, and replace that, but there was no guarantee that it would solve the problem. Basically, my boiler is not working, and he can't see the fault. So it's not that he didn't finish the job - it's more of a case that he doesn't know what to do next. The job, as far as I'm concerned is "please fix my boiler"; and he's said he's stumped... So I don't know what I could do, but I prefer to cut my losses and not continue with him - I'm afraid I don't really have any confidence in his abilities. Hope that makes sense...

maninthestreet

Emma64 wrote: »

Tanith,

he tried to fix what he thought was the problem, and that didn't help. So he basically said that there was no way to know what the problem was and he had to idea what to do next; I could try and replace this, and replace that, but there was no guarantee that it would solve the problem. Basically, my boiler is not working, and he can't see the fault. So it's not that he didn't finish the job - it's more of a case that he doesn't know what to do next. The job, as far as I'm concerned is "please fix my boiler"; and he's said he's stumped... So I don't know what I could do, but I prefer to cut my losses and not continue with him - I'm afraid I don't really have any confidence in his abilities. Hope that makes sense...

So why are you trying to defend his incompetency? You have paid him money to fix the bolier, and he's failed to do so. He hasn't completed him the job you have paid him to do.

macman

Why on earth did you pay him anything, let alone £200? There's a reason why he might not be able to fix the fault there and then (parts not available or in stock, not economically repairable), but he hasn't even diagnosed the fault.
If he'd told you that it was not repairable for the reason above, then a call out fee would be payable, but all he's done is swap things out in the vain hope that one might fix the problem. So ask for a refund or a repair.
The time to check their GSR status is before they commence the work, not after.
If you post the make, model, and symptoms on here, you might get some advice on the fault.

Emma64

@maninthestreet True, but that's not the point of my original question. Guess maybe I shouldn't have replied to Tanith, but I didn't think it was a big deal to do so.

@macman his argument was that he did work on the boiler (including buying a replacement part), and he should be paid for that work. Believe me, with hindsight, I would deal with it VERY differently, but isn't hindsight wonderful? You live and learn. And I did check his Gas Safe registration before I called him, so that, as far as I'm concerned, is not the issue. The issue - for me - is: is it normal practice for a competitor to want somebody else's GSR number as a condition for proceeding further?

macman

Unfortunately, in a public forum, you don't always get the reply you might have hoped for.
But I suspect that, after you described what the first engineer had done (or rather not done), he thought that the 'engineer' was probably a non-GSR cowboy and wanted to shop him if so. Perfectly responsible behaviour.
I'd be more concerned with getting back the £200 you have paid for nothing.

Canucklehead

macman wrote: »

Unfortunately, in a public forum, you don't always get the reply you might have hoped for.
But I suspect that, after you described what the first engineer had done (or rather not done), he thought that the 'engineer' was probably a non-GSR cowboy and wanted to shop him if so. Perfectly responsible behaviour.
I'd be more concerned with getting back the £200 you have paid for nothing.

Good advice from macman...to add...the second GSR could also be concerned about putting his name on the OP's boiler...last one to touch it carries the can if it all goes:eek:

Canucklehead

Emma64

I see your point...but I did tell him about going to the Gas Safe site from the checkatrade site, and that I could see for myself that the first guy was in the GSR database, so what additional information could he have gotten from the number? Is there a second GSR database, for trade only, with more and/ or different information? OK, I'm still puzzled and just throwing questions around at this point..

macman

The guy was trying to assist you by getting as much info as he could directly, that's all. Isn't getting your boiler working and your wasted money back of greater importance?