Landlords, are your tradesmen ripping you off?

kev_min

My daughter rents a flat and just recently the heating system started making a “droning” noise after a few hours of use (after a quick listen it sounds to me like the pump is on its way out) reported to letting agent who eventually gets a plumber to visit. His varied diagnosis follows but it seems to me like he is either clueless or attempting to maximise his profit, either way I will advise the landlord, who is a real nice and helpful guy, to warn him of potential expense.


Diagnosis one – it could be the radiator TRVs fighting against the roomstat – if this were the case it would surely have always been noisy?


Diagnosis two – it could be the pump, to change this will take him between 6-8 hrs and require a full system drain despite there being gate valves fitted either side of the pump....


As an aside there is a “something” fitted to the hot water tank outlet that should not be there and MUST be removed as it is ILLEGAL, also there is muck in the system that could be clogging things up.


TBH it sound to me like he is aiming for a powerflush and to replace/remove the “something” from the tank that may well not be required.


While some will say its none of my business the landlord has been honest and open with her at all times, for example when he saw her fridge would not fit in the kitchen he just said to rip a counter top off, no problems with him at all and I just don't like the idea of him being taken for a ride by any tradesman.....

nomoneytoday

Maybe ask him if he wants to get a 2nd quote, or a fixed price fix from one of the big providers?

G_M

Sadly this kind of profiteering does happen - both to landlords and to owner-occupiers.

Garages sometimes do similar things....

As a landlord I would be grateful for my tenant's feedback on the quality/reliability of a contractor I sent in, and any info on the fault. What action I took as a result would depend.

lincroft1710

kev_min wrote: »

Diagnosis two – it could be the pump, to change this will take him between 6-8 hrs and require a full system drain despite there being gate valves fitted either side of the pump....

It shouldn't take that long to change a pump, I had one changed in about 2 hours and there was no need to drain the system.

Niv

lincroft1710 wrote: »

It shouldn't take that long to change a pump, I had one changed in about 2 hours and there was no need to drain the system.

I agree I changed one myself in ~1 hour and i am not a plumber.

ognum

It is really difficult to work out if you are being ripped off and you have to have confidence in your letting agent if you have one.

I am out of the country for a month and I had a notification that the intigrated fridge/freezer in one of my properties was not working.

I can't let the tenants be without a fridge/ freezer for a month so have to accept the advice of the agents electricians that it was not viable to repair and get a replacement.

I have good renters who pay on time and keep the property well cared for, maybe I could have found something a few pounds cheaper but they would have been without for longer and I am happy to keep them happy.

Stormchaser_2

Some tradesmen are proper ruddy rip off merchants.

I had a repair that needed doing (the garage roof,) so I reported it to my landlord and they sent one of their repair peeps, and he said the whole roof needed replacing and quoted £800! The LL's mate came around who was a builder and said he would happily patch it up, for £100! This was a year ago, and it hasn't leaked since!

Also, our shower packed up and one of their plumbers rang me, and said it sounds like it's bust and it's not worth repairing, I will just replace it. I said 'well don't you just want to come and have a look? Because I think it may just be the switch.' (where the pullcord is,) and he said nah it needs replacing. (At the cost of about £300 he said!)

The LL sent his brother's mate around who was a qualified electrician and he fixed it: it was the switch after all, and it cost £20.

Needless to say, the LL doesn't use these two men anymore.

whalster

As a tradesman , started out roofing following on in family firm and there is no worse than roofers for getting a bad press and now my main job being a landlord I would like to point out that many agents take a rebate from contractors invoices and the landlord never knows just one more hidden fee !
I have always managed my own property and know every trade under the sun and have stuck with the same people for years ,there is no reason why most landlords can't draw up a list of trades they know and use them ,

paddyrg

As a rule, agents have their own interests at heart, and a dearer quote from a 'preferred supplier' will have a better kickback. Yes, builders compete for contracts with agents based on how much of a kickback they will give, having spoken with the builders my agent uses.

Not all agents are dodgy, but it is too easy to be bent to rip off both sides.

paulsad

Not all landlords are saints either - I'm chasing one now for payment for work I carried out last month - suddenly becomes unobtainable unless there's other work in the pipeline he needs doing.

loumini

I found something different you basicaly make a list of your tradesmen we made as big a list as possible your tenant has a number to ring on their contract which goes to 24hr PA their call centre runs through a fault find with say the boiler or the electrics or washer or whatever a bit like I would do if they rang me have you done this that and the other then if that fails they call one of the guys from your list who then bill you , and seeing as you know them you know you are not being ripped off ,a very simple neat idea its like having an agent do it but only costs £1 per week