What are my rights re plumber overcharging?

[Deleted User]

I have recently had a plumber over to repair my stopcock - not urgent, as it only leaks slightly when i turn the water supply off (loose top nut). He put some PTFE tape on it and tightened the nut. Then charged me £50 for labour and £10 for 10inches of PTFE tape... well, to be fair it took him about 15 minutes in total because the stopcock was hard to access.

I said to him that £10 for the PTFE was exorbitant so it is not something that I was willing to pay... well, in the end he reduced it to £5 and I thought it probably wasn't worth fighting over. I did tell him that yes, of course I will pay him, but the price has to be reasonable and fair.

My question - what are my rights regarding this? Who can I complain to if I want to? Are workmen free to charge whatever price they want, as long as they have completed the job? What would you guys have done?

Thanks, always good to have people listen

keystone

My first thought on seeing the thread title was to ask "On what basis have you determined that you have been overcharged?" but then I read the lead post and thought "He's taking the p**s."

PTFE is about 2p a metre if you buy a single roll (well OK if you buy in in B&Q its between 5p and 6p but thats not the point). I'd give him £ 50 and a brand new replacement roll if it were me.

I don't think there is any point in making a noise over it to anybody. Chalk it down to experience and get an estimate (nay even a quote) for the cost of the job before anybody actually starts work.

I would also make it quite clear to him that he will never get another job out of you and you will ensure that your friends and relatives are warned off too. That should be as sufficient a wake up call unless he's totally insensitive.

Cheers

[Deleted User]

Yep, that's what I did, I gave him my roll of PTFE tape and said ''I have some too, you can have it, it's more than what you used to fix the stopcock'' only to hear that I should have offered earlier, because he had already used _his_ tape, and he has to 'mark up' the price of all his parts... really cheeky one. I did tell him about not getting any repeat business either and he shrugged it off, immune to all attempts at fair play.

[Deleted User]

Is there such a thing as a regulating body for plumbers or something - let's say that he charged me way too much, say £200 for the PTFE tape. What can I do if he demands payment and refuses to leave otherwise?

vaio

Deleted_User wrote: »

......What can I do if he demands payment and refuses to leave otherwise?

Throw him out or call the police.

More generally, £60 to attend and fix a leak doesn't seem excessive to me.

We are electrical and have a catch all "sundries" part of our invoices which covers cable ties, bases, screws, tape etc to avoid just the problem your plumber has fallen foul of.

diywhynot

Does he live next door?

Cornucopia

Deleted_User wrote: »

Is there such a thing as a regulating body for plumbers or something

There are various industry bodies - though he may not be a member of any of them.

- let's say that he charged me way too much, say £200 for the PTFE tape. What can I do if he demands payment and refuses to leave otherwise?

Ask him to leave, and if he refuses, call the Police.

If he leaves without payment, then a debt exists which he can sue for. You then get to discuss in court whether the charges were reasonable.

More generally, these are things to watch out for when hiring plumbers/similar trades...

1. Overcharging for parts.
2. Charging for time taken to fetch parts (anything common should be on the van).
3. Rounding-up and generally being slack when accounting for time worked.

C_Mababejive

If anyone needs their stopcock or similar fixing in the Manchester area,let me know !

diywhynot

Cornucopia wrote: »

More generally, these are things to watch out for when hiring plumbers/similar trades...

1. Overcharging for parts.
2. Charging for time taken to fetch parts (anything common should be on the van).
3. Rounding-up and generally being slack when accounting for time worked.

Hence why people should always get a written quotation for works i.e. inclusive price before they commence (as has been said over and over again on this forum).

What is a common part? How much stock do you think trades carry on board?

Cornucopia

diywhynot wrote: »

What is a common part?

I once had a plumber try to tell me that he had no replacement basic bath mixer tap on his van, and then he tried to charge a second call-out fee for going to the shops, and then tried to overcharge me for the part.

None of that is acceptable - IMHO.

loracan1

C_Mababejive wrote: »

If anyone needs their stopcock or similar fixing in the Manchester area,let me know !

Do you provide your own ptfe tape or charge by the inch?