tradesman usage of utilities

bazzarob_2

Hi all - not sure this is in the same place, but hope someone here might have some advice. Over the winter we had some work done on our house, the tradespeople came in every morning and put the heating on. They didn't need it on, as they had already removed the radiators from the rooms they were working on. I raised this with them and let them know I wasn't happy with the heating being on all day in the house. They also used equipment (such as a dehumidifier and a halogen heater) which obviously used a huge amount of electricity. As a result our gas & elec bills for the month were about £300, which is a complete chizz being as we were paying for all the work!! :mad: Is there anything we can do about this?
Thanks for any help you can give
Bazza

bris

So you want to deny your tradesmen heat or electricity to do their job. How are they supposed to get anything done without the power they need for their tools and equipment.

tom15387202

bazzarob wrote: »

...and let them know I wasn't happy...

How did they reply?

ILW

tom15387202 wrote: »

How did they reply?

OP will let you know when he gets back from the hospital having had the paint brush removed.

vuvuzela

bazzarob wrote: »

Hi all - not sure this is in the same place, but hope someone here might have some advice. Over the winter we had some work done on our house, the tradespeople came in every morning and put the heating on. They didn't need it on, as they had already removed the radiators from the rooms they were working on. I raised this with them and let them know I wasn't happy with the heating being on all day in the house. They also used equipment (such as a dehumidifier and a halogen heater) which obviously used a huge amount of electricity. As a result our gas & elec bills for the month were about £300, which is a complete chizz being as we were paying for all the work!! :mad: Is there anything we can do about this?
Thanks for any help you can give
Bazza

(quoted for posterity).
You really think that tradespeople should work without heating and electricity ? Maybe if they hadn't used the heating and dehumidifier / halogens, the job might have had to go on another day or 2 until the room was ready to decorate / paint / whatever. How much extra would that have cost you then ?
Really, give your head a shake and pay the bill. If I was one of them and you had come to me with such a petty ridiculous complaint, I would happily have told you to !!!! off

bazzarob_2

Thanks all for your help. Really. The point is that they had heating on in the house in all the other rooms where they were not working. I don't expect them to work with no light and do expect them to be using the equipment they need, I was just really shocked that it would cost us an extra £300. If there's anyone out there with any consumer help it would be gratefully received.

bazzarob_2

vuvuzela wrote: »

(quoted for posterity).
If I was one of them and you had come to me with such a petty ridiculous complaint, I would happily have told you to !!!! off

Is £300 on my gas bill a petty complaint??
Would you go into someone's house and turn the heating on even if you'd removed the radiators in the downstairs, and weren't using the upstairs?

vuvuzela

bazzarob wrote: »

Is £300 on my gas bill a petty complaint??
Would you go into someone's house and turn the heating on even if you'd removed the radiators in the downstairs, and weren't using the upstairs?

It was an exceptionally cold winter. If I was working somewhere, then yes I certainly would have had the heating on as it would have helped the whole house warm up.

Country_Cousin

This happened in the winter - we are now almost in August. Bit confused why you did not raise it more forcefully at the time if you were so concerned (presumably you were in the house at the time or for some of the time to know how long it was on). Not sure you would get anywhere at this stage in any event and just wonder how you could prove how much "extra" was used as you consider needlessly, as opposed to how much you would usually use - bearing in mind it was very cold and my bills were certainly higher this year than last plus the amount that you consider was used as a necessity for their work.

baza52

£300 extra on your gas..
How long did the job last?
I would imagine you could run the heating non stop for a few weeks to run up that much.
Why didn't you just turn the radiators off in the rooms they were not using?

zaax

Last winter was a bad one and all heating bills are high. So how are you sure that is was the trades people and not you as well.