Unfair call out fee

paddedjohn

How long was the plumber there on the first visit? If he was there for say 30 mins and you have paid for an hours callout then they owe you the first 30 mins of the next one.

x-paul-x

earthstorm wrote: »

If this is all you told them, then this is the confusing part as general leaks on heating systems will be on the radiators. what you explained regarding the other firm is they repaired a leak on your boiler. so the original firm would have sent someone that repairs general heating systems ( radiators and tank boilers), if you told them a leak on your boiler, then they would of most likely asked what boiler you had. i know when we had a issue with our boiler, even though we have a homecare plan with British Gas, then needed to know the make of boiler, so they could send someone out that works on that type of boiler.

I understand what you are saying, but as I called another plumber to come and sort it as I didn't want to wait 4 days for the quote from a specialised plumber whilst my house was ruined by the leak the issue now is that the new plumber tightened a few joints and fixed the leak (15 minutes) - nothing specialised required, just a plumber to tighten some joints. Had a qualified plumber come out originally, he would have done what the second plumber did, tighten some connections and I would happily have paid given the leak was fixed. So I am in the position of a company who has sent an unqualified plumber out, charging me a call out fee for any tom !!!!!! and harry to turn up, and then he has gone away for 4 days to prepare a quote for a suitably qualified plumber to replace the immersion unit, draining down the system, refilling and rebalancing the system - all work that doesn't need doing. Seems inappropriate to charge a call out fee for a guy who only turns up to agree I have a leak! and quote for work that is not required.

stone7

At best, the 1st company have mis-diagnosed the problem. At worst, they are cynically trying to rip you off. The fact that you got the problem sorted by the second plumber proves this. Them sending an unqualified 'plumber' is not really an issue, indeed it has worked in your favour in this instance.

You don't pay a call out fee for faulty advice, regardless of how qualified the tradesman is.

earthstorm

x-paul-x wrote: »

So I am in the position of a company who has sent an unqualified plumber out,

There are are many types of heating systems, so the never sent an unqualified plumber out, they sent a general heating system plumber out as all you told them you have a heating system leak. You never told them what heating system you had, so they would assume a standard system. Large companies will have teams of plumbers that work on specific systems, so it is up to the customer to give them as much information as they can. a small company/sole trader does not have the staff too do this, so they have to try and learn about more systems. I can guarantee the plumber you got to fix it would get stumped on some systems

unholyangel

earthstorm wrote: »

There are are many types of heating systems, so the never sent an unqualified plumber out, they sent a general heating system plumber out as all you told them you have a heating system leak. You never told them what heating system you had, so they would assume a standard system. Large companies will have teams of plumbers that work on specific systems, so it is up to the customer to give them as much information as they can. a small company/sole trader does not have the staff too do this, so they have to try and learn about more systems. I can guarantee the plumber you got to fix it would get stumped on some systems

To be fair, the company should be aware not all engineers can work on every system. Its not (imo) something that's general knowledge of the public.

Imo they failed to carry out their duties with reasonable care and skill.

wealdroam

unholyangel wrote: »

To be fair, the company should be aware not all engineers can work on every system. Its not (imo) something that's general knowledge of the public.

Imo they failed to carry out their duties with reasonable care and skill.

I agree.

It is the company's responsibility to ask enough questions so that they can be sure to send the right person.

George_Michael

earthstorm wrote: »

There are are many types of heating systems, so the never sent an unqualified plumber out, they sent a general heating system plumber out as all you told them you have a heating system leak.

And it appears to be that the actual problem was a heating system leak which only required a couple of joints tightening.
If the plumber that the first company sent out couldn't do this then I would suggest that he is in the wrong profession as tightening or replacing joints is a basic plumbing job.

earthstorm

George_Michael wrote: »

And it appears to be that the actual problem was a heating system leak which only required a couple of joints tightening.
If the plumber that the first company sent out couldn't do this then I would suggest that he is in the wrong profession as tightening or replacing joints is a basic plumbing job.

but if he was not trained on the appliance then he would not touch the appliance to know it just needed nuts tightened

vented and unvented systems are totally different

DevCoder

You need a G3 certificate to work on unvented equipment. The pressures that unvented can generate and the destruction they can cause if the safety systems fail are unbelievable. That's why they shouldn't be worked on by anyone who doesn't hold a G3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61uDmQF5I2E

earthstorm

krisdorey wrote: »

You need a G3 certificate to work on unvented equipment. The pressures that unvented can generate and the destruction they can cause if the safety systems fail are unbelievable. That's why they shouldn't be worked on by anyone who doesn't hold a G3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61uDmQF5I2E

I think the OP is peeved as it was only a few nuts to be tightened so to them any plumber could do it.
I would if they would be singing the same tune if this original plumber without a G3 cert, did tried to fix it , but did something that endangered their lives.