Plumber has just left me with no water or heating

Homely

I had a boiler replaced and a new hot water cylinder installed today, they got here at 9.30am and left at 4pm telling me they will come back tomorrow and finish off but have left me with no heating or hot water so none of us can have a wash before school tomorrow and when I said I wasn't happy about having no hot water he couldn't care less and just shrugged. He was rude and aggressive the entire time he was in my house, I'm not happy.

Are there rules etc on whether a gas engineer/plumber can leave you without heating and hot water? I want to know the facts when I make a complaint about his conduct.

stebiz

Homely wrote: »

I had a boiler replaced and a new hot water cylinder installed today, they got here at 9.30am and left at 4pm telling me they will come back tomorrow and finish off but have left me with no heating or hot water so none of us can have a wash before school tomorrow and when I said I wasn't happy about having no hot water he couldn't care less and just shrugged. He was rude and aggressive the entire time he was in my house, I'm not happy.

Are there rules etc on whether a gas engineer/plumber can leave you without heating and hot water? I want to know the facts when I make a complaint about his conduct.

Nope. There was a day and age that people had no hot water. Boil a kettle for in the morning. Go your parents. These things happen. Today hundreds of people will be told their dying. Not the end of the world.

andyhop

Homely wrote: »

I had a boiler replaced and a new hot water cylinder installed today, they got here at 9.30am and left at 4pm telling me they will come back tomorrow and finish off but have left me with no heating or hot water so none of us can have a wash before school tomorrow and when I said I wasn't happy about having no hot water he couldn't care less and just shrugged. He was rude and aggressive the entire time he was in my house, I'm not happy.

Are there rules etc on whether a gas engineer/plumber can leave you without heating and hot water? I want to know the facts when I make a complaint about his conduct.

Was it not made clear prior to starting work that this might be the case. There is only so much one can do in a days work, it is not rare to be left with no hot water or heating on a full refit. He should have left the mains cold water on so atleast the toilets and kitchen at work??

cattie

I've been left with no hot water on a couple of occasions in the past when having a new boiler/system installed. I think you'll find it is quite normal when such a job takes longer than a day.

It's no great hardship to boil up kettles or saucepans & have a strip wash at the sink for a day or 2 & to boil water to wash up any dishes etc.

With children, you can turn this into a kind of adventure, tell them it's like being on a camping trip & most children will enjoy the novelty of it.

Homely

No it was not made clear to me that this would take longer than a day, in fact there was no hint of it it even possibly taking longer than a day.

Yeah, I'd go to my parents by 8am for a shower only they live 100 miles away so not sure I'd get back in time for school and I doubt my teenagers would view washing in a sink with a kettle much of an adventure, but thanks, particularly to 'Stebiz' for the helpful advice

The sort of answers I was expecting were more along the lines of "yes there are rules, here they are" or "No there aren't"

Ectophile

No there aren't.

stebiz

Homely wrote: »

but thanks, particularly to 'Stebiz' for the helpful advice

You're welcome

DRP

No there aren't.

But it is something you should have discussed beforehand.

rustyboy21

It's not the end of the world, they will be back tomorrow and you will have hot water and heating for the weekend.


It is not a 5 minute job replacing a boiler, it does take 2 days sometimes. Commissioning it and setting it will take a few hours. Would you be happy if they were still there at 9 pm and you were trying to cook dinner?

jayyar66

I can't help feeling that there's been a breakdown on comms somewhere Was the question of time raised in the first place? Or were assumptions made about the length of time it would take?
I'm curious though, if he was rude and aggressive the whole time he was there, why did you employ him in the first place? I making the assumption here that you'd already met him when he came to assess the job?

trailingspouse

Is it the lack of hot water/heating that's the problem, or his attitude? I'm guessing that if he'd explained the reason to you, and apologised for the inconvenience, and been generally pleasant, you wouldn't have had so much of an issue with the lack of hot water.

What was it about his attitude that made him seem aggressive? You should be happy with whoever is in your home, particularly if you are on your own with them. This to me seems a much bigger issue that the water.