Am I being taken for a ride?

Kittycat1981

Its a bit of a long story so anyway i needed an electrician to come out and move a fused switch from behind where the new integrated fridge is going, behind there was also two double sockets (that were not going to be used). I also needed a new oven and hob wiring up.

When he came do do the job, he said that i couldnt leave the two double sockets behind the fridge although they were not going to be used- so he removed the faceplaces and the wiring.

He moved the fused switch (needed to chisel out a bit of the wall next to an existing double socket next to the unit http://1drv.ms/1I4LXSM

Then he said i couldnt have loose wires hanging down so added trunking but then said the back of the fridge would melt the trunking so he chiselled it into the wall, original plug socket to plug fridge in, is staying here - face plate at the minute removed. http://1drv.ms/1I4LRe3


At the older side of the kitchen is more sockets- where the kitchen cooker switches are- he is not touching the older sockets, however there was loose cable hanging down- so he tie wrapped these together (they will sit behind a kitchen unit)


It has taken him SEVEN hours to take off 6 faceplates (one of which he didnt need to touch at the other side of the room) - tie up 3 cables and chisel out a small bit of wall... all while charging me an hourly rate.


The cooker and oven still not installed.

He is due to come back next weekend to install the cooker hob and oven, earth the two old sockets behind the fridge and put black plates on them (i don't know why they need to be there just take out the metal boxes and leave the whole- cant use the sockets) and replace the faceplates he has taken off the fused switch, cooker switch and double socket (I am providing he faceplates- already bought)

He said that it will take him 6-7 hours to do that work, that includes a "test" not sue what test or how long the test will take.

Should it really take 14 hours to hard wire in two appliances, tie wrap up some cables, move one socket (chiselling a slightly bigger space) and to chisel out for two small pieces of trunking??

southcoastrgi

In a word yes, there are loads of houses with sockets behind fridges/freezers, yes the coil at the back gets warm/hot that's how a fridge works but as long as it's not touching it shouldn't cause an issue

somethingcorporate

Think you missed the question southcoastrgi, it was whether 14 hours is reasonable for the job or not.

Suggest you give anothe sparky a call and sound them out OP.

SailorSam

I can't see any reason he couldn't leave the sockets that aren't going to be used. And how did he remove the cables going to them. That would have been part of the 'ring' or all the way back to the fusebox. They could have been blanked off.
I thinkhe did right to put trunking in and not leave the cable hanging. But the trunking would never melt behind the fridge, it doesn't get that hot.
Things shouldn't take that long to do. But now he's started it's going to be harder to get him to do a fair job.

Kittycat1981

Thanks for the replies.

I have sacked him, i am not prepared to have him back to spend another 6 -7 hours to complete a job that could have been completed in the original time scale of one day. (Which was one day as originally agreed but then he spent forever removing sockets that didnt need removing and cable tying up cables that are at the other side of the room)

I have spoken with another electrician (who we have used before but was not available to do the work last week) - he is coming to complete the job this week.

I am not sure how he has removed other wires that were on that ring, that is something i will be asking the our other electrician, (I didnt ask for wiring to be removed and in the future would have possibly used those sockets if we moved the fridge elsewhere in the kitchen) I may get the the new electrician to put the wiring back in and just blank cover them. (which is what i feel should have been done to leave the option of future use) - will see what he thinks.

when i spoke to him earlier, he said i had been taken for a ride and the whole job should have been completed in the one day.
(my full house rewire only took 3 days)

What i didnt say in my original post was that i did ask him to explain to me the time scales and to break down the cost of work, he got very aggressive and defensive which made me feel uncomfortable, he went on to say stuff like "I have a car to pay for, (dont we all!) i didnt have a lunch break today (didums) ad "I dont work for free (nor do i mate) however i was not being spoken to like that in my own home so stood my ground until he explained why the cost was almost double to the original verbal quote (nothing in writing)

Originally he quoted me for the work on a day rate basis and said it would be completed, at one point during the day he said "I like to take my time and make sure that i do a quality job" i didnt think much of this at first because we had a agreed a fixed price... then came the shock of hourly rate and work not competed and more work to be done again at hourly rate..

He even charged me for screws!!! but then the cheeky s*d took the screws from the face plates he had removed!

southcoastrgi

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Think you missed the question southcoastrgi, it was whether 14 hours is reasonable for the job or not.

Suggest you give anothe sparky a call and sound them out OP.

I think the question was am I being taken for a ride & I think you will find my reply was "in a word yes"

So I don't think you will find I missed anything