Dispute with Plumber - looking for advice

snakee

Hi all,

I can foresee a potential dispute with a plumber and was hoping for some advice.

The basin hot water tap in our bathroom has always run very slowly. Everything else in the house (kitchen, shower etc.) is fine. The plumber came round and suggested that a new tap would fix the problem, and gave a quote for the work and the tap. I accepted and the tap was installed, but it didn't fix the problem.

He then suggested that I needed a pump to increase the flow of water to the tap. He quoted £600 + VAT to acquire the pump and install it, and he would also forget about the charge for the new tap. So I agreed.

He installed the pump. There was an issue when he installed the pump that caused some flooding in the loft. But I think this was a genuine mistake and fortunately it was caught straight away and the damage was minimal, so I am not overly concerned about that (but it did set off warning bells)...

But after he installed the pump, it worked OK for a day or so, but steadily over the course of the week got worse. When I say got worse, it took longer and longer for the pump to "activate" after turning on the hot water (sometimes 2 - 3 minutes) and eventually stopped working altogether, such that there was no hot water at all in the house)

I have contacted the plumber and he doesn't think its a problem with the pipes (he has done some tests on them), more likely to be the pump. He has offered to replace the pump, which I am happy for him to do.

Now the problem is.... I am not convinced that the pump is faulty, and that it might just be a case of a pump being unsuitable to rectify the slow running water to the basin due to the plumbing setup in our house... I really don't know....but shouldn't the plumber of had some idea of that before he offered this solution and to do this?

If the new pump doesn't fix the problem, I would like the system to be restored to what it was before (at least I had some hot water from the tap, rather than how it is now).... My question is, what should I be paying the plumber? As it stands, I will have forked out £720 (+ £80 for another electrican to wire in the pump), for something that isn't fit for purpose (but the plumber advised would solve the issue)

I am happy to pay something for the plumbers time, and the cost of the original tap, but don't think its reasonable that I pay the full cost for this...?

Sorry for the long post. Appreciate any advice either way. Thanks

hollydays

How did you find this plumber?

stuartJo1989

You are presumably entitled to a full refund?

You employed him to fix problem X and if that hasn't been done then he hasn't fulfilled his side of the consumer contract.

Wait for someone more experienced to offer you advice, but that's my thought on the matter.

tacpot12

If he is proposing to replace the pump at no charge to you, this suggests he really believes it is faulty; if the supplier won't accept it as faulty, he'll have to restore the system to as it was before the pump was added. At that point, I would offer half the cost of the pump, as it was his advice that was faulty and not the pump. Why half? Well, you don't want an irate tradesperson in your house, so you need to find a way to resolve this. You paying half the cost of the pump, and leaving him to pay the other half plus him loosing out on all the labour is fair enough.

snakee

Thanks for all the replies so far, they are very helpful. Please keep them coming.

I was contacted by the plumber on Rated People, after I posted an advert for the job. They had a lot of positive ratings so I was reasonably confident in their ability.

Fosterdog

Whatever you do, do not agree to pay half for the pump if it doesn’t fix the problem.

Give him a chance to change the pump, it may just be faulty. If that fails you would have given him the opportunity to fix the problem so get another plumber to sort it out and put something in writing explaining what was wrong and what was needed to fix the problem. You can then claim against the original plumber for a refund of the incorrect work (and parts that you’ve paid for) and any additional costs of the new plumber to actually fix the issue.