Emergency Plumber Rip Off - Please Help!

strawberries1

Dear all, my husband and I suffered a horrid rip off by emergency plumbers last month.
We've been so ashamed and hurt we've not been able to tell anyone. We couldn't sleep for over a week after the incident and just want to cry when we think about it. 
We have pulled ourselves together somewhat and need to face is properly to try to get some reprieve.
We were billed for 6hrs at £275 per hour or any part of an hour plus VAT with £60 call out charge.
I noticed a leak which my neighbour saw in her ceiling near her extractor fan. My husband found their number online and rang to book them on that fateful day. The only cost information available was their call out charge which was £60 and we felt was reasonable for emergency plumbing as they said they would attend within 1hr. 
They arrived 2hrs 10mins later but as they'd called to say they would arrive in 40, then 15, then were outside (waiting at 4.45pm for a parking warden to leave as they didn't want to pay the parking charge)we had no choice but to keep waiting. We rang them about 2.40 and they came in at 5pm (Paid parking ends at 5pm).
They left twice to get items from their van, 25mins the 1st time and 15mins the second time. That cost us a full hour ie £275 + VAT. They also went to buy materials even though when they arrived they said it wasn't a big job and they do over 40 of this type of leak of every month. They spent 50mins to go to the store 10mins walk from us.
Before they started the work after they had arrived they said they needed to inform the office who will send an email to my husband to approve the work. It was the email that then contained the price of £275 ph +vat. We were shocked but as we have waited so long for them already we didn't want to have to wait an hr for another emergency plumber. The plumber said it shouldn't take long but he doesn't know how long. He spent so much time in there it got to a point I had to keep asking him to leave. He spent another 15mins texting the office what he did after which we got the email invoice  for almost £4,000.We they protested and eventually I rang the police as I was alone in the flat with these 2 men. (My husband was not home.) They then reduced the bill to £2,800 after I rang the police. The plumber was abusive after he confirmed the office had received the payment. The police did attend after they had left, said we shouldn't have paid it and we should seek legal advice. 
We have had a plumber come in to quote to finish the job. He said 3 bits of changing the (I think) compression valve was unnecessary and even if shouldn't have taken more then 2hrs max. The fill valve which might have been the required job he said shouldn't take up to an hour. They spend almost 50mins removing the bath panel and tiles that boxed the pipes. I was alone in the flat and didn't realise the quote was that high and they might be trying to extend the time unnecessarily, until after they had been there about 4hrs and my husband was shocked they were still here. 
I just thought I should see if we can get some advice as to how to approach this. Thank you.

Aylesbury_Duck

strawberries1 said:

Dear all, my husband and I suffered a horrid rip off by emergency plumbers last month.
We've been so ashamed and hurt we've not been able to tell anyone. We couldn't sleep for over a week after the incident and just want to cry when we think about it. 
We have pulled ourselves together somewhat and need to face is properly to try to get some reprieve.
We were billed for 6hrs at £275 per hour or any part of an hour plus VAT with £60 call out charge.
I noticed a leak which my neighbour saw in her ceiling near her extractor fan. My husband found their number online and rang to book them on that fateful day. The only cost information available was their call out charge which was £60 and we felt was reasonable for emergency plumbing as they said they would attend within 1hr. 
They arrived 2hrs 10mins later but as they'd called to say they would arrive in 40, then 15, then were outside (waiting at 4.45pm for a parking warden to leave as they didn't want to pay the parking charge)we had no choice but to keep waiting. We rang them about 2.40 and they came in at 5pm (Paid parking ends at 5pm).
They left twice to get items from their van, 25mins the 1st time and 15mins the second time. That cost us a full hour ie £275 + VAT. They also went to buy materials even though when they arrived they said it wasn't a big job and they do over 40 of this type of leak of every month. They spent 50mins to go to the store 10mins walk from us.
Before they started the work after they had arrived they said they needed to inform the office who will send an email to my husband to approve the work. It was the email that then contained the price of £275 ph +vat. We were shocked but as we have waited so long for them already we didn't want to have to wait an hr for another emergency plumber. The plumber said it shouldn't take long but he doesn't know how long. He spent so much time in there it got to a point I had to keep asking him to leave. He spent another 15mins texting the office what he did after which we got the email invoice  for almost £4,000.We they protested and eventually I rang the police as I was alone in the flat with these 2 men. (My husband was not home.) They then reduced the bill to £2,800 after I rang the police. The plumber was abusive after he confirmed the office had received the payment. The police did attend after they had left, said we shouldn't have paid it and we should seek legal advice. 
We have had a plumber come in to quote to finish the job. He said 3 bits of changing the (I think) compression valve was unnecessary and even if shouldn't have taken more then 2hrs max. The fill valve which might have been the required job he said shouldn't take up to an hour. They spend almost 50mins removing the bath panel and tiles that boxed the pipes. I was alone in the flat and didn't realise the quote was that high and they might be trying to extend the time unnecessarily, until after they had been there about 4hrs and my husband was shocked they were still here. 
I just thought I should see if we can get some advice as to how to approach this. Thank you.

Write to them. Set out why you think the charge is unreasonable, stating what the other plumber said, and state what you consider to be a reasonable charge. You have to accept an element of uplift for what was an emergency out-of-hours callout, of course.  If they don't agree to this new charge and refund you the balance, you will commence a small claims action for the balance in question. 

strawberries1

Aylesbury_Duck said:

strawberries1 said:

Dear all, my husband and I suffered a horrid rip off by emergency plumbers last month.
We've been so ashamed and hurt we've not been able to tell anyone. We couldn't sleep for over a week after the incident and just want to cry when we think about it. 
We have pulled ourselves together somewhat and need to face is properly to try to get some reprieve.
We were billed for 6hrs at £275 per hour or any part of an hour plus VAT with £60 call out charge.
I noticed a leak which my neighbour saw in her ceiling near her extractor fan. My husband found their number online and rang to book them on that fateful day. The only cost information available was their call out charge which was £60 and we felt was reasonable for emergency plumbing as they said they would attend within 1hr. 
They arrived 2hrs 10mins later but as they'd called to say they would arrive in 40, then 15, then were outside (waiting at 4.45pm for a parking warden to leave as they didn't want to pay the parking charge)we had no choice but to keep waiting. We rang them about 2.40 and they came in at 5pm (Paid parking ends at 5pm).
They left twice to get items from their van, 25mins the 1st time and 15mins the second time. That cost us a full hour ie £275 + VAT. They also went to buy materials even though when they arrived they said it wasn't a big job and they do over 40 of this type of leak of every month. They spent 50mins to go to the store 10mins walk from us.
Before they started the work after they had arrived they said they needed to inform the office who will send an email to my husband to approve the work. It was the email that then contained the price of £275 ph +vat. We were shocked but as we have waited so long for them already we didn't want to have to wait an hr for another emergency plumber. The plumber said it shouldn't take long but he doesn't know how long. He spent so much time in there it got to a point I had to keep asking him to leave. He spent another 15mins texting the office what he did after which we got the email invoice  for almost £4,000.We they protested and eventually I rang the police as I was alone in the flat with these 2 men. (My husband was not home.) They then reduced the bill to £2,800 after I rang the police. The plumber was abusive after he confirmed the office had received the payment. The police did attend after they had left, said we shouldn't have paid it and we should seek legal advice. 
We have had a plumber come in to quote to finish the job. He said 3 bits of changing the (I think) compression valve was unnecessary and even if shouldn't have taken more then 2hrs max. The fill valve which might have been the required job he said shouldn't take up to an hour. They spend almost 50mins removing the bath panel and tiles that boxed the pipes. I was alone in the flat and didn't realise the quote was that high and they might be trying to extend the time unnecessarily, until after they had been there about 4hrs and my husband was shocked they were still here. 
I just thought I should see if we can get some advice as to how to approach this. Thank you.

Write to them. Set out why you think the charge is unreasonable, stating what the other plumber said, and state what you consider to be a reasonable charge. You have to accept an element of uplift for what was an emergency out-of-hours callout, of course.  If they don't agree to this new charge and refund you the balance, you will commence a small claims action for the balance in question. 

We shall do this. Thank you.