Overcharged by plumber - what are our options?

[Deleted User]

maxxpayne said:

Sandtree said:

maxxpayne said:

By not paying by credit card we clearly lost out a lot - but what can we do now? 

What do you think you've lost other than 420 avios or clubcard points or whatever?

Section 75 perhaps?

Highly unlikely be of any use in a case like this, so you've not lost anything other than the clubcard points.

Chargeback would be far simpler, but that will also be easily reversed.

If you feel you were mis-charged, then complain to the plumber, but as the cost was agreed to, your chances are slim,  

maxxpayne

mark_cycling00 said:

Are you in Wandsworth? I know (from dozens of google reviews) that a company there seems to do similar. 
They appear to get aggressive and refuse to leave your property unless you pay on the spot.

No, we're in Islington - but I suspect these guys operate allover London and could be the same company. 500+ reviews with 1.6 rating on Truspilot - almost every review is as bad as it gets.

Aylesbury_Duck

To be honest, that price doesn't seem too high, given it's Islington.  Once you've done a bit more research, you'll find out if they've hugely overcharged.

What is the nature of the mass of poor reviews?  Service, or price?  If it's service, then at least your problem has been fixed.  If it's pricing or charging practice, then you may be onto something.

Sandtree

maxxpayne said:

Sandtree said:

maxxpayne said:

By not paying by credit card we clearly lost out a lot - but what can we do now? 

What do you think you've lost other than 420 avios or clubcard points or whatever?

Section 75 perhaps?

Presumably what the OP is thinking but S75 doesn't cover you thinking you were overcharged after agreeing to a price and paying. Clearly would cover if the fix failed but by the nature of the fix its fairly unlikely that you could argue it was a fail rather than just its blocked again due to another large movement.

maxxpayne

Reading the reviews and looks like exactly the same tactic was used with at least one other customer of theirs before.

maxxpayne

Aylesbury_Duck said:

To be honest, that price doesn't seem too high, given it's Islington.  Once you've done a bit more research, you'll find out if they've hugely overcharged.

What is the nature of the mass of poor reviews?  Service, or price?  If it's service, then at least your problem has been fixed.  If it's pricing or charging practice, then you may be onto something.

The mass poor reviews are a combination of mainly poor service, pressure tactics and over charging, at least reading the first tow pages.

Aylesbury_Duck

You should contact the plumbing company, asking them to break down their charges if they haven't done so already.  Then do some homework, comparing it to what others might charge, and see if they're not too far out.  A premium for a rapid call-out in Islington is reasonable.  As someone else pointed out, if the company has invested in expensive kit to speed the job up, it's reasonable you're charged accordingly.  Another plumber might have toiled away for much longer with inferior kit and cost you just the same simply because the labour charge would be higher.  You might perceive you've received more for your money if they took longer, but each approach results in the problem being fixed.

Flight3287462

The question really is what is being put down the toilet at some point in the past?

mark_cycling00

The question is about the types of dishonest plumbing companies with reviews like these two, and what you can do about it:

https://www.yell.com/biz/london-gas-plumbers-london-9561465/

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/southstarplumbers.com?page=2&stars=1

You can see that people are being charged £1,300 to unblock a toilet, £1,750 for 3 hours work, being threatened.
But there doesn't seem to be a way to stop them setting up new companies and adding some fake positive reviews in order to scam people again.

RogerBareford

mark_cycling00 said:

The question is about the types of dishonest plumbing companies with reviews like these two, and what you can do about it:

https://www.yell.com/biz/london-gas-plumbers-london-9561465/

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/southstarplumbers.com?page=2&stars=1

You can see that people are being charged £1,300 to unblock a toilet, £1,750 for 3 hours work, being threatened.
But there doesn't seem to be a way to stop them setting up new companies and adding some fake positive reviews in order to scam people again.

They don't even need to do that because their will always be people like the OP who don't even read the reviews before contacting them.