Cancelled emergency plumbing job as they weren’t prompt enough

AndrewAfresh2

I had an overflowing blocked toilet. I found a website which advertises as “We're on call 24/7 to react promptly to your plumbing emergencies. We are available for call outs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week”. I called them at 14:46, they said they could get there between 16:00 & 17:00 & asked me to pay a deposit of £144 which I sent by Faster Payment. I called for an update at 17:00, they said their current job is delayed by a few hours, could we leave it until tomorrow. I replied no we want this sorted out today. He asked if I want to cancel, I said yes. He asked me to confirm by email which I did. I have chased for refund & still not got it. Is there anything I can do to get it? Thanks for any helpful advice!

elsien

When did this happen? How much time have you given them so far to process the refund?

HillStreetBlues

When did this happen?

born_again

AndrewAfresh2 said:

I had an overflowing blocked toilet. I found a website which advertises as “We're on call 24/7 to react promptly to your plumbing emergencies. We are available for call outs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week”. I called them at 14:46, they said they could get there between 16:00 & 17:00 & asked me to pay a deposit of £144 which I sent by Faster Payment. I called for an update at 17:00, they said their current job is delayed by a few hours, could we leave it until tomorrow. I replied no we want this sorted out today. He asked if I want to cancel, I said yes. He asked me to confirm by email which I did. I have chased for refund & still not got it. Is there anything I can do to get it? Thanks for any helpful advice!

Did they say they would refund?

If not then you need to check their T/C on this.

Alderbank

It's a consumer contract so regardless of their T&Cs they can only retain their reasonable costs actually incurred.

However as above we don't know any timescales and there is nothing so far to suggest that they will not refund.

AndrewAfresh2

This happened on 6th July this year. They didn't say they would refund, only they asked me if I want to cancel the job. The T&CStan doc they sent says the deposit required is 50% of the total estimated cost.

pinkshoes

AndrewAfresh2 said:

This happened on 6th July this year. They didn't say they would refund, only they asked me if I want to cancel the job. The T&CStan doc they sent says the deposit required is 50% of the total estimated cost.

They might not have said they would refund, but as they couldn't supply the emergency service that you booked, then they MUST refund.

As you paid by "faster payment" then I think this is equivalent to a bank transfer? In which case you cannot just contact your card provider. 

If you have already chased for a refund, then you need to send a more formal letter. 

Dear <name>. On 6th July I booked you for an emergency call out at 14h46, which you said you would be there between 16h00 and 17h00. I paid £144 via fast payment.  At 17h00 I called for an update as no one had turned up, to which I was told you were running late on a previous job and could no longer make it until the next day. You asked if I wanted to cancel which I agreed, but you are yet to refund me the £144. Please refund me within the next 14 days. If I do not receive a full refund within this time frame, then I will have no option but to start legal action to obtain my refund.


Did you go ahead and book someone else when they didn't turn up?

AndrewAfresh2

pinkshoes said:

Did you go ahead and book someone else when they didn't turn up?

Yes I did. Thank you very much for the draft text.

AndrewAfresh2

pinkshoes said:

Did you go ahead and book someone else when they didn't turn up?

Was there a reason you asked if I'd booked with someone else?

RefluentBeans

AndrewAfresh2 said:

pinkshoes said:

Did you go ahead and book someone else when they didn't turn up?

Was there a reason you asked if I'd booked with someone else?

A possible reason - if the service you had was more expensive than the original service quoted, you may be able to claim added compensation.

Did you ask if they could come the same day still? Or just accepted the cancellation? Given they were coming ‘in hours’ rather than out of of hours, would there have been an additional charge you wanted them to come in the evening? 

AndrewAfresh2

The first company said (on phone) something like "the plumber will be delayed until late evening, do you mind if we come tomorrow morning instead" and they offered cancellation because I said we can't wait that long. Their Ts&Cs don't appear to impose any additional cost for out-of-hours work; they say the deposit is 50% of the total.