Ripped off by a plumber

mrsyardbroom

Is there a way to find a proper plumber who is registered with a governing body? A plumber did offer to do some work for me to stop a leak, It was a bad leak and the kitchen was flooded. He failed to identify where the leak was coming from but still charged a £20 call out fee. I found out where the pipes were leaking and called him back. He did some work on them and said it was all dry, and I paid him another £140. When he'd gone I noticed the floor was getting wet again and the pipe was still leaking. The plumber had gone away for the weekend but said he'd fix it on Monday. He switched his phone off and didn't turn up. I eventually managed to get hold of him and he actually came out. He said he needed a lot more parts to fix all of the plumbing problems. I haven't seen or heard from him since. I just need to know how to find someone who won't rip me off. I will have to write the money off and save up again as I'm on a small pension.

marcia_

mrsyardbroom said:

Is there a way to find a proper plumber who is registered with a governing body? A plumber did offer to do some work for me to stop a leak, It was a bad leak and the kitchen was flooded. He failed to identify where the leak was coming from but still charged a £20 call out fee. I found out where the pipes were leaking and called him back. He did some work on them and said it was all dry, and I paid him another £140. When he'd gone I noticed the floor was getting wet again and the pipe was still leaking. The plumber had gone away for the weekend but said he'd fix it on Monday. He switched his phone off and didn't turn up. I eventually managed to get hold of him and he actually came out. He said he needed a lot more parts to fix all of the plumbing problems. I haven't seen or heard from him since. I just need to know how to find someone who won't rip me off. I will have to write the money off and save up again as I'm on a small pension.

 There is no registration or governing body for plumbers. Your best bet would be word of mouth. Ask on Facebook or the nextdoor website for recommendations from people in your community 

tacpot12

You should try to use personal recommendations from friends or family after you have inspected the work that the plumber has done. If no one in your circle of family and friends can recommend someone, then try social media for recommendations, but ask if you can review the work, and when you meet the homeowner, ask them how they found the person they are recommending - be careful not to select a plumbers who is only recommended by their family or close friends!

I would not pay the plumber any more money unless they provide you with a breakdown of the materials and time he has used to show that it is more than £140. At the moment, they owe you money.

BTW £20 as a call-out fee is suspicious. Most traders charge about £60, but include upto 1hr of labour for free with the cost of any materials used being either charged for or included in the price if they are trivial.

mrsyardbroom

A friend recommended this plumber and he has glowing reviews everywhere. Maybe I've just been unlucky. I was very polite to him and paid him straight away.

km1500

the other option is to do as yourself I appreciate that some people are just not handy persons if I can use that word but there are YouTube videos and so on that will help you learn and quite a few things you can definitely do yourself with a little bit of patience

swingaloo

I wouldn't ask on Facebook. I know one builder who has botched up several jobs and left people high and dry but if anyone on the local Facebook page asks about a builder both he gets glowing reports from his girlfriend and his sister who recommend him highly.

marcia_

swingaloo said:

I wouldn't ask on Facebook. I know one builder who has botched up several jobs and left people high and dry but if anyone on the local Facebook page asks about a builder both he gets glowing reports from his girlfriend and his sister who recommend him highly.

 I meant asking amongst your own Facebook friends who have used the plumber previously, not trusting random peoples comments. 

twopenny

I ask among the people I do activities with - do you go to any clubs or activities.

Who do they use? If you get the same name repeated more than once that's a good sign.

It's all difficult. A neighbour recommended a friends nephew to do some painting for me and it's the first time I've had to ask someone to finish and leave.

And yes, I too was surprised about the £20 call out. That's not a genuine plumber in business. They either won't charge if they can't spot the problem or it will be more like £60

tacpot12

mrsyardbroom said:

A friend recommended this plumber and he has glowing reviews everywhere. Maybe I've just been unlucky. I was very polite to him and paid him straight away.

Sometimes you can get unlucky, but most tradespeople will try to do the right thing. It costs very little to do the right thing, and this plumber doesn't seem to be trying. Perhaps you could feedback to the friend that the plumber as left you 'high and dry', or rather the opposite of this! 

mrsyardbroom

km1500 said:

the other option is to do as yourself I appreciate that some people are just not handy persons if I can use that word but there are YouTube videos and so on that will help you learn and quite a few things you can definitely do yourself with a little bit of patience

No way I could do the plumbing required. It needs skill and strength.

mrsyardbroom

The plumber finally turned up and did the work. The only thing he couldn't do was to fit new washers to some taps. Only two or three years old and they had seized.