Faulty gas cooker valve fitted

F1Fan

Please can anyone help me.  I have just been told, by emergency gas engineer, that I have a faulty gas cooker inlet valve, it was fitted four months ago by a fully qualified gas engineer and it needs changing.  Would I have to pay for him to come back out and replace it?  He told me on the phone that it was all checked after fitting, so I don't know where I stand.  

Thanks for any help.

(The emergency engineer has turned off all my gas)

WIAWSNB

4 months? Of course you are covered. The original fellow should come back and replace it, foc.
Assuming you paid for the supply and fit of a new part.
Do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance?
Why didn't you call out the original fellow when the fault occurred? 
What is the actual problem?

mr_vampy

Are both engineers Gas Safe Registered?

F1Fan

WIAWSNB said:

4 months? Of course you are covered. The original fellow should come back and replace it, foc.
Assuming you paid for the supply and fit of a new part.
Do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance?
Why didn't you call out the original fellow when the fault occurred? 
What is the actual problem?

Thank you for replying.  We could smell gas this morning, so called the National gas emergency service, after checking he said the valve was the problem.  I'm unsure about the Legal Protection - sorry, how would that help me?

F1Fan

mr_vampy said:

Are both engineers Gas Safe Registered?

Thanks for you reply.  Yes, the fitter and the National gas emergency service engineer are both registered.

WIAWSNB

F1Fan said:

WIAWSNB said:

4 months? Of course you are covered. The original fellow should come back and replace it, foc.
Assuming you paid for the supply and fit of a new part.
Do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance?
Why didn't you call out the original fellow when the fault occurred? 
What is the actual problem?

Thank you for replying.  We could smell gas this morning, so called the National gas emergency service, after checking he said the valve was the problem.  I'm unsure about the Legal Protection - sorry, how would that help me?

LP is an add-on to your house insurance policy, and covers you in things like contractual disputes. They also provide a legal advice helpline, so if you have it, you call them up for guidance, which will be better than a forum :-) If you have LP, then you will have paid for it, and it'll be free to use.
They will tell you what to do, which will/should simply be to call up the first GS and explain what happened - ask them nicely to come out and sort it, under their warranty. Ie, FOC.
That should be the end of the matter, but if the GS refuses, or says he'll have to charge you, then you go back to your LP for guidance on the next step. 
That could be a 'letter before action', but they'll guide you.

F1Fan

WIAWSNB said:

F1Fan said:

WIAWSNB said:

4 months? Of course you are covered. The original fellow should come back and replace it, foc.
Assuming you paid for the supply and fit of a new part.
Do you have Legal Protection on your house insurance?
Why didn't you call out the original fellow when the fault occurred? 
What is the actual problem?

Thank you for replying.  We could smell gas this morning, so called the National gas emergency service, after checking he said the valve was the problem.  I'm unsure about the Legal Protection - sorry, how would that help me?

LP is an add-on to your house insurance policy, and covers you in things like contractual disputes. They also provide a legal advice helpline, so if you have it, you call them up for guidance, which will be better than a forum :-) If you have LP, then you will have paid for it, and it'll be free to use.
They will tell you what to do, which will/should simply be to call up the first GS and explain what happened - ask them nicely to come out and sort it, under their warranty. Ie, FOC.
That should be the end of the matter, but if the GS refuses, or says he'll have to charge you, then you go back to your LP for guidance on the next step. 
That could be a 'letter before action', but they'll guide you.

The original engineer is coming out this morning, there was no mention of costs on the phone.  I'm worried he's going to see that I haven't got any gas and charge me to put it right - I'm hoping I'm wrong.  I've checked, I haven't got legal protection.

WIAWSNB

F1Fan said:

The original engineer is coming out this morning, there was no mention of costs on the phone.  I'm worried he's going to see that I haven't got any gas and charge me to put it right - I'm hoping I'm wrong.  I've checked, I haven't got legal protection.

I'm hoping he'll impress you by doing what is right, which is to apologise, fix it, and absolutely not request any money.

If he does try anything like you fear, then there are a few options. 

First, express surprise, with "Oh, why isn't it warranted like any other repair - say if I took my car to a garage for new brakes?", and see what he says. Keep asking that very simple and obvious Q - 'why?'

Depending on what he comes back with, you can either agree to proceed, but add your disappointment, "Oh, I'm surprised. Well, I do need it fixed, but I honestly don't think I should be paying for it. Ok, I'll pay to get it done, but I'll have to add 'paid under protest' on the new invoice, and then get advice on how to reclaim this...", and he obviously should present an invoice if he's demanding payment. Or, you simply refuse, with, "Well, no, I won't be paying twice for the same repair! I'll have to get another GS to sort it, and then bill you for the work."

What I would also do is to set your phone running on 'record' when he turns up - have it sitting somewhere in the room. 

Oh, and add LP for pity's sakes...

F1Fan

WIAWSNB said:

F1Fan said:

The original engineer is coming out this morning, there was no mention of costs on the phone.  I'm worried he's going to see that I haven't got any gas and charge me to put it right - I'm hoping I'm wrong.  I've checked, I haven't got legal protection.

I'm hoping he'll impress you by doing what is right, which is to apologise, fix it, and absolutely not request any money.

If he does try anything like you fear, then there are a few options. 

First, express surprise, with "Oh, why isn't it warranted like any other repair - say if I took my car to a garage for new brakes?", and see what he says. Keep asking that very simple and obvious Q - 'why?'

Depending on what he comes back with, you can either agree to proceed, but add your disappointment, "Oh, I'm surprised. Well, I do need it fixed, but I honestly don't think I should be paying for it. Ok, I'll pay to get it done, but I'll have to add 'paid under protest' on the new invoice, and then get advice on how to reclaim this...", and he obviously should present an invoice if he's demanding payment. Or, you simply refuse, with, "Well, no, I won't be paying twice for the same repair! I'll have to get another GS to sort it, and then bill you for the work."

What I would also do is to set your phone running on 'record' when he turns up - have it sitting somewhere in the room. 

Oh, and add LP for pity's sakes...

Thank you WIAWSNB for your helpful messages.   I just wanted to let you know how it went.  The engineer was going to charge us, we put across what you suggested to say and he backed down.

WIAWSNB

Great stuff - well done.

Strike that guy off your Christmas card list, and find a personally-recommended GS for any jobs in the future.

And get yer LEGAL PROTECTION!