Ovecharged for a new boiler

eskbanker

tgk1 said:

I did not realise the job was over priced previously.  It was only after the shower installation I started looking into it.  And their refusal to provide me with detailed invoices for me curious . Yes I should have titled it differently. Still doesn't answer my question which is are we all being ripped off?

To which the obvious answer is that the MSE philosophy is all about shopping around for the best deals - those who don't will generally end up paying higher prices but in itself that doesn't equate to being 'ripped off'.  You obviously had some discussion with them about price, so evidently went in with your eyes open to a certain extent - it's clearly unacceptable for companies to use predatory selling tactics and excessive prices, but in this case it seems that the price you paid wasn't out of step with expectations of others, even though you'd come up with a lower notional one by understating the installation aspect.

lincroft1710

tgk1 said:

I would still be interested in other opinions.  

Don't see you winning in court

Aylesbury_Duck

tgk1 said:

I am not taking any. They are.  

My mistake, I'd lost track.

I'd get that formal legal advice and proceed as they advise.  I don't think you were overcharged for the boiler installation and the pricing of that job is irrelevant to any court action the plumbing company brings for your non-payment for an entirely separate job.  A good solicitor will advise you not to let it get to court if you're unlikely to win, and will help you if they think you have a good chance of winning.

Okell

1.  I don't understand what the issue is about the boiler.  The OP was presumably quoted c. £3900 and was happy to accept that.  The trader might have accepted a lower price if the OP paid in cash but the OP chose not to take advantage of that

We bought a new boiler three years ago and i would say that £3900 is not a rip-off amount.

2.  Regarding the shower, I don't know.  £474 for a new shower sounds reasonable to me, but obviously not reasonable if the OP thought they were simply going to have a £30 part replaced rather than getting a new shower.  Comes down entirely to what the OP agreed with the trader, but if the OP was expecting only to have a part replaced I wonder why she didn't query what was happening when they turned up with what was obviously a new shower...

3.  Problems with shower and "water pressure".  I wonder if the OP has replaced a conventional boiler with a combi?  Personally I wouldn't touch a combi unless I was in a flat or a very small 2 up 2 down

tgk1

I am obviously looking at this from a different perspective from some other people.  

First the boiler: I would normally do all of my research.  I didn't.  This operative was highly recommended by a very good friend.  So I trusted them.  Forget everything else around this and I will ask the same question again.  If he was prepared to give me £1000 off what was his mark up?

I didn't know the plumber who turned up to install the shower.. I showed him into the shower and let him get on with it.  I had no reason to believe it was not a cartridge being installed.

I had the plumber messaging me and trying to call me.  All they had to do was email.  He knows my personal situation.  Then he turned up at my house at night and was ringing my door bell. Knocking on the door and rattling the letter box for around 15 minutes.  The doorbell footage will confirm that.

I feel that I have been taken for a ride here.  I understand that some of you don't. I also understand that some of you are in possession of facts that I have not put on here.  So i will make my own assumptions.  And I am going to turn off comments If I can.   Thank you for your input everyone  I will see what my legal advisor reommends on Friday.  Thank you

elsien

You can’t turn off comments. 

But if you just stop responding, then the thread will eventually drop away out of sight.
There is also the option of asking the forum team to remove it, but I don’t know what the criteria are for that. 

Aylesbury_Duck

tgk1 said:

I am obviously looking at this from a different perspective from some other people.  

First the boiler: I would normally do all of my research.  I didn't.  This operative was highly recommended by a very good friend.  So I trusted them.  Forget everything else around this and I will ask the same question again.  If he was prepared to give me £1000 off what was his mark up?

I didn't know the plumber who turned up to install the shower.. I showed him into the shower and let him get on with it.  I had no reason to believe it was not a cartridge being installed.

I had the plumber messaging me and trying to call me.  All they had to do was email.  He knows my personal situation.  Then he turned up at my house at night and was ringing my door bell. Knocking on the door and rattling the letter box for around 15 minutes.  The doorbell footage will confirm that.

I feel that I have been taken for a ride here.  I understand that some of you don't. I also understand that some of you are in possession of facts that I have not put on here.  So i will make my own assumptions.  And I am going to turn off comments If I can.   Thank you for your input everyone  I will see what my legal advisor reommends on Friday.  Thank you

The short answer to that is: none of your business.  He will have overheads which you didn't consider in your rough calculation, he's entitled to make a profit, and you were happy with the price.  Most tradespeople will price to make more margin on some jobs than others.

HampshireH

tgk1 said:

What made you think it was a Bristan shower? The plumber told me a cartridge would be around £3-400.  I didn't agree a price.  I would have liked to have chosen my new shower.  Still waiting for formal legal advice but so far I am going to take my chance in court.

Apologies,  was just an error on my part after reading through it all and trying to make sense of it. Either way replacement cartridges can be sourced far cheaper for many models.  You haven't said what shower model you originally had to know whether they were being honest or not.

Okell

tgk1 said:

I am obviously looking at this from a different perspective from some other people.  

First the boiler: I would normally do all of my research.  I didn't.  This operative was highly recommended by a very good friend.  So I trusted them.  Forget everything else around this and I will ask the same question again.  If he was prepared to give me £1000 off what was his mark up?... 

Then complain to your very good friend that her recommendation has cost you £1000+ and ask her how would she like to recompense you.

If you didn't like the quoted price you shouldn't have agreed to it.  I understand that you were bereaved and perhaps not thinking straight but it wasn't the trader's responsibility to treat you as "special" because of that.  He probably didn't even know.

And as others have said, the trader's mark up is 100% NONE of your business.  If you thought £3900 was too dear you shouldn't have agreed to it - you should have got a cheaper quote.

In any case, AIUI you have no problem with the boiler (except that with 20:20 Scottish hindsight you think you were overcharged) so I don't see its relevance to you being sued by the trader for non-payment of something entirely unrelated to the boiler.  (Unless you've replaced a conventional boiler with a combi which might have affected the existing shower performance).

tgk1 said:

... I didn't know the plumber who turned up to install the shower.. I showed him into the shower and let him get on with it.  I had no reason to believe it was not a cartridge being installed...

So you engaged trader A to install a new boiler and then you were so happy with their work that you got them to fix your shower.  But they were unavailable and subbed it to trader B who you didn't know.  Trader B turned up at your house to do the work but despite the fact you'd had no contact with him you let him in and let him do the work without confirming what he was to do?

Well both A and B don't come out of that particularly well, but neither do you.  You should have agreed with A what work was required (ie A should have advised you either that just a replacement part was required or that you needed a new shower) and you should have confirmed with B when he arrived that he was only doing what you'd agreed with A, and nothing more.

You're being sued by A because you haven't paid for the new shower installed by B.

Well if you have evidence that A told you it would only cost a £30 replacemnt part rather than a new shower, then let him sue you and see where he gets.  If you have nothing in writing you can always ask the court to question why he wouldn't put a proper quote to replace the shower in writing, given it would cost a lot more than a replacement part

tgk1

Thank you everyone for your advice/input.  I think it is interesting that nobody has mentioned that there is help from consumer groups that can help if you find yourself in this situation or a similar one.

Citizens Advice Bureau.

Consumer Rights Act 2015

Misleading Action

Digital Market and Consumer Act 2024

These can all help you as can Organisations like Which.  So please consult these for advice.