Plumber charging £225 for blocked toilet

Grumpy_chap

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6663943/plumber-charging-225-for-blocked-toilet

£150 + VAT is £180. The quote from the actual plumber is £225 so it is only a difference of £45.

It sounds like this was a blockage caused by your actions so it would seem to be down to you to remedy. As a Tenant, you are required to "act in a Tenant-like manner". That really means taking care of matters such as this yourself. What did you try before calling the LL / Agent?

FreeBear

Simple pan blockages will go with a quick plunge.

One of these will work on most blockages IF they are within the U-bend. https://www.screwfix.com/p/forge-steel-plunger-100mm/489yc

Poorkidtoday

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81961291#Comment_81961291

hi

Thank you for your response. We are in England and rent privately

Poorkidtoday

Hi

Yes. Our landlord told us it was £225 so we looked around to see if this was an acceptable price and it seems to high

Poorkidtoday

We did not realise why it was blocked as it is a old toilet so thought it could be the pipes.

The landlord said he would call a plumber and appears to have chosen an overpriced one

ExEstateAgent

In another universe there's a thread 'Toilet blocked and Landlord won't fix until we've asked for 3 quotes, having to poo in a bucket, are we entitled to compensation?'

You blocked it, it's been fixed for you, pay the bill and don't put so much toilet roll down the loo in future!

gwynlas

There are a number of quick fixes to try before callng out a plumber such as a bucket of hot water or the use of a makeshist plunger eg a mop wrapped in plastic

BungalowBel

A Hardware shop owner told my husband to get an ordinary household mop, wrap it in a plastic carrier bag and use it as a plunger. Toilet unblocked instantly.

(This type of mop: )

mills112

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81961775#Comment_81961775

a blocked toilet would be considered an emergency if there was only one toilet in the house. the landlord does not have time to get quotes and compare them, in the meantime where are you going to go for a poo and pee in the bath tub?

emergency plumbers are more expensive and finding plumbers who will work on blocked toilets may not be as easy as you think as plumbers are in high demand, so they can afford to choose the better jobs.

saajan_12

Most of this is the call out charge at short notice. Most plumbers aren't going to travel for a quote on a £1-200 job, and paying for quotes would be more than the £45 difference here. Also waiting to fix, especially if people had to use the facilities and there were overflows or backflows, would have been significantly worse.

So fixing quickly was the reasonable action. The question is just whether £225 was a reasonable amount, which is not cut and dry.. its not exorbitant but cheaper may be available.

In practice your options are to either pay the £225 or pay what you think and let them argue the rest when it comes to deposit time.