Hi
I agreed a fixed price quote with a plumber to install a Glowworm 18HX boiler to replace an Ideal Classic FF360. After he'd fitted the boiler and it was basically working he told me that he couldn't wire up the permanent live and pump overrun because wiring was needed between the boiler and the cabinet with the pump in on the floor below. He was blaming the house and said there was no way he could have known before starting the installation and he said the boiler would work fine without it. So I wasn't sure at first and asked him if it would affect the operation of the boiler in any way and if it would affect the Manufacturer's warranty. The next day he said he'd spoken to Glowworm and they had told him it was ok to install it without wiring up these features. He told me that it wouldn't affect the operation of the boiler at all and would not affect the warranty. He said that the only thing I may notice is that the boiler would not display the water temperature at all times, only when it was working. Because of this I didn't make a big fuss about it at the time and said something like maybe I would lay the cable in future and then he would come and connect it at both ends.
Now after he had finished we were getting the boiler shutting itself down with error code F22 regularly - would wake up in the morning or come back to the house and it was freezing cold and had to reset the boiler. I contacted Glowworm and asked them to confirm what the plumber had said. I didn't even mention to them about the F22 errors. Glowworm eventually replied that if the permanent live and pump overrun were not wired up that the boiler would probably suffer periodic F22 errors and that any faults they deemed to be caused by the 'incorrect installation' were not covered by warranty.
So I went back to the plumber insisting that he complete the installation including laying the cable and any 'making good' of floors, walls etc. if he had to cause damage to them while laying the cable. He refused saying that I had said I would do that work myself. So I replied that I didn't say I would do it, I said I 'may' do it and any statement I made about doing any work was because of the false information which he had given me about the wiring being basically unnecessary. He would not have this at all and suggested things like he could come and do something like wire up the pump to run permanently. I asked him if he would want a pump running 24/7 365 days a year drawing 60 watts of power in his own house and he replied 'forget it then'. I asked him 3 times over the next 6 weeks to come and complete the work and he effectively refused to do it in any way which would meet the manufacturer's installation instructions unless I did all the preparation work for laying the cable - removing flooring, floorboards and putting them back myself. I explained that what he wanted me to do was 90% of the work and I could not do it because, not being a professional and not having the tools, it would take me a long time and I couldn't have unboarded floors for a long time with a toddler running around. So basically he just refused to do anything. Because he was becoming very irritating, I offered to settle it if he gave me £200 refund (I knew the real cost to put it right wouild be much more), but he refused saying 'no refunds'.
So, now I have got Gassafe involved and complained to Glowworm for whom he is an approved installer. He gets very angry about this acting like I am being unreasonable. I have threatened him with court action and am currently getting quotes to put the work right.
Some things I would like to know are, is it right what he says about not being able to know that the house didn't have the wiring before he had almost completed installing the new boiler? This seems very unlikely to be true to me because he should have known that the old boiler didn't require that wiring so why would he assume that the house had it? Also other plumbers have told me its quite easy to check and I suppose you can see quite easily what wiring is there in the cabinet containing the pump and junction box. I have made the point to him that he should have done a proper site survey and could have either given me a higher quote, recommended to fix the old boiler (which just had a broken fan), declined the work, or suggested to fit a new boiler which didn't require the wiring. Another plumber has told me that a Baxi would be suitable. Is this a reasonable point?
His latest offer is that he will give me £650 refund and he will come and remove the boiler. I have said no and told him that I am getting all the information together to start a 'small claims' action against him. His main point in his latest email seems to be that when 'I offered to do the work' I denied him the opportunity to do it and he says he wanted to do it all the time. But he actually told me that he couldn't do it, he never offered to do it and has refused to do it ever since.
I agreed a fixed price quote with a plumber to install a Glowworm 18HX boiler to replace an Ideal Classic FF360. After he'd fitted the boiler and it was basically working he told me that he couldn't wire up the permanent live and pump overrun because wiring was needed between the boiler and the cabinet with the pump in on the floor below. He was blaming the house and said there was no way he could have known before starting the installation and he said the boiler would work fine without it. So I wasn't sure at first and asked him if it would affect the operation of the boiler in any way and if it would affect the Manufacturer's warranty. The next day he said he'd spoken to Glowworm and they had told him it was ok to install it without wiring up these features. He told me that it wouldn't affect the operation of the boiler at all and would not affect the warranty. He said that the only thing I may notice is that the boiler would not display the water temperature at all times, only when it was working. Because of this I didn't make a big fuss about it at the time and said something like maybe I would lay the cable in future and then he would come and connect it at both ends.
Now after he had finished we were getting the boiler shutting itself down with error code F22 regularly - would wake up in the morning or come back to the house and it was freezing cold and had to reset the boiler. I contacted Glowworm and asked them to confirm what the plumber had said. I didn't even mention to them about the F22 errors. Glowworm eventually replied that if the permanent live and pump overrun were not wired up that the boiler would probably suffer periodic F22 errors and that any faults they deemed to be caused by the 'incorrect installation' were not covered by warranty.
So I went back to the plumber insisting that he complete the installation including laying the cable and any 'making good' of floors, walls etc. if he had to cause damage to them while laying the cable. He refused saying that I had said I would do that work myself. So I replied that I didn't say I would do it, I said I 'may' do it and any statement I made about doing any work was because of the false information which he had given me about the wiring being basically unnecessary. He would not have this at all and suggested things like he could come and do something like wire up the pump to run permanently. I asked him if he would want a pump running 24/7 365 days a year drawing 60 watts of power in his own house and he replied 'forget it then'. I asked him 3 times over the next 6 weeks to come and complete the work and he effectively refused to do it in any way which would meet the manufacturer's installation instructions unless I did all the preparation work for laying the cable - removing flooring, floorboards and putting them back myself. I explained that what he wanted me to do was 90% of the work and I could not do it because, not being a professional and not having the tools, it would take me a long time and I couldn't have unboarded floors for a long time with a toddler running around. So basically he just refused to do anything. Because he was becoming very irritating, I offered to settle it if he gave me £200 refund (I knew the real cost to put it right wouild be much more), but he refused saying 'no refunds'.
So, now I have got Gassafe involved and complained to Glowworm for whom he is an approved installer. He gets very angry about this acting like I am being unreasonable. I have threatened him with court action and am currently getting quotes to put the work right.
Some things I would like to know are, is it right what he says about not being able to know that the house didn't have the wiring before he had almost completed installing the new boiler? This seems very unlikely to be true to me because he should have known that the old boiler didn't require that wiring so why would he assume that the house had it? Also other plumbers have told me its quite easy to check and I suppose you can see quite easily what wiring is there in the cabinet containing the pump and junction box. I have made the point to him that he should have done a proper site survey and could have either given me a higher quote, recommended to fix the old boiler (which just had a broken fan), declined the work, or suggested to fit a new boiler which didn't require the wiring. Another plumber has told me that a Baxi would be suitable. Is this a reasonable point?
His latest offer is that he will give me £650 refund and he will come and remove the boiler. I have said no and told him that I am getting all the information together to start a 'small claims' action against him. His main point in his latest email seems to be that when 'I offered to do the work' I denied him the opportunity to do it and he says he wanted to do it all the time. But he actually told me that he couldn't do it, he never offered to do it and has refused to do it ever since.
