I need to ask for some opinions.
The story is: On Saturday last week my boiler (a Glow Worm 30sxi) failed to fire in the morning. Switching it off and on a few times did nothing - each time it stopped with the red light flashing and fault codes F1 (no ignition) or F4 (gone out after igniting). Found a local plumber on the web, phoned him, explained the situation, and said I was OK to wait until Monday to avoid weekend callout charges but could he come round then.
So on Monday he arrived, opened up the boiler, and found that the burner seals were shot and leaking badly; also the seal on the cover panel was torn where it had stuck because of the heat from the leaking burner. He went off to get a new seal kit, returned a couple of hours later to fit it. He hadn't been able to find a new seal for the cover panel, and also discovered when changing the burner gaskets that there was another gasket that needed replacing but wasn't in the seal kit. However he sorted out a temporary gasket that meant we could use the boiler until he could come back with the last parts.
The next day he returned with the remaining seals, and spent another hour fixing it all up, giving the boiler a good cleaning and servicing. All working fine.
The total bill was £300 - £200 labour, £50 parts, £50 VAT. This was way more than I was expecting - but I paid without quibbles and didn't argue - he had come when asked, done a good job as far as I was concerned, pleasant guy, and it's been ages since I last needed a plumber so it's likely my ideas of prices are out of date.
So far, so unremarkable. However, the problem is that now (after a week of working well) the boiler is doing the same thing - intermittent no start, F1/F4 codes. Called the plumber again, he came round again, and said it's likely to be a faulty gas valve, but we need to wait until it fails permanently to be sure. I don't blame him for not finding this the first time; the boiler seals really were shot and it was quite reasonable to assume that they were the reason why it wouldn't fire.
But now I need to decide what to do. The simple answer is just to ask him to come and fix it - but I'm worried because this is probably a much bigger job. If his first charges were fair, I'm happy to give the work to him. But if his charges were way above average, I need to go round getting estimates from other plumbers, which is a pain and I'd rather not have to do it.
So what do the experienced plumbers here say? Would you have charged the same, more, or less for the first job?
The story is: On Saturday last week my boiler (a Glow Worm 30sxi) failed to fire in the morning. Switching it off and on a few times did nothing - each time it stopped with the red light flashing and fault codes F1 (no ignition) or F4 (gone out after igniting). Found a local plumber on the web, phoned him, explained the situation, and said I was OK to wait until Monday to avoid weekend callout charges but could he come round then.
So on Monday he arrived, opened up the boiler, and found that the burner seals were shot and leaking badly; also the seal on the cover panel was torn where it had stuck because of the heat from the leaking burner. He went off to get a new seal kit, returned a couple of hours later to fit it. He hadn't been able to find a new seal for the cover panel, and also discovered when changing the burner gaskets that there was another gasket that needed replacing but wasn't in the seal kit. However he sorted out a temporary gasket that meant we could use the boiler until he could come back with the last parts.
The next day he returned with the remaining seals, and spent another hour fixing it all up, giving the boiler a good cleaning and servicing. All working fine.
The total bill was £300 - £200 labour, £50 parts, £50 VAT. This was way more than I was expecting - but I paid without quibbles and didn't argue - he had come when asked, done a good job as far as I was concerned, pleasant guy, and it's been ages since I last needed a plumber so it's likely my ideas of prices are out of date.
So far, so unremarkable. However, the problem is that now (after a week of working well) the boiler is doing the same thing - intermittent no start, F1/F4 codes. Called the plumber again, he came round again, and said it's likely to be a faulty gas valve, but we need to wait until it fails permanently to be sure. I don't blame him for not finding this the first time; the boiler seals really were shot and it was quite reasonable to assume that they were the reason why it wouldn't fire.
But now I need to decide what to do. The simple answer is just to ask him to come and fix it - but I'm worried because this is probably a much bigger job. If his first charges were fair, I'm happy to give the work to him. But if his charges were way above average, I need to go round getting estimates from other plumbers, which is a pain and I'd rather not have to do it.
So what do the experienced plumbers here say? Would you have charged the same, more, or less for the first job?
