replace under warranty ?

[JPC]

how do you play it......

i got to go back to a bathroom i fitted 6 months ago. there is hardly any water coming out of the shower.

i dont know what the problem is, but hazzard a guess its a problem with the shower mixer (cheap variety)

if it is at fault it should be under warranty. now, do i under take all the necesary to replace it or should the customer ring the manufacturers and get it replaced ?

i have an awareness of customer relations and i guess i'll be doing it all


whats ur company/personal position on this issue ?

thx

 

[JohnD]

did they buy the mixer themselves from a shop, or did they buy it from you? If you supplied it to them their beef is with you.

We had someone on another post grumbling about tradesmen marking up above retail when they buy stuff at trade prices.

If they bought it themselves and you just supplied the skill, expertise and labour to fit it, then you are only responsible for the fitting. Of course, you have to think of your professional reputation among all the potential clients who are their friends and neighbours.

 

[JPC]

i supplied it.

 

[CorgiIOW]

i supplied it.

Sticky situation, you supplied it, as said before, customers will come to you. They always will !

Although, if you have fitted it, according to manufactures instructions, then they should be responsible for any faults occruing.

If it was me, i would double check my work, as a good will gesture to the customer, and then if thats ok, contact the manufactures, and ask them to send / contact a local rep to sort the problem out.

Only a suggestion .

Dave.

 

[Agile]

Its very clear to me, you are responsible and you have to go and sort it out!

There are three posibilities, the shower cartridge has failed, unlikely! There is your installation debris which has jammed it or no-one's fault but your responsibility to sort, that dirt in their water system has blocked it. In that case you should clean it free as a gesture of goodwill.

If it really is the shower which has failed then you should replace it or the part and try to claim for the cost from the supplier. That will be difficult as far as your labour is concerned as there is no margin in the cost of cheap imports.

I am going to try to put this nicely but I will probably still get rude comments. You seem to be a newbee and I am not happy with your attitude that "its definately not your fault" and you dont want do do anything free! The answer is that until you have looked at it you simply dont know!

Why were you using cheap parts anyway? If you want to be a professional plumber than you should only use proper quality branded products. Leave the unbranded rubbish to the DIYers and the East Europeans!

Any seasoned plumber knows that its his reputation which is on the line in these cases. There is only one correct answer and that is that you must rush over there and put it right and in most cases pay for it yourself, even if its not strictly your fault. That is what the customer expects and that is the only way you have to build up a good reputation!

Even if its due to dead birds in his cistern then thats not his fault and you should have checked the condition of his system before starting on the work. Newbees are sometimes so desperate for work that they dash in without checking properly first and end up with all the problem jobs!

Tony

 

[JohnD]

If you are extremely lucky it might be limescale in the head!

 

[Agile]

Unlikely after only three months in Leicestershire!

 

[JPC]

like you say it could be anything.-i'll find out next week .

i am fairly new at the plumbing game (about 2.5 yrs now). How long is someone new at a trade .??

this is the reason i pose questions everynow and then..

thx guys

(ps...its not always me that wants to use cheap stuff...customers dont always want to pay for the quality products, as we all know from discussions on this forum !)

 

[Nige F]

like you say it could be anything.-i'll find out next week .

i am fairly new at the plumbing game (about 2.5 yrs now). How long is someone new at a trade .??

1970-2006........... .......and still learning

 

[JPC]

i've got no hope then.

i'd be 73 years old to have ur 36yrs experience.

some people want to be good plumbers, some want to be good businessmen. who makes more money ?

the good businessman will. i'm trying to do a bit of both.

 

[Agile]

Well, thank goodness for no abusive postings ( so far ). Thats a good compliment for Jamie!

I think that most people would say that someone doing plumbing full time would be reasonably experienced after 3-5 years, but still learning even after 40 years!

In this case I would stress this to Jamie and all the silent many who read here to learn how to do plumbing and also the many who read all this to know what to expect from plumbers and how to get a good job without too many things going wrong, they will love my advice!

The customer expects a good job and that nothing will go wrong within a reasonable period, thats THREE years in the customers view. If it does then the professional will sort it out free of charge unless the customer has damaged something or anything demonstrably irrelevant has caused the problem.

My example of the bird falling into the cistern would still be the installer's fault unless he noted that there was no lid and advised the customer that he should fit one but the customer refused.

The best plumber and businessman is the one who puts customers first and deals promptly with any complaints whether his fault or not at no charge! He also manages to avoid the rubbish customers who want cheap installations done cheaply! Quality installations at a quality price and NOT quality installations at a budget price. Leave the rubbish customers for the rubbish installers, thats all they deserve!

One of the customer care courses I attended made an interesting major point that how you deal with a problem makes a significant difference to your rating by the customer. Thats why Dixons has done so poorly and MBNA has succeeded so well with their attitude of the customers always right! Sort out a problem well and they will always come back to you because they know you guaranty a good job.

Go and sort it out and tell us what it was!

Tony

 

[ChrisR]

I am not happy with your attitude that "its definately not your fault" and you dont want do do anything free!

I'm not surprised you expect rude criticism Tony - he didn't say anything of the sort, he just asked how to handle a faulty part IF that's what it turns out to be!

 

[like to help]

as a point of interest the customer has the option to speak to local trading standards and moreover the contract is with the plumber.
if an oil filter fails on a service the garage fixes the problem not the customer takes it up with the filter company

 

[Agile]

It does not sound as if you are involved in the plumbing field!

In our industry it has evolved that the reputable manufacturers have accepted that they will be the ones to sort out problems with their products otherwise no one would fit complicated appliances like boilers if they were going to be taken to Court by every customer whenever anything failed.

This falls down when its a cheap unbranded Chinese product and particularly when sold by the sheds. They have a DIY policy that if it fails you take it back and get a replacement but the labour element is totally ignored. Even firms like Triton will ignore that aspect as I found out to my cost when their shower pump failed within six days!

You are legally correct of course but please dont remind anyone, plumbers have enough problems already.

Tony

 

[JPC]

well

it never came to it

took the fitting off the wall, nothing to be seen

opened up the hot at the isolator to flush it and out came some cardboard (or simlar, poss insulation)

refitted....working

cant see in the cws as gap is too small !!

but its covered, so hopefully a one off