Ripped Off 78 year old lady

[bigzosso]

Can anything be done about what I see as ripping off an OAP?

A month back my 78yearold mother who lives in Glossop, Derbyshire, had an overflow pipe dripping outside. Without me knowing she got a plumber in who charged her for putting a new ballcock in the loft coldwater tank.

Last night she said she had water dripping through the stairs ceiling. I live an hour away and drove over immediately.

I checked all around her hot water cyclinder and it was all dry. Next thing was climb into her loft to check there.

I found water on the tank "jacket" and it was weeping from what I could tell, from the compression joint/olive where the external valve attaches to the thread of the ballcok valve where it comes through the tank.

I am not a plumber by any stretch, but I would guess looking at the joint that the guy that fitted the new ball assembly reused the old olive and it was not sealing. I tried to tighten the nut a bit but it was fully tight and as I had nothing with me to change the olive I tied a bit of string around the leak and put the end in a bucket so at least the water would run down into the bucket. (it was only a slight weep and not a drip)

I said to her ring a plumber in the morning and as changing the olive was a 5min job, if he said £20 to do it tell him to do it. If it costs more then I would drive over again tonight after work with an olive.

The plumber that she got was the one that did the ballcock. He said he couldnt give her a price until he had seen the job. 10 minutes in the loft and he came down and said it was fixed. He said it was wear and tear ( I think it was reusing an old olive) For the priveledge of spending 10minutes he charged her £68!!! Is this right???? I said I told her not to pay if it was over £20 but she said as an old woman living on her own she didnt want to argue as you dont know what might happen to you these days

He also had a young lad "apprentice" with him. My mam put "£2 on the table and said it was for the lad. The plumber picked it up and she said its not for you its for the lad. He replied he deals with all the money.

I know I cant prove he didnt change the olive the 1st time and I dont know what he has done this time but surely, without fitting parts £68 is a lot for 10minutes "work" even for a plumber???

Can anyone shed any info on this sort of thing happening for me please?
ta
Carl

 

[oilman]

Refer to the Cancellation of Contracts Regulations 2008, also referred to as the Doorstep Selling Regulations 2008.

This REQUIRES that any trader agreeing a contract at a customer's home or place of work or a place organised by the vendor, MUST give a written statement informing the customer of their right to cancel the contract, in writing, within seven days. Failure to do so may be a criminal offence.

This applies where the contract price exceeds £35.

For the work to be done immediately, The customer can sign a form agreeing for the work to be carried out and agreeing to pay reasonable charges for work carried out in the seven day cancellation period.

I bet this guy didn't do any of that.

Since making sure the olive wouldn't leak after changing the ball cock would be seen as part of the job, you might like to get guidance from trading standards. (Let him know what you are doing and why).

 

[seco services]

A month back my 78yearold mother who lives in Glossop, Derbyshire, had an overflow pipe dripping outside. Without me knowing she got a plumber in who charged her for putting a new ballcock in the loft coldwater tank.

how long was the job done ?

but I would guess looking at the joint that the guy that fitted the new ball assembly reused the old olive

nothing wrong in that.

The plumber that she got was the one that did the ballcock. He said he couldnt give her a price until he had seen the job. 10 minutes in the loft and he came down and said it was fixed. He said it was wear and tear ( I think it was reusing an old olive) For the priveledge of spending 10minutes he charged her £68!!! Is this right????

if the fault was hs i would fix for free
if it was a faulty part or wear & tear then chargable
the min i charge is by the hour not mins.
even if its just to isolate a stopcock.

I know I cant prove he didnt change the olive the 1st time and I dont know what he has done this time but surely, without fitting parts £68 is a lot for 10minutes "work" even for a plumber???

even diaognostic work is chargable with out using any parts

someones got to pay for the fuel & time.

 

[TonyW2]

Sorry to hear your story, but there are plumbers and plumbers.

However, as you do not know the full details, without your being able to confirm your suspicions you are in difficulty. In fairness, remember that a job involves more than just 10 minutes of the workmens' time. Try asking him--it may at least release some of your feelings!
Best solution is always to have a good relationship with a local tradesman with a local reputation, but that's not easy to get and 78 yr old ladies are not the best negotiators.

 

[gas4you]

If it was the same plumber, then I would have thought he would have done this for free under his warranty as it was him who left it leaking

My standard attendance for any fault up to 1 hour is £60 + VAT, but if it is local and obviously someone like your mother, I do not always charge the full amount I quote over the 'phone.

 

[Kev F]

you have to charge for the hour and that price isnt over the top, if its been a few weeks since the ballcock was changed then you cant argue, a day later and you may have a point

 

[swidders]

Since he installed it in the first place, and it was part of the original job, he shouldn't have charged - I wouldn't have.

If she has any more problems, I only live a few miles down the road and will come and have a look and charge for parts and a slice of home-made cake and a cuppa to redress the balance! I used to be a christian before becoming an atheist!

 

[oilman]

I agree with gas4you and swidders. Me and eaton would have a hard time if we worked in the same firm.

 

[sooey]

you have to charge for the hour and that price isnt over the top, if its been a few weeks since the ballcock was changed then you cant argue, a day later and you may have a point

(it was only a slight weep and not a drip)

It would take more than a day for that to show up.

 

[Stingray13]

I'm in agreement here, if its only been a few weeks then it should of been free, i would also never charge for anythin without a detailed jobsheet, so you would know what i had done, but if he replaced ball valve and now its leaking he should of done it FOC unless it has nothing to do with what he did, but from how you have described is not the case here


OilMan is also right about the Regulations, (Off topic) Oilman do you have them seperate sheets or part of a jobsheet/invoice as getting mine redone due to GSR and other bits and currently use a simlar one to a National Company a customer was kind enough to lend to me to send to printers to get duplicated

 

[swidders]

it was weeping from what I could tell, from the compression joint/olive where the external valve attaches to the thread of the ballcok valve where it comes through the tank.

Sounds like it was the fibre washer, which he probably couldn't be ar**d to get from his van when he replaced the valve.

So £68 for a 1p fix, and not even the £2 for his mate? What a d**k

 

[Stingray13]

So £68 for a 1p fix, and not even the £2 for his mate? What a d**k

Thats well-out, i missed that how tight can you be

 

[oilman]

OilMan is also right about the Regulations, (Off topic) Oilman do you have them seperate sheets or part of a jobsheet/invoice as getting mine redone due to GSR and other bits and currently use a simlar one to a National Company a customer was kind enough to lend to me to send to printers to get duplicated

I don't have written terms, there not much use for emergency fixes of boilers, as no one is going to read them and disagree when their teeth are chattering.

I downloaded a form here and tweaked it and made it print on two sides of one page. It'll be a rare occasion when I have to use it as most of my customers I have been to before. Not that's legally correct.

 

[sooey]

So £68 for a 1p fix, and not even the £2 for his mate? What a d**k

I spent a few years working as a cab driver, and there are some hungry grasping bleeders in that job I can tell you. But this guy sounds a match for any of them.

 

[bigzosso]

Thanks for the reply guys.

I dont think there is anything that I can realistically acheive with this. Suffice to say she will note down the phone number as a "NOT TO BE USED" again one and tell everyone she knows of this guy.

Most of you here I agree with and you mostly seem decent people from your replies and I praise you for that. Others I would not do business with if I knew of their attitude or I would not do business with again/nor recommend to others if I got the cold sale approach to payments. I do hope that the way I treat people whilst "on the way up" is how others will treat me once I'm old and a pensioner.

I myself am in business and many times I have given a special rate or waived my consultation fee dependant on whether I think the person needs a break/needs a hand to get going, maybe I need to redo something found that I left not right previously or just because something says a bit of helpful human compassion is needed in certain cases. I work on word of mouth and conscience. Life is not all about money. If you are doing alright then its good to occasionally help the needy and a not so well off widower pensioner of 78 qualifies for a little bit of help now and again. He could easily have said dont worry love, I was only here 10 minutes and charged her £20 however he didnt. He said it was wear and tear but I dont see that. If I had an olive or fibre washer I would have done it there and then and no doubt the problem would have been solved, but I didnt have them.

It maybe OK to reuse an olive or maybe even a fibre washer, however, if subsequently you come back to this and say to the old woman it was you who did the ball cock the other week and then on inspection see it is that old olive or washer thats leaking, surely then it was a bad choice originally and he should have had the decency to, if not admit it was his fault then to at least say, dont worry as a gesture of goodwill? Or is charging another £68 OK when it was his fault for his previous work he did?

Maybe I am missing something?

Thanks again to most of you here for your input, you deserve to make a lot of money from your moral way of doing business.

I always say what goes around comes around