Ripped Off 78 year old lady

[gas4you]

Good luck to you and your mother.

Please tell her we sympathise and are not all robbing ba**ards

(Well perhaps not those exact words to your mother )

 

[Agile]

I would never charge if anything I had done started to leak even a year later!

Even if i did not replace the olive or fibre washer I would have put a few wraps of PTFE taps as some of those can be difficult to get to seal.

Old ones had a flat flange and used a fibre whereas current ones have a dished profile for an olive. Fitting either with the wrong back is a recipe for a leak unless you are very careful.

I used to only charge £48 for a new ball valve but now tend to do it as part of our diagnostic fee basis unless we are specifically called to replace a ball valve in which case I quote £65 unseen.

Tony

 

[bigzosso]

Cheers guys

appreciate the good guys.

dont worry, we/she know its the minority that spoil it for the rest.

I do think there should be a national register to post your location and who you have had that was a good tradesman in any trade. Only listing the good ones would be the way, listing the bad opens it up for anyone to slag off a competitor etc... so if only good it would be helpful (although not foolproof but if you had to submit your own verifyable details to post then that should keep it clean)

Or maybe there already is one that is not widely known?

 

[Homesafe]

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!

your on the right path ,," the path of enwrightenment", (confucious saying)

 

[Stingray13]

To the OP in future your local trading standards buy with confidence scheme, where they vet, CRB check, Finacial Check companies before adding them to the list.

Or CIPHE site,

 

[bigzosso]

Hey Stingray

they are great pointers, thanks. I have found the one for my locality of Wigan and also one for where my mother lives.

These things should be well advertised and common knowledge to everyone!

thanks again

 

[Agile]

Good as those schemes are, they are only listing a very few firms and most fit a strict profile of those who charge a lot more than average.

There are many very competent and reasonably priced firms, mostly sole traders or man and boy, where they have plenty of work to do and dont have to APPLY and PAY for those schemes just because they charge so much that they dont have enough work to do.

Tony

ARGE member