*Update* Plumber Costs for leaking Diverter Valve Vaillant 831

[Gorguruga]

Update about my thread re: leaking Diverter Valve here. People might not go through the 40+ responses in that post to read this so I made a new thread as it's a slightly different issue.

Plumber came around yesterday and is quoting over £370+ to replace it with a brass original DV from Vaillant. The DV in the boiler at the moment is a plastic one (I'm not sure if it's been changed previously). The company said they wouldn't install any DV other than an original from Vaillant, from their own supplier, and they are guessing that either the DV in the boiler is one of the earlier models or it was previously brass but had been replaced with a plastic one.

That's a lot more money than I thought it would be, do you think the company are trying to rip me off? They actually seem genuine and decent people when talking to them but the cost is astronomical. I think the boiler itself was a reconditioned one and cost £800 so they're basically charging half the price of the boiler!

One issue is that if the boiler originally had a brass DV and was replaced with a plastic one, then what's the point of having the original brass one if it's susceptible to the same sort of failure anyway?

This is their cost structure:

£88 + VAT for the initial plumber call out.
£64 + VAT for the follow up to replace (per hour)
£155 for the brass Diverter Valve.

Any ideas/advice would be appreciated once again, I'm getting pretty anxious at the price of this. At the moment they're due to come around again tomorrow to replace it.

 

[Agile]

Well you are still liable for the original diagnostic visit cost.

Vaillant probably do a fixed price repair at about £300 so that would have been a bit cheaper.

Had I come then I would have charged about £84 to diagnose and about £140 for the new part. Although my charges are a bit low when more work is needed to fit wet parts and I sometimes charge an extra £36 in that case. Still cheaper than the Vaillant though and a local is available sooner in most cases. But I don't like to be called a plumber.

But even so their charges are not unreasonable and you chose them presumably knowing their charging structure. So just pay and get it repaired!

We think that brass parts are better than plastic.

Tony

 

[Gorguruga]

Well you are still liable for the original diagnostic visit cost.

Vaillant probably do a fixed price repair at about £300 so that would have been a bit cheaper.

Had I come then I would have charged about £84 to diagnose and about £140 for the new part. Although my charges are a bit low when more work is needed to fit wet parts and I sometimes charge an extra £36 in that case. Still cheaper than the Vaillant though and a local is available sooner in most cases. But I don't like to be called a plumber.

But even so their charges are not unreasonable and you chose them presumably knowing their charging structure. So just pay and get it repaired!

We think that brass parts are better than plastic.

Tony

I was a bit unsure of their charging structure as I assumed that the initial £88 + VAT (£105.60 inc) would cover a whole hours worth of work. The engineer was only here for 15 minutes to confirm that the DV was the problem. The thing is, I had already told them over the phone that the DV was the problem so they're charging me for confirming that it was the DV. Although that argument could be redundant I suppose if there was something else in addition to the DV problem I'd told them about.

But that aside, are you saying the £370+ is a reasonable price?

And apologies for using the word "plumber". I'm a complete layman so don't mean to offend anyone.

 

[Agile]

The initial charge is to visit and diagnose the problem.

Suppose you told them the diverter valve was the problem and they changed it and it did not fix the problem! Would you have been happy to pay about £270 and still have a faulty boiler? Having the engineer diagnose the fault passes the responsibility for correctly diagnosing to them. Obviously any parts needed to effect the repair would be extra as well as a reasonable charge for fitting them. But you would then not be responsible for paying for parts which were not needed if they wrongly diagnosed the problem.

The other reason an engineer's visit is usually required is to correctly identify the faulty part as well as exactly which model of boiler it is. It may just be a Vaillant to the user but there are many different models and varients of those models.

You seem fixated on them taking "just 15 minutes". In London I expect to take up to an hour to get to a new address and find and pay for parking. Then 30 min to go back.

My fee for diagnosis is a fixed fee for however long it takes to find the fault(s ).

Perhaps you have never used a solicitor? They charge about £300 an hour spent in their office with no unpaid travelling time involved. Dentists even more!

Their charges are still reasonable in my view. But you could have had it cheaper with a fixed price repair or a local independent and less with someone who is not VAT registered. But that's your choice when you choose who to call. Most people seem to be more concerned about how quickly someone can come. Some cannot understand even simple charges explained to them.

Tony

 

[ollski]

Isn't this one where someone said use bg's fixed price breakdown repair?, I think that is around 186.00 for diagnosis, part, 12 month warranty (on the original fault) and includes vat. In fact I think if you use them for gas / electric its cheaper, maybe 99.00?

 

[Agile]

Its always difficult getting any firm idea of BG prices.

I thought the attending engineer estimated how long it would take and quotes a charge from £99 to about £400 and so depends very much on how "nice" he feels on the day and how much he is thinking of the dividends on his employee share purchases.

That's why a nice cup of coffee is so important.

Those who don't offer it get a "NC" noted on my invoices and may get a slower response in the future.

 

[Gorguruga]

Thanks for all the responses guys, I just spoke with the owner again and I'll go ahead and get it done. He is a genuine guy, gave me some detailed explanations about the issue, talked for half an hour and actually gave me the link to where he got the part. Well that helps put my mind at ease, I can see that brass part actually costs a hell of a lot more than the plastic counterpart. The part itself costs £186 inc VAT!

http://www.partscenter.co.uk/en/hea...0020132682-vaillant-diverter-valve-w-adaptor/

He also said that he'd send an invoice so I don't have to pay immediately, I can pay in 14 days. Although the price seems high, the owner himself is a class act.

 

[simond]

Do you mean this one?

https://www.plumbarena.co.uk/produc...xmViv2W50zXjlFQM8ZJ_cxoCEe3w_wcB#.VcIb87NViko

 

[ScottishGasMan]

It makes no odds if it's the plastic or the brass valve, the boilers that used to be made with brass valve have been replaced with the plastic version anyway,

Plumcenters online prices are almost always the most expensive (by a big amount) compared to any other retailer.

Call out and repair fee however seem reasonable to me, no point questioning it as you've already had them out to diagnose so your paying that already anyway

 

[ollski]

Its always difficult getting any firm idea of BG prices.

I thought the attending engineer estimated how long it would take and quotes a charge from £99 to about £400 and so depends very much on how "nice" he feels on the day and how much he is thinking of the dividends on his employee share purchases.

That's why a nice cup of coffee is so important.

Those who don't offer it get a "NC" noted on my invoices and may get a slower response in the future.

Think it still goes up to 30 mins 99.00 up to 2 hours 186 and over that 399 but a diverter on a vaillant is only realistically an hours work so diagnosing, parts, labour and warranty 186.

 

[Gorguruga]

Do you mean this one?

https://www.plumbarena.co.uk/produc...xmViv2W50zXjlFQM8ZJ_cxoCEe3w_wcB#.VcIb87NViko

That looks like it's exactly the same part with the same part number. But, the only strange thing about that site is that if you click the image of the DV to enlarge it, it displays a blurred image which means you can't examine it very closely (and they could, in theory, send you a knock off that looks very similar from a distance). Don't know what it means but seems a bit strange. The link that the owner gave, if you click the "view larger image" link it shows a hi-res image. He mentioned a few times about knock-off parts and reputable suppliers etc..

 

[Gorguruga]

It makes no odds if it's the plastic or the brass valve, the boilers that used to be made with brass valve have been replaced with the plastic version anyway,

Plumcenters online prices are almost always the most expensive (by a big amount) compared to any other retailer.

Call out and repair fee however seem reasonable to me, no point questioning it as you've already had them out to diagnose so your paying that already anyway

Well the owner of the company said that brass is better, and so did Agile in his post above. Are you saying plastic or brass is the same? Thanks for your evaluation of the call out and repair fee, that's good to hear.

 

[Steelmasons]

Scottishgasman works for Vaillant lol...

Agile is one of the top 100 gas engineers in the UK..

 

[Phill Peck]

Scottishgasman works for Vaillant lol...

Agile is one of the top 100 gas engineers in the UK..

You missed out "self proclaimed"
Or are you writing that as your opinion?

 

[Steelmasons]

Or are you writing that as your opinion?