Plumber made me cry!

[Onecurrantbun]

Now I should add the caveat that I've just lost my grandma and am 12 weeks pregnant, so I don't think it was entirely his fault!

This morning our combi boiler isn't making hot water, and has an error message showing. Fortunately we took delivery of our local "little book" full of tradesperson ads - so I rang the first plumber in there. He didn't think he could do the job but said he'd phone back and let me know if he could.

I ring the second advert, who is going on holiday, but offers to pass on to his mate who he thinks will be able to do it this morning, and will ring back asap.

I take a call from the first plumber who says he can come "some time this afternoon" to which I said, I'm just waiting on someone else to ring back but this afternoon sounds good and I'd let him know if anything changed. He became quite aggressive and told me he couldn't wait around all day on whim and maybe he wouldn't bother coming after all, "Let me know here and now if I'm needed or not"

Needless to say I said not as frankly I'd rather have cold baths for a month than let him in my house.

Now bearing in mind his advert boasts "No obligation quotes" - WIBU? I really don't know if I was or not!

She did not mess him around! He was being an arsey tosser.

He said he didn't think he could do the job - of course she called other people!

Her only error was being honest with him, rather than either accepting him as definite and rejecting plumber 2's mate, or, possibly, accepting then waiting a few minutes until she had another definite appointment for the morning, then cancelling him.

Well perhaps I've been lucky then! I've had cover for my boiler with BG for over 10 years. Have had to call them out numerous times over the years. Never had a single problem. Lovely, polite, efficient, reliable engineers.

Do you have the instruction manual for your boiler as you say it's showing an Error message? Could be something simple that you can sort yourself without the hassle/expense of a gas engineer (which is what you need - plumbers may not be gas safe registered)

It's a tricky one without knowing the exact circumstances. If the plumber said probably not but I know that you really need this so I will see what I can do and get back to you. Then spoke to his mate customers/suppliers to re-organise the day a bit so that he could do the job - and then when he called back OP said she was waiting on someone else I can see why he got annoyed. (He wouldn't want to keep others waiting who were dependent on him either.).

If the time lag between the two calls was under an hour - he was not being unreasonable If it was three hours - fair enough for OP to find someone else.

No need for anyone to be rude but I do think that on MN and in RL there is scant understanding of what it is like to be self-employed.

I don't get this "no one made you cry" thing.

So if I go and be mean and horrid to someone, I didn't make them cry, they chose to be upset? Really?

He was rude. He made you cry. He's lost all future business from you. His loss.

Have a

Given you think Echt's perfectly reasonable posts are aggressive inton, I doubt he was as aggressive as you think.

She did mess him about. If he'd rung up and she'd said 'Sorry, I've found someone else to do it' then that would probably have been fine, no problem. But the OP seems to have expected him to keep the slot open for her in case the other guy didn't come. That would cheese you off.

YAnbu

The Plummer is providing a service and as such should work around the customer.
He couldn't come when the op wanted so she tried elsewhere, fair enough.

He is not waiting around all day- that's bollocks. If he had got another call he would have attended to that .

He is not out of pocket as he has not left a job to come to the ops house.
Manners cost nothing and I would not be using him and letting him know that too.

Thank you all for responding.

I do feel I could have been more patient in hindsight. I get extremely anxious when something breaks. I just wanted it seen asap. I didn't know if it was £2000 for a whole new boiler or a simple fix. I do try and be good to SE - especially sole traders. I always pay on time, be flexible as to start dates etc (failed there this time ), provide endless cup of teas and reuse and recommend good local people.

Perhaps aggressive was the wrong word, but rude and angry sounding wasn't a great move.I suppose now I have thought about it, as much as I'm having a shit few weeks, perhaps he was too, and we are all human after all.

OP - he rang back and said he could come round this afternoon after all, and you said to him: ''I'm just waiting on someone else to ring back but this afternoon sounds good and I'll let [you] know if anything changed.''

It sounds as if you expected him to keep his afternoon free on the off chance that you didn't hear from the other plumber. I think that's where the problem lay.

Obviously you weren't expecting that - there were crossed wires, but you'd be amazed how many people think local tradesmen are just sitting on their stairs biting their nails waiting for them in particular to call, desperate to give a 'no obligation quote' which they can of course produce immediately from their arm pit, at no cost to them, with no other calls to go to that day. Or week.

Anyway, good to hear he's coming today and i hope it's nothing dreadful. The boiler problem i mean :)

Thank you Eponas, the stories I hear on here / elsewhere about people not paying invoices on time, or expecting to pay the initial quote despite a hugely bigger or more time consuming project than expected etc are shocking! I agree that's how it must have sounded; I was caught on the hoof with 2 preschoolers running about and it must have sounded selfish.

The bloke who came round was lovely, very honest, but the part can't be sourced until tomorrow and he can't fit until Thursday. He was worried that he'd buy the part from the merchant tlmorrow and then not want it fitted after all, apparently quite common, which did make me think the first plumber was probably right to be defensive and concerned about wasting his valuable time if timewasters are really so common!

I think there was a degree of "U" on both side tbh.

OP, my boiler frequently stops hot water, and it's a simple thing to correct when it does. The water pressure drops below the required level and you use a little tool to open the valve and re-pressurise.

Do you have the error message and boiler make?

Thanks aslan, pressure is ok (1.5, needs to be 1-2.5). Message says it's a fault with the pump (Baxi). At least it happened on pay day

YANBU

For what it's worth I think you sound like a lovely person

I know this was a couple weeks ago Onecurrantbun, but it makes me so CROSS - so here is my twopenny-worth:- I am one of the 1-2% of female plumbers in the UK and in my opinion there is NO EXCUSE WHATSOEVER for the plumber being rude and aggressive!! You were NOT "messing him about", you were being truthful, and what the hell makes him think his time is more valuable than yours? Thank goodness he showed his true colours before you let him anywhere near your house. Most of my customers are female and I hear these stories all the time, unfortunately. ....Grrrrr, and double-Grrrrrrr !!!....Julie (Stopcocks Women Plumbers).

gingan your post amused me for two reasons. Your username is the first thing my pfb ever said (I swear) and your company name made me snigger.