Oven cleaning Disaster - please help!

[Wakemeup123]

Had a right nightmare of an experience with a "Professional" oven cleaner recently by a "trained" oven cleaner who provides a "Fully Insured" service

She was using a foldable plastic stool, it was covered in grease, no non-slip feet, stood in a pool of grease and she's slipped, falling onto the cooker hood, ripping it from the wall in 3 places causing it to swing down and smash the range cooker.

She then tells me she cancelled her insureance in the pandemic and it's my fault as the cooker hood is not installed properly! It's been on the wall since 2017! It's cost me £340 to repair the cooker.

Anyway, that's problem No 1.

Problem No 2 is she is advertising her chemicals as "non-caustic, biodegradable" and a "dip tank method in our van". She didn't once go to the van during the clean and the oven smells suspiciously like your typical caustic chemicals. There is white stains all over the back of the ovens and some of the doors that are removed when wiping with a wet cloth but then an hour later are back. I just can"t shift them!

I have a septic tank, it was incredibly important that non caustic chemicals were used and now I'm having to throw more money down the drain (literally!) To fork out on products to try and restore the healthy bacteria in my tank to hopefully prevent any major problems with it because if that starts playing up a £340 cooker top bill will be the least of my worries.

It's currently with Trading Standards and very likely to go all the way to a Simple Procedure Court Claim as she is point blank refusing to accept liability of damage to the cooker and denying use of any caustic chemicals.

I honestly can't believe the mess I have got in to hiring someone to clean my cooker 😔 and I am hundreds and hundreds of pounds out of pocket.

The false advertising on insurance is very easy to prove she is either going to be insured or not, the damage to the cooker hood is relatively easy to prove, it was installed by an Accredited Company and I have an invoice and photographic evidence of her unsafe work practices, the hard part to prove is shes used caustic when advertising she uses non-caustic

My question I guess is, are these white stains that continually reappear after drying definitely caustic?

Sorry op, sounds like a total stressful nightmare 💐 could you get your tank water tested that would show what chemicals were used.

Thank you. Its been beyond stressful, I hadn't thought of that I will do some googling and see if there is a service that tests septic tank water.

What an awful job that must be though! 😖

Perhaps I dont need to prove it, her Yell review page has 2 past reviews stating she's used caustic products 🙈

Bloody hell OP, I clicked on this thinking “How bad can it be” but you were not exaggerating!

Dos you tell her that it was extremely important for the chemicals not to be caustic due to the septic tank? I know she advertised non caustic and that should be enough, but you have an even stronger case for recovering the cost of any repairs to the septic tank if you can prove that you made her aware of the consequences of using caustic chemicals.

Won’t your own insurance cover all damage though?

No way! Take a screenshot of those reviews. I would still see about testing your own tank as that would be robust evidence.

She has some brass neck- advertising “fully insured” and then claiming that it’s tough luck for you that she cancelled the insurance.

Would caustic vs non caustic vary as regards ph I wonder? Just thinking you could use simple oh testing strips to check, if (say) caustic is strongly alkaline and non-caustic ph neutral.

Definitely screenshot the reviews. What a nightmare
I use a guy and you can tell it's not caustic stuff - he actually showed me and he uses white vinegar, method products and no smell after except a bit of vinegar

Thanks guys, will take what you say on board.

She certainly does have some brass neck. I outed her on a Trusted/Untrusted Tradesman page and the horror stories are coming out now.

Her defence is we are all liars and I'm on a witch hunt.

I don't recall asking her about non caustic products, took her at the word of her advertising on her website and businesses Facebook page.

I phoned my house insurance, I dont have accidental cover for contents and they have said my policy does not cover the work of a Trader hired for a service.

Have at it OP.

if it isn’t caustic you can maybe ask her to lick off the white bits 😈

😂 you've made me laugh about this when all I've done the last 2 weeks is wanted to cry!

Thank you!

You are welcome 🤗

I was only half joking - my name is not for nowt 😇

@Wakemeup123 have you taken screenshots of her website and Facebook page just incase she edits the words on them.

Yes I have everything. Not just screenshots but full PDF's of her website and FB page as they all show the source, time and date.

It was the main reason I outed her because 10 days after she did this she was (and still is now!) Advertising as "Fully Insured" and I didn't want someone else going through this nightmare.

Also got a PDF of her personal FBook page which is Public and she's having a rant about me! Imitimidating and threatening comments, I can only assume as an attempt to get me to drop this.

*intimidating

Sounds like a nightmare. With the evidence you have it should be enough.

Sounds like you are doing all the right things and have good evidence. It's scary to think she's going into people's homes and doing this without giving a hoot. I can only imagine the stress you are under with it all. The fact she hasn't offered to fix or pay you says everything about her.

It does doesn't it! I have had many other Professional cleaners come forward and say they would have immediately offered to rectify the cost of the damage and chalked it off as a bad day at work.

There was only one person in the kitchen when that damage was caused and it was her, she had immediately removed the filters from the hood when I was with her doing introductions, she asked me if I had a dishwasher as it was the best way to clean them. She did not make any comment about the hood feeling unsafe, it didn't move at all when she removed all 3 filters and 75 minutes later when the place was covered in grease - as you can see from the photos - she has then attempted to climb onto that stool and slipped falling onto or grabbing hold of the hood.

Trading Standards are involved so hopefully she will have some pressure put on her from them.

How are things now @Wakemeup123 ? Any better?

@Wakemeup123 That is truly awful. I hope you get compensation for the damage she has done. And hopefully she is fined for false advertising as a deterrent.

No progress really. Today is day 14, the deadline for responding to my 3rd letter and ive had nothing so just being ignored.

I have to write a 4th letter today, the final one, giving another 14 days to response before I submit a Simple Procedure Court claim.

I'm not sure if Trading Standards have even been In contact with her as still right now she's advertising the same. Fully insured, non caustic, etc etc etc!

Sorry to read that it's dragging on. She has a total brass neck.

Oh she does. I've had the strangest response to my 4th letter. Threatening me with court action for harassment and she has reported me to the police 🤷🏻‍♀️

I've been advised to not respond and file court claim as have exhausted all other options.

Good idea to keep that as evidence and don't respond to her.