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Damage caused by installers, advice needed.

4 replies

Redicleous · 10/08/2021 09:05

I had a new boiler installed via the green homes grant provided by a non local company.
The 1st engineer to come and install it said he couldn’t do it due to an issue with the existing gas pipe. It was a two man job.
A week later, two engineers turn up to do the work. I let them in and left them to it whilst I went to work.
When I returned, I noticed they’d brought a metal garden chair inside and upstairs to the boiler. They’d used it to stand on and the seat had gone through on it.
Then I noticed my dc’s flimsy plastic piano stool had disappeared (found it later all broken into pieces so I guess they’d tried to use this to stand on too).
They were here a total of 9 hours not leaving until 8pm.
Whilst cleaning up the day after, in the bathroom, I found the sink pedestal all cracked and loose. Some of the ceramic pieces had fallen off and I found these hidden under plastic wrapping in the bathroom bin - so they knew what they had done and never said a word. And I found another of the garden chairs with the seat all bent and broken.
If all this wasn’t bad enough, on emptying the packaging from the new boiler into the relevant recycling bins, I found my dc’s broken piano stool and then empty packets of crisps from my kitchen cupboards and mini ice cream tubs from the freezer!
All this was back at the beginning of June.
I put in a verbal complaint, sent photos of the damage and evidence as requested, but were very slow with acting on it. I escalated it with a more formal complaint by email which seemed to get their attention a little better.
They agreed to compensate me for the damages so I sent links to replacement garden chairs that match my existing ones, same for a piano stool and I was asked to find a plumber to fix the sink.
I kept in touch with a weekly email whilst waiting for the plumber to assess and then quote.
It’s been 3 weeks since I provided them with all that. I’ve had no response from any of my emails. I ring them and the guy who’s supposed to be dealing with it is never there. They say they’ll get him to ring back but he never does. I’m absolutely fed up if it now.
So yesterday I phone to try and get it all sorted out and I think they’ve blocked me - the line is quiet with no ringtone.
So I try the number on their website. I get through and get the same “x isn’t here right now but we’ll get him to ring you back ASAP” - guess what? He hasn’t rung back.
I’m fed up with being fobbed off and need advice as to where I go from here.
The engineers working methods were very questionable - at one point he was blowtorching the gas pipe standing on his tiptoes whilst balancing on a quartered log he’d taken from the fireplace! - so I’m not convinced that his workmanship is any better than his ethics.
Can anyone advise me where I need to go to from here? Is it small claims or trading standards?
Thanks

OP posts:
tanstaafl · 10/08/2021 09:21

Engineers?
They sound like cowboys. The don’t own a single step ladder between them?

I think you should look into small claims court especially as they’ve agreed to compensate you.

Houseplantmad · 10/08/2021 09:37

I think you need an independent expert to check out the installation. Bluntly, it may not be safe as they are not professionals.

Get a report done which I suspect may find issues, get them put right and then take the whole sorry tale to the small claims court or log onto a site such as Thomas Higgins to send a Letter Before Action to start the legal process which will cost a couple of pounds. But determine if you need to spend more putting the installation right first.

I had similar with a boiler years ago - they caused damage which they tried to hide and then I found out the installation itself was not safe. We got a new boiler and compensation for damage caused.

Redicleous · 10/08/2021 14:20

I’ve just got off the phone to a local gas fitter who advised phoning the gas safe registry. They will come out and check for free and deal with the company if there’s any problems with the installation.
I wouldn’t have found this out if it wasn’t for your advice this morning - Thankyou.

Re the cowboys, they didn’t look as professional as the 1st engineer on first impressions (no uniform, scruffily dressed and a beat up van). They also asked me how many engineers had been to the job because they were usually called out after 5/6 others had turned the job down Hmm so even the company uses them as a last resort! Angry

OP posts:
20questions · 10/08/2021 15:23

These government schemes often attract less than professional workers.
Hope you get it sorted - the regulating body are good with this type of issue.

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