My plumber - CF?

[DespairingHomeowner]

Hi all, just canvassing opinions before I go back to the company involved...

I had a boiler installed 3 weeks ago at a cost of 5K. About 2 weeks later I discovered no hot water comes out of bath tap (it was working before the changeover, the delay in discovery is because I rarely take baths)

I asked plumbing company to take a look approx 2 weeks after job completed, they came on Monday ... and have sent me a bill for an hours work!

Its £100, I think given that it was a 5K job and my request was that they check the job is done correctly that invoicing me for this is outrageous. They did not fix the tap, I am having bathroom replaced soon so no need. I also asked them to check source of a leak related to the new fitting which they corrected: it was their leak? AIBU?

No mention of charge when booking in the job

I plan to call the owner of the company and query this...

If the water/ tao wasn't working as a direct result of what they did during the installation then yes they are trying it on. If not and they are unrelated but happen to have coincided then you need to pay.

@DownToTheSeaAgain: I asked them to check if it was related, they say it’s not

As they have not actually done a repair, I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect me to pay for them to check if they made a mistake in the installation

I’m particularly annoyed as I’m a repeat customer: I bought a boiler in a flat with them 3 years ago for 2k. Now I’m
Asking them to check/snag the 5k job

I’m really surprised to have received this bill tbh

Well if it's not related to the job, then I don't see why you would expect not to pay. Of course, if it's directly because of them, I agree you shouldn't. Being a repeat customer shouldn't make a difference, surely?

Stunned at the 5k.

We had one this week and it cost £3k. Do you live in a castle op? Or have underfloor heating or something?

@surreygirl1987

Well if it's not related to the job, then I don't see why you would expect not to pay. Of course, if it's directly because of them, I agree you shouldn't. Being a repeat customer shouldn't make a difference, surely?

Thanks for the replies...

@RogueMNerHidesUnderBigHat: yep 5k :( that was for removing water tanks from loft, moving from a non-combi to combi system, and then flushing raditators as part of the job (hence the expense).

The like for like combi replacement they did for me in my old flat was 2k. If I'd already had a combi in this house it would have been more like 3k, but I really wanted the tanks gone, hence the expense

@surreygirl1987: I think asking them to check if the hot water is not coming out from my bath tap was because they forgot to connect it up when they fitted the boiler IS part of the boiler job

(I appreciate I might not have been as clear as I could have been in my original post). I called the plumbing company the first time I tried to run this tap after they'd done the work (admittedly this was 2 weeks later, as I never take baths. I actually wanted to clean the bath!) What I asked them to do was to come back to check if the reason the hot tap was not working was because they had not connected it to the the plumbing, I also asked them to check on a leak that they had caused (a slow drip from loft onto a ceiling)

I don't understand how asking them to check/snag their work is chargeable? If anything, I would have expected an apology from them for creating a leak - not an invoice!

They should come and look at it without charge, I'd certainly be digging my heals in with that!
But 5k for a conversion to combi 🤯 I'm stunned. Work in gas contract management and although northern based I wouldn't expect to pay that price anywhere in the UK unless it's a commercial gas boiler like over 45kw!

@bez91: I know! But I asked another 2 companies and got v similar quotes. I think it’s just a lot of work - they were there Monday am to Friday lunchtime doing the job and that’s 2 people so it was clearly a fair old job , vs a combi switch over which was a day for 1 person when I had it done

I went with this company as I’d used them before with no issues/they are generally pretty good on the service side and pricing has been fair til now .

@bez91- I’m in London so that always makes it nice & expensive too

So sorry for the mini derail op.

I get it now. We went from a combi to a combi, hence why cheaper for us.

Agree it's cheeky.

@DespairingHomeowner My boiler replacement cost similar, also London, for a similar situation. I got 4 quotes and they ranged from £4k to £12k for removing and getting rid of the old tank in the attic, disconcerting and removal of the old non combi boiler, putting in all the new piping as the new combi boiler had to be in a new place to be legal. I don't think that you paid over the odds for London (sadly). My non-London friend ripped the piss out of me for paying £4.5k for mine and tried. to make me feel shit and as though I had been scammed. Frankly, they did what I wanted and I was especially glad that they deposed of all the old crap so I didn't feel like it was a scam, it's just London

So they came back and one of the two things (leak and tap) were a result of their work - is that correct?

In which case they just charge you for the time on the one which wasn't.

This happened to me - we had a new boiler installed and a couple of days later realised that one radiator was not working. They sent me a new invoice to fix the radiator! I swiftly phoned them up, explained it was a follow up from the boiler installation and they immediately cancelled the invoice. They explained that their booking system didn't pick up that is was a follow up and therefore shouldn't have generated an invoice.

Sometimes errors occur - give them a ring and see what they say. Good luck.

Thanks for the replies

Re the tap - I haven’t asked them to fix, just to tell me if it’s related to the changeover (am having a new bathroom put in, so no point)

I’m not really happy to pay just for them checking over: if actually fixing the tap that’s a new job so fair enough!

I’ve sent an email querying the charge as I think it’s snagging, & suggested they cancel the invoice… I will report back