Should the electrician put this job right that has failed weeks later?

[northernstar0412]

Hi,
I'm not used to dealing with tradesmen so forgive me if I've got this wrong.

I had a problem with my bathroom lights and I found an electrician on the NICEEIC website, a professional organisation for electricians. The guys who came round were very cheap and from eastern Europe.

They fixed the problem - affecting two bathroom downlights - and it's been OK for about 8 weeks, although one of them is flickering a bit, which is annoying.

However, the other two lights, which were not a problem before, are now flickering like crazy, and it's really bad.

I texted the electrician as I thought he would want to put the work right but he suggested, by text, installing new downlights at a cost of £120 in the bathroom alone. I told him I wanted to think about it and that I would have thought I wouldn't have to pay him again for a job that I'd already paid him for.

Am I right or wrong in thinking he should put this right for little or no extra charge - or at least come at look at the problem.

Please go easy on me as I really don't know what is right - I don't want to rob honest people trying to earn a living either!

The thing is, the fact this problem has reoccurred makes me doubt their competence as surely the job should have been done right in the first place - but they are registered on the professional body's website.

Should I hire a different electrician altogether? What should I do? If someone could advise I'd be grateful. Thanks

Is it possible they just dislodged the bulbs and you could pop them back in and try to see if the flickering goes?

My bathroom lights are quite tricky but I do change them myself so it is possible.

Apologies if this isn't the case for you.

Unfortunately this is what happens when you employ cheap foreign tradesmen. You don’t even know if they were qualified to British standards or had the correct certification to work in the UK. If they couldn’t fix it last time what makes you think they’re capable of fixing it now? Cut your losses and employ a British electrician.

It could be condensation getting in, corrosion , dust etc causing a poor contact. Downlights are often not very brilliant quality so if they are a few years old might be better replacing them. I don't think it sounds like the electrician is necessarily at fault.

SuperLoud - I have taken the old bulbs out and put new ones in and it is still flickering like crazy so I don't think the bulbs being dislodged are the problem.

Amima - I see your point but I'm confused as they are registered on the website for NICEIC, which is one of the biggest professional bodies in the UK for electricians. So I thought they were competent and qualified.

I am thinking the same though about hiring someone else.

Dodgy companies can pay for one person to do the NICEIC qualification then recruit 20 more unregistered electricians, often foreign nationals on low salaries. You need to see NICEIC ID cards in the names of the actual guys who come out to your house. When you choose a company look for reviews on sites like TrustPilot.

Are they dimmable lights? Led dimmables don't work great on older switches. I also have flickering bathroom lights atm

Amima - right... thanks for this tip. I didn't ask to see ID but they had a stick-on Niceic label on their unmarked (ie. non company) van - but I guess anyone could do that.

Canyon - no they are not dimmable. They're really old, put in by previous occupants about 10 years ago.

I think the comments about cheap foreign tradesman are extremely unfair, I have experienced poor workmanship from English tradesman that charge a high fee. Life is more nuanced than that and people need to be more aware of that.

If the lights are 10 years old & in a bathroom, I expect that they have corroded, I would just replace them OP.