Just listening to my gran, she had a leak in her kitchen. My late grandad installed it all when he made the extension for a kitchen in the 90s. she called an emergency plumber from the internet, google so im assuming a registered company. A guy came out confirmed it to be the pipe going from the sink to the outside tap. Plumber found it straight away (15mins in total) found a stopcock my grandad installed for the external tap. Turned it off and said that its the piping thats old and not up to regs. Because it was xmas friday he said price was double. Didnt replace the pipe or fix it. She now has no external tap and is £660 lighter... no receipt etc. Do plumbers regularly charge this amount for emergency (through the day) work to stop a leak? Thanks for any replies
She had been totally ripped off, if he was on google, contact trading standards and report him, he may be on their radar.
I thought so, its not the first time stuff like this has happened, keep telling her to ring if she gets 'trade workmen' round... likes to be independent. Such a shame people like that take advantage of the elderly. Thanks for the reply
She's just had an op, so a bit vulnerable atm, can do without the stress. She said he pulled up in a nice car . Im not sure she wants to take it further, she keeps making excuses why it should cost so much, sold her some lies i think. Whats more annoying is she needs a new plumber now to fix the pipe so she can water her plants after winter, could have at least fixed it for that price!
Name and shame!, you can only rip defenceless people off for so long, yep he makes a killing on one job, but the avenues for him to do it again are reduced.
How much should that job have cost, bearing in mind it was the xmas friday, emergency short notice but through the day? Thanks
Tbh for a 'job' like that, I wouldn't have even charged, I would hopefully get more work in the future from word of of mouth and goodwill.
First ring him and give him an opportunity to breakdown his price and offer a refund. Zero chance to of him doing that though
May have accepted a cup of tea and a "note" for the petrol. Would have felt embarrassed charging. Wouldn't be the first time that a cheating plumber like that has been called to a job at someone elses house. Then once inside, been asked for a refund for the person he cheated before he was allowed to leave.
Even for a call out that is absolutely ridiculous. Why people think they have to touch stuff because 'it breaches regs' is beyond me. If it isn't up to regs, I'll tell a customer and let them decide what to do. My guess would be it was something like the lack of a non-return valve, and he took advantage of the situation and your Gran. Cup of tea is all I would take from a job like that
Xmas Friday - when is that? It is for most, apart from rip off merchants, a normal working day. Yes, I agree a lot will not charge initially but if they do, then I would suggest a one hour call out would cover it - so perhaps £40-50. There should be NO premium on that day whatsoever. As he is working for cash and charging such high prices he must be over the VAT limit. How is he paying that and other taxes - I am sure HMRC would like to have his number too.
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