Older Than I Thought!

[addicted]

We needed to have our boiler serviced, a new control fitted to one of the showers  and new kitchen taps fitted, So find a plumber  was the mission. the first few we rang had ansaphones and left messages were ignored.. Of the ones we spoke to, the first wanted  £195.00 plus v.a.t. just to service the boiler. the next made an appointment for a week later and rang on the morning of the appointment to say they didn't have anyone available in the area and best if we found someone else!  At least they let us know. The next lot made an appointment and on the morning of the appointment rang to ascertain exactly what they were coming to do. When the boiler service was mentioned they said they wouldn't be doing that after all as a "gas man" was needed and he wasn't around that day,  But when he was it would cost £99..00 plus v.a.t. They rang later to say they were running late and instead of coming at 11.00am would be arriving at 5.30pm. 5. 30pm came and went and at 6.45 we got a call to say they would be there within the hour.. An hour later 2 decidedly dodgy looking characters arrived. and  on looking at the plumbing under the sink, .started shaking their heads, saying they had never seen a configuration like it before and would have to think about how to fit the new taps while they were fitting the new shower control. This took all of 5 minutes. They then sat at the kitchen table with a calculator and announced that  practically all of the pipework under the sink would have  to be replaced as it didn't comply with regulations and to fit the taps  (we had supplied the taps) would cost  £245.00 plus v.a.t. . We told them we'd think about it and paid the £100.00 asked for the work done so far.  Given that our house is relatively new we were a bit surprised by all this. The next day  while out in the town my husband met one of our near neighbours who just happened to mention that  he had a plumber coming next day to fit new kitchen taps. Would you ask him to come round when he's finished and give me a price for the same job  asked my  husband. Next morning the plumber duly arrived. " dead simple" he said" £30.00 inclusive"  £60.00 to service the boiler.The point to this sorry tale is that I have now had to recognise that  regardless of how we feel ,to the outside world We present the  picture  to those that way inclined of someone who is old enough to qualify to be ripped of big time, A fact that  I  found incredibly unpalatable.

 

Carole

[MauriceMynah]

No Carole, This is not entirely the case. Plumbers seem to behave like this to most people. Now you have found a decent one, don't lose him. Send him Christmas cards. Worship the ground he walks on and generally treat him as a deity. There aren't many like him about

[johnb]

Looking for reliable tradesmen for a friend, I consulted good old Google. A number of tradesmen appeared, with apparent premises in the area. When I tried to visit the addresses, they were either non-existent or other businesses. When I queried this with the "tradesmen" they explained that they put these addresses in to illustrate the area they covered. I wanted to find a local business with at least a local point of contact. I suspect many of those on Google were franchise holders etc.  Finding a reliable (in this case, a locksmith) who I could trust with the safety of of a vulnerable elderly lady proved very difficult. She passed away before the work required could be arranged.

[JennyMorgan]

22 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

No Carole, This is not entirely the case. Plumbers seem to behave like this to most people. Now you have found a decent one, don't lose him. Send him Christmas cards. Worship the ground he walks on and generally treat him as a deity. There aren't many like him about

I've yet to find that mythical plumber. Plumbers seem to think themselves a breed apart, never see one on a bike either, more like a Porsche!

[grendel]

I have ended up doing all my own plumbing as a few years back we had 3 years in a row where the central heating packed up on boxing day, each time it ended up with me diagnosing the fault and getting the part at great expense from B&Q and fitting it myself, due to none of the emergency plumbers being available or even answering their phones over christmas. for boiler servicing I get British Gas in on a one off contract (a bit more expensive than some, but reliable and dont try and rip you off too bad). My parents had a good lady plumber, but she has given up now, and they struggle to find a good one despite living next door to a local builder.

[Chelsea14Ian]

Try a Web site called Street life.If you go onto there home page.Then type in your post code it will bring up your local area.Anything from lost cats to what's on a your can ask if anyone has the details  of  a good plumber.We use it all the time.Plumbers builders etc.You we get an email of what's happening  every day.Give it a try

Ian

[ranworthbreeze]

Like Grendel I undertake most of jobs myself. 

Having seen so called tradesmen doing jobs in the past, often having to borrow my tools because they do not have the right tool with them.

One plumber I came across fitted the boiler pump under the floor in the bathroom, in order to do this he cut four inches out of three 7 x 2 floor joists all of which were supporting the bath. The builder and I went back to our house for a cup of tea least we said anything to the said tradesman.

Carole if you have found a good plumber as already stated make sure you keep him sweet.

Regards

Alan 

[grendel]

before we bought our house the council fitted central heating, this basically involved cutting a 6" wide channel through the chipboard floorboards to lay the piping. this done they proceeded to fix the 6" strip back into place just supported on the joists, now the standard chipboard flooring uses tongue and groove to tie the boards together, with none and a 16" joist spacing - guess how long it was before a foot went through one of the 6" strips. we have replaced the floor in 2 rooms (Bathroom and 1 bedroom) with 3/4" plywood, and the other bedroom will get there soon, as the casters of the bed are sitting in small holes through the chipboard already dont you just hate cowboys.

[Viking23]

I get the impression with one of the most popular gas service providers in the UK, that their first task is to find a way to sell more products. I was told that their gas engineers get a bonus for every new enquiry that becomes an order.

First they try to condemn the boiler, too old, can't get the parts,  price £ 2-3k for a new one, next needs a power flush, ohh... 10 rads... doh... £900 

The latest, with my brother in law, he asked for smart meters to be installed...  they took one look at the house wiring... a few tut tuts... a photo or two... can't wire them into that... and they walked away, I bet they will get a quote to rewire the house next, probably crappy plastic conduit glued to the wall...

This is the same company that 6 months earlier, serviced their combi, third one in about 12 years, and damaged the silicone flue seal, allowing carbon monoxide into the house. My sister was complaining of headaches for weeks. This as you can imagine is being investigated, and the company involved are making things very difficult... it is still on going.

I have a very simple attitude regarding people that are quoting for work, if they do a sharp intake of breath, or tut tut ... this is the first sign that you are going to get ripped off. 

Game over... there is the door... go now. I do not want a quote thank you.

I have the same attitude for tradesmen who only advertise their mobile no. with no base number, or home address.

We have a cleaner, who advertised in the local rag, with only a mobile number but was well known to us from friends, so we took her on. After a couple of weeks I advised her of my attitude of not taking on "mobile only" trades people, she fully understood, and the next advert included her home phone no. As a consequence, she has had more enquiries and new business.

There are a lot of uninsured tradesmen, unqualified gas safe engineers and electricians around plus a load of have a go plumbers. On the other hand, there are some really good tradesmen about, the problem we all have is sorting the wheat from the chaff. Recommendation, word of mouth is by far the best way to help you choose a tradesman, provided of course, the work is within their scope, and they are insured to do that part of the work.

 

[grendel]

since I woek for a company that installs the mains supply for gas, electricity, fibre, sewage, water, and district heating. I can usually find someone who knows a great person, the big problem is living over 60 miles from where I work, most of the good ones dont need to cover more than their local area.

[SEAMASTER]

There like rocking horse manure around by me. And the ones you get, charge a fortune. 

[addicted]

Thanks all for the advice and the sympathy especially the sympathy! I'll be treating the newly found plumber like royalty. We used to have  British Gas to service the boiler but got fed up with them trying to sell me stuff  I didn't want and then getting all the follow up letters with quotes for  work I had" shown an interest in"  except I hadn't shown interest in any of  it plus the last time they serviced the boiler it wasn't done properly and they sent me £30.00 compensation because of that. I'd rather have a properly serviced boiler thanks very much.

 

Carole

[johnb]

I also (try) to do my own repairs etc., but who will put it right and rescue the situation when I have? Usually LBS  when on the boat but they don't have "home rescue" as far as I know! (Now there's an idea.....)

[Wildfuzz]

I had cause to ring a very local domestic appliance engineer this week as the bearings have gone in the washing machine. The gent was very open and honest, he asked the make and model of said rumbling appliance, then very honestly said he could repair it, but it would cost more to do than the cost of a cheap bottom end machine with a 3 year warranty. I was amazed at his honesty, and that he said this particular make were disposable, due to the cost of the parts which in his experience always broke when disassembling. He said I could do it myself but the same breakages would still occur with the resulting costs.

 

I am now looking for a new washer, "they don't make em like they used to"

[deebee29]

Same thing happened to us a couple of years ago with our gas oven.

decent tradesmen are out there & worth hanging on to when you find one

[grendel]

as are decent washing machines - we could kick ourselves now we had an old miele washing machine - we bought it third hand, from a lady who had got it as part payment for her wages when a nursing home closed. it even came with instructions on how to fit the coin meter. anyway after 5 years (of our use) it had a grumbling bearing and a squeaky drive belt, and we got the chance to get my wifes great uncles brand new machine from his estate - it still had washing in it and had been used maybe half a dozen times. worst thing we ever did, yes it runs ok, but doesnt have the capacity and sheer grunt, and the pump is forever getting clogged up.

we did replace our dead dishwasher with a miele, and have had no problems from that.

[TheQ]

We have a faulty gas boiler supplied by  a gas tank. it took two evenings of phoning around even to find someone to come out then it took 2 weeks for them to come (but they did come when they made the appointment) . So called "national " companies always said they had no one in our area.

They've bodged it so we have heating, we are still awaiting a proper repair so we get hot water, luckily we have a shower in the mobile home in the garden. But at least we haven't paid anything yet,  So we already owe them £120 and have a fixed price quote including the £120 for less than I expected.

We await developments...

[addicted]

  I  can identify with the washing machine saga got that going on here at the moment too in  addition to everything else. The washing machine has started making noises indicating  that the bearings are on the way out. It's not 2 years old The previous machine. wasn't a Rolls Royce of machines -  quite the opposite it was a bog standard  Whirlpool that was supplied as part of the package when we bought a show home.  It was 15 years old by the time it started making the noises the new one is making now and never saw an engineer in all that time. I usually get good service from appliances so am very disappointed with the Indesit I've now got. I e mailed my annoyance and  received a phone call from the service centre today from a very sympathetic  chap who agreed with my assertion that I shouldn't incur any expense (the guarantee has expired all we have is parts warranty) on a diagnostic visit and scheduled an engineer to call next Monday free of charge.  No doubt they will try to charge for the labour in replacing any faulty parts if applicable..  I will make a huge fuss if they do arguing that a machine needing drastic repair after such scant use is not fit for purpose. I'm hoping they try and pull the old "it's hostile water damage that's caused the problem" chestnut. they'll come seriously unstuck if they do - we've got  a water softener, which is probably why the old machine did such good long service

 

Carole

[ExUserGone]

I am lucky enough to drink in a pub where lots of tradesmen drink, if I need anything done I have an excuse to go to the pub (never needed an excuse though...) and always get a good job done at a reasonable price, in fact we had to chase up the roofer for a month just to find out what we owed him, £40 and a pint of guiness, result!

Pubs can be great places to find good people as you know they are local and if they do a dodgy job all their mates will hear about it as will all the other locals so it never happens.

[grendel]

3 hours ago, TheQ said:

We have a faulty gas boiler supplied by  a gas tank. it took two evenings of phoning around even to find someone to come out then it took 2 weeks for them to come (but they did come when they made the appointment) . So called "national " companies always said they had no one in our area.

They've bodged it so we have heating, we are still awaiting a proper repair so we get hot water, luckily we have a shower in the mobile home in the garden. But at least we haven't paid anything yet,  So we already owe them £120 and have a fixed price quote including the £120 for less than I expected.

We await developments...

we havnt had a timer on the central heating for a few years now, basically a timer controls 2 switches one turns the heating on, the other the hot water, I hard wired the timer out of the circuit to supply the hot water, then removed the actuator on the water / heating valve, turn the valve to the mid position - hot water and heating all on constant (this was the setting we had the timer on) come summer the valve is manually turned to water only. heating - since we put the conservatory on the second half of the back of the house, following cavity wall insulation, we have just the one radiator downstairs in the loo, set to 2 on the thermostat, this keeps the whole house warm - T shirt and shorts warm, upstairs the hot water pipes between the boiler and tank keep that warm- despite the lagged pipes.

[grendel]

the reason we got rid of the timer, we were getting through one a year, when they installed it they put the timer smack under the overflow of the heater, this drips occasionally, straight onto the timer, until it shorts out and sttops working.

[TheQ]

We have 15 radiators, the house was previously owned by the parents of an area manager for a gas company!! the house has single brick walls. Back in about 2000, I tried putting the room temperature thermostat on 21C permanently in the winter . That gave us a gas bill for over £200 for one month!!!!

I've actually temporarily put in a mechanical timer, as part of the bodge they bypassed the electronic temperature / timer, which meant the boiler was only switching off when maximum water temperature was reached. The house was getting hotter and hotter. So we were  manually switching on and off, but when we went away for a week we needed to find a way of stopping frying or freezing the house.

[BroadAmbition]

As we all know recommends for getting a tradesman is by far the best route.  I can honestly say that around 90% of my bookings comes from recommends.  I have packed in advertising with Thompson Local and Yell (Although for some reason or t'other Yell still have me listed) as I just don't need the phone ringing any more than it is and I like to keep my work as local as possible, less time spent travelling and adding to my carbon footprint.    I do have a page in our local 'Arrow' magazine just on the off chance locals have not heard of GriffTile or seen the van.  My own website is out there too:- www.grifftile.co.uk   Over the years I have met many other trades and have built up a list of good reliable tradesmen known to me personally.   I have put them on a word doc and e-mail this list to all of my customers once I have completed a job for them.  This system works.  If you can't get a recommend for a job you want doing then I suggest as has been previously mentioned use 'Streetlife' for your area.  You should get a recommend from there albeit it from someone you don't know, but it is still a recommend all the same.

Griff

[BroadAmbition]

Washing machines - the bane  of many folks home, I've lost count of the number of times I have changed bearings / pumps and the like.  The one item that usually kills a machine is the electronics or ECU's and printed circuit boards.  Central heating systems, buy and install a magnaclean system  -  Plumbers hate them, they don't advertise them and certainly don't like fitting them as they keep your system thoroughly clean, the hole system including the boiler,  these reduce breakdowns and stop the system including the boiler hitting problems.  Cleaning the filter out is a simple diy job with no replacement filter needed either!

http://www.adey.com/installers/filters/magnaclean-professional

Griff

[BroadAmbition]

Here's a happy work 'dit' that happened to me only two days ago.  I was working very locally in a clients bathroom doing some wall tiling, there was a knock at the front door.  I opened door to see a very attractive lady looking somewhat distraught.  Is that your 'GriffTile' van? Yes says I,   Well I have just reversed my car into it can you come have a look see please?

My van had suffered a scuff to the front bumper on the corner.  Now the GriffTile van has many scuffs  and battle scars so one more wasn't going to spoil anything.  The Ladies car seemed to have come worse off than my van as well.  I told her not to worry about it and I would not be wanting any insurance details.  On hearing this she fairly leapt at me and gave one of the bestest hugs ever   I asked her if she could reverse into my van again

The best bit about this dit is that she took time to come and inform me and not drive off.  Restores your faith in human nature does that

Griff