ARCHIVED - Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

Post new thread

Currently reading:
ARCHIVED - Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

Discuss ARCHIVED - Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Londoner

Fellow people,

I urge you, please don't ever call Plumb Force Direct as they are cowboys!

The company is advertised as a sponsored link on Google. I called them as I need minor work on my toilet (syplon needs changing) as when flushed it doesn't always take down the toilet paper in one flush. I called last Friday and explained this on the phone. I was told that if a plumber came out over the weekend I'd be charged £75 as the plumbers work for 1 hour minimum. I explained that the problem was minor and wouldn't take more than 30 minutes to sort out. I was advised to book an appointment for Monday and so I did. I was told the plumber would come between 7 - 9pm and that it would be £37.50 for every 30 minutes.

The plumber arrived this evening, he concluded that he couln't fix the problem as he didn't have the right part. Instead he adjusted the water flow in the toilet which helped control the problem but it's still 50/50 as to whether it flushes correctly the first time round. This was all done in 15 mins. So when it came to paying I was shocked to see a bill of £75 plus VAT. When I asked the plumber he said they charge an hourly rate on weekday evenings regardless of the length of time taken to do a job! I was shocked and explained this wasn't what I was told when I called up and if that were the case I wouldn't have waited TWO days to pay the same price (I would have just had them come on Saturday - which would have been more conveniant instead of me rushing home from work).

I wasn't happy and called the manager back at the office. He was VERY rude and said he didn't 'have time' to deal with my complaint and that if I didn't pay the whole bill then he'd send my details to a debt collector. He explained that other companies usually charge more than £100 and that I got a good deal! It's the principle of the matter - I was mis-sold a service and he didn't seem to care that I was mislead on the phone. Not a good customer service experience in my book! I'm not a cheap person and will pay good money in order for peice of mind. But I do not feel I have been treated fairly - they absolutely mis-sold the service and I waited TWO days to pay the same price, and not even have the problem resolved!!!!

I intend to take this complaint to trading standards and I will complain on every plumbing forum/ website going until I am refunded £37.50. I'm happy to pay for 30 minutes as that's what I agreeed to, even though the plumber didn't even have the right parts (even though I did explain the problem on the phone when booking!) but I'll be damned if I have to foot the bill for another 30 minutes of work that didn't even take place!

These cowboys can't get away with it! It's not fair. How do they sleep at night?? This is the worst service I've ever had and gives the plumbing industry such a bad name. It makes me feel sad that incompetent and unlawful companies like this can advertised on Google, be on top of the search results and therefore get lots of business and rip customers off. I'm sure I'm not the first to complain about this type of treatment!

I urge you - please do not use PLUMB FORCE DIRECT (0800 879 9041). You will be ripped off and left unhappy.

Plumber London | Plumbforce Direct

They are complete crooks. It's the worst customer service I've had in a long, long time!!

Please do not use them. Companies this should not be allowed to operate.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Re: Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

dontknowitall said:
I've made and replaced about half of the diaphrams I've come across. If the syphon is the wrong size I then repair. Never yet been called back. Trick is to find some reasonably thick plastic - luckily my merchants use thick bags for shopping bits.

On Boxing Day I didn't have any suitable plastic so a supermarket bag had to suffice (and is still working to the best of my knowledge).
Click to expand...

If you don't have a decent piece of polythene use a rubber glove works a treat most housholders will give you one but don't charge for the part. Did it in my mum's house on Christamas Day 5 years ago still going strong.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Re: Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

I see the point in that if you were told on the phone it would be £37.50 per half hour or the like, then they would have to stick to that. I would have refused to pay until i could speak to the office and sort it out, as this might just be a simple miscommunication.

As you can see we all feel quite strongly that you you should not be too quick to shout 'cowboy' as it can be quite unfair. I can think of hundreds of companies which could mis-sell you like this, so it does not make this company a bunch of cowboys.

Stilll you have got guts to that here - a bit like going into the black estates in america, to make racist remarks! See what a nice response you get though!

Everybody is too quick to shout cowboy these days, these day are a bodge job culture. The real guilty party in my mind are tight english people (who I am one of too!) who apparently want a good job, but dont really want to pay for it:

Hence the arrival of 'Bodge the Builder' who does not really know any trade skill, but will do a cheap job . . . .
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Re: Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

These guys have a sponsored google link, a respectable website, even nice phone attendants, but be warned they are complete RIP-OFF merchants. I wanted a boiler service and two radiators repaired. I was told it would be £89+VAT for the service and £75 + VAT for the radiators. As this amount is nearly the same as an annual home care plan I said I'd go elsewhere. However, after speaking to the MD, the (then very nice) phone consultant agreed to the engineer would repair both the radiators and the boiler for the same price in order to get my business. What happens? The repair guy turns up, does the boiler service, says he won't repair the radiators and charges me the full £89+VAT. I agreed to pay (naively as it turns out) because I thought the phone consultant I spoke to had been so kind in getting me the discount that he'd sort out the misunderstanding and they would come back and honour the contract we agreed. Originally the phone consultant even told me not to go with the other company I mentioned as they said that company won't do what they say they'll do. The irony is hard to take. They have completely reneged on their contract and then denied they had said more than that the'd look at the radiators. When I asked them to provide me with a copy of our phone conversation/transcript of the call they refused. All they offered to do was to come back and fix the radiators for £89+ VAT per hour for 2-3 hours + £75 +vat for 2 radiator valves - a complete rip-off. The whole thing would have cost me £408 (including the initial £89+VAT) in total if they took just 2 hrs - £514 if they took 3 hours. It is outrageous that people behave like this (so nice an courteous before they take you for a ride) and I urge you in the strongest possible terms not to use their services as they will just rip you off. Don't say I didn't warn you.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Re: Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

TJP - like we all here say

1-ask friends and family for a good local plumber/heating engineer
2- make a call to that person
3-be home on time for visit
4-pay as when job complete
5 - I can assure you next time you need him he will be there to help you out

This is simple method to keep you out of big company's hands who are after your £ :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Re: Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

John.m said:
Absolutely fantastic service from Plumbforce Direct. The ONLY plumbing service to call! My wife and I were very pleased with the quality of work Mr. Jones with Plumbforce direct performed and the time in which all repairs were completed. Best of all, the total charge for all work performed was VERY reasonable and significantly below what I expected. After arriving at exactly the time he said he would, he looked over our problems, gave my wife his quote, and even had her accompany him in selecting a new hot water heater and kitchen sink tap. We have also just had a new born baby. Mr Jones was very considerate with the noise levels when she was sleeping. I would recommend Plumbforce Direct, especially Mr. Jones, for any or all plumbing jobs. I should hope the need not arise again but if it did, I would call these guys again.
Click to expand...
welcome along ​Mr Plumbforce
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Re: Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

Ha ha has his post gone?? I didnt get to say Merry Christmas Mr Plumbforce!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Re: Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

I got my builder's plumber round to sort out the radiators - cannot believe I didn't get him first time round. It turns out the radiator valves were not broken at all, the system just needed rebalancing (which I had tried myself, but for some reason it didn't work). Total charge £25 for the one hour it took him + VAT. Good, honest, and I would recommend to anyone.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Re: Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

TJP said:
I got my builder's plumber round to sort out the radiators - cannot believe I didn't get him first time round. It turns out the radiator valves were not broken at all, the system just needed rebalancing (which I had tried myself, but for some reason it didn't work). Total charge £25 for the one hour it took him + VAT. Good, honest, and I would recommend to anyone.
Click to expand...

25 p/h +vat are you sure ?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Re: Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

Yep, that's what he quoted and that's what the invoice said. £25/hr +VAT. He's done building work (but not plumbing, hence I didn't think to ask him) for me before and his guys turn up early, work hard, leave the place immaculately every day and he inspects their work at the end of the job. If it doesn't meet his standards he gets them back. If there's a problem he sorts it out. As a result everyone he does work for recommends him to others so he's always busy.

The contrast in attitude and work ethic with the con artists are Plumbforce direct could not be greater. As an ex Marine myself I fail to understand how someone could do anything to a low standard and be happy with it, less still knowingly and deliberately rip people off. Judging by all the reviews on Plumbforce on the internet, I'm clearly not the only one who got ripped off or the only one who feels so strongly about the way they were treated that they bother to write into forums such as this to warn other people.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Re: Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

Do not use this company!!
Tradetek.co.uk

I am very disappointed with the service I received from Tradetrek.


On Saturday 3 November my tenant, telephoned me to inform me about a blocked toilet. In the afternoon, after having giving your company my credit cards details, a plumber came out and ' unblocked' the toilet.
I was charged the full fee for what my tenant described as- 'he used a plunger'.Less than 24 hours later the toilet blocked again! Not only that, a pipe was also leaking now that the plumber worked on, on Saturday. This pipe never caused any problems before then.


On calling your company on Monday, they denied ever coming out to do the job on Saturday. later though, my tenant called me to inform me that your company called her to say the cannot come out again, as I have not paid the previous bill!! Bearing in mind I gave my card details, this was unacceptable. I authorized payment again, and requested another call out to come fix the toilet. Another plumber came out, and informed us he doesn't have the correct equipment, I have to get someone else from another company???
This is not something I am happy with, especially bearing in mind someone came out and 'fixed' the toilet 2 days before and now suddenly he does not have the right equipment!




The new company came, fixed the toilet and the leaking pipe that the first company caused.

The charged me 190GBP for the call out. And I still had to get someone else to come and do the job correctly!
I made a formal complaint and low and behold, still awaiting a response.

Absolutely disgraceful, I will not recommend them to my worst enemy!!!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Re: Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

Their web site must have cost thousands! They have to recoup their costs somehow!

......and if my plumber referred to me as a custard, he would be shown the door. How about some respect for the people who give you business!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Re: Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT

Henno82 said:
i am toying with the idea of purchasing one of these as everybody on here raves about them but are they really that good?
Click to expand...

Personally, I cant do without a wet vac. As mentioned great for emptying cistern quickly, pulling out airlocks, spillages and not forgetting vaccing up a after work completed. Ive had my wickes wet n dry for three years now, picked up all kinds of detritus and still going strong for less than £50 with universal filter.

Funny how a thread about a customers experience goes off on one LOL :lol:
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
New posts
Status
Not open for further replies.

Reply to ARCHIVED - Cowboy plumbers in London: PLUMB FORCE DIRECT in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

Similar plumbing topics

W
  • Locked
  • Question
Potterton suprima 60 boiler fault can anyone help
Replies
6
Views
3K
wickywise
W
Back
Top