Bristan easy fit taps

[ed209]

I definitely wont be fitting any Bristan products unless my customer supplies them excluding easy fit taps I would recommend
returning for refund

 

[tamz]

Are you saying that CPS, Graham, Plumbase, Plumb Centre will reimburse my labour costs if they provide me with a faulty product?

They will

 

[ed209]

Have you done this if so how did they pay you?

 

[ShaunCorbs]

I definitely wont be fitting any Bristan products unless my customer supplies them excluding easy fit taps I would recommend
returning for refund

i would say they wouldnt as they would say contact manufacturer unless one of there branded products

 

[hamish]

When it comes to reimbursement for your labour, I think there are just times when you have to take that on the chin. I'm not seeking reimbursement for the three return visits I made when the taps blew off. And I don't want to cheese off my local Plumb Center guys by expecting them to pay, because I rely on them for all my supplies and I want to maintain a good relationship with them. But there's a limit. I could have ordered 21 replacement non-Easyfit taps and gone round all my customers and said 'Please can I give you a free replacement because the Bristan one is dodgy'. That would have cost me an hour's labour plus a new tap per customer, and if you multiply that 21 times thats a lot of money. Given that Bristan give a 5 year guarantee, that's not a cost I felt I should swallow. Instead I have had to go through all my Plumb Center invoices to count all the taps I've bought and then go through all my customer invoices to account for every tap and where it was fitted. That in itself took quite a bit of time. I then spent all of Thursday making my video and then emailing all 21 customers with a CC to Bristan's customer services. When Bristan's CEO watches my video, I doubt he's going to say, 'Let's reimburse Hamish for his time'!

 

[ed209]

Might be worth bringing it to the attention of "Which" they like things like that or "Watchdog" or similar, Wonder if you wrote a letter to one of the plumbing or gas publications they would actually print it, very doubtful which would just proves they really don't care about us just their advertising income

 

[hamish]

I was in Grahams today, which isn't my normal supplier, but they keep a stock of Denzo tape which I needed. I noticed their display of Easyfit taps and I mentioned that I had had big problems with them. They didn't seem surprised. They said they don't sell many, as it is fairly well known within the trade that they are risky. That surprised me. If plumbers are aware that there's a problem, why aren't more plumbers making a noise about it?

I also returned my remaining stock of Easyfit taps to Plumb Center for a refund and spoke to the Exeter manager. I showed him my video and he was quite shocked and obviously concerned about all the other Easyfit taps he has sold. I don't think he'll be selling any more for a while.

Sometimes when you know something, you also have a responsibility to speak out about what you know. If you are a plumber who reads this thread and you're aware of the problem, why not share my video on your Facebook page. The link is:
https://youtu.be/chTGvh-Rsas

And next time you are in your plumbing merchants, show it to them on your phone. It is also very easy to find it you go to YouTube and search for 'Hamish the Plumber'. Then look for the one with me holding up a Bristan Echo box.

 

[Bollod]

Just happened on this thread and had a bit of a shock because I have one of these taps in my kitchen. I ordered the tap on line can't remember where from to replace an existing Bristan. I ordered a conventional tap but this was sent, I presume by mistake. Needless to say I immediately went and checked it. The grub screws are as tight as the day I fitted the tap and could not be tightened further.
As others have said I don't really see the need for this type of fitting but I have viewed the video.
What I can't understand is how the grub screws can loosen themselves.

 

[hamish]

Good question, about how the grub screws can loosen themselves. I never anticipated that would happen until taps actually started blowing off. I don't have a definite answer, but I guess that every time the tap is turned on and off, or the spout turned from side to side, there is a small but repetitive stress placed on the grub screws. It's strange how things do loosen over time with small repetitive stress or vibrations. I image that a tall tap like an echo suffers more stress due to greater leverage than a lower one like the cinnamon. It might be that echos start blowing after about a year and that cinnamons will last longer. But the grub screws ought to stay tight for the life of the tap, say 10 years or even longer. So to be working loose in less than a year is really rubbish.

 

[hamish]

I've just been re-looking through this thread from the beginning. I was shocked to see that ed209 started it way back in January 2015, and was talking to Bristan about it on 20 January 2015. So Bristan have known about this problem for ages. On 1 October 2015, CROFT was talking to Bristan about them paying for damages to a customer's property. On 5 October 2015 JACKY spoke to Bristan and they admitted problems with Easyfit (privately of course). And yet, when I spoke to them on 2 August 2016 they had the gall to tell me that in all the cases they had investigated, it was due to installer error! I recorded the conversation - it is tempting to post the mp3 online!

 

[hamish]

Here's the sequel, 'Problems with Bristan Easyfit Kitchen Taps - Part 2'
https://youtu.be/2pPnPskAWAg

 

[hamish]

Last night I published Part 3 of my videos about this problem. I feel it is appropriate to start a new thread about this problem. Please see:
http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/plumbing-forum/92732-problems-bristan-easyfit-kitchen-taps.html