Combi conversion, is it right?

[Rob Foster]

I actually sue people as part of my work and as it is less than £10k it is a small claim meaning no costs other than the court fee. It wouldn't cost me a wink of sleep to deal with this, as it is my bread and butter.

I guess, i'm just curious as to if they have done anything technically wrong rules wise?

Then get a professional in to write a report pay them and go to court as you do it for a living I AM OUT

 

[rpm]

Agree with Rob, a written report will help you.

 

[Ric2013]

What was agreed at the time? Was it reasonable to expect a complete new hot water system to best practice standards, or was your plumber clearly expected to do what was reasonable without ripping up all the floors and perhaps some walls too?
Sometimes as a plumber you have to recognise what a customer needs and is willing to pay.
To be honest, if a customer came back to me after a year and said actually they had wanted and expected a full new system and I'd only given a modification, my thought would be that a year ago they wanted the former and now the circumstances had changed and they were ready for the latter, but expect me to pay for it.
How about you show us some photos of the work and we get a feeling of the quality or lack thereof? That would be more useful really.

 

[Rob Foster]

What was agreed at the time? Was it reasonable to expect a complete new hot water system to best practice standards, or was your plumber clearly expected to do what was reasonable without ripping up all the floors and perhaps some walls too?
Sometimes as a plumber you have to recognise what a customer needs and is willing to pay.
To be honest, if a customer came back to me after a year and said actually they had wanted and expected a full new system and I'd only given a modification, my thought would be that a year ago they wanted the former and now the circumstances had changed and they were ready for the latter, but expect me to pay for it.
How about you show us some photos of the work and we get a feeling of the quality or lack thereof? That would be more useful really.

Disclosing info prior to court action can predudice a bona fide legal case so as advised get a proper report done as of course you should know being a professional legal eagle of course mr tibbs was in an American film from yonks ago when the heat was on

 

[king of pipes]

As above its hard to say, I would recommend you get a independent report done and go from there. Kop

 

[mrtibbs]

Thanks for the replies. Would you recommend I get a report from a gas fitter/plumber or from some type of surveyor? Is there a specific type of witness recommended for this?

As for the what was expected, that is a good question. They advertised the fitting as free, which was untrue, and they advertised a "Conversion Pack" to take it from a system boiler to a combi, and all I can see has been done is some pipes joined roughly in the loft. I would suggest that having charged £700 for a conversion pack, it is reasonable to expect at least some works to change the pipework. I would say that given the fact that they gave me less than 10 hours total labour and charged £2,000 or so more than the parts cost, that there is something not quite right.

I have previously had them out as 2 radiators didn't heat up and I have also sent them a letter in April to complain and have had no reply. I haven't pushed it as I have been ill, so please don't think I have left it a year and then complained.

 

[Rob Foster]

Thanks for the replies. Would you recommend I get a report from a gas fitter/plumber or from some type of surveyor? Is there a specific type of witness recommended for this?

As for the what was expected, that is a good question. They advertised the fitting as free, which was untrue, and they advertised a "Conversion Pack" to take it from a system boiler to a combi, and all I can see has been done is some pipes joined roughly in the loft. I would suggest that having charged £700 for a conversion pack, it is reasonable to expect at least some works to change the pipework. I would say that given the fact that they gave me less than 10 hours total labour and charged £2,000 or so more than the parts cost, that there is something not quite right.

I have previously had them out as 2 radiators didn't heat up and I have also sent them a letter in April to complain and have had no reply. I haven't pushed it as I have been ill, so please don't think I have left it a year and then complained.

It does not matter about why you have not pushed it you may well be out of time anyway

 

[Ric2013]

I'd be asking what they meant by a conversion pack.

They advertised the fitting as free, which was untrue

You believed someone would come and fit a boiler for free and didn't realise the plumber's wages came out of the mark-up made on the boiler, yet you claim to be some form of solicitor. You are also missing the costs of parts, filters, controls, water treatment, etc., none of which are given to plumbers for free. This is getting weird. I'm also out on this part of the question.

What IS a good question is who would be best to get a report from. Not sure if Building Control would be a good start or what they might be willing/able to do at this stage?

Seriously though, I expect every plumber in the world will say they would have done it differently, however well or badly the work was done.

 

[mrtibbs]

Disclosing info prior to court action can predudice a bona fide legal case so as advised get a proper report done as of course you should know being a professional legal eagle of course mr tibbs was in an American film from yonks ago when the heat was on

Nobody ever gets the reference. Great film. "They call me Mr Tibbs" is a fantastic line, Poitier was great in that one.

 

[mrtibbs]

It does not matter about why you have not pushed it you may well be out of time anyway

6 years to sue on a basic contract and I am at 10 months. being timed out isn't an issue. I'm most interested in if it is acceptable under the current rules and regs to just connect a few pipes in the loft. Other than that, most of my argument is that their advertising was grossly misleading and the standard was not at the level required by the CRA 2015.