Has my friend been Ripped off ?or is this fair ?

[big kenneth]

Hello just joined and my 1st post on here .

My friend has had a new combi boiler fitted then asked the same engineer a few months later to install 2 double panel radiators where the 2 single small panel ones were too small ,( they worked great got piping hot but there was just not enough output to heat the rooms .

So 2 double panel and a bit bigger in size radiators were fitted ,he refilled the system ,turned the heating on and after 30 mins both were stone cold ,so he turned off every thermostat valve off and waited ,both got slighly warm , then says he's got to go to another job and tells my friend to leave the valves off for another 20 mins then open them up .
My friend asked " what if this doesn't work?" ,
He replys he would come out next week take the radiators off and check to see if there is a blockage and if there isn't then he cannot do any more unless she pays him to put new pipework in or investigate further ,as his job was to " fit the new radiators and valves" and that's what he's done ,i'm fuming i've told my friend he's talking cr@p and its his job to leave the job with the new radiators red hot .

The heatings been on 2 hrs and 3 radiators upstairs are bouncing , but the 2 new ones downstairs one is stone cold and the other is warm at most at the top the other 4 downstairs are warm to hot.
To me the whole system needs bleeding then balancing .

So to all you heating engineers is it accectable to leave a job like this ? i don't think so ,but is he right in saying his quote was to fit 2 new radiators and valves and thats it ! .obviously when fitting the new radiators air etc has got in the system so surely when he refills the system he needs to bleed and balance them ?

 

[steadyon]

1. No plumber worth his or her salt would leave a system in this condition.
2. It is an implicit term in the agreement to do the work (verbal or written) that it will be conducted to a reasonable standard.
3. Leaving new radiators which don't work in place of old radiators which did could not in any sense be construed as work of even a reasonable standard.
4. Its a disgrace. I'd suggest your friend write to the firm giving them 14 days to correct the situation, telling them that if they fail to correct the problem he / she will employ a different firm to finish the work, and expect the original firm to pay. If they fail to pay they could be taken before the small claims court.

 

[Scott_D]

My friend asked " what if this doesn't work?" ,
He replys he would come out next week take the radiators off and check to see if there is a blockage

Ask him to return. I dont see there is a reason to be 'fuming' just yet

 

[big kenneth]

Ask him to return. I dont see there is a reason to be 'fuming' just yet

Because he said if he did return it would be to check that there was no flow problems with the new fitted radiators and valves and if there wasn't they would have to pay more for him to either fit new pipe or investigate ,yet the system was working fine before he came and replaced 2 radiators .

 

[SimonG]

He says she says.

Missing a lot of facts. The radiators have increased in excess of 100% of the original output. May find that they are fed off 10mm pipe that are over long. Fine for the smaller rads but not for the bigger ones. Hence struggling.

Maybe just ran out of time. It happens. Earliest he can get back is next week. Bulk of system working. Plumbers / heating engineers have lives and family as well.

Let him go back, he will probably get it sorted. Not quite in the 'knickers in a twist' time just yet.

 

[big kenneth]

First of all its my friend not me .

I'm not getting "my knickers in a twist "

you say let him come back and he will probably get it sorted but he didnt say to my friend "if i come back i'll bleed the radiators and balance them" he said ....

" if i come back all i can do is check the new radiators for blockages as my job was to just fit them " " you will have to pay more for me to investigate the problem "

 

[SimonG]

It will go one of two ways.

1. Hes a cowboy and hes fecked your mate over. Doubt it though.

2. He comes back next week like he said and gets it sorted.

Has he been paid yet?

I gave a potential issue in my first response. If it is something like that then your mate will potentially have to pay for pipework to be upgraded.

 

[Ben-gee]

If he fitted the boiler recently , presumably at least a cold water flush was performed.
He would have been reasonably familiar with the layout/pipe sizing of the system when asked to upsize a couple of rads. If he foresaw any problems doing that he should have flagged up potential remedial work needed. It sounds like a running out of time on the day issue, get him back to sort it - if genuine further costs, pay them but I suspect he’ll sort it relatively easily.