sticky situation...advice needed

[moogwai]

hi fella's got a slight problem.....i did a boiler change a year ago and had a nasty email off the customer last week saying that they had to call british gas out to sort out a leak apparantly where i had blanked off the old hot feed in the airing cupboard. He said that british gas also took down a peice of plaster board 4ft x 3ft, i asked why he didn't call me first as my work is still under garantee and would've gone over to sort out the problem and he said he needed someone there and then...and again i asked why not call me!!

Now he says he wants me to cover costs of the repair to the ceiling including decoration.
Now because i didn't see the problem first hand i fear british gas may have made a mountain out of a mole hill and made it look a lot worse than it was. I am going over to see the job tomorrow and just wondering what you guys think of the situation...i'm not happy with other people going to repair my work and i can't beleive that the leak has been going on for a year without anyone noticing!!
I'm thinking of saying because someone else intefered with my work it voids my garantee and i'm not responsible for costs or shall i just bite the bullet and pay out?

any thoughts would be welcome.

 

[REDSAW]

I'm thinking of saying because someone else intefered with my work it voids my garantee and i'm not responsible for costs.

if you have never been given the chance to inspect and rectify, how on earth shall you be responsible for 3rd party costs.?.

what if you bought a new t.v and it packed up in 6 months and you had it repaired at the t.v shop, would you be asking sony for your money back?.
i know exactly what they would say.lol.

tell them the truth and stick with it, they seem to distrust you now anyway.

 

[moogwai]

thanks redsaw...i'm glad someone else thinks the same as me......gonna be an interesting visit tomorow.

 

[Gray0689]

I'm thinking of saying because someone else intefered with my work it voids my garantee and i'm not responsible for costs.

if you have never been given the chance to inspect and rectify, how on earth shall you be responsible for 3rd party costs.?.

what if you bought a new t.v and it packed up in 6 months and you had it repaired at the t.v shop, would you be asking sony for your money back?.
i know exactly what they would say.lol.

tell them the truth and stick with it, they seem to distrust you now anyway.

I agree they should of called you stright away
Why would you ring BG for a water leak

 

[moogwai]

I agree they should of called you stright away
Why would you ring BG for a water leak

theyve got that british gas plan that covers all emergencies.

 

[tr7dan]

How much are they asking you to reimburse ?

Dan

 

[andyg0507]

im with redsaw on this one moogwai, they sould of called you first off, your gaurentee is now void with them, ask for photos's etc of the leak and see what they come up with. good luck and stand your ground.

 

[wnjswozo]

I would say ,as has been said,they should of rang you first,and given you the chance to sort it out
i would stand your ground on this ,find out how much he,s after,
then dependant how he is,maybe offer to meet him half way on cost

 

[REDSAW]

imo, only, if custard has abandoned installer then gone to 3rd party for remedy without offering the chance for rectification to the initial installer, then they have waived their rights to compensation in time or money.
the installer has still now lost this customer and they are trying to put him under duress for compensation of monies not repairs.
the only reason you should go back is profesionalism, to keep the peace and to see if you can re-salvage the customer back to you, if you want too....

any formal compensation is void so why pay out of your pocket if they are being an rse. tell them you would have done it for free then say goodbye. next.

ref: one of winston's posts, custard trying to claim for damage because he was there working on a job. damage was caused by years old bad maintenance pipe work.

 

[HoodedClaw]

I went to a leak last week where the plumber/bathroom fitter left a leaking joint before going on holiday, the customer had called the big boys but they would even have a look as another plumber was on holiday and still finishing the bathroom. I went, isolated the leak and gave them a choice of no hot water until the plumber returned or I'll chop out the pipe and put new in (only a £30 fix) he decided to wait so not to have the old plumber deny everything and cause the very same argument your in.

They should have called you first, and only gone elsewhere if your were unavailable, refused to work or not trading. They don't have a chance of reclaiming that cost from you, dont let them. Nip into CAB - check where you stand.

 

[moogwai]

Thanks for your support fella's will let you know the outcome tomorrow.

 

[tamz]

If you didn't have to take down a bit plasterboard 4 x 3 to cap it why did they need to take it down to fix "your" leak. Tell them to go away (got to mind my language)

 

[Puddle]

was thinking the same thing Tamz

Agree with what has been said,fitting could have been disturbed anyway,if close by,stick your head in,if not ,just send an e-mail,with a link to the nearest builder yard
and this
[video=youtube;jaZUsgAZj0Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaZUsgAZj0Q[/video]

And by the way congratulation on doing a great boiler change..................coz if anything wrong with it BG would have been in there giving it large