GCH Install: Is this standard Practice for plumbers?

[riz1]

Dad is entitled to a Council grant to have his GCH system updated upto about =A33k. The surveyor who came round said all the requisite work should easily be covered in the grant. The workman from the company who came round was very friendly on his first visit; today he came to check pipes etc etc.

By all accounts he was a right surly ***** today and rude to both my wife [who was round helping my parents] and my mum. I can live with the "I won't be moving anything when I come to do the work; make sure this ain't here, that is gone; get someone to remove this cabinet [where the combi boiler will go in the kitchen] at your own expense"

He then laughed at the idea of the grant money covering the work and said we'd [I say we in lieu of dad] would have to meet the short-fall and it would be significant. He also woldn't be taking out the old bakc-boiler or the gas fire that is its front-end. Or rather he could but it would be "private" job and he'd quote separately for it. Dad would thus be left with a non- functional gas fire in the living room and a "dead" boiler behind the chimney [to which there is access via a full-length wooden side panel].

Most worrying for me though was he insisted that my wife signed a waiver than if there was any problems with the piping etc following the install then he wasn't liable. He refused to go until this was done as it was an "integral" part of the job.

Surely this can't be correct? Wife called the surveyor back who was also concerned about these issues but the family were very coy in discussing the matter fully with her. It has been left that we shall contact her back when his quote for the work comes through. She did say there is 1 fitter on the books that is very work shy and wonders if he was the one who came round.

I was very miffed when I got home to discover all this [and still am, obviously] but clarification about "normal" working practice would help. Thanks

[Aidan]

Cancel it. Now.

Write to the company. Ask for written confirmation of all of the above and a detailed list of what is and is not included.

The contract offered by the Surveyor is not what their representative (their fitter) is planning to provide.

Tell them you will not have that fitter in the house, ever.

Contact the council. Tell the company you're writing to the council.

A soundness test of the existing gas installation is required before and after the work.

[riz1]

Thanks. He is going to send an itemised bill [including a quote for the "chargable" work eg the removal of the boiler or even the gas fire. I was not sure if I should hold fire until then. I think though that in the first instance I will contact the surveyor again specifically with the concerns about the waiver and my reservations about the workman and take it from there.

We haven't commited to anything so there is nothing to "cancel" as such I think [unless you meant something else?]

[A.Lee]

The other poster is right. Cancel this bunch of shysters. £3000 would easily cover the cost of a new boiler, and removal of old.

2 blokes can easily do that job in a day, the parts price is unlikely to be above £1200. I presume they were planning to use the old pipework for pumping the water round the radiators, rather than doing a complete new install?

If so, then they do have a point about the old ones may leak slightly, but if they are any good, they'll call back after a day or so just to check for minor leaks at the joints (it is usually the joints and taps that will leak,because of the extra water pressure of the new system.)

I had a similar experience with a damp-proofing Company. who, once they found out there we may have been eligible for a Council Grant, suddenly put the quote up by around £500. We had it done by a local chap, who charged around £500, compared to the large Co. who wanted £1500. Alan.

[Adrian]

riz1 ( [e-mail]) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

How on earth do you expect the surveyor to properly handle the issue if you won't discuss it properly with her?

[tony sayer]

In article , riz1 writes

Anyone who behaved like that would be invited back to say sorry, then they'd get kicked on their feckin arse out of the door and never- ever- allowed back!.

There are perfectly honest, decent, and polite well mannered tradesmen out there, do not put up with this turd.........

[riz1]

Many thanks all

I will speak with the Surveyor again tomorrow to set out my reservations and request that another company be sent out to quote for the job. I have also been recommended a decent plumber and will also ask if the Council would consent to us using someone else or must it be someone on their boosk.

In either case I agree fully with the sentiment that I will not allow someone like that into my parents house for such a jab: I have reiterated this point to the family too [as aluded to by Adrian].

I also take on board the point that he should never have been told [by us] how much the grant was.

[TheScullster]

"A.Lee" wrote

Replacing an old back boiler with an approved condensing jobbie will almost certainly involve re-siting the unit and may well also require significant pipe work changes. Depending on other existing pipe routes this could be a day or a week depending on access etc

Phil

[Ed Sirett]

He's doing no one any good.

[riz1]

available for this job Harland Rise were sent out [the waiver paper was a Harland contract].

Spoke with the Surveyor - she flipped her lid and demanded that I make a complaint to head office [of WarmFront] with a view to someone else doing the work].

As I rather stoopidly forgot the paperwork at home I will have to phone 'em on Monday

The waiver per se hasn't riled me, it is the fact that he thrust a piece of paper to my wife [actually 3: the other 2 were to agree he'd explained the work to them and a parts-needed list; quite how or why a customer should understand to agree to a parts list I have no idea] but the fact that he wouldn't answer her question on it, refused to leave it with her to read and sign (had to be done there and then and I can't leave until you do) and then got very angry when she asked him for a copy of it "why do you want one for?")

I also have alarm bells ringing when so much of things that were asked about were "not part of the grant money - but I can quote you separately for that" This included taking out the backboiler/fire [I wanted to treat my folks by buying a new flat-panel fire to install instead]; I understand some fitters refuse to remove it but some do take it out during the job. I can understand not wanting to remove the boiler but to quote separately to remove the fire is ludicrous. He also said he'd just cap-off the boiler/fire-front so infact we'd be be left with no functioning gas fire in the room - just a non-usable old fire attached to the wall!!

There was also the "when I come I ain't gonna move anything. You better pay someone else to remove that cabinet to make space for the combi, and if the rooms I need to work in aren't empty then I'll leave. This to 2 elderly disable folk...