Tradesmen

[philipuk]

Lukewarm hot water at out house, so we need a gas man to come visit. New to the area so we resort to checkatrade.com and pick a local bloke with good reviews. Phoned up on the 18th, message is left on the answerphone and they get back to us next day and an appointment is made for him to visit on saturday.

Saturday comes and we get up early expecting him to call, we get a phone call eventually, he's been called out to an emergency, can he rebook for sunday or monday.

The gas man eventually comes on monday. He isn't sure if it's the diveter value or the heat exchanger, he'll need to call Baxi and will call us in the morning.

No call on the tuesday so leave a message on the answerphone wednesday, call isn't returned.

Thursday I actually get through to his mrs. Apparantly he's still waiting for the Baxi rep to get back to him.

Called yesterday, call isn't returned. Called today, call isn't returned.

So two weeks after we first called up we still have very limited hot water, guess we have to find someone else. If they don't want the job why don't they just say!

Philip

[Man at B&Q]

I think even i could work that out.

Do the rads get hot as normal?

Do you not have an immersion heater as backup.

MBQ

[philipuk]

Yep, rads are red hot.

Sadly it's a stupid combi.

[tim....]

I've never worked that out either!

tim

[newshound]

Could be diverter valve or could be a blocked heat exchanger. One of the reasons I just converted to a system boiler.

[Jeff Layman]

(snip unhappy experience)

Have you contracted Checkatrade and reported this to them? What was their reply?

[Onetap]

On Feb 1, 8:07=A0pm, "Colon Edmund J. Burke" wrote: Snip Drivel

[philipuk]

No, not yet. It just somehow feels a bit nasty. They are pleasant enough when you can actually get hold of them.

Philip

[Tim W]

No, not yet. It just somehow feels a bit nasty. They are pleasant enough when you can actually get hold of them.

---------

Compassion is probably an appropriate response. It may seem simple to you but being a tradesman can be very hard. Very few handle all aspects of it well. Most are sincere in wanting to do a good job for a good price. We are all very much less than what we might be.

Tim W

[Gill Smith]

if you need a plumber in york

guy saved my bacon

- a leak, the day before moving!!!!

--

[Owain]

England is not an island nation.

It has a land border with Scotland.

Owain

[S Viemeister]

And Wales.

[jgharston]

And France. Admittedly, that land border is underwater.

JGH

[Tabby]

2/2011 15:58, [e-mail] wrote:

Hopefully he's having the same problem getting the info he needs, or maybe he just doesnt have the skill to do this one. It happens.

This time waste story is one of the reasons I/we diy, you could have had it done yourself days ago.

NT

[philipuk]

Yes, and yet a one minute phone call would have kept me in the picture and happy.

Meddling with the innards of the boiler is a line I don't cross when D- I-Y'ing as I have neither the knowledge or skill.

Philip

[news10paul]

All of which nations inhabit an island. As opposed to inhabiting a continent, or a giant space turtle, or whatever.

#Paul

[Andy Dingley]

According to one convention (fairly widely used amongst human geographers) there are by definition no "island nations" in this sense, because "island" is taken to be excluded by those land masses that contain the capital city. So Australia isn't an island, although Tasmania is.

[Jeff Layman]

In my experience of using Checkatrade (and I only use Checkatrade people), I would say that the work is done well, and in good time, but the most annoying part is the lack of communication such as that experienced by the OP (although that was an extreme example). I would say that on average at least a third of calls are not returned when you leave a message asking for a reply.

How far do you take compassion? What if there was genuine suffering because of the lack of hot water? If a tradesman has decided to join Checkatrade, he should accept its Standards. These are from the Standards:

- Be realistic regarding start dates and how long work will take. - Return all phone messages you leave promptly. - Keep all appointments booked and be on time. If unable to make original time or date, they will call you to let you know and reschedule where necessary.

How many customers does this tradesman have to leave twiddling their thumbs before he is considered in breach of these standards? I am happy to allow some slack, but this guy is taking it too far. It may seem harsh, but If nobody reports him to Checkatrade, it is a slippery slope to making the whole Checkatrade ethos useless.

[geoff]

Wales is a principality, not a country

(stir, stir)

[S Viemeister]

It's a Principality, not a Kingdom. And it is a country. (No, I'm not Welsh.)