Advice, plumbing?

[grimey121uk]

Hi guys,

To cut a long story short, me and the mrs purchased a house a month ago and paid a plumber to install a central heating system / combi boiler, we were recommended the plumber by someone in the family who now wants nothing further to do with the situation as its gone wrong.

Basically the plumber did 75% of the work over a weekend but due to delays with other work we had to put him off work a week to finish the rest of the work and he agreed to come back and finish off, sadly we paid him the full amount and now he is refusing to come back and finish the work.

He never completed the registration form for the boiler so we have no warranty for it, we have no gas safe certificate, no gas to the kitchen and no water in the bathroom. Also there appears to be a small gas leak in the garage which has resulted in us shutting off the main supply

The so called family member recommended him as he works with him on a regular basis but now he is refusing to help us.

To top it all off, all i have is a mobile number for the plumber and he refuses to pick up

Any idea on the way forward?

[Amadeus]

If he's registered as GasSafe, phone them up and complain about one of their registrants.

It sounds odd tho - I can't help thinking that there must be more to the story unless he's a complete cowboy but if that were the case, why would your familiy member have recommended him?

[grimey121uk]

If he's registered as GasSafe, phone them up and complain about one of their registrants.

It sounds odd tho - I can't help thinking that there must be more to the story unless he's a complete cowboy but if that were the case, why would your familiy member have recommended him?

Im trying to figure this out too, the family member is basically saying "its between you and him, im not getting involved in any disputes....."
Maybe because they work for a firm and this job was a cash deal but he turned up in the works van, maybe the family member doesn't want to get in trouble?

[Specialone]

Listen, firstly, I can't stress this enough, never never never pay in full until the job is completed to your approval and they have done what they said they would do.

Why has he walked? It's rare for tradesmen to just walk unless theres been a dispute unless they are con artists which it doesn't sound like he is.

Have you got his full name? Gas safe can identify him from his full name ( if he's registered with them that is).

Text him as well as call him and give him a reasonable date to finish work then advise him trading standards and gas safe will be informed.

If he isn't gas safe and he's claiming he is then he's in the poo poo.

Finally, I only recommend people who I've got history with and I can trust, it makes me look bad, your family member should take some responsibility IMO.

[grimey121uk]

]Listen, firstly, I can't stress this enough, never never never pay in full until the jon is completed to your approval and they have done what they said they would do.[/COLOR]

Why has he walked? It's rare for tradesmen to just walk unless theres been a dispute unless they are con artists which it doesn't sound like he is.

Have you got his full name? Gas safe can identify him from his full name ( if he's registered with them that is).

Text him as well as call him and give him a reasonable date to finish work then advise him trading standards and gas safe will be informed.

If he isn't gas safe and he's claiming he is then he's in the poo poo.

Finally, I only recommend people who I've got history with and I can trust, it makes me look bad, your family member should take some responsibility IMO.


This is the only time I have ever paid before the job was complete and I only did this on the basis of that he works with the family member.

He has clearly lied to us, he said he had run gas to the kitchen and capped it off above the ceiling for us awaiting the kitchen plans so he could decide how best to run it to the cooker, however on inspection the the loft he has not run any gas at all. We have also found out he hasn't treated the water for the central heating and the boiler also keeps loosing water pressure along with lots of other niggles.
Oh then there is the smell of gas in the garage.

All i have is a first name and a mobile number and details of the company he works for.

There has been no disputers or anything and like all trades people he has been treated well with infinite cups of tea and biscuits

[Amadeus]

Is the company he works for more than a one-man-band? If so, they won't want their employee to be reported to GasSafe.
But I'd not mess about at this stage - just phone GasSafe, tell them the work has not been completed and you can smell gas. They will investigate.

Years ago, I wrote the computer system to Corgi (the precursor to GasSafe and quite possibly the same lot, just renamed with different procedures). Whilst they would not recommend tradesmen, they would say whether there were complaints about a tradesman if people phoned them. That may have changed with the introduction of privacy laws tho.

[Bri w]

You've given him plenty of chances. Give him an ultimatum, do the work or the law and his employer is involved - I wouldn't be surprised if he's used some of his employer's gear to do the job.

[grimey121uk]

Thanks for the advice guys, I have give him an ultimatum and he says he is coming back on Saturday to finish the job off. Fingers crossed

Lesson learnt:(

[grimey121uk]

Well he turned up today, ran half of the copper for the cooker and disappeared shortly after being asked for his gas safe registration number, I have reported him to gas safe so fingers crossed they will catch up with him.
Sadly my mum and mrs wouldn't let me go over and confront him so I had to stay at home as I was in the mood for giving him a slap

Strangely I cant seem to find anything about him on the gas safe website, so be warned, if the following plumber turns up at your house don't let him in;
Nick Collins
07411 364 622
He drives a silver Vauxhall Astra - reg W885 VNK
Manchester/Liverpool area

Sadly these are these are the only details I have for him

[Stuuk1]

Report him to that program on the tv aswell! Cowboy builders or whatever it is


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.192281,0.725551
Member of the 1 litre club...

[Amadeus]

I would phone the police as well. The worst they can do is tell you that they'er not interested.

[Specialone]

Police won't wanna know, there's nothing they can do.


Should've let him finish the work though before unleashing the gas safe card, he will claim now he wasn't allowed to finish the job, which could've meant getting one of his gas safe friends to test the work.

[Amadeus]

Police won't wanna know, there's nothing they can do.

I would have thought that fraud would be of interest (albeit minor) to the police, but as you said, he has a perfectly reasonable defence in that he could say that he was going to enlist qualified help.
But you never know, you might get to speak to a copper who could speak to the guy and ask what's going on.
At this stage, I'm not sure what your options are, other than paying again for someone to do the work you need doing.

[Specialone]

It's perefectly legal to do gas work as long as the actual connection and final testing is done by a gas safe registered fitter.

[Amadeus]

It's perefectly legal to do gas work as long as the actual connection and final testing is done by a gas safe registered fitter.
Yes, but taking money for a job not done is not legal as far as I'm aware. Do you not agree?

[Specialone]

Yes, but taking money for a job not done is not legal as far as I'm aware. Do you not agree?

Fully agree, but this guy could argue he wasn't given the opportunity to finish it so that couldn't be classed as taking money for work not completed.

Unless you give reasonable time for them to finish the job they can always reply that they intended to finish the work and wasn't allowed to.


I'm not defending him but know how these things work.

[grimey121uk]

1. He did connect the combi boiler up to the gas supply which is now working
2. He seemed to panic when asked for his gas safe details

Im assuming that connecting gas without a gas safe cert is illegal?

[Specialone]

1. He did connect the combi boiler up to the gas supply which is now working
2. He seemed to panic when asked for his gas safe details

Im assuming that connecting gas without a gas safe cert is illegal?

Yeah it is, he's allowed to fit boiler, run pipes everything but it must be connected, tested and commissioned by a gas safe engineer.

[grimey121uk]

Well gas safe came out today to inspect the work and the good news is that its safe although there are one or two minor issues. The bad news (for him) is that his gas safe membership lapsed in 2010 so gas safe are now perusing prosecution:) Although i still need to get gas run to the kitchen and get the gas work certified gas safe have advised we should chase him for the money and go to the small claims court if needed, additionally if it does go to the small claims court gas safe will send out the investigator to help represent us. Additionally gas safe will try to persuade him to refund us all of the money we paid as this will potential reduce the penalty he receives

We were worried that another plumber wouldn't complete the work done by an unregistered plumber however gas safe have assured us this wont be an issue, the investigator said if any plumbers have any worries over certifying it then they should give him a call directly.

Interestingly it looks like gas safe tend to follow cowboys around to catch them in the act and collect evidence as the brought us some photos of the cowboy and his car in order for us to identify him.

I hope he gets what he deservers, not only is he carrying out illegal work but he's also scamming real decent plumbers

[Bluefish]

You are right to be worried about somebody finishing the job, most will not touch it. I'm sure you find somebody to do it though :D

[grimey121uk]

You are right to be worried about somebody finishing the job, most will not touch it. I'm sure you find somebody to do it though :D

Aye we were, however the gas safe investigator spend over an hour checking the work and has said it is certifiable and that a registered gas fitter should certify it with no issues

[Amadeus]

Glad you got it sorted despite all the worry.
You can
Move on and hopefully the cowboy will get caught.