Have I been ripped off?

[tyro]

Hi all. I am an absentee landlord because I work in the UAE and rent out my (future retirement) house. I rent it out through an agency. I suspect that the plumbers they use may be taking advantage of the fact I'm not there. They billed me 888 pounds (inc parts and VAT) in Sep 2011 for a new hot water cylinder including 2 new immersion heaters.

My agent just emailed to say that both immersions and the timer have gone and that they are seized in place. The plumber has said that he may end up breaking the cylinder in getting them out, so I may have to fork out for a new installation. I'm not a plumber but I'm a reasonable DIY'er and I've done a bit of research (now, not before); the original 888 pounds seems steep, and the immersions being so badly seized in place seems odd after only 4.5 years, especially as the same plumber that fitted the immersions is the one now unable to remove them. Am I being unreasonable in thinking I'm being taken for a ride here?

I'd appreciate your thoughts, I don't want to go accusing the plumber of dodgy practice unless I have my facts straight. Cheers.

 

[rpm]

Where is the house?

 

[Dalejones]

Sounds abit steap but it depends on ur location I suppose

 

[SimonG]

What sort of cylinder, what part of the country, change agent.

If you have a house here and live out in the uae then theres not a lot you can do about it.

How are you going to get your facts right from a plumbing forum?

Plumber probably only charged the agency 600.

 

[woodytheplumber]

cant/wont comment on the price but it might just be that the plumber has forewarned you about the possibility of splitting the cylinder on removal of immersions as it does happen from time to time

 

[steadyon]

New cylinder around £200, two immersions (if good ones) another £50 or so. Drain, disconnect, remove old, install new and re-connect, fill up and test at least 4 hours and if difficult / poor access could easily be all day. Assume two people at an average of £30 / hour gives between £240 to £400 (ish) for a total of (say) £250 + £320 = £570 + VAT = £684. Labour could easily be double in London, taking it to £890 + VAT.

Who billed you for the previous cylinder, two immersions and fitting? If it was the agents it is quite possible they added a bit, and it could be a good bit, to the plumbers bill. Its one of the reasons I won't work for agents - they make me look ridiculously expensive (instead of just expensive).

Quite possible for the immersion heaters to "weld" themselves in place in 4 1/2 years. I think the plumber is just warning you of the worst case, and he's doing the right thing. There are ways of getting stubborn immersions out, but they can be time consuming, and hence costly, and no guarantee that they work in the end.

Lets hope he can get them out without damaging the cylinder, but if it were me I'd not be offering any guarantees.

 

[townfanjon]

Did they change an unvented cylinder ?

 

[tyro]

Thanks all for the fast replies. The house is just outside Ipswich. The agents always charge me exactly what's shown on the original invoice, so I'm sure they aren't skimming - I doubt any plumber would bother doing a deal with them and splitting the difference, the amounts are piffling. The plumbers are an established firm in the area. The parts were 465 pounds and labour was 275, with VAT on top.

 

[townfanjon]

If it was an unvented ( stainless ) the immersions would have defiantly come out , a copper vented cylinder , well , they can be a bit tricky

 

[tyro]

As for the type of cylinder I don't have a clue - I didn't query anything at the time because the tenants had no hot water and I just wanted to get them back online. I am on here mainly because the present tenants are a nightmare and the costs associated with my house are getting out of hand - they are real potential Jeremy Kyle guests I've now found out - they have peed off all the neighbours, police there at all hours and in six months I've spent more fixing stuff for them than all my previous tenants in the last 8 years. Oh, and they tried to get me to renew the up and over garage door they claimed was faulty - luckily a neighbour saw one of their cronies back a wagon into it whilst it was open, so at least that much is coming out of their bond. They will not be renewing! Thanks again all for your inputs.