Plumber ? ..... Cowboy ? ...... Con-man

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Discuss Plumber ? ..... Cowboy ? ...... Con-man in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

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Billy Bunter

mmmmmm
 
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:welcome: to the forum Billy Bunter :)

One thing you're missing is water!!! You have two open ends there that would be fleeing out water if they were attached to anything. It looks like there may have been a valve in-between the connections your picture shows though :)
 
Sorry only my first post


My Dad is 87, in ill health and only partial hearing. My mum is 84, and racked with arthritis.

They had an intermittent teardrop leak on the "out" compression nut of a chrome in-line issolator valve on the 15mm hot water feed into the copper cylinder

A guy turned-up claiming to be a plumbing engineer ..... my dad showed him the leaking compression nut on the chrome issolator valve

The guy said the leak was dangerous and could flood the house ..... and that he would have to go and get copper pipe and plumbing fittings to repair the leak.

The guy went away ..... It was nearly 2 hours before he returned

15 minutes later he said the job was done ....... this guy charged my aged parents £ 286.20 for the repair

the photo below shows how the guy left the repair.

P1080766.jpg


All's I can see is "part" of a new 15mm gate valve = £286


Am I missing something ? or have they been ripped off !!







 
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what was the original question?

never mind he's posted again
 
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Ripped off royally. What a git. Did they get a receipt?
 
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heavens i wouldn't have been anywhere near that. your parents have been taken advantage of.
 
Good job it wasn't my parent or he would have his own problems. Best advice to you would be to get his contact details and shame he into a refund.
 
Get your parents to ring him and ask him to do some more work, he's trapped then! I am so angry after reading your post!
 
I'd ask him back to repair the leak he's left behind, there's water on the connection above the pump :) Maybe invite rogue traders along too !!!
 
Even Dick Turpin wore a sodding mask!!!

I have just looked again and I think it's at least £200 of a rip off!!!
 
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The new gate valve shouldn't be fitted horizontally like it is.
 
think a call to different adress is req here to track him down sure the cowboy will have all previous jobs like this one crossed of a return list good look matey
 
Where abouts are you Billy? I'm sure one of us could 'have a word' if he can be tracked.......:59:
 
REDSAW said:
which rule is that???
Click to expand...

I don't know, just asking if there are any forum rules against naming and shaming. Not that this rip-off merchant deserves any anonymity mind.
 
Did you ask how much it would cost before he would do any work ??

Where did you find him ?
 
i have to say,while this is disgusting,and i would be the first to burn his rse with my blow torch.
with parents at that age,do you not look out for them.and not let them get in this situation.
 
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sam51 said:
i have to say,while this is disgusting,and i would be the first to burn his rse with my blow torch.
with parents at that age,do you not look out for them.and not let them get in this situation.
Click to expand...

thats what he is doing now, just you wait till yr old dears are in their 80s and some one critisizes your dealings with them
 
lame plumber said:
thats what he is doing now, just you wait till yr old dears are in their 80s and some one critisizes your dealings with them
Click to expand...

Agree with lame plumber there are a few things to take into consideration, the man may be in his 80's but he is still a man in charge of his household, most elderly
people I know don't want to be calling in the family for small jobs about the house, I very often ask to meet with the Son or Daughter (in a respectful way) if I see
a job with large outlay.

The O.P. has come in when all is done and obviously annoyed at the amount charged for what appears to be a minor job, may I suggest that you don't make a big
deal of this with your Dad, there is pride involved also the chance that he won't tell you next time someone tries to rip him off.

Karma will take care of this scumbag.
 
Don't suppose the OP has a receipt he could show us?
 
Scum who take advantage of the elderly will never provide a written break down.

Probably nearest he can get is leccy bill, gas bill, overdue and a drink up scheduled for the weekend.
 
This scenario doesnt just apply to the elderly i know younger families that have been stung ,my gran passed away in her 90's and she was astute as you get with money (scottish she was, so tight) .
 
The sad thing is, there's more of those rip off merchants out there. I've gained a hell of a lot of experience over the last couple of years and a customer base that grows based on my reliability and honesty. The amount of now customers who've been ripped off and suffered bad repairs was/is shocking. Strangely, a lot of the time they don't chase these individuals down and confront them, and are also reluctant to divulge their identities....
 
DustyM said:
The sad thing is, there's more of those rip off merchants out there. I've gained a hell of a lot of experience over the last couple of years and a customer base that grows based on my reliability and honesty. The amount of now customers who've been ripped off and suffered bad repairs was/is shocking. Strangely, a lot of the time they don't chase these individuals down and confront them, and are also reluctant to divulge their identities....
Click to expand...

I think when people see past the "charisma" that they fell for in the first place many see the evil that was around them and are just thankful the damage wasn't worse, money can be replaced.
 
sam51 said:
i have to say,while this is disgusting,and i would be the first to burn his rse with my blow torch.
with parents at that age,do you not look out for them.and not let them get in this situation.
Click to expand...


Yes when circumstances permit

Dad died a few weeks ago .... I only found out about this guy and the £286 when I was going thru His papers

Mum, said that Dad tried to deal with things Himself, because I'd recently had cancer and a hip replacement ..... and he didn't want them to be the cause of more "problems and anxiety" to me ( His words )


 
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not the best of things to find, I hope you can find some better memories to put this behind you.
 
Having discovered this "rip-off" I decided to investigate the extent of work this cowboy had done for £286

I closed the 5 valves A,B,C,D,E

Slowly opened and disconnected the 2 old chrome compression nuts on the new 15mm brass gatevalve...... about a cup full of water drained out


edit089.jpg


then I removed the new 15mm brass gate valve

P1080742.jpg
P1080749.jpg

At this point the water is simply closed-down by the 5 valves

The above close-up photo clearly shows ..... OLD Tarnished Olives, OLD Tarnished pipe and OLD Bruised Chrome Compression nuts left from the original "leaking" chrome issolator valve


Clearly there is NO new pipework , NO new couplers, No new fittings


Conclusion ........ The guy charged £286 for fitting part of a new 15mm Brass gatevalve

Whats that cost £ 3.50
 
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My condolences on the loss of your Dad.

You have every right to annoyed, looking at the above we are also annoyed that a person claiming to be a member of our trade has abused the trust placed in him, prices and hourly rates vary but even a surgeon holding a persons life in their hands would not charge that much for a few minutes work.

There are very few options open to you that may bring satisfaction, I know locally if such a thing is reported to the Police they can't do anything about what we consider criminal however they do tend to make the offending parties life very difficult in other ways.

All I can suggest is that any action you intend taking please keep it within the law, citisens advice or your Solicitor would be much better than me to advise you on any further action you might take.
 
peteheat said:
My condolences on the loss of your Dad.

You have every right to annoyed, looking at the above we are also annoyed that a person claiming to be a member of our trade has abused the trust placed in him, prices and hourly rates vary but even a surgeon holding a persons life in their hands would not charge that much for a few minutes work.

There are very few options open to you that may bring satisfaction, I know locally if such a thing is reported to the Police they can't do anything about what we consider criminal however they do tend to make the offending parties life very difficult in other ways.

All I can suggest is that any action you intend taking please keep it within the law, citisens advice or your Solicitor would be much better than me to advise you on any further action you might take.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with Pete
And am also very sorry for your loss
 
Dannypipe said:
Well it would be nice to know the outcome.
Click to expand...



“Jessie James” has sent me a written response from Dodge City …… to the explain his rip-off £286 bill

He states he had to do the following work

He had to drain down the central heating system ??????

He had to Cut out the faulty valve and pipework ??????

He had to travel to a merchants to get materials he required for my Mum and Dad’s job…… He states and lists “inline gate valve “ , “couplers “ ? , “pipework” ? and “fittings” ?

He returned … and replaced the “ pipework “ ? and gate valve

He the refilled the central heating system and vented all radiators …. He removed all the air locks and made sure all radiators were hot.

He the had to rebalance the hot water system

He states that ……… All this was explained to your Father


Is he taking the P-ss ??????????






 
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yes he is taking the proverbial. invite him back to show you where he put the new pipe and fittings, that aren't the gate valve, in the system.
 
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