Dishonest customers!

[Winston]

Some of you will remember I had a accusation that I had caused water damage to a customers house when in fact it was from the shower pump hubby had installed along with the other diy nightmares. Please feel free to look at my album what a mess.

Well my insurance company for P&L agreed with my view as to what was the cause of the leak and that it was old damage. However I have had to settle out of court as they had threatened small claims below my excess.

Be warned they are out there and if you go to a dogs dinner of a house check all rooms, I didnt as I had no reason to be in the living room I didnt go in, until the customer shouted oh what have you done!

 

[wnjswozo]

i would,nt let that go,i would get even

 

[Puddle]

Sorry to hear that Winston,what goes round comes round,hopefully anything you have given them,they will loose plus a bit more on something in there miserable life
and hopefully you will get some nice cushy jobs to make up for it

 

[REDSAW]

a threat is just that, not action. i would have stood my ground and told the litigator to the case.

 

[Winston]

easier said than done just want to move on in developing my business. But it has left a rather unpleasant taste. But there is more than one way to skin rats.

 

[Thecrow001]

i will look out for that when i start working thanks

 

[Plumbstar Tom]

you wont see it coming mate!

Its the ones you least expect everytime

They do it to all the trades

I would have happily said see you in court as the magistrates know you have limit legal knowledge so you can easily represent your self

Touch wood it hasn't happened to me yet but rest assured if it does i will go all the way and provide updates here

 

[oldplumber]

let them take you to the small claims court, you have nothing to lose if you are paying up anyway. They have to pay out to make a claim in the first case, so will theyeven go ahead as it'll cost them around £100 to start, then they are not allowed to use solicitors and have to represent themselves as do you. You will get a written claim against you which you can respond to stating your side of the story and then you appear in front of a single judge ( if the case is accepted) with just the customers on the other side. A bit nerve wracking but be calm and let them state there case, you respond and ther judge decides. If you were going to pay up anyway what have you to lose, if you win against them you might get some costs in your favour(not sure on this as Ive not yet lost a small claims against a customer from my previous job before plumbing!)

No mobiles allowed in court at any time so turn yours off, get a mate to ring them after 15 mins in with the judge, he wont be amused!!!! it happened to the other side when I was claiming against them for fees owed, and the judge said I had no case, after their phone went off I won hands down with costs in addition against them, brilliant outcome and I never knew who made that call.

 

[secret squirrel]

hello winston,

I remember this, couldn't you have used the report from your insurance company agreeing with you about the damage against the lying customers?

 

[Winston]

Yes I could have used the report and the photos that I took but really could not be bothered. Thought long and hard regarding this and in 18 months trading I have had 4 complaints.

1 being that I could not repair the HWC and it leaked after I had turned the supply off but customer in his wisom decided to turn it back on!

3 customer complained at the bill, one of which was on a fixed price and as agreed even though it was in agreement to the quotation!


one other that thought the bill was high but in fairness he had not understood my invoice asthis involved costs of going back draining down CH and inhibitor.

%wise it represents very little of my business so happy even though I do feel cheated on this occassion.

 

[secret squirrel]

Very difficult mate, you can only make the best decision at the time. This annoys me a lot, on this forum (not complaining about the forum) sometimes people (non trade) jump on and question plumbers integrity, check prices etc but its people like us (thoughtful, honest and hard working) who get ripped off by punters and we're expected to swallow it.

Anyway, they've lost in the long term, haven't they? a good, professional, reliable and honest plumber. Next time, they'll get ripped off.

 

[WHPES]

Make sure you warn other tradesmen friends you know about them.

Always be suspicious if someone rings you to do a job well out of area - it could be that their local plumbers know what they are like and won't work for them.

I had a problem like this once - These people in a large old fancy house about 20 miles away phoned up about a leak and I went out. The job came to about £80 and no payment was received within the 30 days. (They are loaded). Sent out reminders, then interest charges. 3 months later I learnt they had a fancy art gallery so I turned up an exhibition of theirs and made a scene in front of their posh customers about not getting paid despite coming out to them straight away. Anyway they gave me the money quickly there and then just to get rid of me. All my neighbouring plumbers, joiners, electricians and other tradesmen know about them now so if they have a problem again their only option will be to use British Gas for all their plumbing, who aren't known for writing off bad debts!

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

sorry to here this winston,had a butcher once say i had left his puma on ch mode after i repaired it ,he claimed i had melted £200 pounds worth of chocolate left by a rad ,my response was prove it mate!you did not tell me i could not run the boiler in ch mode how am i to know its fixed if i cant run it in both modes?and its your own fault for leaving it there never heard any more about it in short mate STAND YOUR GROUND guys like us put up with lots of nonsense for our lot dont let these people try to take advantage go all the way it is the principal of the damn thing

 

[DarkCrystl]

Am sorry to hear of your experience and understand your reasons for doing what you did. However, you got to stand up if you know you're right and see situation through.
I've had one situation of being done over for £500 when just starting out and it's not good, but since then I won't back down again knowing I've done no wrong.
I am now careful for whom I work for and put incidents like this down to experience.