New Boiler Dropped on Floor

[paulnwales]

i personally, and know of loads of plumbers getting ppl to buy the boilers. have done for years. if i did not id prob be gettin far to close to the vat mark... stuff that!!!

 

[tamz]

and i doubt that boilers are THROWN around before you buy them.

Obviously you don't know how the guys in the merchants operate, Sure they come out the factory on pallets but after that they are manhandled. Dents and scratches on boilers straight out the box, are not uncommon. You even get the odd one that has already been on the wall somewhere! Try buying a rad over 1200 and see how many you have before you get one without a scratch or dent

As for gettng the cust to buy the boiler so you can keep under the threshhold.
Highly professional that one! Straight away anyone who has half a brain would be thinking "wait a minute?"
But. It is all down to what you/they are willing to pay. Pay for an upfront service and you will (should) have a quality job.
When you cut corners on the cash, usually the price is not the only thing that drops.
Also always make sure you have a landline number!

 

[gaspastemania]

Obviously you don't know how the guys in the merchants operate, Sure they come out the factory on pallets but after that they are manhandled. Dents and scratches on boilers straight out the box, are not uncommon. You even get the odd one that has already been on the wall somewhere! Try buying a rad over 1200 and see how many you have before you get one without a scratch or dent

As for gettng the cust to buy the boiler so you can keep under the threshhold.
Highly professional that one! Straight away anyone who has half a brain would be thinking "wait a minute?"
But. It is all down to what you/they are willing to pay. Pay for an upfront service and you will (should) have a quality job.
When you cut corners on the cash, usually the price is not the only thing that drops.
Also always make sure you have a landline number!

I have often fitted boilers that customer has supplied ,find it happens more and more now but what i do say to them if any probs with it then its not my issue i still want paying and customer sorts it.
Rads ocver 1200 are starting to get heavy and are normally on top floor flat !!!!!!

 

[customer]

Something i omitted from my original post is that the plumber was careless to the point of recklessness with the boiler. The boiler was out of it's packaging and we were deciding whether they would leave it in my lounge or the garage for safe keeping and just as i explained that the garage might be best he just had this rush of blood and went to scoop up the boiler ignoring his colleague who was going to help him. There was no way he would have got it through the kitchen door on his own and the garden is like an assault course at the moment. It was definitely a two man job. He had already demonstrated a bit of n impulsive and aggressive attitude before this which I was uncomfortable with. The drop could have been avoided no problem if he hadn't behaved in this way.

 

[GQuigley67]

is it that bad being VAT registered ? ?? Sure your prices will go up but don't you claim all the VAT back anyway ?

 

[customer]

Ok, I have informed the plumber that I am unhappy and want the boiler replaced. said that he can have the dropped boiler. He seems to have agreed without argument but has asked whether I wish him to continue on the job after he has replaced the boiler. What do you chaps think. In one sense i think he should finish the job but on the other hand I'm not sure if a different plumber would take on someone else's job even though 99% of the work is complete with just the boiler and the magna clean filter to install and pressurising the system etc. There is also the money aspect of taking on a different plumber.

 

[unguided1]

If hes agreed with out argument and he accepts that his mates bullish behaviour is unacceptible then I can not see a reason why he shouldnt finnish the job.

 

[GQuigley67]

mistakes happen, let them finish it and make up for it

 

[customer]

Thanks for this. I agree that it would be much more straight forward to get the guy to finish the job and I am happy for him to make amends. I have assurances that his mate will no longer be involved with the job. To be fair both me and my wife never got a good feeling off him from the start. Weird that it ended up with drama....we must be psychic
I hope it all ends well and i appreciate the honesty and advice on this thread...

 

[GQuigley67]

he wouldn't be happy with his mate no doubt about it, but these things happen in this industry especially with heavy lifting

 

[cjg]

seems to me as his (mate) was poss just his mate , not working mate , trying to show off. hence he"s got rid and going to finish the job himself.seems to be trying to be fair, be nice to him and let him finish the job,and rememmber manners alround don"t cost much but goes a long way. and a thank you after the job etc.
seems to be working out fine let us know at the end.

regards.

 

[bigboy]

to play devils advocate - check the serial no. of the boiler and make sure its not the same one with a new case

 

[northstar]

good point bigboy, customer what area do you live in ?

 

[customer]

good point bigboy, customer what area do you live in ?

Hi, I am in Ruislip, Middlesex

 

[stevetheplumber]

if its only the case or a panel thats damaged then it should be easy enough to replace if the chassis of the boiler is damaged then the boiler needs to be changed i once dropped a neta heat that i was moving cost be a days money for a new gas valve

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

as i said in a previous post,if the insides of the boiler are fine and the damage is just cosmetic what is unreasonable about having a new case??????????? the guys on here who are agreeing with customer,let me ask you this how would you feel if the shoe was on your foot????????as tamz rightly said boilers,rads etc get damaged all the time by rough handling but its not a big problem if you can get new cases etc i feel this problem is being blown out of proportion

 

[tamz]

i once dropped a neta heat that i was moving cost be a days money for a new gas valve

Usually if you dropped a Netaheat it was a new floor you needed

 

[Puddle]

cost be a days money for a new gas valve

Damed if I would pay £500 for a gas valve !!!!


I could not pick one up to be able to drop !!

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

lol,taken a few out very heavy lumps

 

[Guest123]

Alls well that ends well, at least the plumber is holding his hands up and apologising. Most of the work has been done and I'd let him finish it. He'll probably now have a point to prove to you and do an extra good job.
I think that the problem with anything from a cistern to a boiler that's been dropped is that it's potentially damaged and the fault might take some time to manifest itself.

 

[Bartdude]

A new case would have been fine,I agree with gas man,some people have been a little too quick to criticise the plumber here.This kind of thing happens all the time,it's no big deal. It's no wonder that customers are becoming more difficult when they read posts like the one that called it criminal damage

 

[plumberdarren]

I agree Bartdude dont think people would have the same view if it was them in the dock!! also makes me chuckle when something goes wrong and the customer says 'i knew there wasnt something right about him' or ' i thought they seemed dodgy' if that was the case follow your instincts in the first place!! lol

 

[fuzzy]

i wouldnt worry, the boiler wil be fine, accidents happen. laugh it off and if its so bad and on show ask them for a new case

 

[fuzzy]

or dont tip!!

 

[customer]

I agree Bartdude dont think people would have the same view if it was them in the dock!! also makes me chuckle when something goes wrong and the customer says 'i knew there wasnt something right about him' or ' i thought they seemed dodgy' if that was the case follow your instincts in the first place!! lol

Hi, Maybe i didn't explain myself very well earlier. The plumber, whom i found on check a trade was fine. We liked him and he seemed a thoughtful kind of guy albeit a slight language barrier because he is Bulgarian. The person we didn't like was the chap he brought with him. Let me explain what happened when they came to survey for a quote. We had a time scheduled and on the day we got a call saying he would like to come earlier. We explained that we had to collect our 4 year old from nursery so they would omnly have half hour to check things out. Anyway when they came this other chap immediately started putting a lot of pressure on me to go the combi route without listening to anything I had to say. He was not polite about it and had this strange way of laughing after talking almost like a snigger. It was quite disconcerting. He was also quite agressive in his approach - maybe argumentative is the right work. the chap i had actually contacted from check atrade was quieter and busy checking the loft etc. Anyway time went by and eventually my wife stepped into the kitchen and said we have to go to collect my daugther. The reaction of this other chap was quite strange. he addressed my wife saying ' oh, you have to go do you' in a tone as if she was disturbing the conversation, then he said 'right then' and stormed out of the house into the van outside and slammed the door. Now if this wasn't peculiar behaviour i don't know what is. Anyway i kept in email and phone contact with the other chap and he seemed to have some good idea on how to change my system for future expansion etc which none of the other quoting plumbers had. In the end I thought i would give him the job and when we agreed a date I askedhim whether he would be working alone and he said yes. it didn't turn out this way and the other guy did turn up and one on the job I found him to be very antagonistic and the type of person who will highlight problems and not provide solutions. Iter just seemed like he didn't like his job/his work or something. His impulsive, argumentative nature was reflected in the way he handled the boiler. The other plumber was waiting to pick the boiler up with him but the chap just had this impulsive moment of sheer madness (i witnessed it all) . The drop was avoidable no doubt about that. If it was an accident I may have taken a different approach. i don't want this guy going to other peoples houses and stressing them out. When you employ a professional you expect professional behaviour. You also expect someone to listen to what a customer wants not what they want to do.
To conclude, you may have noticed that I havn't posted my query on a consmer website but i have come to other plumbers to ask them what they think. I think i have been very considerate to the plumbers that i have employed considering everything. Anyway the plumber has rung me back today and has confirmed that he is going to buy me a new boiler and keep the other one. he actually said that 'it was our fault'. He is going to finish the job and relations between us are fine. I suggested that if he drop this other guy it wouldn't be a bad thing. He seemed to agree!