Discuss Plumber problems - need advice please in the UK Plumbing Forum | Plumbing Advice area at PlumbersForums.net

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Hi Everyone

This is my first post here and I hope to hear from some of the experienced plumbers or anyone else in general that has had an issue with plumbing.

In October 2018 a plumber came to install full central heating and a unventes cylinder which was zoned to two floors (Basement and Ground floor zone 1 & First and 2nd floor zone 2)

The property was undergoing complete renovation from scratch and it wasn't until October 2019 that I actually moved into the property.

The Boiler was then serviced by the installer in December 2019, and it wasn't until approximately March or April 2020 when I noticed the problem.

When I woke up one morning I happened to put my hand on the bathroom radiator which was hot to the touch and upon checking the boiler, it was not fired up and the thermostat was also not showing as turned on.

I then reported this to the installer who at the time bluffed me into stating this could be the settings on the thermostat or boiler etc and he will come and check it when he is free to do so.

This was when we ended up with Covid lockdown so I didn't chase him up again until towards the end of the year as I had to isolate for 3 months due to vulnerability and rules for covid were quite strict in terms of allowing anyone to visit.

To cut a long story short, the installer after numerous requests eventually came out in August 2021 after I had obtained a report from Baxi which stated that there is no problem with the boiler, the divertor valves or any pipework visible above ground and that the likely issue is a poor connection below the floorboards.

The installer checked the 2nd floor and admitted that they have more than likely connected the return pipe from the last radiator into the return pipe of the invented cylinder and hence why water is actually flowing into the radiators in zone 2 when I have the timer on to heat up Hot water!

He agreed to rectify this problem at no cost to me and has now denied completing the work in the upper two floors and accused me of using another installer to complete part of the house.

This is all untrue and he is doing this as I have threatened court action.

I also get the sense that he has created a fake invoice to reflect that he has only done the bottom two floors.

Trading standards were informed of this and I have followed their advice and sent him two letters with a letter of action also which he still denies doing the work to the top section of the house.

How can I prove to the courts the work was done by him in full and that he agreed to rectify this, as this was a verbal agreement when he came to inspect it.
I have misplaced the actual invoice from the time he completed the install so only have proof of payments made via bank transfer in instalments along with a few text messages sent to him to come and rectify it.

Do I have a chance in court and what could I do to prove everything and show the courts how deceitful this person really is.

Sorry for the long winded first message.
Hope someone can advise the best way to deal with this as I will be submitting a money claim online soon.

Thanks
 
Was a boiler installed at all? You should have a building regulations certificate for the unvented cylinder, and one if a boiler was installed. If a boiler was installed, the benchmark should be filled in too.
 
How does the reg cert and completed book prove the installer fitted the entire system with radiators? It only shows he serviced the boiler and tank. He is trying to make out he only zoned the bottom floors and that I used another installer to zone the top 2 floors and the other installer has created the problem.

It's easy for him to just write out another invoice on his headed sheet and put in the description he wants to show, and this is where somehow I need to expose his deceit.

How common is it for a boiler service to include checking if radiators are faulty as I don't know any that randomly start checking the radiators after a boiler service, something which he claims he did on the first service, which would seem odd, if according to him I only mentioned the problem with the radiators heating up AFTER 8 mths of the service
 
Does the total in payments you made to him tally with the fake invoice he created?
I have a record of making him bank transfer payments totalling £2000 with a further £475 towards materials. He claims I paid £2700 labour which I find odd but surely it looks better for me as it just shows I paid him a higher amount than originally paid.
 
Here is a screenshot of his paperwork when he installed. What can be seen from this to identify he has done both zones please?
 

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