Awkward One

[hammers4spanner]

Had a call from a cust from 4 months ago at about 9 a.m this morning that a set of taps i supplied fitted had gone faulty and not turning off. Took me 30 mins to get there another 30 messing about with them and they were knackered .Phoned up the supplier and was asked to remove them and bring them down and they will exchange for a new set .

When i was at the suppliers i asked who pays for my running around /petrol/time etc for this as its only the tap that they have supplied is faulty .They just said we are giving you a new tap at no cost which is pointless to me as its not covering a few hours of running about .

Got back to custs house explained the situation and half hearted asked her to cover some money (£40), she was a bit why should i (which i don't blame her). Was an awkward moment but for defective parts supplied by another who if any should pay the plumber for his/her lost time?

 

[Roger Welton]

This is why we mark up parts to cover any comebacks, personally whilst it annoys me when it happens its a business expense and I wouldn't have asked for payment and apologised for any inconvenience.

 

[Best]

I think it goes like this -
You say you supplied the taps, so I reckon you are responsible for replacing them if faulty & under warranty. After all, the faulty tap is not the customers fault.
The supplier is responsible to you. So I think they have to cover your losses.
Maybe Ray will clarify exactly what is true

 

[gassafe]

It's your loss unfortunately...

This is why we mark up fittings supplied by us, if the custard supplied then its chargeable...

I would not have asked customer to fund anything as its not there fault & they paid 4 months ago!

 

[TFGplumbing]

I remember getting paid a days labour by a certain gas fire company due to them sending faulty items on two occasions on the same job.. lavley

Technically I don't think your out of order charging, get the customer to write the manufacturer a ****ty letter; The goods were still under manufacturers warranty, the might compensate perhaps

 

[hammers4spanner]

I think it goes like this -
You say you supplied the taps, so I reckon you are responsible for replacing them if faulty & under warranty. After all, the faulty tap is not the customers fault.
The supplier is responsible to you. So I think they have to cover your losses.
Maybe Ray will clarify exactly what is true

Well i was thinking something along those lines they supplied a faulty product nothing at my end was incorrect .The supplier on other hand in my view supplied a product unfit for purpose .However when i asked who pays my time talk about backs against the wall and anyone but them.

 

[hammers4spanner]

It's your loss unfortunately...

This is why we mark up fittings supplied by us, if the custard supplied then its chargeable...

I would not have asked customer to fund anything as its not there fault & they paid 4 months ago!

Well put it like this in the last ten days i have had 2 actuators faulty ,two outside taps ,and todays .

No markup covers that

 

[stevetheplumber]

your contract will be with the merchant who should liase with the manufacturers on your behalf we got paid to peplace a water main that had solidified plastic in it which allowed it to pass a presure test but had no flow and included taking up a finished parking area

 

[Best]

A one off faulty tap or actuator, I would just take it on the chin. Look at it like your own insurance policy where you charge each customer a mark up on materials and you get the odd loss where you have to call back on a faulty part.
However, where the same part on something keeps failing on one job or different jobs, or where a larger job fails - like a new boiler or cylinder & causes hours of loss to you to replace whole item, then you should be compensated. Just send a detailed bill into merchant.

 

[Best]

Take an example where you buy a part of a merchant and a few months later the part is faulty.
Let's say the merchant tells you the manufacturer is now no longer in existence as out of business, - your complaint is still with your merchant. They would have to replace the part with similar, or credit you with the money. They also would be responsible for your time cost loss.

 

[hammers4spanner]

If it was an hour i would have just sucked it however to basically loose your morning and then rejig your working day and mr plumber can foot the bill.

Didn't feel happy about charging cust however suppliers attitude was a shoulder shrug.

 

[plumben]

I dont see anything wrong in asking the customer to fund some of the cost of your travel as you turned up the day they rang up and got it sorted pronto,

You could of said yeah ill get it sorted and took your time getting round to it and came a week or two later

 

[SimonG]

I think the phrase is consequential losses and the fact that suppliers dont cover it. Its fair enough, and why 30% goes on my materials.

I would have asked for a refund and bought other taps somewhere else. Anything substantial then its on the phone and they have to come an fix it. I.e shower, boiler

In my honest opinion, you should't be charging a customer unless they supplied it. Some customers will offer though as they appreciate its not your fault.

 

[Ray Stafford]

In terms of product, the obligation is on the seller, and so runs up the chain.

You are responsible to your customer, your merchant is responsible to you, the distributor (if applicable) is responsible to the merchant and the manufacturer is responsible to the distributor.

In terms of your time or other consequential losses, you have absolutely no legal rights whatsoever. You may be able to negotiate a goodwill settlement, but that is a completely different matter, and will depend on your relationship with the merchant or the manufacturer. There is no legal protection, and all merchants will have a "no consequential loss" clause in their ts and cs. To the best of my knowledge, no court has ever struck one of these clauses down.

Generally speaking, this is why you should both put a mark up on material, AND maintain a good relationship with your merchant. If you mark up materials, this is one of the risks that your mark up covers. However, unless you are a large contractor, if you have a run of problems, its better to have a good relationship with a merchant who may help broker a goodwill settlement from the manufacturer.

We now specifically highlight this issue at the top of our terms and conditions - along with a small handful of other clauses that cause 90% of our heartache. 🙂 We also try to be fair, and frequently lend our weight to negotiations with manufacturers if there is an obvious and persistent fault.

 

[Fallon1982]

Had a call from a cust from 4 months ago at about 9 a.m this morning that a set of taps i supplied fitted had gone faulty and not turning off. Took me 30 mins to get there another 30 messing about with them and they were knackered .Phoned up the supplier and was asked to remove them and bring them down and they will exchange for a new set .

When i was at the suppliers i asked who pays for my running around /petrol/time etc for this as its only the tap that they have supplied is faulty .They just said we are giving you a new tap at no cost which is pointless to me as its not covering a few hours of running about .

Got back to custs house explained the situation and half hearted asked her to cover some money (£40), she was a bit why should i (which i don't blame her). Was an awkward moment but for defective parts supplied by another who if any should pay the plumber for his/her lost time?

If it's not a fault with workmanship, then surely the customer should contact the manufacturer??

 

[gassafe]

Well put it like this in the last ten days i have had 2 actuators faulty ,two outside taps ,and todays .

No markup covers that

Stop shopping in pound land 😉

 

[Ch4 plumbing]

Suck it up, as said that's why you add the 20%. Don't use that manufacture again if you think it's carp but it happens sometimes and is as simple as that!?

 

[hammers4spanner]

Mind you saying all that few year ago when doing county council work i spent about 400 quid on toilet seats over a year defect period.

Turned out several office staff were a bit on the obese side was spitting feathers over that.

 

[Ch4 plumbing]

That's not fair general use that's fat Gits moving and shaking on the pans! It ain't a disco baby stop the wiggling!!

 

[Ray Stafford]

If it's not a fault with workmanship, then surely the customer should contact the manufacturer??

No contract exists between the householder and the manufacturer. The only contract that the householder has is with the person they gave their money to - in this case, the tradesman.

There are a number of circumstances where the manufacturer voluntarily puts themselves forward (for example, boiler warranties) but nevertheless, legal responsibility for sorting the problem rests with the person or organisation who took the money.