Have you been screwed over ?

[Ermintrude]

Slightly off tangent. Bumped into a builder friend at merchants. He's been working on a house for months. Quite a decent job in expensive area. He says your not going to believe this. Renewing some 6" foul drains..... Hit mains cable with a spit 10" down! £££££!! Big bill. Electric board make a bigger mess of garden. Fixed it and starts to sort garden. 5pm ish. Bloke starts shouting out of a window "what the f are you doing in my garden?!?!???" Turns out the house doesn't own the land he's been working on. The 8yard skip and 40m2 of paving will be FOC then! DOH!!! He's a really nice fella but man what a day he had.

 

[brum]

In my opinion the worst part of self employment is chasing payment I really feel embarrassed getting on phone after a week or so.Now with e mail I find it easier to mail them which I usually do after a few sorbets and am closer to the bone but I get results im a plumber not a debt collector.

That said though good payers get premium service and most of mine are good payers but there are them others who think I work for fun and will giveaway materials..brum

 

[julesverne]

So Viper what have you done so far to get the money what you are owed.

When i write my invoices/receipt i always state the method of payment, have you done so in this case or did you state just paid.

 

[southcoastboile]

Happened to me recently.
carried out 5 boiler services and repalaced parts. With the solicitors fees etc they owed me around £600. they went into liquidation.
when I was last there they were asking me to do about 20k worth of work. Install new boilers, gas main etc!
fuming

 

[Viper Gas]

So Viper what have you done so far to get the money what you are owed.

When i write my invoices/receipt i always state the method of payment, have you done so in this case or did you state just paid.

Stop press..stop press. The money came through yesterday. Great. But now get this she's raised a new issue. Allow me to elaborate.

She requested the boiler to be put in certain location which required the flu to go through bungalow roof. Location was cupboard in centre of house flue exit directly up and out.
Now she says that the flu could have been routed else where, an opinion she got from her next door neighbour who's not a GS Engineer.

I said I installed correctly using correctly material. Ie. Manufacturer flu and universal cowl. Anyway she going to get more 'opinions' and consider sending me the repair bill. I replied let me know what you want to do.

I'm very sure now that she's really after some money because I'm confident my work would pass any GS Inspection.

What would you guys do in this kind of situation.
1. Pay for a roofer to make good'er' the roof around the exit point.
2. Offer to have your guy look at the roof.
3. Contest it.
4. Agree to pay costs..if so how to make it so there are no more or additional comebacks?
5.any alternative suggestions.

Thanks guys.

 

[Viper Gas]

P's thanks to all who replied on this thread so far.

 

[Millsy 82]

Let them get the work done. When they send you a bill send it back with a letter saying as you were not given the chance to rectify the fault then you will not be paying.

 

[oz-plumber]

Hey Viper,

You got your money!
I honestly thought you were cactus.

As for the flue...tell her that you installed it to regulations and there was no problem at the time when you installed it.

If she has an alternative way, let her know you will quote her for the alterations.

 

[Masood]

As oz plumber says, write back to her saying that your installation complies with GSIUR and MIs. Point out also that her UNQUALIFIED neighbour will not be aware of the relevant legislation and restrictions you have taken into account when routing the flue. Also that a different route may have required more disruption if it passed through other rooms in the property - holes through walls, boxing-in, etc. Point out that she did not ask for a different flue route when booking the job, and had she done so, you'd have investigated the possibility and advised on feasibility and cost. She can't change her mind after the job is done and expect you to pay for her indecisiveness.

If you don't currently do it, start putting boiler location and proposed flue route on your quotes. I always write "New boiler to be installed in same location/kitchen/AC/whatever, with flue to be routed through wall/loft/whatever and made good/boxed in" That way there's no argument later.

 

[kris]

Hi good. I'm glad u got paid. Me personally I'd go round and talk to them and find out there concerns and just make sure that your arse is covered and work is up to scratch . If it is then explain to them that everything is spoton. Show them your reasonable and fair but don't let them take ****.

 

[Millsy 82]

When you do a quote do you write down that it will be a vertical flue terminating through the roof blah blah blah.

I do so that if they change their mind I can thrust that bit of paper at them with a smile on my face.

 

[Viper Gas]

I like the idea of spelling it all out in a quote. Location . Flue route. And other client requirements. That way you guys are right...there's no come back.

I'm sure the flue is installed according to regulations however if it is found that the cowl could have been better installed I would be willing to pay for a roofer to make it good'er'.

Yet I think she's just trying it on looking for ways to get some cash back as she's talking about the exit point not the actual installation if the flue.

Anyway guys all your answers have been readily digested and with thanks. 🙂

 

[julesverne]

Good to see you got paid. I cant really add any further to whats really been said some good advice. Not occurred to mention flue route in quotes before.

 

[GasmanxxxR1]

you will know yourself if there was another route for the flue. Vertical flue is best though as it gets it out of the way