issue with heating contractor

sweetie

I had my gas boiler moved before christmas and sometime in january I noticed there was a slight leak from a pipe leading to it. I rang the contractor (who I had a slight dispute with over the price - he quoted a price and when the job was finished looked for about 15 percent extra which I refused to pay) and he suggested trying to tighten the join myself which I tried but I didn't want to put too much pressure on it in case I did more damage. I called him back to request he have a look at it but up until last week I failed to get through to him (I suspect he is not answering my calls.) He answered my call from a different number last week as if there was nothing wrong and said he would have a look this week but so far this week I have been unable to contact him.
What are my options with this? I paid for a job which was not done properly and I expect him to finish it but how do I make him do this?

Oryx

Because this is gas, you really cant afford to mess about, and have a faulty leaky system. If this guy asked you to tighten a leaking gas pipe yourself he sounds like a cowboy. Im not familiar with piped gas, we dont have it in our town, but shouldnt there be a safety organisation (similar to RECI for electricity) that you can contact regarding this man?

Alun

I'm guessing the OP meant a water pipe leading to the boiler rather than a gas pipe.

sweetie

It is a leak on the a water pipe coming from the boiler so it's not as serious. I'm considering calling to his house and threatening to go down the legal route with it and see does he pay attention. I can also contact mytradesman.ie where I got his details and warn them.

jor el

Don't call to his house as it won't do your case any good. Do go down the legal route if needs be.

What was the 15% extra he wanted to charge on the original bill? Did you have a written quote for the original amount? Any documented evidence will be helpful if you want to use a solicitor.

sweetie

Hi,

I don't believe he has any intention in calling back to me. I only got a verbal quote but he told me that he never included the timer in the quote (the old one wasn't working so it obviously needed replacement) and also the motorised valve, that he thought could be reused, couldn't be. He left all the other rubbish and material leftovers except the old valve so I suspect he could actually reuse it somewhere else. I refused on the grounds outlined above and paid him by cheque for the original quote and got a receipt for same (printed from a pc.) What legal action can I take? I will also be contacting www.mytradesman.ie to report him. I am so tempted to call him the total w****r and sh1t that he is!

jaggeh

is he a registered gas installer?

if he is then he has liablity insurance and all his work comes with a warranty.

if its just the water pipe leaking then any qualified plumber can deal with it, then you take the bill for his work and take the original fitter to the small claims court. that is if he refuses to attempt to fix the problem within a decent time period.

as the others have stated if its gas dont mess about, if this part of his work was shoddy chances are the rest could be too. i reccomend you have your system looked over by someone on this list
http://www.bge.ie/networks/index.jsp?1nID=102&pID=117&nID=144

If you have any questions about the safety aspect ring 1850 797979 (CO & safety line) i may even be bothered to help you (ask for matt)

sweetie

He has the G2 certificate which the bord gais hotline guy I spoke to said was sufficient. They wouldn't recommend anyone and told me to check the yellow pages. Problem was noticed near end of january about a month after job done and so far no sign of him coming. If I get it fixed by someone else how do I prove it was the original guys fault?

jaggeh wrote:

is he a registered gas installer?

if he is then he has liablity insurance and all his work comes with a warranty.

if its just the water pipe leaking then any qualified plumber can deal with it, then you take the bill for his work and take the original fitter to the small claims court. that is if he refuses to attempt to fix the problem within a decent time period.

as the others have stated if its gas dont mess about, if this part of his work was shoddy chances are the rest could be too. i reccomend you have your system looked over by someone on this list
http://www.bge.ie/networks/index.jsp?1nID=102&pID=117&nID=144

If you have any questions about the safety aspect ring 1850 797979 (CO & safety line) i may even be bothered to help you (ask for matt)

jaggeh

technically we arent allowed reccomend anyone so he was right about that however, the listing on the website i gave you is fine all the installers on that have (G1, G2, GID) qualifications and public liability insurance.

who did you speak to on the hotline?

Get in touch with the original guy you had out and tell him you have reported him to bord gais, and tell him you are getting an RGI installer to check over the system and issue a report on it and that you will be pursuing him in the small claims court.

Other than that i dont know, if you want any other advice you can get me during the week (and today till 5.30) on either
1850 200 694
1850 79 79 79 as i operate on both lines.

jaggeh

some light reading for you
http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Learning_Zone/Guides_To_Consumer_Law/Electricity_+_Gas/

If the contractor does not provide a proper service, or uses faulty materials in supplying it, tell them to rectify the problem or give you a refund. These entitlements are the same as with any other service that comes under consumer law. If you are still not happy, you could consider going the Small Claims Court if the value of the job didn't exceed €2,000, or a higher court if it is a higher sum.

sweetie

Thanks. Appreciate all the help and information. Can I get someone else to fix the problem in the meantime as we have put up a new ceiling and don't want any water damage to it. I have towels wrapped round the pipe constantly at the moment.

jaggeh

You are within your rights to request a refund from your original contractor, if he doesnt do that pursue him in the court.

by all means id advise you to get it seen to, advise whoever you go with that you had work done by X and that its poor work that you need fixed, then get an itemised bill and signed report from whoever does the work.

then bring them to court and have the original contractor pay the bills.