BER SCAM??????

chenny

HI everybody,

I was looking at <SNIP> and seen an assessor with an offer of him doing your BER cert and if the house was about to be sold he would hand over the cert and wait until then for payment.
However when i rang he said he needs a 100euro deposit to cover his expenses and the extra 170 when the house was about to be sold.

Things I asked...........

This included VAT and SEI fee
I checked he was registered on the SEI website
He says he is insured
He will offer advice on improvement and an idea of cost and the best and the cheapest places to get this done.


Should i go with this offer or is it too expensive, a scam? or is there more i should ask

sinnerboy

shop around - look at the SEI site for more assessors and compare quotes

chenny

well it seems to be pretty good. its a 4 bed bungalow. i am finding it hard to get people to give a straight out price. Also times are tight and the act he is prepared to wait as long as it takes is what makes it seem a good prospect but i would like to see has anyone else used him.

can i give out his name

smashey

chenny wrote: »

can i give out his name

No.

sinnerboy

chenny wrote: »

well it seems to be pretty good. its a 4 bed bungalow. i am finding it hard to get people to give a straight out price. Also times are tight and the act he is prepared to wait as long as it takes is what makes it seem a good prospect

So where is "the scam" ?

chenny

Well from what i hear from other assessors they say they couldnt do it for 2 3 400 or whatever depending on the company. I no down the line he will get extra but is it really affordible to do it for 100 euro. what if he got 1000 of theses and had to wait 2 or 3 years for final payment on them all.

This is why i was wondering was there something up. Would i get a proper assessment

sydthebeat

from what im reading this guy is quoting you 270 to assess a 4 bed bungalow... thats a good quote whatever way you look at it.... if you can get a better one, great...

hes using the delayed payment as a 'carrott'.. again thats fine...

i see nothing wrong at all here....

sinnerboy

I see . Just because he is being very competitive does not mean he is not good .

I would not offer these terms ( make of that what you will )

Ask how he earns ( earned ) a living before he was a BER assessor . If he is also a building professional - snap his hand off

chenny

Should i look for references with my prices?

sinnerboy

seek and you shall find

muffler

Knock and the door will open

smashey

Christianity forum.

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>

chenny

I text the man from <SNIP> and he text back saying he did not feel right giving out the numbers of his previous customers as he did not no how they would feel about a stranger calling. Is this normal or just that he wouldn't have any good references.

Hey came from doing plumbing and small refurbishment jobs.

Would someone with an engineering background be best.

Sorry for all the questions. My last experience with a tradesperson was not good

muffler

Please do not try to promote this guy too much by stating where he is advertising.

That is all.

smashey

chenny wrote: »

I text the man from <SNIP> and he text back saying he did not feel right giving out the numbers of his previous customers as he did not no how they would feel about a stranger calling. Is this normal or just that he wouldn't have any good references.

That just sounds plain dodgy.


Muffler, you beat me to the snip.

chenny

sorry i didnt realise websites werent allowed.

thanks for the opinions

topcatcbr

He may just be new to this and not have done many to give refrences. It seems like a good deal. I wonder though how many of his customers will call him up to tell him the sale went through an here is your money.

It may be a sharp learning curve.

chenny

well i gave him a call on sat and he's to call tomorrow night so ill see from there

muffler

Let us know how you get on.

chenny

will do

dunie001

doing your BER cert and if the house was about to be sold he would hand over the cert and wait until then for payment.

So is he going to give out the cert before the house is sold or as soon as it's sold????

As far as the legislation is concerned, the BER Cert is supposed to be in place PRIOR to any sale being agreed so the purchaser can view the BER Cert before agreeing to purchase the house...which is the whole point of getting a BER Cert in the first place!!!

If that Assessor is only giving out the Cert once the house is sold, then they are in complete contradiction to the Code of Conduct and the legislation and they clearly have either no idea what they're talking about or they're pulling your leg...

sydthebeat

dunie001 wrote: »

So is he going to give out the cert before the house is sold or as soon as it's sold????

As far as the legislation is concerned, the BER Cert is supposed to be in place PRIOR to any sale being agreed so the purchaser can view the BER Cert before agreeing to purchase the house...which is the whole point of getting a BER Cert in the first place!!!

If that Assessor is only giving out the Cert once the house is sold, then they are in complete contradiction to the Code of Conduct and the legislation and they clearly have either no idea what they're talking about or they're pulling your leg...

my reading of it dunie, is that the assessor is willing to hand over the cert, on demand, and wait until the house is sold before getting the remainder of payment.....
nothing wrong there, he didnt say he wouldnt hand over the cert until it is sold....

lanod2407

I just gotta set up a business called "<SNIP>" .......... it's getting great profile from the mods on this site !!!!! :D:D

........ then again, I might end up getting a lot of nervous guys in their late 30's calling me for an appointment!!!!

muffler

We are all qualified vasectomists :pac:

chenny

well he called pretty much on time and was a little over an hour. he spent about half an hour filling in forms he had with him. he said he calculates it at home? Is that normal? He spent the time talking to me pointing out ways i can save on energy. All of it was pretty obvious but not done all the same. One thing he commented on a few times which i found interesting was he noticed my boy without anything on his feet and he said never to let this happen as it causes arthritis. From the extra vibrations to the joints. He said underfloor heating is renowned for causing this to happen but i never heard of it. Any one else hear of it?

He seemed pretty genuine and said he would send me my rating by text once he calculated it. Hopefully tonight

dunie001

Did he measure the house as well?

I never heard the like of that before in all my life! Arthritis from not wearing socks/shoes!!! So were all our ancestors walking round the earth with arthritis then!!! madness!

muffler

Well apparently you get piles hemorrhoids from sitting on cold stone surfaces

dunie001

And don't forget that if the wind changes direction when you're making faces at someone you're face will stay like that forever...FOREVER!!!:eek::eek:

Any word on the result of the rating????

chenny

Ye he measured it and took some photos and looked at the ESB box and bill come to think of it.

I got a C but the text says can easily get B. Will call back tomorrow with more info.

As far as i can see on google the underfloor helps the arthritis but lack of runners make it worse. Think he said the studies were French but i cant find them.

Can you trust people who eat frogs and snails anyway ha

chenny

C1 if that means more to you. Is that ok?

topcatcbr

If it got a C1 it must be a fairly new home with a condensing boiler installed.

chenny

ye we are just a little over 3 years moved in. My husband took care orf what went in and what didnt during the building of the house