plumber charging me to fix issue I think he caused

RobAMerc

hi,

Had a plumber out last week to fix a leak.
The work he did was replace a pipe off the cold water tank in the attic.

The next day, I had no water in shower and thought it related

He came out and told me it was caused by an empty water tank as "the ball cock had got stuck"

The next day there was no water in the downstairs toilet.

He came back and fixed the issue - an air lock

When I get the bill it includes a charge for fixing both these issues.

Now, does anyone else think its a coincidence that the ball cock got stuck the day he worked on it ? ( never happened in the previous 5 years at the very least ). And should I have to pay for his return to fix the air leak caused when he was working on the water system ?

thanks

Sleeper12

RobAMerc wrote:

Now, does anyone else think its a coincidence that the ball cock got stuck the day he worked on it ? ( never happened in the previous 5 years at the very least ). And should I have to pay for his return to fix the air leak caused when he was working on the water system ?

I'd a car that never had a flat tyre in 5 years but the day after I had it serviced I had one.

No way you will ever find out if airlock is related to the plumbing job but your plumber didn't create the airlock. If anyone created it, it was whoever originally plumbed the house. The airlock may or may not have happened during the original job but very wrong to say he created it

I Am The Law

RobAMerc wrote: »

hi,

Had a plumber out last week to fix a leak.
The work he did was replace a pipe off the cold water tank in the attic.

The next day, I had no water in shower and thought it related

He came out and told me it was caused by an empty water tank as "the ball cock had got stuck"

The next day there was no water in the downstairs toilet.

He came back and fixed the issue - an air lock

When I get the bill it includes a charge for fixing both these issues.

Now, does anyone else think its a coincidence that the ball cock got stuck the day he worked on it ? ( never happened in the previous 5 years at the very least ). And should I have to pay for his return to fix the air leak caused when he was working on the water system ?

thanks

The man has to be paid for his time. If he stayed on to make sure all your plumbing systems worked after the the first job, you would still have to pay for his time.

Now, does anyone else think that people who can't fix stuff themselves, shouldnt moan about paying someone who can.

Alanstrainor

RobAMerc wrote: »

hi,

Had a plumber out last week to fix a leak.
The work he did was replace a pipe off the cold water tank in the attic.

The next day, I had no water in shower and thought it related

He came out and told me it was caused by an empty water tank as "the ball cock had got stuck"

The next day there was no water in the downstairs toilet.

He came back and fixed the issue - an air lock

When I get the bill it includes a charge for fixing both these issues.

Now, does anyone else think its a coincidence that the ball cock got stuck the day he worked on it ? ( never happened in the previous 5 years at the very least ). And should I have to pay for his return to fix the air leak caused when he was working on the water system ?

thanks

I'd be thinking the same as you.

Surely to fix a leak in the water tank he had to drain it before he could do so. And then didn't check to make sure it was filling correctly after the job was done.

Then he came back and *fixed* the ball cock, but since the system ran dry there were air lock issues elsewhere in the system. All due to the tank running dry.

That sounds like a loud of shite to me. I'd certainly be questioning that, it sounds more like he messed up which caused both subsequent issues. The comparison to a serviced car and a flat tyre is completely wrong and irrelevant.

Sleeper12

Alanstrainor wrote: »

That sounds like a loud of shite to me. I'd certainly be questioning that, it sounds more like he messed up which caused both subsequent issues. The comparison to a serviced car and a flat tyre is completely wrong and irrelevant.

Well it's not & here's why: coincidences do happen. They happen every day. There's barely a week goes by without a homeowner trying to blame me on something I wasn't even near. I change an electric component in an electric shower & they get an airlock an hour later & they blame me even though I never went near the water. "My heating won't work since you left this morning, come back & fix it". Even though your heating system is a totally separate system to your water. Ask a gas boiler engineer how many boilers they go to service in a week where the homeowner claims that it's working perfectly & only needs a service when in actual fact it doesn't even turn on when they get there. They would be blamed on causing the boiler to break as they serviced it. Rule of thumb for anyone in the repair business is always to test that it's working before you even touch it. We have the rule of thumb because coincidences happen all the time.



If OP got a quote & if the airlock happened as the plumber worked on the pipe then he shouldn't charge. If OP didn't get a quote before work started then the man is entitled to charge for the airlocks if he didn't charge the day before.

Now, does anyone else think its a coincidence that the ball cock got stuck the day he worked on it ? ( never happened in the previous 5 years at the very least ). And should I have to pay for his return to fix the air leak caused when he was working on the water system ?

I have no idea if the ballcock stuck of not. No ones does but coincidences definitely do happen everyday of the week


If he didn't quote for the original job the you definitely have to pay for him to sort out the airlocks as this was extra work that he didn't know about on the first day.



If he quoted for the job then you will be calling him a liar if you refuse to pay for the extra work

RobAMerc

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I'd a car that never had a flat tyre in 5 years but the day after I had it serviced I had one.

No way you will ever find out if airlock is related to the plumbing job but your plumber didn't create the airlock. If anyone created it, it was whoever originally plumbed the house. The airlock may or may not have happened during the original job but very wrong to say he created it

utter nonsense - the tyre clearly has nothing to do with the car being serviced

the man worked on the water tank - most likely tied up the ball cock to stop it filling while he replaced the pipe. Btw - he didnt replace the failed ball cock he merely "unstuck it" !

I am not blaming him for the front door being jammed - the ball cock in the tank is the exact thing he worked on.

colm_mcm

I think you know the answer already

Sleeper12

You don't say if he quoted for the original job or just charged for his time at the end of the job. The reason I ask is that they are two totally different things. Quoting for the job means that he should not charge you for the airlock if the airlock is connected to the original job. If he charged for his time when the job is done then he is entitled to charge for the airlock even if happened because of the work the day before.

If the airlock isn't connected to the original job then obviously he is entitled to charge for his time.

I stress again that I don't know who, what or why the airlock happened and I'm not sticking up for the plumber. I'm just pointing out that coincidences happen every day and I wouldn't go rushing into calling him a liar especially if he didn't quote for the job & you'd owe him regardless

On another note most plumbers won't tie up the ball cock. We have can turn off the mains at the road or can clamp the hydra dare pipe coming into the tank. Tying up the ball cock is a DIY thing

Tom44

I've been trying up ballcocks for over 30 years now and never left an airlock behind, shooting somebody who calls this a cowboy DIY procedure will be a first for me.

DavyD_83

I Am The Law wrote: »

The man has to be paid for his time. If he stayed on to make sure all your plumbing systems worked after the the first job, you would still have to pay for his time.

Now, does anyone else think that people who can't fix stuff themselves, shouldnt moan about paying someone who can.

Depends on the situation.
My plumbers 100% put a screw into floorboards beside a pipe they had fitted which caused it to leak a couple of weeks later.
If they'd come back to fix it I'd have had serious issues with paying them for their time and effort.
Instead I paid a competent plumber to fix the problem, cos I wouldn't ever let those <MOD SNIP> back in the door. The above was only 1 of many issues with their work.it was 7 yrs ago when we first bought the house and I'm still finding problems. Everytime a tradesman sees their work they ask did I do it myself,

Sleeper12

Tom44 wrote: »

I've been trying up ballcocks for over 30 years now and never left an airlock behind, shooting somebody who calls this a cowboy DIY procedure will be a first for me.

Them's finghn words Tom.


I never said cowboy. I've never have a lasso rope in my tool bag.

Sleeper12

DavyD_83 wrote: »

Depends on the situation.
My plumbers 100% put a screw into floorboards beside a pipe they had fitted which caused it to leak a couple of weeks later.
If they'd come back to fix it I'd have had serious issues with paying them for their time and effort.
Instead I paid a competent plumber to fix the problem, cos I wouldn't ever let those <MOD SNIP> back in the door. The above was only 1 of many issues with their work.it was 7 yrs ago when we first bought the house and I'm still finding problems. Everytime a tradesman sees their work they ask did I do it myself,

I've had the opposite to this happen to me a few times a year. Shower installer before me screws into water pipe & it doesn't leak. 15 years later I come along & unscrew his screw allowing the water to leak. How do I explain that the leak was created 15 years ago & it's not my fault? Guess who gets blamed? Guess who has to re pipe it free of charge. Then you get some who think because I re piped the other plumbers mistake free of charge that I'm going to paint the kitchen ceiling below!

Sleeper12

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I've had the opposite to this happen to me a few times a year. Shower installer before me screws into water pipe & it doesn't leak. 15 years later I come along & unscrew his screw allowing the water to leak. How do I explain that the leak was created 15 years ago & it's not my fault? Guess who gets blamed? Guess who has to re pipe it free of charge. Then you get some who think because I re piped the other plumbers mistake free of charge that I'm going to paint the kitchen ceiling below!

While getting the case off a boiler for a service I knocked a green looking solder elbow which then popped out(was never soldered) I did have a little difficulty explaining to the home owner it wasn’t necessarily my fault as the basement of the four story filled up with water