Rights when dealing with plumbers

[stevew9999]

Hi,
It's my first post, so please be gentle!

I've got a problem with my boiler at home, and called out a plumber to take a look. We've used this guy before to fit a fire, and he did a good job. My question is this:

He dignosed the problem as being the circuit board, a part which costs £150. Including labour, it came to over £220. He bought the part, fitted it, but the boiler still did not fire up. He has charged us for the other part still, as the spares shop would not refund the cost, leaving us with in effect an expensive spare which we may never use through the life of the boiler.

He then phoned Baxi who make the boiler, and they told him to try replacing the gas valve. He is coming early next week to fit this (another £96 +VAT, +labour), bringing the total cost now to over £400, but theres no guarantee the new valve will solve the problem (in fact, I'm a little sceptical, as the problem seems to be electrical from what he's saying).

Does this seem right, that we should pay for random spare parts to fault find the system, when the reason for calling in an expert is to get the problem diagnosed and sorted quickly?

Also, what are my rights, as I'm of the opinion that I called him to diagnose a problem. If he makes a mistake, surely that should be his own liability?

Thanks for any help,

Steve.

[alexteh]

This is where having a boiler maintenance contract with someone like British Gas would be useful. I contacted them when my boiler went boom and they happily took me onto their books even though I was calling the first time with a problem. The first year cost more than usual but I had a Corgi Registered engineer round within a couple of days and they guarantee a fix with no extra fees for parts, etc.

[screech]

it happens all the time, i've seen people charged £400 for simple valves that cost them £30 to buy and the problems still there, but people don't get a refund. they never offer a guarantee to fix it or your money back