Avoid - PlumbingForce UK

[Waheed]

Hi as s consumer i want to bring this to attention, so no one else goes through what i have just been through over the last 2 days, need some advice as I'm not getting anywhere with this 

 

Below is the email I have sent to plumbing force customer services - still waiting for a reply 

 

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Quote

 

Hi can you please look in to my complaint regarding this job number: 141082 as a matter of urgency please.

 

I would like my £180 that I paid yesterday to be refund back to me please. as you can see from the evidence I have attached on the email

 

I paid £180 for a plumber from plumbing force to come to my house to unblock a saniflo system, as your website states you specialise in unblocking saniflo systems, which was the main reason I contact and booked a plumber from your company, when he arrived (Oli) he only spent in the house 8mins max!! only looked at the toilet and then to came to conclusion that the blade is dislodged, I cant repair it, it needs a part ordering and I cant get that till next week nothing is open today.

 

1: my first issue was how did he come to the conclusion that the blade was dislodged without opening the lid or even moving the pan out of the way to look inside. it was clearly blocked he didn’t even investigate the blockage, on your site it states you specialise in unblocking saniflo systems. he did not even attempt to even investigate what the issue was. 

 

2: he left me with no options on the next steps and what to do next, I went to speak to my mum to update her and discuss what to do next, it was less than a min, by the time I had come back to the room he had already gone and was already driving off, I went outside to find out what was going on, he had already driven off!!. that was disgraceful service, I was soooo upset, I was in tears, he literally stole my money, my father is 86 years old vulnerable, and with disabilities and limited movement in his legs, this toilet was essential to him, at the time of booking I mentioned it was an emergency (they charged me extra for this I was happy to pay this) and that was the only access to the toilet for him to use. I was left in complete limbo, lost for words on what to do next. my dad has had to use a bucket to use the toilet since last night, which was not convenient or dignified at all.

 

3: I managed to get hold of another plumber who was local and came round this after noon at 13.30 on the 28.03.2020, he pulled the toilet forward, took the pan front off and the blockage was clear, it was just some wipes that had got stuck on the blade, he cleared this, as you can see from the image I have attached (on the email). the blade was absolutely fine, nothing wrong with it what so ever, this plumber also confirmed there was no way the plumber from the plumbing force (Oli) could have come up with the conclusion that the blade was dislodged without having a look inside which was so easy to do by pulling the pan forward. there was nothing wrong with the saniflo system because it is brand new, and I only had this installed less than 4 months ago. this plumber I found locally managed to unblock my toilet in 45 mins and all reconnected up, fully working

 

I have also attached a video clearly demonstrating my toilet is working fine and no parts was required and no blade was dislodged like your plumber stated and lied about.

 

can you please look in to this for me please as a matter of urgency, I would like my money refunded back to me, and an apology from the company.

 

I will be taking this matter forward to trading standards if this is not brought to a satisfactory conclusion.

 

I have spoke to someone called Jordon, who said she waould pass this on to customer services, and said she will look into this and get back to me yesterday - i am still waiting for that call

 

you have my contact number on file

 

I look forward to your prompt reply

 

Thank you

 

 

Waheed

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG. I've edited out your last name to make this more anonymous.

 

People should be along later to advise.

 

Best, HB

[Waheed]

Thankyou HB 

Edited March 29, 2020 by Waheed

[BankFodder]

How did you pay this?

[Waheed]

When I called to book plumber they took my debit card over the phone and took the payment of £180 and said they wouldn't send anyone out until a payment for the first hour was made over the phone, I was reluctant to do that, i was left with no other choice, I had also paid extra because I mentioned it was an emergency, normal charge is £99 per hour

[BankFodder]

I see that on Google reviews https://www.google.com/search?q=plumbing+force+uk+reviews&oq=Plumbing+force&aqs=chrome.1.0l5j69i60l3.2264j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#lrd=0x4875fe8c8932d011:0xe16bd0a43d69976b,1,,,

they have over 1600 reviews – which is a lot with an average rating of 3.9 The star rating system is always calculated very conservatively and so I would say that three point nine is not very good at all.

I haven't bothered to count them – but there are huge number of one star reviews. With only 3.9 on Google, this is a company to avoid in my view.

 

On trust pilot there are almost 3000 reviews – of which about 10% are only two stars. Once again, these reviews are calculated conservatively. Also, there has been a lot of discussion about the ease with which companies are able to affect the five-star reviews and also to have poor reviews withdrawn.

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/plumbingforce.co.uk

 

According to trustpilot, 102 reviews were withdrawn at the company's request - https://www.trustpilot.com/review/plumbingforce.co.uk/activity  

[BankFodder]

You should telephone your bank on Monday and begin a chargeback process. The bank will be reluctant to do it – but you should try and insist and at least get them to begin an investigation. You should read our customer services guide and implement the advice there before you do anything on the telephone. At the end, you should send your bank written confirmation of your complaint and your chargeback request.

The email that you have sent above is okay but not really sufficiently assertive. Let us know as soon as you get any news from them or an update as to what has happened with your bank

[Waheed]

Thankyou so much for your reply I will do that