Can anyone help me win against Plumbforce?

[Rachimella92]

Looking for some moral support and advice against an awful company called Plumbforce Direct.

I only wish I'd checked their reviews before booking them.

If anyone knows what rights I have or has any tips I'd be so appreciative.

 

Story and my complaint email posted below:

 

 

Hi 

 

It's taken me a while to get to sending this email as we have only just found the source of our plumbing problem and following it being resolved I now understand just how unhelpful your company was in this process.

 

I called plumbforce a few weeks back when water appeared on our floor.

The guys who came seemed nice enough and suggested the source of it was the leaking sink waste under my kitchen sink.

They said that cleaning the pipes or 'snaking them' as well as replacing the waste exit should resolve the issue.

They said it would be £350 +VAT.

 

Being new to owning my own home and sadly entirely naive of what plumbing should cost I said yes to this and they proceeded to clean already clean pipes and provide me with a new plughole for £420.

This of course didn't solve the problem and when I called a different, reliable plumber he was outraged on my behalf and said it was a £70 to £100 job maximum. 

 

I never received the invoice I was promised for the work completed which I find telling in itself.

Please send this as soon as possible. 

 

I am also looking to get either entirely refunded for this work or the difference in overcharging.

I find it unfair and completely exploitative of my clear lack of experience that you've overcharged me by 5x what it should have cost. 

 

Having now read your overwhelmingly negative reviews and many other complaints I can see you have made the decision that your company will operate in this way and I only wish I'd done this before booking you. 

 

Please let me know if there are any additional steps I should take with regard to your complaint handling process. 

 

Rachel

 

 

[BankFodder]

Hi, I'm sure we've had a complaint about this company very recently. You could have a search and see if you can find it and post a link here.

 

[Rachimella92]

Hi thanks for your reply. I did think that but I believe that's a different company with similar name. Comments on that chain mention them having 3.9 stars on Google and these people only have one (attached) they're just diabolical. 

[BankFodder]

Of course it could be the same company trading under variations of the same name in order to dilute their bad reputation.

In terms of the money you paid, section 15 of the Supply of Goods and Services Act says that where a price for services has not been agreed then a reasonable price will be implied.

I gather from what you have told us that they give you the price in advance and you agreed. I'm afraid that on this point, you would be bound to pay the price because contract law does not help people to make good bargains. It simply requires the people stick by the bargains they have made.

On the other hand, if they undertook to do a certain job of work and to achieve a certain result – and that result wasn't achieved then you certainly have an action against them.

The problem is that a company like this may be difficult to get hold of unless they have got a very clear office or workplace and some assets. The second problem is that you would probably be required to have given plumbforce the opportunity to come back and try again – and unfortunately you didn't do that.

This means you tried to make a claim against them, they would probably argue that these plumbing problems they always take one or two goes to fix and that a reasonable person would give them an opportunity to sort it out before going elsewhere.

I'm sure you're absolutely right and these people are completely overpriced – and it seems that they have done a bad job – and of course the reviews don't do them any favours. However, I think you're going have difficulty getting your money back on this – although if you want to try, will be very happy to help you – but I'm sure that it will go to a small claim in the County Court.

Of course this would be an interesting exercise for you if you have the energy. It's quite simple – but of course you do risk your claim fee and your hearing fee if you lose.

I can imagine that if you produced evidence of their reputation and what has happened in court that the judge will be disposed to find in your favour regardless of the arguments which I have suggested that they might put forward.

The final risk could be that they would say that you are only entitled to recover the cost of the second plumber required to finish the job that you had paid Plumbforce for. In other words about a hundred quid. It's not a bad argument – I don't know if it is a winning argument – and as I probably wouldn't bother to be represented, they might not think of it for themselves. However, I'm just letting you know of all the possibilities in this problem.

Of course I think one of the lessons view is to make sure that you get at least two quotes for everything – even if it seems to be an emergency.

When your new home, it's worth making sure that you gather a list of reliable support services – either from your experience or from the experience of neighbours who will already have been through it. That way you can be reasonably certain that if you have any other problems with heating or lighting or water – et cetera, you will have one or two numbers to hand that you can call on with a certain amount of confidence.