Is it normal for a plumber to leave a leaking stopcock? We had a plumber in to fit a new bathroom suite and they have left without fitting the bath panel (said the bath waste pipe was at the wrong height); has left the toilet at a wonky angle to the wall, not in the middle of the wall and not attached to the back wall; was unable to fit a pop-up waste on the basin as they couldn't figure it out and as mentioned has left the stopcock dripping as they said they weren't able to do that kind of work. This is my first experience with plumbers - is this normal??? All this for almost double our quote!
Advice on badly fitting bathroom suite...
- Thread starter katylucy
- Start date
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It is normal for cowboys 
Did you charge them for the hay for their horses
Seriously this is NOT normal for a qualified plumber. All the faults you list would never have been left by a competent bathroom fitter/plumber.
A quote is a quote unless you change something or you agree to a change. I take it it was a proper written quote and not just a verbal estimate? I only work with written quotes, protects me and the customer
They were not Polish were they?
I would insist they come back to rectify, although thinking about it you are best not to let them in your property again
Better option is to tell them that you will get a proper fitter in to correct their mistakes and send them the bill, assuming that they will pay you. Trading standards springs to mind! I doubt you have any proper receipts or the work was notified if required. I hope they didn't touch any electrics
Did you charge them for the hay for their horses Seriously this is NOT normal for a qualified plumber. All the faults you list would never have been left by a competent bathroom fitter/plumber.
A quote is a quote unless you change something or you agree to a change. I take it it was a proper written quote and not just a verbal estimate? I only work with written quotes, protects me and the customer
They were not Polish were they?
I would insist they come back to rectify, although thinking about it you are best not to let them in your property again
Better option is to tell them that you will get a proper fitter in to correct their mistakes and send them the bill, assuming that they will pay you. Trading standards springs to mind! I doubt you have any proper receipts or the work was notified if required. I hope they didn't touch any electrics
Leaky stopcock - Often the packing gland goes on a stopcock, especially if it hasn't been used for years. Generally not the plumbers fault, but it takes 10 minutes to sort out and should of been done.
Bath Panel - If the bath waste pipe was too high and couldnt be lowered, and \ or the new bath is a deeper one, then the new bath panel may fall a bit short. This is something that is difficult to foresee. We usually try to arrange an alternative rather than leave it.
Wonky wc - Some cheaper brand wcs are actually manufacture wonky. This should of been looked at first before installation and a replacement organised. Also, the floor could be uneven, but again, this should of been looked at before installation. On solid floors, a mortar base would help to even things up a bit. Some loos don't have wall fixings now, it is only secured to the floor - lift the cistern lid to see if there any unused fixing holes.
With regards to centering, was this made clear in the beginning?? I fit bathrooms all the time and I have to say, some people think you are mind readers. I was given plans to work to once, but the cutomer had changed there mind and thought I would be able to guess this.
Basin pop up - These are generally quite straight forward. If it was an unusual one, a quick phone call for some instruction would of sorted it out. ( Unless it was Bathstore. com who are next to useless. )
Bath Panel - If the bath waste pipe was too high and couldnt be lowered, and \ or the new bath is a deeper one, then the new bath panel may fall a bit short. This is something that is difficult to foresee. We usually try to arrange an alternative rather than leave it.
Wonky wc - Some cheaper brand wcs are actually manufacture wonky. This should of been looked at first before installation and a replacement organised. Also, the floor could be uneven, but again, this should of been looked at before installation. On solid floors, a mortar base would help to even things up a bit. Some loos don't have wall fixings now, it is only secured to the floor - lift the cistern lid to see if there any unused fixing holes.
With regards to centering, was this made clear in the beginning?? I fit bathrooms all the time and I have to say, some people think you are mind readers. I was given plans to work to once, but the cutomer had changed there mind and thought I would be able to guess this.
Basin pop up - These are generally quite straight forward. If it was an unusual one, a quick phone call for some instruction would of sorted it out. ( Unless it was Bathstore. com who are next to useless. )
If he is a member of the Institute that they have a complaints procedure.
If you chose to employ an incompetent cowboy instead of a professional and pay him with cash and no receipt then you have to accept that you have made an unfortunate mistake. It seems to happen too often !
You are probably better off to get a professional to sort it out for you.
One wonders why you paid him if its done so badly.
Tony
If you chose to employ an incompetent cowboy instead of a professional and pay him with cash and no receipt then you have to accept that you have made an unfortunate mistake. It seems to happen too often !
You are probably better off to get a professional to sort it out for you.
One wonders why you paid him if its done so badly.
Tony
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.........Poles may be cheap, but they`re not necesarily bodgers.......and some are 2nd generation from their dads being in WWII with usgas4you said:they were not Polish were they?
I would insist they come back to rectify, although thinking about it you are best not to let them in your property again
electrics
Nige F said:.........Poles may be cheap, but they`re not necesarily bodgers.......and some are 2nd generation from their dads being in WWII with usgas4you said:they were not Polish were they?
I would insist they come back to rectify, although thinking about it you are best not to let them in your property again
electrics
Point taken Nige, just me generalising again
Thanks very much for all your responses - it's very helpful!
Just to let you know that this plumber was recommended to us and that they have invoiced us almost £950 for this - it's not cash in hand and we didn't intend to have employed a cowboy We've learnt a lot from this and will look out for professional membership next time...
We are currently writing a letter stating why we're not happy. We haven't paid them yet and are considering offering half the amount and calling it a day... I'd rather pay and have a professional come and fix it instead of them back again.
Regards the wonky toilet, I mean wonky in that it is not at a right angle with the back wall. It's also 6 inches plus from the back wall... is that normal? It doesn't have any holes in the cistern to attach it - you're right. So the plumber has attached two pieces of wood as a bumper on the wall which don't make contact with the cistern, to prevent the cistern from cracking.
Re siting the toilet, perhaps we didn't specify it enough at the beginning, I just assumed that they would replace each piece like for like, so put the new toilet where the old one was.
Re the basin pop up, I suggested that perhaps the supplier had sent us the wrong part and could they check that rather than waste 1/2 hour trying to figure it out but they didn't seem to want to contact them... I guess, with hindsight, in case their incompetence was highlighted!
Oh well, a lesson learnt I guess. Thanks again for your advice.
Just to let you know that this plumber was recommended to us and that they have invoiced us almost £950 for this - it's not cash in hand and we didn't intend to have employed a cowboy
We've learnt a lot from this and will look out for professional membership next time...We are currently writing a letter stating why we're not happy. We haven't paid them yet and are considering offering half the amount and calling it a day... I'd rather pay and have a professional come and fix it instead of them back again.
Regards the wonky toilet, I mean wonky in that it is not at a right angle with the back wall. It's also 6 inches plus from the back wall... is that normal? It doesn't have any holes in the cistern to attach it - you're right. So the plumber has attached two pieces of wood as a bumper on the wall which don't make contact with the cistern, to prevent the cistern from cracking.
Re siting the toilet, perhaps we didn't specify it enough at the beginning, I just assumed that they would replace each piece like for like, so put the new toilet where the old one was.
Re the basin pop up, I suggested that perhaps the supplier had sent us the wrong part and could they check that rather than waste 1/2 hour trying to figure it out but they didn't seem to want to contact them... I guess, with hindsight, in case their incompetence was highlighted!
Oh well, a lesson learnt I guess. Thanks again for your advice.
I dont know much about bathrooms as I fix boilers but that does not sound right to me.
I have seen cisterns a few inches from the back wall before though. It presumably results from a "difficult" soil pipe connection. professionals usually manage to come up with a solution though.
Tony
I have seen cisterns a few inches from the back wall before though. It presumably results from a "difficult" soil pipe connection. professionals usually manage to come up with a solution though.
Tony
katylucy said:
This sound like you originally had a low level wc, and have now got a close coupled wc. The hole in the ground was suitable for the old but not the new. If it is wooden floor, then 9 times out of 10, you can a few boards up and rerun the short run of pipe to accomadate new wc. On a solid floor, the choice is either a return angle pan connector ( rarely works ) or a bit of boxing to make up the difference. All this really should of been discussed at the quoting stage.
If you havent paid yet, then you should at least give the plumber a chance to rectify the problems first. You can warn him that you will get another plumber around to check afterwards.
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