I have employed a cowboy electrician: What now?

[PHILOSOPHERDAN]

Hi,

I found him via ‘mybuilder.com’ so I assumed they checked his qualifications. The problem is his dishonesty and corner cutting. When I became suspicious of him (he is half way through the job) I asked another electrician in to check his work.

He has run radials off rings.

He has left wires in sockets unsheathed.

He agreed to install 10mm cable to my 10.8kw shower but installed 6.5kw

He agreed to install thicker than standard cable 2.5mm to 4 hifi sockets – I asked for 10mm - and invoiced me for the thicker cable, but instead installed standard cable 2.5mm cable.


I have him £500 in advance. He claims that for the work he has done so far I owe him £895-500= £395.

I cannot trust him, and don’t want him back in the house. What should I do?

Thanks in anticipation of your help

Dan

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Tell him to sue you for the £395.

In practical terms you can do SFA about the £500 already paid out.

But, just to clarify:

1. mybuilder.com may well have checked his qualifications - it's not unknown for qualified people to be dishonest and corner cutting. I'm sure you can recall at least one example of a qualified doctor being a mass murderer.
   
   
2. You won't hear any difference with your hi-fi with the 2.5mm² cable. I accept that you irrationally wanted 10mm², and that if you had asked him to do it and he did not but charged you for it then he was in the wrong. Even if he agreed with the need for it he should have pointed out that it's physically impossible to do. But you've only lost a few quid there - he has not left you with a sub-standard supply for the hi-fi.

 

[bernardgreen]

Trading Standards Office might be useful.

 

[PHILOSOPHERDAN]

Thanks, yes I was wondering about Trading Standards, is it the sort of thing that they cover? Or I wondered whether there is a professional body that might take an interest...?

It will cost me money to employ an electrician to test and rectify what he has done - and might require chasing channels into the wall in order to lay extra cables for example to change the radials into part of the ring - in which case I then have to spend time and money redecorating (I employed a tiler in the kitchen in order to get a good quality job, so might have to pay him to come back). So I wonder about trying to get back part of the £500 - perhaps via the small claims court - though of course it might be easier to let sleeping dogs lie...

 

[stillp]

Do you have anything in writing as to what he agreed?
When you say "wires in sockets unsheathed" do you mean he'd left off the earth sleeving?
Presumably you meant that he installed 6mm² cable to your shower?
Was he a member of any of the 'schemes'? That is, is he listed on http://www.competentperson.co.uk/

 

[amjmfareham]

To further of what has already been said;

It is recommended that you take photos of what has been done so far as this could form some evidence if you were to take this to a law of court, for example, the reason why I ask is that I have watched Judge Rinder on ITV in the past and tradespersons have been taken to court over similar disputes, and he always says he likes paper, because it doesn't lie!.

Therefore it would be prudent to have copies of any Contracts, Telephone Call Logs, Text Messages .ect, with the person in question.

But the first instance it to raise the issues with them, if they dont want to comply, to take the matter to Citizens Advice Bureau and/or your local Trading Standards!

Anyway, in the meantime, is it possible if you could post some photos on here, of what work has been completed so far!

Hope this Helps,

Andrew

 

[deadshort]

Hi,

I found him via ‘mybuilder.com’ so I assumed they checked his qualifications. The problem is his dishonesty and corner cutting. When I became suspicious of him (he is half way through the job) I asked another electrician in to check his work.

He has run radials off rings.

He has left wires in sockets unsheathed.

He agreed to install 10mm cable to my 10.8kw shower but installed 6.5kw

He agreed to install thicker than standard cable 2.5mm to 4 hifi sockets – I asked for 10mm - and invoiced me for the thicker cable, but instead installed standard cable 2.5mm cable.


I have him £500 in advance. He claims that for the work he has done so far I owe him £895-500= £395.

I cannot trust him, and don’t want him back in the house. What should I do?

Thanks in anticipation of your help

Dan

Before you do anything drastic, call him to a meeting have a frank conversation about all you have discovered and give him the opertunity to put it right.

DS

 

[PHILOSOPHERDAN]

Had a traumatic experience this afternoon. I was at my partner’s house in Reading, preparing to drive over to Oxford to meet Paul the electrician at my house. He previously had said he would be free from 4.30 and I had said I might not be able to get there until 6. Anyway, he turned up at 4, walked into the house – I have a couple of lodgers who left the front door unlocked – and demanded on the phone that either I pay him the £350 he (ludicrously) says I still owe him (on top of the £500 I have already given him) or he would rip out all his stuff. I phoned the police and kept Paul talking. A policeman turned up, and when I spoke to him on the phone he said he could not remove Paul from the house! He said that the dispute was a civil matter and that trespass was a civil matter. I tried to explain that Paul was threatening to take out his wiring unless I paid him. The policeman said he would have a word with Paul, but then apparently did not – the policeman just left. Paul then was emboldened ‘the police don’t want to know, it’s a civil matter – either you pay me the £350 now by internet banking or I am taking my stuff out’ (I paraphrase).


I stalled, tried to talk sense into him, tried to discuss what was a fair price for what he had done, but he would not reason. He just kept demanding and demanding and threatening and threatening. He ended up saying ‘make me an offer to go’ and he ended up saying he would take £150 to leave and not rip his stuff out so I just paid him rather than risk him ripping all his stuff out which would have left me even worse off and without downstairs lighting, and without power to the fridge-freezer.


Now what do I do?


Thanks very much for the previous advice. I will, as advised, take photos. I have various things in writing regarding pricing, though certain things are half done – such as the shower, cooker hood, lighting rewiring - so there will be arguments about the value of what he has done so far. And he cut off the old electric cooker point and installed a new one without me asking him to and without giving me a price for it – I have a gas cooker – and now claims this is worth £95.


Given he had shown himself to be incompetent and untrustworthy there was no point in paying him to finish the work when I would then just have had to paid someone else to check it all. He claimed he had not left the earths unsheathed, and insisted that it was okay to have a radial off a ring as long as the number of sockets on that radial does not exceed the number on the ring (which is nonsense). He does not seem to be listed under the competent persons scheme

 

[Mikefromlondon]

First thing you need to do is to report him to mybuilder.com, explain about your traumatic experience and the police who did not want to do anything, and yet you are paying their wages, also leave bad reviews about mybuilder.com and if that electrician has his own page give him negative riviews.

I don't think any electrician would have wired your HI FI sockets in 4mm because they didn't see any need for it, and especially when it is a ring circuit, and if he has done radials off the ring, how long are these radials and how many sockets on these radial, so overall he may have carried out bare minimum as required by regs.
and when you said he left bare wires in sockets, you need to elaborate more on them, are these earth wires he should have sleeved?

 

[PHILOSOPHERDAN]

Hi Mike

Thanks for your reply.

If I ask for thicker cable and he charges me £30 extra for thicker cable but then he puts in standard cable then that is dishonest.

Yes it is the earth wires he should have sleeved, I was told.

I was told and my reading around on the web backs this up, that one is allowed to install a spur of no more than one double socket off each socket in a ring. However if one wishes to have a spur of more than one socket (ie a radial off a ring) then that has to be made into a 'fused spur' which is connected via a 'fused connection unit'. Is this a correct description of the situation in your view?

 

[EFLImpudence]

I was told and my reading around on the web backs this up, that one is allowed to install a spur of no more than one double socket off each socket in a ring. However if one wishes to have a spur of more than one socket (ie a radial off a ring) then that has to be made into a 'fused spur' which is connected via a 'fused connection unit'.

OR - use cable for the spur which is rated for the current - 32A - 4mm² would suffice.

Is this a correct description of the situation in your view?

If using the same 2.5mm² cable as the ring, yes.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Now what do I do?

Book yourself onto some assertiveness training.

 

[Chri5]

Now what do I do?

Book yourself onto some assertiveness training.

Maybe there's an attitude course you could take?


I'd love to know how you feel the OP could handle the situation any better. Sounds like Paul was being aggressive, threatening and prepared to do as he threatened.

 

[JohnW2]

I was told and my reading around on the web backs this up, that one is allowed to install a spur of no more than one double socket off each socket in a ring. However if one wishes to have a spur of more than one socket (ie a radial off a ring) then that has to be made into a 'fused spur' which is connected via a 'fused connection unit'.

OR - use cable for the spur which is rated for the current - 32A - 4mm² would suffice.

Although that option is not suggested in the 'guidance' regarding ring finals in the regs, it makes good electrical sense - but only up to a point. A problem could arise if the several sockets on a 4mm² unfused spur drew a high total current from one point on the ring - which, if fairly close to one end of the ring, could overload the cable of the short leg (which would be contrary to the guidance in the regs). For that reason, I'm not convinced that those who invented the 'dispensation' for ring finals will have intended/wanted an unfused spur supply more than one (single or double) socket, even if the cable used for that spur were adequate.

Kind Regards, John

 

[securespark]

What a dreadful experience: I really feel for you.

I know this sounds funny, but did you get a record of that transaction (like video)?

I think you need to get 30 mins of advice from a solicitor and possibly the CAB.