Plumbers/heating engineers- is this standard? (Value of scrap) (Ed.)

[Notch7]

But this thread is an eye opener for sure to read into the mentality of some tradespeople

Or:

“But this thread is an eye opener for sure to read into the mentality of some tradespeople customers”

 

[Elsa TLC]

If you feel this is unacceptable then you must confront them.
I'm sure they will be fine about it.

I had a customer this summer that I fitted an unvented cylinder for. His Vented cylinder wasn't that old. He asked me is it worth putting on eBay? I said yes give it a go. So I left it for him.

I had this customer years back that needed a plumber to get a restaurant completed in time for a certain date. I agreed to help him. As this was a very important job/customer

First day a Saturday , I ripped out the existing plumbing. Copper mainly.
He wasn't letting me have a sniff of it.
I never knew if he met his deadline.

 

[Stivino]

I would imagine that in the eyes of the law, removing anything from a house that isn't your own, without the permission of the owner, would be considered to be theft.

 

[Elsa TLC]

I would imagine that in the eyes of the law, removing anything from a house that isn't your own, without the permission of the owner, would be considered to be theft.

You would be right. But I suppose taking the rubbish could be seen as permission wasn't given.

This could have been young lads working for a firm and seeing the pump ect as as scrap. Scrap alone its worth next to nothing.

 

[Stivino]

Even removing "scrap" would be stealing. One man's trash, is another man's treasure and all that.
I go by the maxim of, if it's not your's, don't touch it.

 

[Notch7]

I would imagine that in the eyes of the law, removing anything from a house that isn't your own, without the permission of the owner, would be considered to be theft.

It is normal for tradesmen to rip out the old and fit new, then take away the waste

If the customer specifically wanted particular parts he shouldve stated that beforehand

I appreciate it should have been explicitly stated on the quotation


Its a £14,000 job, the customer hasnt even mentioned whether they are doing a good job or not, he hasnt said whether he appreciates their efforts.............all he has done is made it very clear he doesnt trust them, thats not a very nice feeling is it

 

[Elsa TLC]

Even removing "scrap" would be stealing. One man's trash, is another man's treasure and all that.
I go by the maxim of, if it's not your's, don't touch it.

I agree with you but Notch is also right.

 

[Andy165]

If the customer is moaning about a potential £50 saving now, imagine what he is going to be like when he gets his first electricity bill after a winter of using his heat pump. then he has the yearly service of the heat pump which some people are quoting £250 for. But he's probabley had the grant money so happy days. now he is going to have to "learn" how to get the best use of the heat pump and adjust his way of heating his house to suit. wait until it goes wrong and see how much the parts are. As others have pointed out, usually the t & c,s of the install state what happens to the "waste". good luck with your new heat pump. hope it meets your expectations for heating and hot water.

 

[mattylad]

OP, why not ask them if they can return them to you?
They may still be in the back of the vans.

 

[johnny2007]

I would imagine that in the eyes of the law, removing anything from a house that isn't your own, without the permission of the owner, would be considered to be theft.

Even removing "scrap" would be stealing. One man's trash, is another man's treasure and all that.
I go by the maxim of, if it's not your's, don't touch it.

Rubbish!
If not specifically mentioned in the contract, the tradesmen will have to take away all old parts and rubbish and dispose of it.
If that wasn't the case, heating engineers would leave old radiators and boilers at customer's property and surely they'll complain.
When I changed my boiler I knew some parts could be sold and asked the engineer to let me take them.
He had no objection and disposed of what was left of the old boiler.
Some customers are never happy.
If the op had specifically asked to keep parts, I'm pretty sure the tradesmen would've been very glad to let him keep them, especially on a £14k job.

 

[carmanmemoranda]

The other side of the coin to all this is.

I've left all the old stuff I've ripped out in your front garden. You can't put it in your bins, so you will have to arrange to get rid of it.

Its the same in my trade with cars, nobody would thank you for leaving old, dirty, rusty parts, including (relatively) valuable parts in the car. But if anybody wants them, they can have them. I get paid for scrap, but it probably costs me more in storage and time and effort to get paid than I recieve.

 

[pcaouolte]

I think it is quite normal for a plumber to take away materials that they remove from the job. That would include old radiators/copper pipes/tanks that have some scrap value, but would also include things like plastic tanks toilets and baths that are going to cost them to dispose of.

Plumbers usually leave behind cardboard packaging that the home owner can put in their recycling bin.

That is my experience anyway.

I don't want my garden cluttered up with tat that they have removed which I am now going to have to get rid of and therefore I don't care that they make a few quid from scrap that they can sell.

On odd occasions when I can make use of something that a plumber has taken out I have asked them to leave the item on site and that has never been a problem.

 

[helplessowner]

On both occasions

As the opening post makes it clear that you were unhappy about items being removed without asking you by the 1st tradesman, why on earth did you not make it clear to the 2nd tradesman that there were items that you did NOT want removed?
As a customer (not a trades) I have always assumed that, unless specified otherwise, the completion of the job would involve taking away all removed items - if the plumber sells some for a bit of extra profit, then I see that as perks of the trade.
In fairness, my current plumber's quotes always specify that removed items would be taken away by him, so I have the opportunity to ask about anything that I wanted to keep before accepting the quote.
And if the quote did NOT mention removal, I would certainly ask whether clearance was included. Having (years back) have one trade finish the job and then scamper off leaving me to get rid of ALL the debris, which meant extra cost for a small skip - not having that happen again.

 

[drives]

Couldn't resist checking in. Interesting perspectives but yes bottom line is I consider it theft. They are benefiting from taking my property and I don't really get why it's an accepted perk, or bonus. My point about the invoice wasn't to suggest I'd ever not pay. I've always paid, and in some cases a bit extra actually particularly if they've had to do something extra that I'd consider unforeseen but have given a fixed price

If the customer is moaning about a potential £50 saving now, imagine what he is going to be like when he gets his first electricity bill after a winter of using his heat pump. then he has the yearly service of the heat pump which some people are quoting £250 for. But he's probabley had the grant money so happy days. now he is going to have to "learn" how to get the best use of the heat pump and adjust his way of heating his house to suit. wait until it goes wrong and see how much the parts are. As others have pointed out, usually the t & c,s of the install state what happens to the "waste". good luck with your new heat pump. hope it meets your expectations for heating and hot water.

Well without wishing to take this off onto a tangent, we've done a lot of research before taking the plunge. Plenty of people have them installed and will rebut pretty much everything you say about running costs (our gas boiler was expensive so I fully expect this to be similar cost wise in the winter months), and we are well aware of the differences (slow and steady) which is one of the main selling points for us. Not saying we are not apprehensive though, and I guess you concern comes from a well intentioned place rather than being intentionally patronising.

 

[Elsa TLC]

Couldn't resist checking in. Interesting perspectives but yes bottom line is I consider it theft. They are benefiting from taking my property and I don't really get why it's an accepted perk, or bonus. My point about the invoice wasn't to suggest I'd ever not pay. I've always paid, and in some cases a bit extra actually particularly if they've had to do something extra that I'd consider unforeseen but have given a fixed price

I did expect you to be back.

You would be better reporting to the police than a chat forum.

But maybe first ask for your items back before you inform the Police.