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

[Elsa TLC]

The in

Some interesting case studies there.....

I concur that it is for the tradesperson to specify in the contract and not turn it around on the customer. A reasonable person wouldn't classify a cylinder worth just under £100 as waste. If they are happy for the plumber to realise the value, then fine. But just taking it, annoys me.

Regarding me asking for the items back- I've got bigger issues I'm challenging with this current bunch so I'd rather focus my efforts on that. Like why they've invoiced me for a brand new smart thermostat and installed a grubby old circa 2019 model....

Did they take you rubbish?
Did they state that they will take your rubbish?
Did you state that you wanted to keep anything?

 

[johnny2007]

It's theft - taking without permission of the owner. It is not OK to just assume, because something is not bolted down, that it's OK to take it. Chairs, tables, watches are not bolted down - are they OK to assume the owner doesn't want them, to just take them?

I again invite you to read the theft act and if you don't understand it, ask any police officer.
If you don't have a gate in your front garden and leave something there that can be reasonably seen as discarded (a bunch of old copper pipes for example, or an old boiler), taking it will not be automatically considered theft.

 

[ebee]

Right, let`s just get things in perspective.

Put simply lots of words, phrases, used terms in speech have for example three or more meanings in use. 1/ everyday terms. 2/ Trade terms, therefore often a little technical. 3/ Legal terms.
All 3 terms (or more) generally mean similar things but there are often a few differences in their actual meanings.

As an electrician/electrical contractor for many years (I have now retired) , self employed working directly for customers (often domestic and occasionally in business premises ) and also working alongside )or subcontracted to or subcontracting them to me.
I have endeavoured to work within the law and within the rules of what I believe most people expect as fair play within their expectations.
Any deviations I foresee from their expectations that could possibly potentially be a source of uncertainty then I clarify.
That way everybody know what is expected.

In my view people have a reasonable expectation that in their home or other premises I will get rid of rubbish created such as plaster etc and old cables and accessories such as sockets and switches etc and I do it in a responsible way. I take a very dim view of so called tradesmen who leave this on the property, in my mid they have no right to be regarded as tradesmen.
If there are any parts that someone might perceivably want to reuse or give/sell to someone else I ask them if they want me to dispose of it.
I would never take something that I see as having a monetary value to anyone without prior explicit consent.
If any person wishes to have something for their own personal use, not for resale, then I would let them have it free of charge providing I do not envisage that it might be potentially unsafe or ill advised to use it.
I am all for recycling and if any item of mine or under my control and it`s going to be thrown away and someone else might have a use for it then I prefer it gets another use (save a polar bear and all that).

What I am against is someone taking something without specific consent and profiting from it whether for their own use or selling on as a working part or weighing in for scrap. In my view that is usually theft.
The trades I worked with all have similar views, lots of plumbers/heating engineers build up a pile of scrap to take to the scrapyard one the pile gets big enough but they always get prior consent to take it away.

I have seen, many times, some asking to take it and the customers asks what they will do with it and they tell them it goes eventually to the scrapyard and they get a few quid with it, usually the customer is happy with that, sometimes they might ask how much they might get for it and very rarely the customer might decide they want to keep it to sell it on themselves or as a working part to sell to someone.

If anyone takes anything that does not belong to make a gain from (by their own use or to sell on) and does not fully explain to the owner than in my humble opinion it is theft pure and simple.

 

[Elsa TLC]

Young Romanian Girl asked could she have some grapes from my front Garden this morning.

No problem I picked her some. If she had just taken them I may have been pìssed but I would have accused her of theft or reported her.

If this same girl cleaned my house, and deemed something like a sauce pan was to my requirements
because I had bought new.
Part of her job would be to dispose of the rubbish. The saucepan would go out with the rubbish, unless I instructird different.