So very not happy

[mandragora]

There's a leak in my bathroom to the room below. I get the plumber round and decide to work from home today. The plumber tells me that he does not need to get up into the loft. I go to make a call to the office. While I'm on the phone the fucking idiot of a plumber attempts to get into the loft using the loft ladder. It has a loose catch that I know about and if he had just fucking told me what he intended to do I would have got the ladder down and made sure it was safe.

He didn't tell me.

Result. One broken loft ladder and scraped through to the hall wallpaper. The loft ladder is at least 16 years old. What are the chances of finding a bracket to repair the one that's broken?

Yeah. That's what I thought.

I don't know exactly what colour the hall is painted to try and get some paint to repair the damage. Moreover, I can't even go to Homebase, or somewhere similar, today to go and see if I can match the colour because first thing this morning I took the car to the garage to have a leaking exhaust fixed.

The plumber says it's not his fault. How was he to know that the loft ladder was how it is? Well why the fuck did he tell me that he did not need to get into the loft then.

Pissed off.

Really very fucking pissed off.

Comments

[kittygoslingp.livejournal.com]

Oh God, bag full of sympathy here.

The plumber came yesterday to fix my leak (basically needed a bit of sealant around a nut) and charged me £90. I decided that I'd better have something else looked at (same solution) cost me £75 but in order to facilitate this he started running all my hot water down the drain 'til I realized and turned on the bath tap instead - I so don't want to have to bathe and wash my hair in cold water.

know the feeling

[filenotch.livejournal.com]

I had tilers move my refrigerator on an antique hook rug. I was there. They could have asked me. There were four neat holes in it that matched the foot print of the refigerator. They refused to apologize or pay for repairs. I shorted their invoice. They threatened. I didn't answer. I won.

Had they even shown a tiny bit of remorse, it might have been different.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear that your leak is fixed even if it's at vast expense (considering what was done) and almost at the expense of all your hot water. Mine didn't charge me very much - don't think he dared!

Re: know the feeling

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Ow, ow, ow!

I think actually, depending on the value of the rug, you probably could have paid them nothing. There's an implied duty of care on the part of tradesmen who work in your house.

Glad to read that you won in withholding part payment. Serves them right.

Well fuck

[akaspeedo.livejournal.com]

The one time I moved using packers, one of them sat his considerable ass down on an antique clock so he could pack some glasses.

Sympathies. And nice to hear from you ;)

Re: Well fuck

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Ouch! That poor clock. I hope that the insurers paid out a heft sum although it probably didn't compensate for the loss of the clock.

And nice to hear from you ;)

*g* I know, two posts in as many days. What is the world coming to? Love working from home as it gives me a few minutes to surf LJ, which is always nice. I'm away most of next week on business (again) and then Connotations (yay!) so am making hay while the sun shines, so to speak. Back to the office tomorrow, so the saving on travel time goes right out the window.

Sigh.

[keletkezes.livejournal.com]

I hate standard tradesmen. I'm glad my parents know people in lots of trades. I'm scared when they all retire and I move away etc. I'm going to get right done over by them all.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

What makes this worse is that the plumber in question is one I've used before, several times. He says he can fix the loft ladder. We shall see.

When you move away, the best thing to do to find local tradesmen is to ask neighbours for recommendations, or the people who run the local corner shop etc. That way hopefully you'll get someone decent.

[keletkezes.livejournal.com]

Oooh, good idea! Thanks :)